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Developers install Android on Nokia N810

Jason Ankeny — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:08:49 -0400

With official Google-sanctioned devices operating on the Android OS still weeks or even months away, an enterprising member of the Internet Tablet Talk forum who goes by the username "penguinbait" posts that he has successfully installed Android on the open-source Nokia N810 device. According to penguinbait, the installer instructions are as follows:

Put android.img.bz2 on your memory card.
After putting the file on the memory card (either one), make sure 110MB free space is available on the card holding the android.img.bz2 image.
Download the file from either http://tablethacker.com/software/android.img.bz2 or http://penguinbait.com/android.img.bz2.
Install the .deb from either http://tablethacker.com/software/android-installer.deb
or http://penguinbait.com/adroid-installer.deb.
Reboot.
Launch Android from the extras menu.

For more on the Android installation:
- read this Internet Tablet Talk forum thread

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Google: Android still on track for 2008 debut

Jason Ankeny — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:59:23 -0400

Google maintains the first Android OS-powered handsets will hit the market before the end of 2008, publicly refuting reports to the contrary. Last week TheStreet.com, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that internal delays would force Google to keep a lid on Android until 2009. However, a spokesperson with the Web giant contradicted the report, saying "We're still on track to announce Android-powered phones this year. Some of our partners are publicly stating that they plan to ship Android phones in the fourth quarter."
In the meantime, a few more Android details emerged at the tail end of Google's recent I/O 2008 conference: According to ZDNet, an Android fireside chat revealed that the operating system's open-source status will afford operators the latitude to disable applications as they see fit, promising significant differentiation from one Android handset to the next. Also, as expected, there may be an integrated applications/content purchasing system built into Android. In addition, Google said it will not inaugurate its next Developer Challenge until after the first Android devices are on the market.

For more on the latest Android news:
- read this ZDNet article

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Google demonstrates Android applications

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Google publicly demonstrated its forthcoming Android mobile operating system Wednesday during its annual developer conference in San Francisco, touting the platform's mobile web services, mobile gaming prowess and map features by means of an iPhone-like touchscreen device. Speaking at Google's I/O conference, the firm's vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said Android heralds its attempt to extend the browser to handheld devices: "We believe over time, the browser on mobile devices will be the entry point for many, many applications," he said.

During the brief demonstration, Google showed the audience Android versions of its Google Maps Street View service (bolstered by the device's internal compass and accelerometer) as well as a snippet of a Pac-Man game--other bells and whistles include mobile website bookmarking and a mobile web content magnifying tool.

Andy Rubin, the Google exec charged with spearheading the Android initiative, said Android-based devices remain on track to hit retail sometime during the second half of 2008. Rubin also hinted strongly that Google is planning to launch an Android application storefront: "It would be a great benefit to the Android community to provide a place where people can go to safely and securely download content and where a billing system would allow developers to get paid for their effort," he said. "We wouldn't have done our job if we didn't provide something that helps developers get distribution."

For more on the Android demo:
-read this Associated Press article and watch this Android live demo

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Is it excitement or hype for mobile LBS?

Wed, 28 May 2008 16:36:21 -0400

By Brian Dolan

In five short years mobile location-based services are expected to generate $13.3 billion in annual worldwide revenue, according to a recent report from ABI Research. Last year the services generated $515 million, but the momentum in the mobile LBS sector is apparent in the aggressive marketing carriers' have put behind navigation services and family locator applications as well as massive mergers and acquisitions like Nokia's acquisition of Navteq. So are these red letter days for mobile LBS? That depends on who you ask.

"Last year was more of a banner year than ever before for LBS services," Leslie Presutti, director of product management for Qualcomm's gpsOne group. "Nokia did an awful lot of groundwork to get LBS services established last year and they were going to push LBS with or without carrier partners. Carriers got the sense last year that they need to get on the [LBS] bandwagon."

