Android 2.4 (Ice Cream) to be released in June or July 2011?

According to blog Pocket-lint, yes. The publication has filed a report citing “multiple sources familiar with the matter” stating that Android 2.4 — code named Ice Cream — will be released in June or July of this year. The mobile operating system’s nicknames are based on tasty dessert treats and are named in alphabetical order:

• Cupcake
• Donut
• Eclair
• Froyo
• Gingerbread
• Honeycomb
• Ice Cream

No details about potential new features or improvements were provided. What do you think? Does a June/July timeframe for Android 2.4 make sense to you?

Android App Review: Microsoft Tag Reader

Microsoft Tag lets you discover information and entertainment by scanning mobile barcodes with your phone. Download the Tag Reader, scan a Tag anywhere you see one – in a magazine, brochure, on product packages, signs or storefronts - and access information, videos, promotions, exclusive offers, and much more.


Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version 3.89.0
Updated: October 05, 2010
Publisher: Microsoft Tag
File Size: 328 KB
Downloads: >250000


Download

Android App Review: Barcode Scanner

Scan barcodes on products then look up prices and reviews. You can also scan Data Matrix and QR Codes containing URLs, contact info, etc.

Also share your contacts, apps, and bookmarks via QR Code. This is why contacts permissions are needed. See FAQ below.

NEW:

* Improved ITF support

* Added support for mirrored images

* Improved several translations

* Fixed all day calendar entries 

Rating: ****

Price: Free

Version: 3.53

Updated: January 10, 2011

Publisher: ZXing Team

File Size: 496 KB

Downloads: >250000

Download

CES 2011 (Consumer Electronics Show)

I will show you every day this week some of the best gadgets that was announced at the CES 2011 last week in Los Angeles. Keep on checking my blog every morning between 09:00 and 10:00 (Central African Time). Here is a few for today:

Things started out hot and heavy when ASUS announced four sexy tablets — the Eee Pad MeMO, Eee Pad Transformer, Eee Pad Slider and Eee Slate EP121. Ranging from a tiny Android note-taker to a full-blown 12-inch Windows 7-powered beast, ASUS had all the bases covered.

LG followed things up on Wednesday when it announced the “world’s thinnest smartphone,” the LG Optimus Black. Featuring Android 2.2, a stunning display and a case that is just 9.2mm thick, this sleek smartphone is definitely a stylish addition to LG’s lineup.

Speaking of slim and sexy, the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc slipped cover a bit early on Wednesday. Measuring 8.7mm thick at its narrowest point, this curved Gingerbread phone sports a 1GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera and a 4.2-inch touchscreen display. 

Samsung then revealed a Wi-Fi-only version of its Galaxy Tab tablet that will launch some time this quarter, likely making the tremendously popular device more attainable. And speaking of tablets, Microsoft won’t be sitting out forever when it comes to ARM architecture. A future version of its Windows OS will be compatible with ARM.

Motorola came out swinging this year at CES and beyond the devices mentioned above, Moto outted the DROID BIONIC — a dual-core 4G LTE phone. Motorola also unveiled the gorgeous Motorola XOOM tablet, which is an Android 3.0 Honeycomb slate with a 10.1-inch display and a dual-core processor.

The LG G-Slate features HSPA+ connectivity and Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS. Also announced the sequel to the Motorola CLIQ, the Motorola CLIQ 2 , and the Dell Streak 7 Android tablet. Dell hasn’t had a terribly large presence at the show, though it did announce a sexy new Android phone — the Dell Venue.

So make sure you don't miss the other gadgets I share this week!!!

Android App Review: Blogger-droid

Simple Blogger client.

You can create/view/edit/delete blog posts. Post comments to published blog posts. Upload picture(s) and video(s). Share pictures, videos, YouTube clips, links etc.

Client for blogger.com (blogspot.com).

Ad-free and signature free version available.

Recent changes:
Share published posts via Twitter, Facebook etc 


Rating: ****
Price: Free
Version: 1.6.5
Updated: November 05, 2010
Publisher: Anders Hedström
File size: 217 KB
Downloads: 50000-250000


Download

Android Market to require content ratings on apps

A recent post by Google seems to indicate that the company will require application content ratings on all present and future applications listed in the Android Market.

“Please use our application ratings to help users determine whether your application and its content is appropriate for them,” reads the post. “This includes all the content in your app, including user generated content and ads, and content that your app links to.”

Applications can be rated all, pre-teen, teen, or mature and Google notes that “hate speech” is not permitted in the Android Market; Google is also mandating that applications that use location not be categorized for allusers. There are several other category pre-requisites. Hit the jump to have a look at all of them.

Android App Review: Advanced Task Killer

Advanced Task Killer is also known as ATK. It is a tool to kill applications running. 


Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 1.9.3
Added: October 28, 2009
Publisher: ReChild
File size: 92 KB
Downloads: >250000




Download

Acer comes out swinging; 7 and 10-inch Android tablets due in April 2011

Today, at a planned media event, hardware manufacture Acer officially jumped into the Android tablet space by announcing two new future offerings. The company will offer both a 7 and 10.1-inch Android tablet that will begin shipping in April of 2011.

The 7-inch tablet boasts a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, HDMI output, a 1280 x 800 screen resolution, Flash 10.1 support, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, and an “HD” front-facing camera for video calling/chat.

The 10.1-inch model will have a 1GHz processor, along with a 5 megapixel camera, a 1280 x 800 screen resolution, an HDMI output, and Flash 10.1 support.

Acer announces nameless 4.8-inch Android smartphone; April 2011 launch

Acer announced Tuesday that it will launch an Android smartphone in the second quarter of 2011. The massive device will feature a 4.8-inch 1024 x 480-pixel touchscreen display, a 1GHz processor, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, HSDPA 14.4, DLNA, Dolby sound and more. According to Acer, the device will be “100% phone and 100% tablet.” No pricing was announced for this tall drink of water but more details should trickle in over the next few months. Hit the break for Acer’s press release.

Samsung sells 600,000 Galaxy Tab units worldwide

If you build it, they will come. According to a report from Korean newspaper The Korean Herald, Samsung has confirmed global sales numbers for its virgin tablet offering. In its first month of availability, the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab has sold 600,000 units — likely making it the most popular Android tablet in the world. Samsung is reportedly pleased with the Galaxy Tab’s performance in its premier month, saying demand outpaced supply in most markets. In Samsung’s home market in Korea, the company sold 30,000 Galaxy Tabs in the tablet’s first week of availability. Interestingly, Apple’s iPad is set to launch on November 30th and according to The Korean Herald, the company has already taken 40,000 pre-orders in less than a week.

I want one!!!

Android App Review: Facebook for Android

Facebook for Android makes it easy to stay connected and share information with friends. You can share status updates from your home screen, check out your News Feed, review your upcoming Events, look at your friends’ walls and user info, upload photos, share links, check your Inbox, and view posted videos.

Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 1.4.1
Added: October 28, 2009
Publisher: Facebook
File size: 2.47 MB
Downloads: >250000

Download 

AppBrain v5 Now Available, But Fast Web Install Broken

The popular Android Market alternative AppBrain launched v5 of their mobile app today, bringing a slew of new features. First among those features is a double-edged sword, though. Version 5 integrates the Fast Web Installer into the main app as a preference setting, rather than having a separate app. Unfortunately, Google’s newest update of the official Android Market has broken the Fast Web install feature. In response to this, the AppBrain blog says, “Google is pushing out this update to all devices now, so we don’t know how long the fast web installer will still be relevant. (You can uninstall updates of the market to make fast web installer work again, but it seems the update keeps reinstalling automatically).” We’ll have to wait and see if the fast web installer can make a comeback, or if Google has plans to keep it for themselves with today’s promised upgrade of the Market or in Gingerbread.

AppBrain v5 also brings with it a desktop widget. A simple 1×1 widget offering a Fast Sync button and a search button, which is a nice addition. The update also brings the website’s “Related Apps” feature to the mobile app, as well as the option to write your own reviews, search for users, “fresh” recommendations, and Facebook single sign on. Overall, AppBrain is much faster to load up as well.

The Related Apps feature is a very welcome addition, as are the options to write reviews and search for users. However, I still find the recommendations by AppBrain to be pretty useless. AppBrain always recommends the same 20 popular apps regardless of what I install or uninstall. And, when I remove those unwanted apps from the recommendation list, even though there are somewhere around 100,000 apps in the Android Market, the list stays empty.

Overall, a very nice update from a great app. Let’s hope the Fast Web Installer can make a comeback.

Android App Review: Foursquare

Foursquare helps you find new ways to explore your city. See where your friends are, learn about the places they frequent and unlock rewards as you travel.

Join over four million other Foursquare users around the world!

Rating: ****
Price: Free
Version: 2010-11-12
Added: October 27, 2009
Publisher: foursquare
File size: 815 KB
Downloads: >250000

Download 

Angry Birds preparing lighter version for weaker phones

Though developer Rovio Mobile has taken pains to make Angry Birds compatible with as many phones as possible, people have still reported a great deal of lag and problems on certain devices. Rovio has responded to those problems by finally relenting and deciding to build a lighter version of Angry Birds that will be optimized for less-capable phones.

QVGA screens and legacy devices with older processors will be better equipped to handle the upcoming version of Angry Birds. Rovio promises to keep both versions on par with the amount of levels, but the code will be re-done to improve the fluidity of game play.

