July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Donut, Eclair, Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean: It’s enough to make Kate Moss hungry.

Google has released five major Android updates since 2010, most named for some kind of food. Today, Android’s developer site revealed that for the first time, more than 10 percent of Android smartphones in the market are running Jelly Bean, the latest version.

Source: Google

Android system distribution

A major developer complaint about Android has always been its version fragmentation. While iPhone users typically update their devices to new software versiosn from Apple very quickly, Google’s position as the provider of a free and open-source mobile operating system has led to much less power with carriers, who can in many cases block Android system updates.

That’s led to a situation in which the majority of Android smartphone owners are still using older versions of Android. In fact, 47.4 percent are still using Gingerbread, which Google released in December of 2010.

Google announced Jelly Bean in late June last year — a few days before the previous version, Ice Cream Sandwich, reached 10 percent penetration. That took almost nine months, which means that Jelly Bean’s achievement of the same level has happened significantly faster.

That’s at least some good news for developers, who have to keep multiple operating systems in mind while building apps.

Google still has a ways to go, however: In one day, Apple had higher uptake of iOS 6 than Google has achieved in six months.

The developer site for Android also revealed the latest data on screen sizes and resolutions. By far the majority of Android smartphones are now using high-density and “extra-high” density screens, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S III’s 306 pixels per inch, if not quite at the iPhone 5′s 326.

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography via photopin cc

Hat tip: The Verge

So in Skyfall, 007 is using a 13-megapixel-equipped Sony Xperia T, running Google’s Android mobile operating system.

Sony has launched phones with Bond before, showcasing the K800i in Casino Royale and the c902 in Quantum of Solace. Perhaps Skyfall will bring a big dollop of solace to Sony this year, as its latest earnings have shown widening losses.

After selling just 30 million phones in 2012 so far – Apple sold 27 million and Samsung sold 57 million in just the last quarter – Sony is aiming for 50 million for 2013.

Source: Sony

Sony Xperia T

Bond, James Bond, does not use the phone’s built-in NFC, but he does flash the camera in a not terribly subtle product placement. The Xperia’s impressive 13-megapixel camera is fully accessible just 1.5 seconds from standby, records in 1080P high-definition, and includes Sony’s face and smile detection technology. And Sony included a relatively recent version of Android in the 4.55″ smartphone: Ice Cream Sandwich.

One neat feature for Bond fans: Sony is apparently including some exclusive Skyfall behind-the-scenes footage, wallpaper, ring tones, and more.

After all, who wouldn’t want the Bond theme as their ringtone?

Image credit: Skyfall

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Sure, the iPhone 5 passed Samsung’s Galaxy S III in web traffic just three weeks after getting on the market. But does that say more about mobile operating systems and differences between Android and iPhone users than it says about device sales numbers?

Online ad network Chitika released a study this morning based on millions of mobile ad impressions across the Chitika network. Chitika added up all the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy SIII web traffic, and 56 percent of it is iPhone 5, while 44 percent is Galaxy S III.

The iPhone 5, of course, has been in the market for just a few weeks, while the S III was launched a few months ago. But here’s the question: Is this due simply to sales numbers or also to different user behavior?

I asked Chitika’s data engineer for his insights.

“The differences between iPhone and Android users boil down to a couple of things,” Chitika’s Gabriel Donnini told me. “First is demographics, which translates to behavioral tendencies, and the second is the functionality and accessibility of the device.”

While Chitika could not provide data about per-capita web usage between iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III, and it does not track individuals due to privacy concerns, the company definitely sees that iPhone users access web data much more frequently than Android users. After all, there are 20 million S IIIs to perhaps 10 million iPhone 5s in the market today.

But is it also a user interface/user experience difference?

Donnini said that while up until very recently the general consensus was that the iPhone user interface has been more accessible than Android, and that has led to usage pattern differences. But, he says, with the last few iterations, Android has caught up … and the Galaxy S III, of course, runs Ice Cream Sandwich (or Jelly Bean, for those who have updated).

But this still has one big difference, according to Donnini:

“With the iPhone you basically have to use the default browser, versus on Android you can between choose multiple browsers. The majority of people just want a seamless experience, and if you have that, you might be more willing to surf and share content.”

So iPhone users access the web more due to both demographics, and — possibly — the iOS 6 user experience. That makes sense, and it follows existing trends.

But we’ll know more about the specifics of that when Apple releases hard sales numbers.

photo credit: liewcf via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

In a move clearly meant to deflect attention from Apple’s iPhone 5 announcement today, Google has revealed that Android has reached a new milestone of 500 million activated devices.

Additionally, 1.3 million new Android devices are activated every day, Android director of product management Hugo Barra wrote in a Google+ post last night.

Those figures show significant progress since June at Google’s I/O developer conference, where the company announced 400 million Android devices were activated with 1 million additions daily.