Presutti notes that Nokia isn't the only one putting pressure on the carriers: Other change agents like Google are entering the market and pushing the incumbent to take action sooner than later. While Presutti acknowledges that the Nokia-Navteq is probably just the beginning of consolidation in the mobile LBS space, she hopes there won't be too much consolidation that innovation is sacrificed.

Right now mobile LBS applications like family and friend finders are gaining widespread support and navigation is close to becoming a given on advanced handsets, Presutti said. "We're almost to a point that navigation services that allow users to get from point A to point B will be commoditized. It will be a given in 12 to 18 months I bet. Consumers will just expect navigations applications to be present on their phones." Presutti said.

Once navigation services do become commoditized, however, application developers and carriers will need to look to the market innovators more than ever to keep users happy enough to be paying their $10 a month for LBS services.

"What will keep folks interested in mobile LBS?" Presutti asks. "When the market reaches that point in the next year or two, mobile advertising will come into play in a big way. LBS will help carriers and brands get more ingrained into a user's personal life and determine what that user likes to do and what kind of information they like to receive when they are doing certain things. In these cases, location based services are no longer serving as differentiators, but as the foundation [of the mobile experience]," Presutti said.

A recent report from Jupiter Research encouraged brands to enter the budding mobile advertising market, citing Nokia's acquisition of Navteq as an indication of an imminent rise in geo-targeted advertising.

Some companies in the location-based services market, however, contend that the hype around some of the newer applications is overblown. WaveMarket's founder and CEO Tasso Roumeliotis doesn't share Presutti's view that 2007 was a banner year for mobile location-based services.

"It was and it wasn't," Roumeliotis said. "On the one hand, we saw a lot of coverage and excitement over LBS, but there are only two applications that have generated big revenue: navigation and family locator services. These services generally cost consumers between $5 and $10 a month and they have been extremely well-marketed by carriers. The rest of the applications in LBS have received very high profile press coverage but achieved very little traction."

Roumeliotis chalks up the weak uptake of other services to expensive pricing, a dearth of interested users and a lack of carrier interoperability for LBS services.

WaveMarket is positioning its platform, VeriPlace to become the defacto platform for mobile LBS services by opening up its APIs and encouraging developers to create future applications. The company has already launched family locator services on a half dozen carriers, including Alltel, but Roumeliotis does not believe the market is yet ripe for applications beyond family locators and navigation.

"Who wants to be on a friend locator service if only two of your friends are on it?" Roumeliotis asked. "Once one subscriber leaves because it's not worth the $10-a-month to keep tabs on two friends, do you think those other two friends are going to stick around for long?"

Google leaks updated Android SDK to ADC finalists

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Finalists for Google's first Android Developers Challenge scored something a little extra in addition to their promised $25,000 prize: The web services giant also sent the winning developers emails revealing details of the next iteration of the Android SDK. It appears Google plans to lean on the ADC finalists to help iron out some of Android's wrinkles. The catch: Developers must first sign a confidentiality agreement.

The Google email reads: "As a Round 2 participant, we'll be providing you with the most up-to-date Android SDK so that you can take advantage of the latest tools and platform capabilities that will be shipping in devices later this year. These early access SDKs have many enhancements, additional features, and bug fixes. However, these SDKs have not had the same level of testing as public SDKs, so there are bugs; these releases are definitely 'bleeding edge.' As we continue to update the platform, you'll receive periodic drops of updated early access SDKs. We'll do our best to give you a rough timeline on when these early access SDKs will be available so that you can better plan your development schedule. Approximately 3 weeks before the submission deadline, we will provide a final early access SDK. You will need to submit your entry using this version of the SDK.

"Since these early access SDKs are not ready for the public, you need to execute a special SDK license. This is the same SDK license that governs the public SDK with the addition of a confidentiality clause. We've attached the SDK license document to this email." Reactions to the news were decidedly mixed. A rhetorical question posed on the Android Challenge Google Groups web page asks "Does it mean ADC I winners will have a better chance to win in ADC II since they have early access to the next version of SDK which has lots of enhancements and features?"

