android

Android and iOS generally represent two different ways of thnking when it comes to mobile experience. Whilst iOS tries to be more user-friendly, striving to work in a simple and intuitive way out-of-the-box, Android offers greater customization, an open software ecosystem, and other features catering more to power users. However, if they're similar in one way, it would have to be the two browsers under-the-hood. Both browsers use WebKit, and both are similarly optimized and running on a Unix-based OS. So to find out which one performed better, research firm Blaze Software conducted a study. The results shocked even Blaze. ...read more

Recently, Google pulled 21 apps from its app store that contained a Trojan that rooted the phone and used a password of the software's own making, exposing the phone's data to an outside server. Whilst there's nothing wrong with rooting your own phone, it makes your user password the key to all of you data, and if the password is set to something an outside server knows, it gains complete control over the phone. Whilst the apps have been pulled, the infected apps have been downloaded over 260,000 times. What's Google doing about this? ...read more

Google has recently had to pull 21 malicious apps from the Android market in response to an Android malware scare. These apps used an exploit called rageagainstthecage to first root the phone and then steal the data of those who downloaded the apps. The infected apps were all discovered by a reddit user last week and were all published by a developer going by the name of "Myournet." Google has also patched the vulnerability as of Android 2.2.2, so it doesn't affect up-to-date phones. Get a list of pulled apps after the jump. ...read more

Minecraft developer Mojang has just confirmed that it is working on an iOS version of Minecraft. The well-known indie game, already a huge success on the PC, is now going to branch out into possibly even-richer segments of the gaming market. However, while we're not entirely sure what exactly was meant by the statement, the iOS version of Minecraft would not see all the features that the Windows version sports. ...read more

Samsung has just announced that they will be releasing a full-size 10.1" galaxy tab to do direct battle with Apple's iPad, Motorolla Xoom, and a few other premium 10.1" tablets nearing release. We looked over the specs that Samsung has put up on their site, and we were fairly impressed by them. Aside from sporting one of Nvidia's shiny new dual-core Tegra 2 ARM SoCs, there are a number of other features that caught our eye. ...read more

The Internet was abuzz today when a Dutch newspaper quoted Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak as saying that Android has more features than the iPhone and is therefore posed to be the dominant platform in the future. He couldn't have possibly said that, right?

Right. Engadged rang him up on their Bat phone and got the full scoop. As Steve explains, it's all a bunch of malarky and he was grossly misquoted.

"Almost every app I have is better on the iPhone," Wozniak explains.

Phew! We almost thought one of the world's most outspoken Apple fanboys actually told things the way it is. Glad to see the world hasn't gone all topsy turvey after all!

Security firm Coverity decided to run a fine tooth comb over the Android kernel, or at least the one used in the HTC Droid (since each OEM uses customized code, there really is no single Android kernel). What they found were 359 defects in all, including 88 labeled as "high risk," which includes memory corruption, resource and memory leaks, and unitialized variables.

"We downloaded the code from HTC's developer site (http://developer.htc.com), configured, built, and analyzed it, and put the results on a server running our Coverity Integrity Manager web UI," the firm explained.

How serious these flaws really are remains to be seen. Coverity said it will go public with the full technical details after an unspecified waiting period.

As it turns out this addicting little game started getting downloaded like hotcakes on Android phones as soon it was available for free at GetJar. Prior to that, this little app just wasn't as popular as it was on the iPhone. Some iPhone users are probably getting a little pissy since they had to pay a whole dollar on iTunes to pick it up. Now with over million downloads it's about ready to take over the world. If you don't know what the game is all about, check it out here. If you're one of the last few Android users that don't yet have it, hurry up and grab it for free while you still can. Source

Just two short years ago, it would have been inconceivable that Google's Android platform could legitimately challenge Apple's iPhone OS in the smartphone wars, yet 24 months later that's exactly what's happening. According a new poll by market research firm ChangeWave, the number of buyers who intended to purchase an iPhone dropped from 50 percent in June to 38 percent in September. During that same time frame, Android went from 30 percent to 37 percent, a virtual tie as far as we're concerned.

Android still has a ways to go before it catches up with Apple's magical OS in actual usuage numbers, but the writing's on the wall: Android rocks, an everyone loves a rockstar. In another 24 months, who knows what the mobile landscape will look like.

Verizon customers with a Motorola Droid X are preparing for a helluva jump to Android 2.2 tomorrow. Finally catching up to it's brother, the Droid 2. Along with the OS upgrade come many cool features. The Droid X will be able to switch between wifi and 3G data connections with getting loss of data or connection. Also, Flash 10.1 for Android is along for the ride, allowing for an all out surfing blitz on the web for Droid X owners. Also included is updated google map functionality as well as use of VZ Navigator (Verizon's built-in GPS software unit). This update should be available to everyone holding a Droid X tomorrow without having to wait for any over-the-air approval/notifications.