There’s no question Android is winning the smartphone numbers game, but Google still has a lot to prove when it comes to adding that extra level of polish and making OS updates easily available. Android 4.1, AKA Jelly Bean, is the best version of Android yet, but according to Google’s statistics it only accounts for 1.2 percent of Android devices activated.

Meanwhile, only 20 percent of Android phones run Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich.”

Android could hit 1 billion total activated devices before the year is out, but I’m far more interested in Google figuring out a way to get the best version of its OS to consumers more efficiently.

Photo: Hugo Bara

Hoping to “revolutionize the display experience,” ViewSonic is launching a high-definition touch-screen monitor with an Android-based computer inside it.

It’s like an all-in-one desktop computer, but it’s not running Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Still, the display is aimed at consumers who want to do computing-like tasks such as surfing the web, engaging on social networks, and enjoying a bunch of Android apps.

The new VSD220 Smart Display has an dual-core ARM-based Texas Instruments OMAP 4 processor inside running Google’s Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) version operation system. The 22-inch screen can display images in full HD (1920 x 1080 resolution)

“The VSD220 Smart Display is engineered for today’s cloud connected world,” said Jeff Volpe, president of ViewSonic Americas. “ViewSonic is embracing the post-PC transition with what will be a full range of connected display solutions. For consumers, the VSD220 is perfect for surfing the web, engaging on social networks and enjoying a world of Android apps.”

He said that the display can be used in commercial settings such as signage, hospitality, point of information, and kiosks. And it does so without the cost of a full PC. The display will be available in North America in mid-to-late October for $399. The display can handle inputs from two fingers at a time, for a tablet-like web browsing experience. The company says the responsiveness of the screen is snappy and it can run videos and graphics-rich gaming apps without glitches. You can attach a keyboard and mouse through three universal serial bus (USB) ports or wireless connections. It has a Micro HDMI slot for connect a tablet or laptop. it also has a Micro SD card slot, an Ethernet jack, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology. It has a 1.2 megapixel webcam, speakers, and an integrated microphone.

“We are proud to see the leading capabilities of our OMAP 4 processor come to life on ViewSonic’s new VSD220 Smart Display,” said Ketan Malani, business development manager, OMAP platform business unit, Texas Instruments. “At home, at work and at play, consumers across all levels of the computing market demand full-HD capabilities, rich user interfaces, robust interactivity and other compelling features.”

ViewSonic, based in Walnut, Calif., is a big maker of PC and consumer electronics products. It was founded in 1987.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

While the Android buzz is now firmly focused on the recently unveiled Jelly Bean, the previous major update, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, has finally reached double-digit penetration in the market.

It’s a bittersweet victory, though, as it took 8.5 months since Android 4.0′s release to scrape together 10.9 percent of the Android market. Meanwhile, the majority of Android users (64 percent) are running the 15-month old Gingerbread update.

The latest statistics, gathered at Google’s Android developers website, won’t do much to satisfy critics who say that Android is horribly fragmented. Google has historically avoided forcing Android updates on device manufacturers, who usually need several months to tweak the software for their products.

At least the adoption of Android 4.0 seems to be speeding up. Last month, Google reported that only 7.1 percent of devices were running Android 4.0.

Come next month, Google will add Android 4.1 Jelly Bean statistics to its market report. That update will officially hit Nexus devices later this month, and it’ll give us some idea of how well Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet sells.

Via Android Police

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Streaming music service Spotify has massively updated its Android application with support for Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), a new navigation bar, an Android widget, and an option for higher sound quality, the company announced Tuesday.

Spotify is now available in 15 countries, and while its iPhone and new iPad app are quite good, the service has been considerably lacking on Android by comparison. Now that will be remedied by bringing its app to more Android devices and featuring a better overall interface.

“For all our Android users, this Spotify update is a huge leap forward, said Gustav Södertröm, VP Products at Spotify, in a statement. “We’ve rebuilt it from top to bottom, making it faster, slicker, and much better looking.”

The most important part of the update is that it will finally work with Android 4.0 devices, including awesome phones like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and HTC One X. The design and navigation are also much better than the prior version of the app. Finally, my personal favorite of the updates is the inclusion of “extreme” 320 kbps sound quality, which hit the iPhone earlier this year, and is something audiophiles will appreciate.

The company highlights the following updates to the app:

• Full support for Android 4.0
• All-new slide-out navigation
• Crossfade/gapless playback settings
• Widget – control Spotify from the home screen
• Folder support – organize and order your playlists
• Even more social – check out friends’ profile pages and playlists on the go
• Artist imagery in high resolution
• Related artist view – available for the first time on mobile
• ‘Extreme’ sound quality setting for 320 kbps listening
• Play queue
• Last.fm scrobbling

You should be able to download the app shortly from the Google Play store. You must be a premium subscriber ($10 per month in the U.S.) for the app to work on your phone.

