Category: News

A Sneak Peak at JesusFreke’s Android 1.5 Cupcake

The most awaited JesusFreke’s Android 1.5 cupcake, was released a couple of days back.

According to Jesus Freke, the important changes/additions made are :

  • I’m now including a much better Superuser app, courtesy of zinx
  • I’ve rebuilt the kernel and enabled netfilter support, to allow tethering. I recommend aNetShare
  • You can see/download both paid and protected apps in the market
  • Luke’s multitouch kernel patch and browser patch have been ported to the .27 kernel and 1.5 browser.
  • Support for the “apps to sdcard” hack. There’s not a separate “apps to sdcard” build. You can use the same build whether you are doing apps to sdcard or not. Thanks to haykuro for explaining how he’s done this in his images, so I can make my builds compatible. See here for a tutorial on setting this up.
  • I’m not including a recovery image in this build. I ran into some snags getting all of the recovery features to work with the 1.5 recovery image, so I’ll forgo that for now. If you don’t have a spiffy recovery image yet, I’ve packaged up the most recent recovery image from JFv1.43 as a separate update.

Here are a few screenshots showing Android 1.5 running :

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The above screenshot shows the virtual keyboard.

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Here, you can see the fresh new look of Android 1.5 Cupcake.

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This displays the Super User application.

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Click here for the entire list of screenshots.

Continue reading A Sneak Peak at JesusFreke’s Android 1.5 Cupcake

Google in trouble : sued over Android Tademark

Erich Specht, who owns a software company called Android Data Corp., has sued Google over the use of the name “Android” for its open-source operating system. He is seeking $94 million from Google and 46 other companies. The other 46 companies include Motorola, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Vodafone, etc. amongst others.

This is what Specht’s attorney, Martin Murphy has to say :

“Basically, it’s a stolen name. It’s our trademark, and Google is using it as if it’s theirs.”

Android Data Corp. is  a software firm that specializes in providing softwares that would help Web sites transfer data securely and efficiently. The developer started the company in the year 1998.

In the year 2000, he filed a request with PTO to trademark the word “Android Data”. His request was granted in the year 2002.

In October 2007, Google had filed a request to trademark “Android”. But the request was rejected, citing similarity to Specht’s trademark. Immediately, Google claimed that the company was voluntarily dissolved in the year 2004. The claim also said that the company was restarted later, but the firm’s website URL was not re-registered. PTO rejected the claim and also suspended Google’s trademark application last November.

Specht says, he did not take action till now, as he thought that “Android” was just a mobile phone. But as soon as he realised that it was an operating system, he filed a suit.

Both the companies have filed for trademark in “International Class 009,”which covers computer software and hardware. This is the main issue behind this tussle.

Specht’s company is registered with the name “Android Data”, and google has used “android”. But according to Specht, the word “Data” is just descriptive.

Now, Specht and his lawyer need to prove that if Google continues to use the name “Android” for its operating system, it could hamper the image of his (Specht) company in the market and also that there is a possibility of people getting confused over the two similar names. And, this could lead to people considering his small company to be a copy-cat of the bigger company “Google”.

Murphy plans to file a temporary restraining order seeking a preliminary injunction as soon as Thursday. If the order is issued, Google will have to pull off its Android products (currently, only the T-mobile G1 and the HTC Magic, which has been launched in Europe) from the market. And, it would be able to resell those products only if the packaging and brand name are revamped.

But, the expected result is a settlement. Probably, Specht’s company would be given some credit for the name “Android”. It could even be a disclaimer, stating “Android is a registered trademark of Erich Specht/Android Data Corp.”

click here for complete details of the suit.

Continue reading Google in trouble : sued over Android Tademark

Use your Android as a Metal Detector

If I tell you that you can now use your Android powered device as a metal detector, would you believe me ? I guess, your answer is a big “NO”. But what if I give u a proof ?

Yes, what you just read is true. There is an application known as “Metal Detector” that actually turns your Android phone into a metal detector. Here’s a video showing the application in running mode :

We are not sure about how the device detects any metal that is placed before it. But I guess, it uses the compass to detect any metal that comes its way.

via androidguys

Google I/O : Android Development Event of the year

Dan Morill has been heard talking quite a lot about Google I/O, which he says, would be the Android Development event of the year. It is scheduled to be held on May 27-28, in San Fransisco.  It is an annual gathering which focuses on taking the development of web applications to new heights, using Google and open web technologies.

It offers more than 80 sessions on various topics, like Android, Chrome, App Engine, Google Web Toolkit, AJAX to name a few.

If we talk about Android in particular, currently 9 topics have been shortlisted, which include :

  • Turbo-charge your UI: How to Make your Android UI Fast and Efficient
  • Pixel Perfect Code: How to Marry Interaction and Visual Design the Android Way
  • Supporting Multiple Devices with One Binary
  • Android Lightning Talks
  • Debugging Arts of the Ninja Masters
  • Coding for Life — Battery Life, That Is
  • Writing Real-Time Games for Android
  • Looking Beyond the Screen: Text-To-Speech and Eyes-Free Interaction on Android
  • Mastering the Android Media Framework

Some of the prominent speakers at the do include Aaron Jacobs, Jesse Lorenz, Matt Cutts, Adam Feldman, Rich Manalang amongst others.

There is only limited registration. Also, you can save money and earn some chrome goodies by registering early ! (before May 1st).

Click here for more information.

Verizon announces its requirement for an “Android Devices Expert”

Verizon has announced on its career board, that it wants to employ an android devices expert.  This works in favour of the rumour that verizon is planning to launch an android powered phone soon.

The actual job offering is as follows :

“This is a senior specialist position for mobile devices on technical track. It will be responsible for end to end delivery of innovative java based mobile applications on existing or pre-commercial handsets with an initial focus on voicemail applications. It is also expected to drive application development; conduct required testing and provides production support.”

The responsibilities that he would have to handle, are :

  • Provide leadership to a team of designers and development engineers throughout the application development process
  • Lead multi-departmental teams in an effort to deploy and integrate voicemail services on devices
  • Manage relationships with device vendors and certification bodies, as well as internal marketing teams

Continue reading Verizon announces its requirement for an “Android Devices Expert”