For more on the Android SDK preview:
-read this Hello Android article

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Analyzing the Android apps

Tue, 20 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

Analyzing the Android apps

By now you've no doubt read over the list of winners for Google's Android Developer Challenge. The contest received 1,788 submissions in all, with the 50 best applications earning their developers a $25,000 prize. While much remains unknown about the Android OS, perhaps the winning entries offer some insight into Google's overall vision for the platform--with the Phandroid blog's app-by-app breakdown as a guide, let's see what we can parse out.

Location-based services are going to be huge. Applications including BreadCrumbz (a navigation tool), City Slikkers (a location-based game), PedNav (a daily activities planner tied to the urban environment), Locale (a location- and time-based user profiling app) and LifeAware (a family and friends tracking service) all underline location's vital role in Android's makeup. Which really shouldn't surprise anyone given Google's dominance in search and advertising.

Social networking is going to be big, too. Applications like Beetaun (a social networking service based on geographical content), Sustain (tagline: "Keeping Your Social Network Alive") and Pocket Journey (which promises connections to a global community of artists, historians, architects, musicians and comedians) all earned finalist prizes.

The forecast calls for weather apps. Em-Radar delivers emergency and severe weather alerts. HandWx offers seven-day weather forecasts. And The Weather Channel for Android is self-explanatory. It should be interesting to compare and contrast these apps once they launch to determine whether they offer sufficiently unique experiences to justify their inclusion among the finalists.

The enterprise is on the outside looking in. Where are the enterprise apps? While the details of some of the ADC winners remain under wraps, those that have been disclosed focus almost exclusively on the consumer market--only BioWallet, a biometric authentication system featuring iris recognition, would seem to offer something new and exciting as a corporate security safeguard. Especially given Android's emphasis on social networking, it's surprising that not even collaboration and unified communication tools made the cut.

We don't know everything…yet. Four of the 50 winning applications remain unnamed at their creators' request, which may also explain the absence of mobile games and other lingering question marks. So no rush to judgment--just a slow crawl. -Jason

Verizon Wireless spurns Android for LiMo

Tue, 20 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Verizon Wireless formally announced its membership in the LiMo Foundation open handset consortium, committing to introduce across its handset lineup devices based on the group's mobile Linux operating system. During a conference call last week, Verizon Wireless vice president of network Kyle Malady said that while the carrier will continue supporting rival operating systems including Windows Mobile and RIM, it expects the LiMo Platform to gradually emerge as its OS of choice: "We're not adopting mobile Linux to the exclusion of other operating systems--we will continue supporting an agnostic approach," Malady said, forecasting Verizon will require many months of development before introducing Linux-based devices. He expects the company to unveil LiMo-based feature phones sometime in 2009, from there scaling up to smartphones.

According to Malady, Verizon's decision to embrace the LiMo Foundation OS over Google's rival Android platform is predicated in large part on the availability of commercial LiMo handsets. At the Mobile World Congress 2008 event in Barcelona in February, LiMo formally announced handsets including Motorola's Moto U9, Moto Z6w, Motorokr Z6 and Razr2 V8, NEC's FOMA N905i and FOMA N705i, Panasonic's FOMA P905iTV and FOMA N7051, and Samsung's SGH-i800. Reference and prototype LiMo handsets from LG, Aplix and Purple Labs were also introduced.

The LiMo Foundation last week announced eight new members in all, with Korean operator giant SK Telecom and open-source software development initiative Mozilla among the other marquee additions. The organization now boasts a total of 40 members worldwide. "This announcement supports a broad industry shift towards openness and collaboration," said LiMo Foundation executive director Morgan Gillis during the conference call, declaring "Openness will ignite the mobile Internet."