Check out the gallery below for more pictures of the app:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Japanese phone-maker Kyocera has a long way to go before it can really penetrate the U.S. market in the smartphone realm, but its just-announced Rise smartphone — running Android 4.0 and sporting a pleasant physical keyboard — might help.

Kyocera introduced the new phone at the CTIA Wireless conference where we had a chance to test the device out and see what it has to offer. While the phone is not impressive in any one way, it’s a solid all-around package that will likely appeal to those on pre-paid carriers like Boost and MetroPCS.

The specs aren’t terribly impressive: the Kyocera Rise offers a 3.5-inch screen with 480-by-320 resolution, a 1-GHz processor, a 3.2-megapixel camera with LED flash, and a 1,500 mAh battery. Up close the screen looked terrible, with dull colors and a cheap-feeling plastic case. But on the plus side, the device is lightweight, the keyboard offers a nice typing experience, and its basic performance was fluid thanks to the Ice Cream Sandwich software.

The pre-paid market doesn’t get the sexy hyped phones like the Samsung Galaxy S III or HTC Droid Incredible 4G, but those who prefer more reasonable plans on the pre-paid carriers still want power and versatility out of their devices. That’s a completely fair expectation, and it is admirable Kyocera is tackling that. In the same category as the Rise is the Kyocera Hydro, a waterproof smartphone with Ice Cream Sandwich that was also announced at CTIA.

A Kyocera spokesperson told me on the floor of the convention that Kyocera doesn’t even register in the top 10 manufacturers by smartphone market share in the U.S. But its strategy of putting cheap Android phones on carriers like Cricket, MetroPCS, U.S. Cellular, and Boost Mobile seems a smart way to gain traction since the post-paid market is overcrowded with Android phones.

Pricing and availability for the Rise are both up in the air, but Kyocera said the device will arrive on pre-paid and post-paid carriers. We expect the device to be free with a 2-year contract or less than $200 upfront on a pre-paid carrier.

Check out our slideshow of the Rise:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

After Google’s failed attempt to sell the Nexus One smartphone a few years back, the search giant is attempting to sell hardware once more with an unlocked Galaxy Nexus compatible with HSPA+ networks, which is now available in the Google Play store.

Selling the Galaxy Nexus is a curious turn for Google following its trouble selling the Nexus One, but perhaps Google has learned lessons from that flop. Google likely wants to sell this device to give Android fans another option for buying one of the best Android phones on the market. Although most U.S. consumers opt for a 2-year contract and a subsidized smartphone, there’s still a segment that appreciates the ability to buy a phone for an upfront price and not be tied to a contract.

The unlocked Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ retails for $399 and is compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks here in the U.S. and 200 GSM providers worldwide. For specs, the device has a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED screen with 1280 x 720 resolution, 16GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, 5-megapixel camera, 1080p HD video recording, and a 1.2-GHz dual-core processor. The phone runs pure Android 4.04 Ice Cream Sandwich software.

The $399 price tag, frankly, is unbeatable considering all the features and the fact that you don’t have to sign a 2-year contract. The phone is also available from Verizon and Sprint (which have CDMA networks) with a contract.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

HTC’s new flagship Android smartphone, the One X, finally has a release date in the U.S. AT&T announced this morning that it will offer the One X starting May 6 for $200 with the typical two-year contract.

The phone was first introduced at Mobile World Congress in February, along with the rest of HTC’s One series. AT&T touts the One X as its first Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” device, as well as the first with Beats Audio built-in at the hardware and software level. (T-Mobile is expected to divulge details of its One S entry at a New York City event later tonight.)

[Check out our hands-on impressions of the One X from February.]

The One X sports a huge 4.7-inch screen and a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor running at 1.5 gigahertz. The European versions of the One X feature a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, but as we learned at Mobile World Congress this year, Nvidia hasn’t been able to fit in an LTE chipset alongside its new chip. Still, the Snapdragon S4 is one of the fastest mobile chips right now, even with only two cores, and the addition of LTE makes it a more tempting phone than its Euro counterpart.

While the One X is fast and gorgeous, the real star of HTC’s new lineup is the improved camera software and hardware, which the company is calling “ImageSense.” The One X features an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording capabilities. It has an f/2.0 lens, which means it lets in more light than other smartphones. The phone also sports zero shutter lag, so there’s no delay when you’re trying to take a picture, as well as easy burst shooting capabilities (by holding down the shutter button).

Pre-orders for AT&T’s HTC One X begin on April 22.

Photo: Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung will soon launch updated versions of its 7- and 10-inch Galaxy Tab devices with better specs and the Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, the company announced Wednesday evening.

