gadget maniac | Nexus Android 2.2.2

gadget maniac | Nexus One gets tiny update to Android 2.2.2, fixes SMS routing issues

Not to be outdone by its Samsung successor, the Nexus One's getting a miniature over-the-air update as well, sending users on a mind-bending ride from Android 2.2.1 (version FRG83D) to the FRG83G build of Android 2.2.2. When they emerge thoroughly dazzled and confused on the other side, what will they find? We spoke to Google and it's just a few bug fixes, but one of them's rather important -- this update will go down in the annals of history as the one that doesn't inadvertently send humorous texts intended for your co-workers to your deathly serious boss. Oh, and if that sounds like something you'd like to have immediately, rather than waiting for a formal rollout, you can find the file you need at Google's servers right now.

Problem With Android Updates

Problem With Android Updates, Samsung Galaxy Phones Are Stuck in the Past

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Android device, there's a good chance you're expecting an update to the second-most-recent release of Android, version 2.2, aka Froyo. It has not arrived! A purported insider explains why. Short version: Money. Updated.

Update: Samsung's official response:

"Samsung does not charge carriers for updates to new versions of Android.

We are working to make the Android 2.2/Froyo upgrade available to all U.S. Galaxy S owners as soon as possible. Due to the complexity and unique functionality of each Galaxy S device, we are performing additional testing. Samsung feels it is important to make the Android 2.2/Froyo upgrade available only after we feel that we can give the millions of U.S. Galaxy S owners a simple and reliable upgrade experience."

As commenter The Samsung Secret tells it on XDA developers, there are a few kinds of updates for phones. Namely, critical, maintenance and feature updates. Phonemakers develop and release them, based on a contract they sign with a carrier. Critical updates, resolving a crazy bug are provided to carriers from phonemakers for free; maintenance updates, the routine ones, "have some maintenance fee associated with them"; and finally, according to their account, feature updates, which add new things, "are usually costly."

According to him (or her!), Samsung considers major Android updates to be a feature update, and "requires carriers to pay a per device update fee for each incremental Android update." (Unlike other major Android phonemakers, who this person says do not charge for Android updates. And indeed, we verified with a major Android phonemaker that they don't charge carriers for big Android releases, so this is not routine.) Anyway, according to this person, carriers don't want to pay for these updates. Or as they put it, "all U.S. carriers have decided to refuse to pay for the Android 2.2 update, in hopes that the devaluation of the Galaxy S line will cause Samsung to drop their fees and give the update to the carriers."

It's worth noting the definite facts at hand: Samsung's international Galaxy phones have been updated to 2.2—it's just the US ones that are stuck on 2.1. And Samsung been resoundingly opaque on when the updates are coming.

We've reached out to some carriers, along with Samsung, for some comment on the allegations, but haven't heard anything as of press time. If they have to something to add, we'll update. Whatever the case may be, one thing's certainly true: The update to Android 2.2 hasn't arrived for Samsung phones, even though it has for others, and some vocal portion of Galaxy owners are beginning to get antsy.

(Feel free to make your own comments about the irony of Samsung making the Nexus S, the only device running the latest, best version of Android.) [XDA developers via Lifehacker]

Send an email to matt buchanan, the author of this post, at matt@gizmodo.com.

Gadget Maniac | Apple COO Tim Cook Dismisses Android Tablets As “Bizarre”

Apple’s iPad is a hit. The company sold 7.3 million iPads in the December quarter of 2010, a 75 percent increase from the previous quarter. But judging from all the Android tablets announced at CES, it is about to face an onslaught of competition. So far, though, Apple COO Tim Cook has “no concerns” with the tablets that are out there today, and goes so far to call current Android tablets “bizarre.” On today’s Apple earnings call, Cook characterized the competition as falling into two buckets: Windows-based tablets, which are “big, heavy and expensive” and suffer from “weak battery life,” and current Android tablets, which are “scaled-up” smart phones.

Here is his response to the question, based on MG’s notes:

Q: What about iPad competitors?

TC: There’s not much out there as you know. There are two kinds of groups today (in the market) — the ones using a Windows-based operating system. They’re big, heavy and expensive. Weak battery life. Need keyboard or stylus. From our point of view, customers aren’t interested in that.

