Skype is still not available on most Android phones
The Skype application is still missing in action for most Android users.
After a private screening of the movie “The Social Network” on Friday in Redwood City, I chat with someone from Skype that assured me the VOIP application was already available for my phone.
At that point, I though that it was game over for Palo Alto, Calif.-startup Tango that just launched at GigaOM’s Mobilize conference, a Skype-like app for smartphones (Android and iPhones) which does audio and video calls over the data network (3G or WiFi).
But when I checked back this morning to do a Skype call with my Android phone (Nexus One on T-Mobile), I realised the Skype app is still only available to Android phones on the Verizon network. Bummer!
So I decided to try out Tango for my all my VOIP calls and have fun with the video calling feature that is, in many ways similar to the Apple iPhone 4 FaceTime video phone call application… but for the rest of us! More on Tango later.
Skype better get its act together, sooner rather than later. Because, although it takes 2 to Tango, Skype might just not be part of the dance for very much long!
Inspite media reports, HP has no plans to shelve Palm smartphones.
“On the contrary,” insists Tim Pettitt, Palm’s senior product manager of smartphones at a briefing today in San Francisco, Calif. “Palm is going to be the mobility play for HP!”
Expect to see more smartphones coming from HP/Palm as well new mobile devices such as tablets/slates, printers and netbooks, all powered by the company’s mobile operating system, WebOS.
“Our goal is really to expand the form factor. We built WebOS to go on any device. So we knew we’re going to move off smartphones eventually… So definitely you’ll keep seeing things new coming out from Palm.”
It’ll be interesting to see if HP/Palm is able to break in the smartphone market, today dominated by Apple’s iPhone, Google Android and RIM. But you can forget about Nokia. The Finnish company just doesn’t get mobile Internet.
If there is one thing that does some serious damage to anyone’s reputation it is talking about ideas and rolling back on them. It is absolutely immature and unprofessional and HP is doing exactly that by drawing back on its Android bases Slate. This follows the earlier withdrawal of the Windows 7 based tablet back in April.
What’s even more astonishing is the fact that this Android based tablet was set to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2010. Sources state that the tablet might be delayed by quite some time and release much later than expected. Why is this being done?
Primarily all wisdom has come crashing on HP to focus on one operating system at a time, and for now they will be concentrating all efforts on the WebOS based Slate.
Sounds reasonable, given the fact that they are emphasizing more on the research and development for the WebOS, as well as increasing expenditure on the same for both R&D and marketing.
I am just a little baffled on why they didn’t begin with a focus solely on the WebOS; especially when they want to broaden the purpose of the platform to expand beyond smartphones and into notepads/tablets arena. I would have preferred sticking to this strategy alone, experiment the design and interface with one operating system, perfect it and then head forward designing or adding support with the Windows 7 or the Android based device.
This shift in strategy and focus, would also help HP concentrate on the applications for the device which is quite essential for obvious reasons: you don’t want your consumers staring at iPad owners boasting about the countless applications they have while they sit with their Slate and a limited editions for apps.
SF App Showcase organiser, Seth Socolow (left) and event moderator Ben Parr of Mashable.com
Larger and more organised than “meetups” but more casual than larger run conferences, SF AppShow was started by boot-strapped mobile app publisher SF App Studio, to help fellow developers market their mobile apps.
SF AppShow is one those popular “micro-events” that are mushrooming in and around San Francisco, Calif. SF New Tech being another one.
“We needed a venue like this so app developer can come, show off their stuff to a lot of people in person, as well using social media and live video streaming to get this out to a much larger audience,” said Seth Socolow, the co-founder of SF App Studio and the event’s organiser.
Ben Parr of Mashable.com was hosting last night’s event where the following 6 new and upcoming mobile apps were showcased:
So far, most of the apps showed at these events focus on the iPhone and more recently the iPad. But curiously, no Android apps yet!
“We actually haven’t seen any applications of native Android apps yet. It kind of surprised me. I would have expected by now we would. I think still there aren’t many people making any real money on Android but it’s going to come. It’s just taking a little while longer,” adds Socolow.
With the economy expected to continue improving, analyst firm Forward Concepts forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 24% for Smartphones to the 496 million unit level in 2014.
Follows some of the key findings of the Forward Concepts latest study.
Smartphone shipments worldwide grew 18% in 2009 to 171 million units at a $67 billion level. The Smartphone semiconductor and display revenue reached $11.7 billion.
Nokia continued to lead Smartphone shipments in 2009, with a market share of 36.4%, followed by RIM at 19.4%, Apple at 14.9% and HTC at 6.3%. Sharp follows with a 3.5% market share, then Samsung at 3.4%. 18 other Smartphone vendors constitute the remaining 20% share.
Western Europe has overtaken Japan to be the leader in Smartphone consumption, with a 23% 2009 market share. However in 2010, North America is forecast to become the leading Smartphone market, driven by iPhone and Android phones, with a 22% share, closely followed by Western Europe at 21.6%, and fast-growing China at 17%.
Symbian continues to be the leading Smartphone operating system, with an estimated 43% unit market share in 2009, while RIM’s Blackberry OS (19%) and Apple’s OS X (15%) has supplanted Microsoft Windows Mobile (13%) for the #2 and #3 positions. Linux variants, including Android, reached 8%, followed by, Palm’s WebOS with 2%. In 2014, Forward Concepts analysts predict that Android will grow to the #2 position, followed by OS X in 2014.