While Samsung’s tablet efforts have not been anywhere near as successful as Apple’s, it continues to make all manner of Android devices from small phones to its 10.1-inch tablets. In a meeting earlier this week, Travis Merrill, the director of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab division, told me that it continues to release so many types of Android phones, tablets, and media players because the company is committed to “consumer choice” and “differentiation.” Basically, the company has the resources to build every possible phone and tablet size and hopes the spread will help consumers find the perfect fit for them.

The Tab 2 7.0 includes a 7-inch screen with 1024-by-600 resolution, 8GB internal storage, microSD slot for adding storage, 1-GHz dual-core processor, VGA front-facing camera, and 3-megapixel back camera. The device will retail for $250, with pre-orders starting tomorrow. It will be available in-store and online on April 22. From early impressions of the device, this appears to be a great buy for $250, especially compared to the $200 Kindle Fire and $250 Nook Tablet.

And if you’re in need of a larger screen, the Tab 2 10.1 may be more up your alley. It features a 10.1-inch screen with 1280-by-800 resolution, 16GB internal storage, microSD slot for extra storage, 1-GHz dual-core processor, VGA front-facing camera, and 3-megapixel back camera. The price and wait for the Tab 2 10.1 are both bigger than the 7.0. The 10.1 will retail for $400, can be pre-ordered starting May 4, and will be on sale May 13. In terms of competition, this will sit side-by-side with the now-cheaper $400 iPad 2.

Both editions of the Tab 2 will include a nice extra: one year’s worth of free 50GB cloud storage with Dropbox. The Tab 2 devices also run Ice Cream Sandwich with Samsung’s TouchWiz Android skin and include Samsung’s custom apps for getting new content like Media Hub, Reader Hub, and Game Hub. One very cool app included on the Tab 2s is called Smart Remote, which lets you scan what shows are currently airing and using IR inputs can automatically change the channel on your set-top box to the show you want.

Merrill indicated that the company was still determining its marketing strategy for these new products, but TV ads are likely not in the works. Instead the tablets and player will receive a “strong” digital campaign.

The company also said it hasn’t forgotten about the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet that was announced at Mobile World Congress, but said it wouldn’t reveal any new information at this time regarding timing or availability for the U.S. market. Our own Devindra Hardawar noted at that show that the Note 10.1 looks a lot like the Tab 10.1, but it adds in support for the company’s S Pen stylus, something that could help differentiate it from the iPad.

See more photos of the devices here:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

By upgrading to the latest version of Android, HTC Vivid owners will see huge performance bumps with their smartphones — a sign that other Android phones could see similar gains.

AT&T slowly began pushing out an Android 4.0 update, commonly named Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), to the HTC Vivid on March 16th. The update makes the Vivid the first Android 4.0 device available on AT&T’s network, and the second Android 4.0 device available in the U.S.

Upgrading to Android 4.0 provides a significant performance boost to the HTC smartphone, up to 66 percent faster than when running Android 2.3, according to our benchmarking tests.

Previously, the only smartphone with the latest Android software was the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, considered the current “Google phone”, which receives software updates from Mountain View search giant before all other Android phones. With the release of Android 4.0 for the Vivid, now the two largest US carriers have access to ICS. Samsung recently released ICS for it’s Samsung Galaxy S II smartphones to some European countries, and South Korea.

Notably, the HTC Vivid is the first US phone to receive an upgrade to ICS, and it’s the first phone to actually show the benefits of the updated software in measurable performance. It should be noted that the HTC Vivid was not designed to be the fastest smartphone; it was designed to be the first 4G LTE smartphone capable of working on AT&T’s at-the-time brand new LTE network. The results, however, are impressive.

Benchmarking

Using a number of industry standard benchmarks, we tested the HTC Vivid first on Android 2.3, and then upgraded the device to 4.0 and compared the results.

Browsermark tests a handful of different web-specific processes, including graphics rendering, word parsing, and processing HTML. It’s a powerful generalized benchmark for testing overall web-browsing quality. Android 4.0 scored an average of 24 percent faster than the older version of the OS.

Sunspider 9.1 is a popular Javascript benchmark, which processes the coding language as fast as devices can manage. With Android 4.0, the Vivid processes Javascript 66 percent faster than with Android 2.3. No hardware modifications were made to the phone for it to receive such a jump in performance.

Quadrant Standard, another popular benchmark which tests both graphical and standard processing power, only saw a slight boost of 3 percent. Another benchmark performed, Linpack, had no actual performance gains with the new OS. The reason is because both benchmarks very stringently test hardware performance, and rely very little on the software.

Above are two additional graphics performance tests, Nenamark 1 and 2, which are good benchmarks for graphically intense apps like games. The Vivid running Android 4.0 saw a 20 percent and 41 percent increase in performance on Nenamark 1 and 2, respectively.

More importantly is the boost to battery life under normal operations. I used the benchmark “Basemark OS” to test the battery under stress, and as you can see above, there is almost an hour of additional processing available to users. For practical use that means more time browsing the web, running applications, and general phone activity. Not necessarily more call time.