Then you have the Android tablets. The variety shipping today, the OS wasn’t designed for a tablet — but Google said this. So you wind up having the size of a tablet that’s less than reasonable. Or one that’s not even a real tablet experience. It’s a “scaled-up smartphone” – that’s a bizarre product in our view. Those are what is shipping today. If you do a side-by-side with an iPad, some enormous percentage are going to pick the iPad. We have no concern there.

In terms of next generation. There’s nothing shipping yet. So I don’t know. “Today they’re vapor.” However, we’re not sitting still. We have a huge first-mover advantage. And a huge user advantage from iTunes to the App Store. Huge number of apps and an ecosystem. We’re very confident entering into a fight with anyone.

He thinks Apple is just scratching the surface in terms of fulfilling demand for tablet computing. He notes that there is interest across the gamut from consumers to enterprises.

Android

Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle coming to Android

35

Things are looking up for game-loving Android owners. First, we unveiled the Android version of the Joystiq app and now, much less interestingly, PopCap reveals that both Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies are headed to Android as well. Posting on Twitter, PopCap's Jeff Green uploaded images of both games running on an Android device. In response to another Tweet, Green also stated that the games won't be supported by ads, but will "probably" be sold via "the various marketplaces."

We've contacted PopCap to see if we can dig up any more information. We'll plant an update right here if we hear anything.

Update: PopCap isn't sharing details on its upcoming Android titles, saying only that they are "coming along" and that the first titles -- not necessarily Plants vs. Zombies or Peggle -- should launch in Q2 2011

Asus OiPlay Mini

Asus O!Play Mini Specifications and Price

Asus launches mini version of the popular O!Play multimedia player. Despite its small size, many supported formats and has a HDMI video output. More Asus O!Play Mini Specifications.

Asus has recently extended its known range of media players by introducing Asus O!Play Mini , a compact version of the most generous O!Play HD2. Despite its small size and lack of USB 3.0 (this is a USB 2.0 classic), O!Play Mini still manages to provide a rich multimedia experience, with the ability transfer a video signal to FullHD output resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) to external high-definition televisions.

The new model created by the Asus also has a versatile card slot for SD/MMC/MS/XD which boosts the storage capacity and playback of audio video content. Among other connections, we find a RCA jack and the S/PDIF multi-channel audio.

As expected, there are many formats. These include MP4, MOV, XVID, AVI, ASF, WMV, MKV and FLAC just to name a few. As for image formats, citing the JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF and TIFF. Asus O! Play Mini stands out from the media for the wide range of subtitle formats including SRT, SUB, SMI, IDX + SUB, SSA and TXT.

The Asus O!Play Mini has a Dolby Digital AC3 in 7.1 channel integrated and is compatible with TrueHD technology, DTS-HD and DTS 2.0 +. From this point of view, the player allows playback of audio with a high quality that goes well with its qualities of digital entertainment.

Besides any consideration of technical, compact dimensions and light weight are the main advantage of the Asus box. , Measuring 152 mm in width, 107 mm in length and 29 mm in height to 175 grams in total.

Asus O!Play, designed in a simple and sober, somewhat particular but can be easily matched to any decor and ambience, is expected during the first months of next year at a guide price of 90 dollars, equivalent to about 70 € .

gadget maniac | Appsfire For Android Offers Alternative App Browsing Method

Parallel app markets are beginning to spring up all over the Android platform, what with special app packs and stores for carriers and manufacturers, and devices like the Nook Color coming out that specifically limit functionality. But if you’re on a plain ol’ Android phone, you’re generally going to be going to the plain ol’ Android Market for your apps. And although the newly-announced changes to the interface make it more attractive, it’s still not the best for discoverability.

I’ve found AppShopper to be a useful tool on my iPad for seeing a random sample of weird and price-shifted apps, and Appsfire might — might — be the equivalent of that on Android, if they can get their interface under control.

The main screen is a constantly shifting set of app conveyor belts ostensibly showing off what’s new, what’s popular, and so on. But without names or descriptions, the icons are almost meaningless, except for ones whose graphics you recognize, and in that case you probably already know about the app. The Discover tab shows much of the same stuff but in a list format, and is similarly information-rich, with many controls and arrows and instructions. My impression is that the casual Android user will be mystified by the busy UI.

For the seasoned user, though, there is a lot of handy information. Being able to favorite a few apps to wait for a price drop, or bulk install/uninstall a few to try out are great, and quite easy to do.

