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MIPS to make Android platform available on MIPS architecture

MIPS technologies has reported that it is planning to make the Android platform available on its MIPS architecture. MIPS (or Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages) is a RISC architecture developed by MIPS Technologies. MIPS implementations are currently primarily used in many embedded systems such as the Windows CE devices and video game consoles like the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation.

MIPS technologies announced that it will make its source code available for the public in 60 days time, for the development of applications. The MIPS announcement stated, “With the MIPS ecosystem around Android, OEMs will be able to quickly optimize Android for their specific platforms.”

“By releasing Android to open source, Google created the opportunity for widespread proliferation of the Android platform, and now the work the OESF is doing will help drive the platform in new directions,” Art Swift, MIPS’s VP of marketing, said “We look forward to playing a key role in proliferating Android into digital consumer devices.”

Commentary: This move will prove to be a big boost for the Android platform. MIPS platform was used in the early Pocket-PC days and then it was replaced by the ARM infrastructure. It would be interesting to see what MIPS platform brings to the Android scene

[via informationweek]

A video showing a leaked HTC Hero build and some new features

Thanks to the guys at CodeAndroid, we have a nice video of the yet unreleased HTC Hero. This video mainly focuses on the UI of the device (the Roise UI built for the HTC Hero).

There are many changes in the UI. It now seems more similar to the Touch Flo 3D Interface of HTC’s Touch devices. There are major changes in the interface of the browser and the music player.

In the earlier versions, we only had a few tabs in the main screen of the music player. But in this device, the user can browse through the music files, from the mail screen itself.

And, in the browser, you can swift through the web pages, very similar to that in Touch Flo 3D interface.

There are many other improvements and goodies, which are shown in the video :

First ever complete Office suite for Android to be revealed by ThinkFree

ThinkFree Inc. is planning to demo its productivity suite for the Android OS at the COMPUTEX trade show in Taiwan, from 2nd to 6th of June.

“ThinkFree Mobile for Android is bringing a new level of choice to smartphones by offering a mobile office solution that satisfies the growing demand for mobility and 24/7 access to your documents,” said Kerry McGuire, Director of Software Alliances, ARM. “ThinkFree has brought an innovative approach to the mobile office suite that enables a consistent office experience across both smartphones and netbooks. We are pleased to have their continued support as part of the ARM community.”

This suite will let the user create, view and manipulate word, excel as well as power point docs. It also supports drawing objects, a first of its kind feature for the Android platform. The user will also get 1 GB of free online storage along with the suite.

The package consists of ThinkFree Write for word processing, ThinkFree Calc for spreadsheets and ThinkFree Show for presentations.

Let’s wait and watch, if the application proves to be really as promising as mentioned in its details. All Android user have been waiting for a flawless solution for their MS Office docs. So, we have a ray of hope with this app.

[via androidguys]

Android 1.5 aka Cupcake officially available for T-Mobile G1 users

T-Mobile has finally rolled out the Android 1.5 aka Cupcake for the users in the US. Its been a long wait for the G1 users. Users were able to manually install the Cupcake long back, but there must have been many users who might have chosen not to take the pain of doing so. So, finally the official update has been provided by T-Mobile.

[via androidcentral]

Haykuro’s new Android built for HTC Hero out on a video

HTC Hero has not even been released yet. And, I found a video on youtube, which claims that the device (a T-Mobile G1 aka HTC Dream) is running Haykuro’s new Android built for the yet unreleased, HTC Hero.

Just notice the Model number in the picture given below. It says “HTC Hero”.

Here’s the complete video :