It is general practice to update to the latest firmware for slight performance gains and bug fixes, though the Vivid upgrade to Android 4.0 is a significant improvement. The device itself is noticeably faster, especially when browsing the web. Android 4.0 also provides a better, more streamlined smartphone experience than 2.3, but we recommend Vivid owners download the latest firmware for the incredible performance boost.

VentureBeat is holding its second annual MobileSummit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of themobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC has confirmed that 16 of its smartphones will receive the update to Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, the company said in a blog post today.

Ice Cream Sandwich includes a much more beautiful design and new features like a better web browser and facial recognition unlocking. We previously have seen estimates from Verizon and Motorola about their respective updates to Ice Cream Sandwich on Android phones and tablets. Now we have HTC adding its own devices to the conversation, although Verizon had already indicated four HTC devices would get the update.

The company describes the timing of delivering the important update as such:

As for timing, we’re in the early stages of rolling out Android 4.0 for the HTC Sensation and HTC Sensation XE and upgrades will be more widely available in the next few weeks. The update for the HTC Sensation 4G and HTC Sensation XL will follow. Please note, once we start pushing out updates it will take time for all carriers in each country to get the update. We are working closely with our carrier partners to nail down update schedules for our other smartphones and will have more to share very soon.

And here’s the list of devices getting the update:

• DROID Incredible 2 by HTC
• HTC Amaze 4G
• HTC Desire S
• HTC Desire HD
• HTC EVO 3D
• HTC EVO Design 4G
• HTC Incredible S
• HTC Sensation
• HTC Sensation XL
• HTC Sensation 4G
• HTC Sensation XE
• HTC Raider
• HTC Rezound
• HTC Rhyme
• HTC Thunderbolt
• HTC Vivid

VentureBeat is holding its second annual MobileSummit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of themobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

After several false starts and delays, Samsung has officially begun rolling out an Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” upgrade today for its popular Galaxy S II smartphones. But those in North America will still have to wait a bit longer.

The Android 4.0 update will begin in European countries, including Hungary, Sweden, and Poland, as well as South Korea. Samsung says that it will “gradually roll out to other markets,” in a blog post today.

The update will breathe some new life into the Galaxy S II lineup, which is currently running Android 2.3 “Gingerbread.” Samsung is also expected to announce the phone’s successor, the Galaxy S III, in the next few months, which is expected to launch with Android 4.0.

Samsung also mentioned that it plans to upgrade other recent devices to Android 4.0 soon, including the Galaxy Note, the LTE version of the Galaxy S II, as well as the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1. Older devices, like the Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab 7, and Galaxy W will also finally receive an upgrade to Android 2.3 in the next few months.

VentureBeat is holding its second annual MobileSummit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of themobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Onavo has had something of a split personality for the past year. The company’s iPhone app has won countless awards for its revolutionary data compression capability (including top prize at our MobileBeat 2011 conference), but Android users had to make do with an entirely different Onavo app that helped them keep track of their mobile data.

All of that changes on Monday with the launch of Onavo Extend, a free new Android app that brings Onavo’s data compression technology to Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” smartphones and tablets. Now Android users will be able to shave precious megabytes off of their wireless bills, which will be particularly useful when roaming.

Onavo Extend won’t replace the company’s existing Android app, CEO Guy Rosen told VentureBeat in an interview, which makes sense, since it only works on newer Android devices. Rosen tells me that Ice Cream Sandwich added new features in its VPN API that made it possible to bring over the compression feature. The iPhone, on the other hand, was able to support Onavo’s technology from the start.

Just like with its iPhone app, Onavo Extend requires you only to turn on its compression capabilities, after which it will seamlessly slim down your data without any more tweaking. You can expect push notifications to alert you of just how much data the app is saving, something that has driven the popularity of Onavo’s iPhone app.

The company’s initial Android app also has a crowdsourced engine that keeps track of apps that hog data. Rosen previously said he hopes to bring over that capability to Apple’s platform eventually.

Onavo is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and has raised a total of $13 million from Horizon Ventures and Motorola Mobility Ventures.

VentureBeat is holding its second annual Mobile Summit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Nvidia’s technology powers many cell phones on the market, including the T-Mobile G2X and Motorola Droid X2. But until now, Nvidia only supplied its processors to external cell phone manufacturers. On Monday, Nvidia announced the first phone to be powered solely by its technology.

“The Mimosa X marks the first time NVIDIA technology powers all the major processors in a single smartphone, and also the first time a premium mobile computing experience is coming to the mainstream smartphone market,” said Nvidia’s general manager of mobile business Michael Rayfield in a statement.