AppsFire is promising, but at the moment, the interface is too busy to do what it needs to be doing: show off the apps themselves. You should be able to download it on Monday via this link. Recommended for power users who want a more robust app tracking engine than what Google has provided.

Nokia to Fight Back in Smartphones, but Without the Android OS

While Nokia continues to struggle in the US mobile market, the Finnish-based company has voiced plans to "fight back" in the smartphone space, and it won't be adopting Google's Android OS for any of its phones.
"I am committed, perhaps even obsessed, with getting Nokia back to being number one in high-end devices. Achieving this will require performance and efforts over and above the norm," wrote Anssi Vanjoki, head of a newly created Solutions unit at Nokia, in a recent blog post called "The Fightback Starts Now."
Despite the widening popularity of Android as an alternative application development platform to Apple's highly successful iPhone , the Android OS is not part of Nokia's roadmap, according to the new appointee.
"Symbian and MeeGo are the best software for our smartest devices. As such, we have no plans to use any other software. Despite rumors to the contrary, there are no plans to introduce an Android device from Nokia," he wrote.
Wireless Modem Deal Another Sign of Nokia's Urgency
Only days after Vanjoki's post, Nokia raised $200 million by selling off its wireless modem business to Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas. The deal with Renesas calls for 1,100 Nokia R&D staffers to be transferred to Renesas, in addition to an undisclosed number of patents around wireless modem technology.

This deal hardly represents the first time that Nokia has switched gears over the years. Originally established in 1865 as a paper mill, Nokiia has also played in myriad other industries, including cable, rubber, TVs, aluminum, and even footwear. Yet the selloff of Nokia's wireless modem arm seems to be another sign of the urgency of Nokia's intentions around catching up in smartphones.
Nokia Strives To Do Better in the U.S.
Although Nokia continues to dominate the world cell phone market, the Finnish company has kept lagging farther behind in the U.S. In one recent survey, for example, comScore ranked mobile phones based on their share of usage by current mobile subscribers aged 13 and over. For the three-month period ending April 30 of this year, Nokia fell 1 percentage point from January of this year to an 8.1% U.S. share, behind Samsung at 22.1%, LG at 21.8%, Motorola at 21.6%, and Research in Motion (RIM) at 8.4%.
Some analysts place the blame on Nokia's long-time refusal to go along with the desire of U.S. carriers for control over how cell phones look and behave. Nokia lost out before, for example, by clinging to a candy-bar-style form factor when U.S. consumers and phone companies started to prefer flip phones. Also, most Nokia phones have been designed to operate on the global standard, GSM, instead of the dominant U.S. standard, CDMA.
In recent years, Nokia has been singing a somewhat different tune, opening and maintaining offices in the U.S. to be close to the offices of AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile USA have all been selling Nokia feature phones.
New Nokia Smartphones
Yet Nokia has had little success bringing its best smartphones to U.S. carriers. Among the few exceptions to this are the Nokia E73 Mode recently released by T-Mobile and the Nokia E71x from AT&T.
These models include an HTML Web browser; GPS turn-by-turn voice navigation; e-mail and messaging; video sharing; and downloadable tools, games, and other apps.
For the most part, though, U.S customers interested in Nokia's smartphones had to buy them directly from Nokia, either at a Nokia retail store or over the Web, at unsubsidized pricing that might amount to $500 to $600.
In his blog post, Nokia's Vanjoki said that Nokia plans to release the Nokia N8, the first Nokia smartphone based on the Symbian 3 OS, over the coming months. "We also plan to deliver our first MeeGo device this year," he noted. Vanjoki did not say if or when these new smartphones will be offered through U.S. wireless carriers.

http://adf.ly/3tWk

What AT&T's tiered pricing means for you (FAQ)

AT&T's smartphone pricing overhaul, announced earlier this week, has ignited a heated debate among consumers, causing many to scratch their heads and wonder just what the shift means for them.

In a nutshell, AT&T has done away with its unlimited data plan and will now offer two-tiered data plan pricing. Some people are praising the carrier for offering a plan that aligns costs with customer data usage, while others call the company greedy and criticize it for potentially stifling future mobile application usage and innovation.

While many consumers will likely benefit from the new plan, some of AT&T's most rabid data users will likely pay more. In an effort to better explain the new pricing structure and provide a clearer explanation of what it means to wireless customers, CNET has put together this list of frequently asked questions.