Rovio is also exploring how it can resolve the issues that users are reporting with the in-game ads. Angry Birds has been available for free because the game is ad supported, but the recent update repositioned ads to the top-right corner, which has proven to be distracting and possibly contributing to the slower performance. I asked Rovio if there would be an option to remove ads by purchasing a premium version of the app but received no response.

Here’s a list of the devices currently not supported. The game may load on some of these phones, but it might not be a good experience. Also keep in mind that Rovio does not support custom ROM’s or anything below Android 1.6.

Droid Eris
HTC Dream
HTC Hero
HTC Magic/Sapphire/Mytouch 3G
HTC Tattoo
HTC Wildfire
Huawei Ideos/U8150
LG Ally/Aloha/VS740
LG GW620/Eve
Motorola Backflip/MB300
Motorola Cliq/Dext
Samsung Acclaim
Samsung Moment/M900
Samsung Spica/i5700
Samsung Transform
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini
T-Mobile G1
T-Mobile G2

Android App Review: TweetDeck

TweetDeck is your mobile browser for staying in touch with what's happening on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Buzz. TweetDeck makes it easy to stay up to date and organized no matter where you are.

TIP: Touch the column header to jump to the top!

Rating: ****
Price: Free
Version: 1.0.2
Added: October 13, 2010
Publisher: TweetDeck Inc
File size: 639 KB
Downloads: >250000

Download 

Gadgenator reaches 114 Pageviews today so far

Thanks for everyone who visits my blog every day. I try to get give you the latest news daily. I also post a Android App Review for all those Android users who wants only the best applications on their phones. When I started blogging at the end of August 2010, I got a daily amount of 40 pageviews. Now I get a daily amount of 90 pageviews. Yesterday I got 97 pageviews and today so far 114.

My 8.ta is here in South Africa! article got the most pageviews. I get most of my traffic from Google, but also from the blog Android ZA Forum. Most of my audience are from firstly the United States, South Africa, United Kingdom, South Korea, Russia, Canada and France. Pageviews from browsers are mostly from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and last Opera. Pageviews from operating systems are mostly from Windows and then Mac. I get some pageviews from Blackberry and iPhone users.

Please take my Survey and let me know exactly what you like and would like on my blog. Also feel free to comment on my posts. Join me on Facebook & Twitter. Follow me on the blog with your Twitter or Google username. Take the poll on the bottom right panel, and let me know what mobile phone do you use.

Keep on visiting Gadgenator!

Google Chrome Smartbook

While there has been much talk about smartbooks, they kind of never materialized. While the exact definition can vary, what sets them apart from netbooks is that they use a Linux based OS, and have an ARM chip, rather than the x86 one. And they are supposed to be even cheaper.

Google had promised that their Chrome browser would form the basis of a smartbook, and in fact would release a Chrome OS. While this did not seem too realistic at first, with the increasing acceptance, and even popularity of Google Android in the smartphone space, an Android based Chrome OS, running on a smartbook device could be quite popular.

It is expected that this smartbook will be released later this month, and the device will not be sold in normal retail channels.

LG Android Tablet PC

Hot on the heel’s of Samsung’s success with their Galaxy, it looks like LG is heading towards the tablet market. The specs are to have an 8.9″ display, and use Android 3.0, the upcoming release. It is the “Honeycomb” OS, which is reportedly optimized for the tablet market, unlike current implementations. With the success of the Galaxy, it is not surprising that LG will enter this space. The product, yet unnamed, is expected for 2011.

Google launches improved mobile editor for Google Docs

If you’re a Google Docs user you’re going to love this news. Google has announced a new and improved Docs mobile editor that will be rolled out over the next several days. The new layout makes mobile document editing easier and more fluid, and allows for collaboration from other Docs users on mobile devices or desktops. If you happen to be sporting an Android handset, you also have the option to use the OS’ built-in speech-to-text functionality for verbal entry. There is video demoing the new hotness waiting for you after the break.

Android App Review: Shazam

 Start your music journey now with Shazam to discover, buy & share music. This free app gives you 5 tags each month to identify music anywhere, plus:

•Shazam Widget: Tag straight from your home screen
•Read track reviews and artist info
•Share Tags on Twitter & Facebook
•See what’s popular with Tag Chart & Shazamers Blog

Recent changes:
v2.5:
Shazam Widget: Tag straight from your home screen and discover songs Shazamers around the world are tagging with our live Tag Stream. Add tracks you like to your Tag list and watch music videos.

v2.1:
Off-line Tagging
Update of Facebook Connect
Removed unnecessary permissions

Rating: *****
Price: Free
Version: 2.5.0-BB70125
Added: October 28, 2009
Publisher: Shazam Entertainment Limited
File size: 999 KB
Downloads: >250000


Download