Nvidia’s first phone, called the ZTE Mimosa X, will be powered by the company’s dual-core Tegra 2 processor. The phone also includes an Nvidia Icera 450 HSPA+ modem, technology from Nvidia’s acquisition of Icera in 2011.

The ZTE Mimosa X will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest Android operation system. You can look forward to a four inch 960-by-540 pixel resolution screen, rear and front five megapixel cameras, and four gigabytes of internal storage that can be expanded to 32 GB. The phone is equipped with a few multimedia features too, including Dolby sound and HD video recording and playback.

One feature that Nvidia boasts about is its TegraZone gaming app store. The company notes in its press release that TegraZone was previously only available for high-end phones and is now coming to the ZTE Mimosa X.

The company hasn’t released any ship date, carrier, or price yet, though it says the phone will “be launched around Q2 2012″.

VentureBeat is holding its second annual Mobile Summit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Sensing slow momentum with Ice Cream Sandwich and a growing push for Microsoft’s Windows 8, Google might launch Android 5.0, a.k.a. Jelly Bean, in the second quarter of 2012, according to Taiwanese publication DigiTimes.

Based on its previous launches, it would make sense for Google to introduce Jelly Bean in the second quarter, but not necessarily launch it. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was introduced in the second quarter of 2011 at Google’s I/O conference, but it did not get completely official til its legit debut in October. Google’s I/O conference this year is scheduled for late June 27, so it could easily debut Jelly Bean there.

Android 5.0 will reportedly add even more emphasis on tablet features, and it could offer dual-boot functionality between Android and Google’s Chrome OS. Google is coaxing vendors into offering dual-boot abilities between Android and Windows 8. The company might also attempt to bring Android 5.0 to the notebooks and netbooks.

Jelly Bean could face serious adoption challenges, however, based on what we’ve seen with Ice Cream Sandwich adoption. Motorola, for example, has already indicated that it will be taking its time to update many devices to Ice Cream Sandwich. Most of Motorola’s phones and tablets won’t see Ice Cream Sandwich until the third quarter, at least.

Windows 8 is likely to launch late in the third quarter of the year. Microsoft’s new OS will attempt to bridge the gap between desktop and mobile with the ability to support touch screens and switch between traditional apps and touch-friendly Metro apps.

Android love photo: Lai Ryanne/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

If you’ve got a new Motorola smartphone, prepare for some disappointing news. Motorola is taking its sweet time updating its latest devices to the latest Android 4.0 mobile operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Android fragmentation, with devices all running different versions of the OS, is still a rampant problem that means each phone owner with Android has different capabilities. And now, some apps and features only work for Ice Cream Sandwich, the newest version of Android that includes a haltingly beautiful design and many new features like facial recognition unlocking.

According to Motorola’s just-released roadmap, which shows the software update schedule for its phones and tablets, many devices won’t even see Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) until the third quarter of 2012.

The list so far indicates that the Motorola Xoom Family Edition will receive ICS in the second quarter of the year. The Atrix 2, Atrix 4G, Photon 4G, Xyboard 8.2, and Xyboard 10.1 will see the update to ICS in the third quarter.

As for some of the most popular and recent smartphones Motorola has put out, we have no idea when their updates will roll out. The Droid 3, Droid 4, Droid Bionic, Droid Razr, Droid Razr Maxx, Droid X2, and many others are listed as “in evaluation and planning,” so we wouldn’t expect those to see updates until at least the third quarter or later.

If you scroll down the list even further, you can see a graveyard of other unsupported Android devices that never saw meaningful late-stage updates. Some of the worst offenders include the Cliq XT with Android 1.5, the Devour at Android 1.6, and the Milestone at Android 2.1. Those poor phones.

You can view the full list of Motorola’s planned updates in the United States below:

Android Ice Cream Sandwich photo: Abul Hussain/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Images from the first Motorola smartphone powered by Intel and running Android 4.0 (a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich) have allegedly surfaced online.

The image, obtained by PocketNow, shows a slender, silver-colored handset with no front-facing buttons. The screen shows a new version of Motorola’s MotoBlur user interface on top of Android, which shows off a handful of widgets and notification badges. If the image is accurate, it could be the first Android 4.0 phone from Motorola.

The device will presumably run Intel’s Medfield-based Atom processor, which would mark another step in Intel’s push into the smartphone market. Intel previously reached partnerships with both Motorola and Lenovo, as VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reported at CES. Aside from the processor, the device is also expected to have a stellar camera that takes advantage of Android 4.0′s software support as well as a 15-frames-per-second burst shot mode, according to PocketNow.

The unnamed Motorola smartphone is rumored to make its debut at the end of the month during the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. Look out for coverage from the event floor from our very own Devindra Hardawar.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung has unveiled the successor to its first 7-inch Android tablet, but this time the device will run the latest feature-rich version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) will be one of the first tablets available with Ice Cream Sandwich, which has a haltingly beautiful design and tons of new features like facial recognition unlocking that make using Android elegant and fun. The Galaxy Tab 2 will join Samsung’s diverse family of tablets like the Tab 8.9 and 10.1, which compete the best they can against Apple’s iPad, the most popular tablet in the world.