For more on the Verizon/LiMo announcement:
-read this release

Related articles:
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On the Hot Seat with LiMo's Morgan Gillis

Verizon to add LiMo's Linux OS devices

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Verizon Wireless is reportedly poised to introduce a suite of handsets based on the LiMo Foundation's mobile Linux OS as the operator forges ahead on its Any Apps, Any Device open access initiative. Unstrung reports Verizon will officially announce the addition of LiMo-based open source devices sometime this week, following up on a promise CTO Tony Melone made in March when he said the operator would begin testing initial voice and data devices in mid-May.

While Google's fledgling Android OS is also Linux-based, LiMo Foundation boasts an early edge after unveiling the first commercial handsets based on its LiMo Platform at the Mobile World Congress 2008 event in Barcelona in February. LiMo handsets include Motorola's Moto U9, Moto Z6w, Motorokr Z6 and Razr2 V8, NEC's FOMA N905i and FOMA N705i, Panasonic's FOMA P905iTV and FOMA N7051, and Samsung's SGH-i800. Reference and prototype LiMo handsets from LG, Aplix and Purple Labs were also introduced.

For more on Verizon's mobile Linux moves:
- read this Unstrung article

QUICKLINKS: Forecast: 550M GPS handsets to ship in 2012; Sprint expands partnership with Google;

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

> Forecast: 550M GPS handsets to ship in 2012.

> Sprint expands partnership with Google.

> Report: Huawei to sell mobile devices unit.

> dotMobi acquires Mowser.

> Orb Networks debuts live TV app for iPhone.

Google versus Verizon, Round 2

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

Google versus Verizon, Round 2

In a move seemingly inspired by those 'True Love Waits' abstinence pledges, Google is petitioning the FCC to obtain a guarantee from Verizon Wireless promising the operator will honor its commitment to open access. A Google filing Friday raises concerns that Verizon isn't fully dedicated to the open-access restrictions instituted by the FCC over the nationwide C block of 700 MHz spectrum the federal agency auctioned in March--the provisions mandate the C block winner (i.e., Verizon Wireless) allow consumers carte blanche authority over the devices and applications that run on the spectrum, and it seems Google fears Verizon won't uphold its end of the bargain, in effect blocking handsets and apps based on the web services giant's nascent Android mobile OS from its network. "Action now is especially necessary given the long lead time typically required for software applications developers and device manufacturers to design, develop, and deploy their products to the public, as well as the uncertainty Verizon has introduced publicly regarding its compliance with the open access obligations," Google's lawyers wrote.

The "uncertainty" Google alludes to dates back to last Autumn, when Verizon filed a lawsuit to force the FCC to abandon the open-access rules--the operator also proposed a two-tiered approach to the C block allowing sales of both locked and unlocked devices. But that was then and this is now: In December, Verizon changed course and announced "Any Apps, Any Device," an initiative promising to introduce open access nationwide by the end of 2008. And while Verizon's first Open Development Initiative conference in March raised as many questions as it answered, there is little or no evidence to suggest the carrier plans to renege on its open-access promises. Even as recently as last month, when Google finally admitted its sole rationale for entering the 700 MHz auction was to drive up bidding and guarantee the open access conditions were met, the company never expressed concern its strategy could backfire.

So why now? Google isn't publicly commenting on the FCC filing, so the legalese must speak for itself. "Verizon has taken the public position that it may exclude its handsets from the open access condition," the filing states. "Verizon believes it may force customers who want to access the open platform using a device not purchased from Verizon to go through 'Door No. 1,' while allowing customers who obtain their device from Verizon access through 'Door No. 2.' …[T]he open access condition would apply to none of Verizon's customers, and thereby render the condition a nullity. Because this 'two-door' position espoused by Verizon is contrary to the plain meaning of the rule, as well as the Commission's public interest findings and policy objectives set forth in the 700 MHz Second R&O, it must be rejected." In other words, Google argues Verizon has no intention of adhering to any rules but its own, despite the operator's public assurances to the contrary--an extraordinary claim for one firm to make against another, especially given the stakes involved. The auction may be over, but it looks like the pissing match is just beginning. -Jason