Let's start with the basics. What is the new pricing plan that will go into effect for all AT&T smartphones starting June 7?
For $15 a month, the DataPlus plan offers smartphone customers 200 megabytes of data. If customers exceed 200MB in a monthly billing cycle, they receive an additional 200MB of data for $15 until the end of that billing cycle. For $25 a month, consumers sign up for the DataPro plan and get 2 gigabytes of data. If subscribers exceed 2GB during a billing cycle, they will be charged $10 for an additional 1GB of data.

Who will be subject to the new pricing?
This plan will affect new AT&T smartphone subscribers who sign up for service on or after June 7. Current smartphone subscribers, including iPhone and iPad customers who have already signed up for the $30 unlimited data plans, are grandfathered in. They can continue to use those unlimited plans until their contracts run out. But if they want to switch their plans to either the $15 or the $25 plan they can.

Once subscribers switch to the new plan, however, they will not be able to go back to the $30 all-you-can-eat plan. Anyone buying the new iPhone that is supposed to be released this summer will have to sign up for one of the new plans. And if current iPhone users want to tether an existing iPhone and use it as a modem, they must sign up for the $25 DataPro plan, plus pay an additional $20.

What happens if I go over my limit?
If you have the lower-cost DataPlus plan, you will be charged $15 if you go over the 200MB allotted data limit for that month. This means that regardless of whether you exceed your limit by 1MB or 100MB, you will be charged $30 for that month. If you exceed 400MB, you will be charged another $15 and your bill for that month will be $45.

If you are signed up for the 2GB DataPro plan and exceed your monthly cap, you will be charged $10 extra for an additional 1GB of data. This means that if you use between 2GB and 3GB of data your bill will be $35. If you use 4GB of data that month, it will cost you $45. And 5GB of data usage in a month will set you back $55, and so on.

This sounds kind of screwy. With the DataPlus 200MB plan I could potentially pay more for the month but get less capacity than if I had the DataPro plan? Is there any way to adjust the plan if I know I am going over?
AT&T representatives say you can change your plan proactively. This means you can be signed up for the DataPlus service, and if you know you are going over that limit, you can adjust your service online to avoid overage fees. So let's say you are signed up for the DataPlus plan and you see you are about to exceed your limit the first week of the month; you can upgrade to the DataPro service without resetting your contract. And you can move back down to the DataPlus service the next month if you want. The only drawback is that you have to manage your account manually to switch the plans back and forth.

How can I tell how much data I'm using?
Subscribers will be able to log in to their accounts and check usage online. All smartphone subscribers who sign up will also get e-mail and text message warnings when they are approaching 60, 90, and 100 percent of data usage in their package. In addition, subscribers will get warnings about how much of their overage allotment they have used. For example, they'll get a warning when they've used 75 and 100 percent of the overage allotment.

How much data does the average smartphone user actually consume in a month?
According to Nielsen, the average iPhone subscriber uses 400MB of data per month. But all other smartphone users typically use between 40MB and 80MB of data per month. AT&T says that on average, 65 percent of its customers use less than 200MB per month, and it claims 98 percent of its smartphone customers use, on average, less than 2GB of data per month.

But data usage is increasing, correct? So isn't it true that what people use today may not be what they use tomorrow?
Yes, the amount of data smartphone users consume has been increasing. In fact, according to BillShrink, a company that analyzes cell phone bills and advises people on the best service for their usage patterns, data consumption on smartphones has increased 3.5 times in the past 18 months.

In February of 2009, BillShrink found that 92 percent of all smartphone users consumed less than 200MB of data per month, said Schwark Satyavolu, CEO of BillShrink. In May 2010, the percentage of people consuming less than 200MB of data per month was 68 percent. In February 2009, only 7 percent of wireless smartphone subscribers used between 200MB and 2GB of data. In May 2010, that figure jumped to 30 percent.

Satyovolu said data usage is expected to continue to grow as more streaming applications become available. For example, Netflix and Skype are two applications that were recently approved for the iTunes App Store, and they consume a lot of data. He also said that devices like the iPad, which have bigger screens and more processing power, are expected to have increased data usage compared with smartphones.

So should average iPhone users be worried?
Not necessarily. Satyavolu thinks most iPhone users will still fall under the 2GB mark, at least for now. This means that if current users choose to switch to the 2GB plan or if they are just signing up for a new iPhone, they will likely save money over the previous pricing model.