“Two years ago, [the] Samsung Galaxy Tab began to offer customers more possibilities on the go,” said JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Samsung, in a statement. “Since then, Samsung has actively enhanced our tablet line-up with several tablets in different sizes.”

On the spec side, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has a 7-inch screen with 1,024-by-600 resolution, a 1-GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 3-megapixel camera on the rear, and a front-facing VGA camera for video chat. There will be both Wi-Fi and 3G models available. For 3G connectivity, the device will support HSPA+ downloads up to 21 Mbps (if you can ever find a network that actually can deliver that.)

The 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 will launch first in the U.K. in March and then spill out into other markets. While the U.S. isn’t mentioned, the device will almost certainly arrive stateside like its other tablets.

You can see a few more Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) photos below:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Despite numerous rumors to the contrary, Samsung has confirmed that it will not debut its much-anticipated Galaxy S III smartphone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.

“Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012,” Samsung told The Verge. “The successor to the Galaxy S II smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.”

The Galaxy S II is one of the best-selling Android smartphones ever, so news about its successor is anticipated from Android fanboys and tech watchers alike. Sales from that phone and the Galaxy Note phone/tablet hybrid helped Samsung earn a record profit of $4.7 billion for its startling fourth quarter.

In my hands-on with the U.S. versions of the Galaxy S II, I found the phone to be one the best Android devices ever at that point. On top of the phone’s powerful hardware, Samsung will update the software to Android Ice Cream Sandwich in the first quarter of this year.

While the Galaxy III will not debut at MWC, the company will likely introduce other powerful smartphones and tablets. Our own Devindra Hardawar will be on the ground at Mobile World Congress when the event starts on Feb. 27, so look out for more details at that time.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Motorola’s Droid Razr Maxx, a powerful 4G Android phone with a long battery life, will be available on Verizon Wireless starting Jan. 26, Verizon announced today.

As our smartphones get smarter and we rely on them for everything from email to finding dates, their batteries often can’t make it through a day. But the Razr Maxx, which made our list of Top 10 products from CES 2012, challenges this norm with its massive 3300 mAh battery that claims 21.5 hours of continuous talk time, 15 hours of native video playback, 10 hours of GPS navigation, and 6 hours of HD streaming. The big battery will help keep the phone alive when using Verizon’s battery-sucking 4G LTE data.

Besides its amazing battery life, the Droid Razr Maxx also has some great specs that heavily mirror the previously announced Droid Razr. It features a 1.2-GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen with 540-by-960 resolution, 32GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel camera with flash, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat, and 1080p HD video recording.

The phone ends up being a bit heavier that its sibling the Droid Razr, but the added heft might easily be worth it for those who never make it a day without having to plug in their phone. The only real downside to the phone is that it is running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, which looks much less sophisticated next to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android Ice Cream Sandwich. But because Motorola is now literally in bed with Google, we fully expect the phone get the Ice Cream Sandwich update in 2012.

The Droid Razr Maxx will retail for $299 on 2-year contract with Verizon Wireless. Are you interested in picking one up?

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Google is planning to release a new set of design guidelines for the latest version of its mobile operating system, Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Many critics have pointed out that Android doesn’t have enough unifying elements among third-party applications (unlike Apple’s iOS), which leads to a broken user experience. However, a set of design and style guidelines could give Android more consistency that would in-turn improve usability overall.

The guidelines will offer developers in-depth instructions (sort of a best practices) for design and style when they’re building new applications, according to Director of Android user experience Matias Duarte.

Duarte, who made the announcement while speaking to The Verge at CES today, said the design guidelines would be made available on a new Android Design website. The guidelines themselves will be built out over time to include more detailed instructions and advice.

Initially, the guide offers information about suggested design elements like typography, color palettes and more. It also contains a list of components that make up the Android UI.

Since Android is an open platform with no centralized hub to approve each application before making it available to the public, developers aren’t required to use the new set of guidelines. Duarte said the guides are intended as developer resources.

The design guidelines won’t give Android instant consistency in regards to the user experience. Yet, I feel pretty confident that over time I’ll personally receive fewer Android smartphone-related questions from parents, friends and other not computer people.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Motorola has introduced the fourth generation of its tried-and-true Droid Android smartphone for Verizon Wireless, this time with 4G LTE data speeds and a 4-inch qHD display.

The Droid 4 closely resembles the Droid RAZR, except the Droid 4 features a full QWERTY keyboard. The Droid RAZR was released to much hype in November, but that hype was later overshadowed by the Galaxy Nexus with Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

With a strong spec list, the Droid 4 hopes to grab the attention of the many Android phone fans who want a physical keyboard. The phone measures .5 inches thick and will feature a dual-core 1.2-GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of internal storage and Verizon 4G LTE.