Google invites the media on Jan 5th to show its Nexus One
The mystery surrounding Google’s Nexus One Android smartphone launch date is finally solved: it will be Tuesday, January 5th.
Today, Google sent out a media invite to attend an “Android press gathering” at its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
“With the launch of the first Android-powered device just over a year ago, we’ve seen how a powerful, open platform can spur mobile product innovation. And this is just the beginning of what’s possible,” reads the invite.
In a related news, TmoNews reported that wireless carrier T-Mobile confirmed the upcoming Android device will be “sold solely by Google via the Web,” and that “support for this device including troubleshooting and exchanges will be managed by Google and HTC [the maker of the Nexus One].”
Pricing is not known yet.
Just like Apple in prior years, Google’s announcement will certainly steal some thunder from CES (Consumer Electronics Show) which officially opens in Las Vegas, 2-days later.
TmoNews managed to grab this screen capture from T-Mobile's internal site confirming the launch of Google's latest smartphone
DoubleTwist has been characterized as an iTunes for Android, Google’s phone software.
DoubleTwist also hints at Xbox support
But it is more. That’s because the desktop software also works with the Palm Pre, the Blackberry, Nokia phones, the Kindle and the Sony PSP, acting as a management center for music and media the way iTunes does. Want to share with another device? Just drag and drop. DoubleTwist is multi-platform
Now founder Monique Farantzos says the service is coming to the cloud. Within “months” DoubleTwist will allow content to be uploaded and stored on DoubleTwist servers for portable access, Farantzos said late last week during a presentation at an SDForum event.
She also suggested DoubleTwist’s list of compatible devices would soon include Microsoft’s Xbox game console.
The 20-person company has been creating a storm of interest – in addtion to $7.5 million in venture capital from the likes of Index Ventures.
Its software has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times since in launched in February, according to a post last month on TechCrunch.
Google gave away to all conference attendees an HTC Magic with a 1-month voice/data service from T-Mobile. So far, the phone was only available in Europe from Vodaphone affiliates.
Earlier this afternoon, Google started giving away the HTC Magic Android smartphone to all conference attendees, including press, bloggers, etc.
The phone which supports Android 1.5 (cupcake) also comes with a temporary 1-month voice/data plan from T-Mobile (which does not carry the HTC Magic yet) that includes:
2,000 anytime nationwide (US) minutes (no international calling)
1,500 outgoing text messages (SMS)
1,000 incoming text messages (SMS)
Unlimited data
After the 1-month trial period, T-Mobile is supposed to contact me to purchase their service. I’m already on T-Mobile, using a G1.
It’ll be interesting to compare both Android-phones, despite my decision to keep using the G1 for its poor but present physical keyboard!
Inspite the shorter week because of the Memorial Day long weekend, this week still end up being incredibly busy. Here are some of the events our team of reporters will be following:
Tuesday: Intel is having a “deep dive” briefing on it’s Nehalem EX server chip for the very high-end server market. We’ll stay in San Francisco for the SF New Tech event featuring Belgian startups.
Wednesday: Again in San Francisco for Google’s developer conference (I/O). We have signed up for the enterprise and Android media roundtables on Wednesday, but expect more coverage on other Google “properties” like Gmail and the Chrome web browser on Thursday. We’ll also attend Alioscopy 42” HD LCD display with autostereoscopic 3D demonstration event at Autodesk’s new Gallery of Design at One Market “Landmark Building.”
Thursday: Still at Google I/O and we’ll also follow what’s happening at the Wall Street Journal’s D conference where a lot of the leaders in tech (except perhaps for Arianna Huffington:) will be speaking since Wednesday.
Friday: We’ll try to catch up with serial entrepreneur Philippe Kahn (now involved in anything using sensors) at the University of California Santa Cruz where he’ll be giving a talk on innovation.
Intel is taking aim at Android with a project to port Google's handset software on Moblin Linux
Will Google Android and Intel’s Moblin Linux ever merge?
As crazy as it sounds, that’s exactly what Intel executives suggested at a recent meeting with Wall Street analysts.
The beta version of open source project Moblin 2.0 – Intel’s own flavor of mobile Linux for smartphones and netbooks - is expected to be released this week.
“Moblin is really for non-Windows usae models, mostly handset focus. It’s a complete experience, a complete stack, all the way to the user experience for full Internet experience with MIDs and also for some particular usage models of netbooks,” said Intel software chief, Renee James.
Intel’s secret plan is to then “port” the Google Android framework onto Moblin, in a move to further unify the mobile Linux distributions but also leverage Google’s eco-system.
“Our intention is to port Android on top of Moblin, so that it has all the goodness of the IA optimizations and all the applications base that Google is developing around Android,” adds Intel CEO Paul Otellini.
Moblin: a snack and go Internet experience!
Intel promises a “boot time” of 7 seconds with Moblin, from start to Web.
Nokia has recently joined the Moblin project to specifically work on the telephony piece, while OpenedHand – a UK-based company Intel acquired last September – is focusing on the user experience.
“Google Android user experience on a netbook is simply not good,” confided James.
With Android netbooks coming out this year, that’s certainly makes for an interesting challenge between Intel and Google!
Here’s a video clip of Intel’s Otellini and James comments on Moblin and Android:
Can anyone @IBM fix the WiFi network at #IOD11 ? It's been terrible for the past 2 days and everybody I talked just can't stand it anymore 7 months ago
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