"The vast majority of AT&T smartphone consumers will benefit from the new plans," Satyavolu said. "Most consumers will either get a small break or a big break on their data bill depending on their usage. But heavy users will be penalized."

Who will feel the most pain from these changes?
Those most affected by the change are the 3 percent of customers who AT&T says are using 40 percent of the network assets. These are heavy data users. It will also likely affect iPad users and customers who want to use their iPhone or smartphone as a modem to connect to the Internet wirelessly.

What kinds of applications would I be running and how often would I have to use them to reach the 2GB cap on my iPhone?
Any kind of streaming service consumes a lot of data. This includes music services such as Pandora and movie applications, like Netflix. Other applications that must be refreshed regularly, such as Google Maps, also eat up a lot of bandwidth. Skype, which allows for voice over IP calling, is another application that consumes a lot of bandwidth.

Satyavolu said that any of these applications in excess could get users close to the 2GB limit. For example, listening to Pandora for three to five hours at a time could be a problem. Watching one or two movies a day could also get your monthly usage close to the 2GB mark. Using Google Maps several hours a day every day could also almost reach that limit. Using Skype as the primary way to call people will also get consumers close to their data limit.

But Satyavolu emphasized that occasional use of these applications is all right.

"I wouldn't use Google Maps as my GPS for my delivery truck," he said. "And I wouldn't use Skype all the time to call all my friends, but using these applications in moderation is fine and most people won't have to worry about going over their 2GB limit."

Still, he admits that each of these services in moderation can also add up quickly.

"Most people won't have to worry about their usage much under current usage levels," he added. "But you have to remember that the average usage has gone up 3.5 times in the past year and a half. So if things continue on that path, then these limits could be an issue in the future."

If I am worried about my data usage, what can I do to make sure I don't go over my data limit?
The first thing you can do is surf the Web and use Internet-based applications in a Wi-Fi hot spot. AT&T has more than 20,000 public hot spots in places like Starbucks. Accessing these hot spots is free for all AT&T smartphone subscribers. You can also use Wi-Fi in your home or office. The service is faster and usage on these networks does not count toward your monthly 3G data consumption total.

Another strategy is to not download songs or applications on the 3G network. A song from iTunes, for example, can be anywhere between 1MB and 5MB. Applications also generally range between 2MB and 5MB. Whether users are buying apps for the first time or updating them, Satyavolu recommends not doing that over the 3G network where it counts against data usage.

What is the deal with tethering or using a smartphone as a modem?
For some time now, AT&T has allowed smartphone users, except those with iPhones, to use their phones as a modem to connect laptops to the Internet. AT&T charged an extra fee for this capability, and it capped the services at 5GB per month, which is the same limit it puts on its wireless Internet service that uses a device that plugs in to a laptop.

Under the new plan, AT&T is allowing tethering for the iPhone, in addition to other smartphones. But it has lowered the usage cap. Starting June 7, subscribers will pay $20 for the right to tether (even the iPhone), but they must also sign up for a $25 DataPro plan that is limited to 2GB of data per month. This usage is shared between the smartphone and the laptop.

That sounds like a pretty lousy deal. Am I missing something?
Yes, it's actually a terrible deal for consumers. It looks like AT&T is trying to discourage customers, especially iPhone users, from using their phones as modems. This is likely because laptops consume far more data on a wireless network than even an iPhone. And because AT&T is already having a difficult time keeping up with demand on its network, it makes sense that the company would want to curb usage before it even begins.

If most customers will actually benefit from this new pricing scheme, why are so many people angry?
Satyavolu believes people are so worked up about the new pricing plans because it reminds them what they hated about managing their cell phone bills when they only had to worry about voice minutes and roaming.

"We started our service to help people figure out how many voice minutes they needed," he said. "Now the unlimited plans are getting cheaper, but data is moving more toward being usage based. People remember this frustration and it just feels like the cell phone industry is after them."

WiMAX-enabled HTC Supersonic rumored to debut on Sprint at CTIA

There's hardly anything here that we didn't already know, but an unveiling date of "next week" sure catches our eye. A new report over at The Wall Street Journal confirms earlier details that were fed to us over Sprint's first-ever WiMAX smartphone, and now we're learning that the HTC Supersonic will be officially revealed to the world at CTIA next week. We've heard before that the carrier anticipates selling a 4G phone "this summer," but you can bet we'll be digging for a hard ship date and price tag when we hit the scene in Las Vegas in just five short days.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Wall Street Journal