While the Droid 4 will not launch with Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the Android operating system, Verizon has said the device will eventually be updated to that OS.

Verizon said the smartphone will launch in the next few weeks. The company did not say how much it would cost, but it most likely will come in at between $199 and $299 on a two-year contract.

A few more images of the Motorola Droid 4 can be viewed below:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Lenovo has come out swinging at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Along with its first TV, the Taiwanese company today also announced a revamped tablet, the IdeaPad S2, which weighs only 1.1 pounds and is one-third of an inch thick. Even better, it has a keyboard dock accessory that has a battery of its own — when connected to the dock, the tablet can have up to 20 hours of battery life, Lenovo says.

The IdeaPad S2 comes on the heels of Asus’ popular Transformer tablets, which also sport a keyboard dock. In a sense, the IdeaPad is the Decepticon to Asus’ Transformer Prime, though it can’t compete when it comes to power since it doesn’t feature a quad-core CPU.

The 10-inch tablet instead runs a dual-core SnapDragon CPU, and it will come loaded with the Android 4.0 operating system, “Ice Cream Sandwich.” The IdeaPad S2 is slightly lighter than the iPad 2 and Asus Transformer Prime, so it may appeal for those looking for a 10-inch tablet that’s particularly portable.

Pricing and distribution for the tablet haven’t been revealed yet.

Not content to sit around and let Apple beat it to the TV market, Lenovo introduced its first television today at the Consumer Electronics Show, which is also notable for being the first TV to run the Android 4.0 operating system, “Ice Cream Sandwich.”

Called the Lenovo K91 Smart TV, the set will initially be available only in China. It’s a sign that even unlikely computer makers can step into the TV business — though we don’t yet know how successful Lenovo’s attempt will be.

It’s also worth noting that the TV isn’t running Google TV, a sign that Lenovo would rather create its own custom interface, rather than deal with the beleaguered Google TV platform. Lenovo calls its interface “Sandwich” because it’s comprised of three smart-TV pieces: video on demand, apps and standard TV functionality.

Under the hood, the K91 is also the first TV to be powered by Qualcomm’s 1.5 gigahertz dual-core SnapDragon 8060 CPU. Lenovo says the TV will have access to “thousands” of apps from the Android Market and the Lenovo Store, but it’s unclear how the company will highlight TV-optimized apps.

Lenovo plans to offer two models initially, a 42-inch and a 50-inch 3D LED unit, reports GigaOm. The TV will also sport a 5-megapixel webcam, which will open it up to the world of video chat and facial recognition. Its remote will feature a touchpad and integrated mic, and there will be a gamepad with 3-axis gyro available as well.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

That Google is developing its own Nexus Android tablet isn’t much of a surprise — Google chairman Eric Schmidt strongly hinted at it weeks ago — but can the company make it significantly cheaper than Amazon’s $199 Kindle Fire? I don’t think so.

The source of this latest rumor is reason enough to be suspicious: Digitimes is reporting that Google is working on a 7-inch sub-$199 Android tablet with a potential release around March or April. While the Taiwanese news site can sometimes be right, it’s typically off when it comes to early reports about flagship hardware.

Then consider the fact that Schmidt is hinting that Google’s Nexus tablet is far from a budget release. “In the next six months, we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality,” he said in an interview before the holidays. That doesn’t sound like Google is trying to take on the already cheap Kindle Fire, which notably cut many corners in hardware and software design to achieve that price.

Instead, I suspect Google will aim somewhere between $250 and $300 for its flagship tablet — significantly cheaper than the $499 iPad (which would be in its third generation by then), but pricy enough to feature better hardware than the Kindle Fire.

There are already boatloads of super cheap Android tablets, not including the tablet/e-reader hybrids like the Nook Color and Kindle Fire, so it doesn’t make much sense for Google to compete against them. Instead, the Nexus tablet will likely serve the same role as Google’s Nexus smartphone lineup: setting the stage for what’s possible in high-end design, and serving as a benchmark for other Android device makers.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

For all those Android lovers on the edges of their seats, Asus‘ Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet will officially run Google’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system on January 12.

The company announced today that it will be issuing a firmware update to all its Transformer Prime owners worldwide. The update will be completed over the air. The tablet was rumored to be the first mainstream tablet to run on Google’s latest operating system, which was released in October 2011. Ice Cream Sandwich is Google’s first operating system created to work on both smartphones and tablets. The Transformer Prime was released in December 2011 but ran Honeycomb as opposed to Ice Cream Sandwich. Adding to the anticipation, the tablet is also outfitted with the first quadcore processor built for mobile devices, the Nvidia’s Tegra 3.

The Transformer Prime was, however, beaten to the Ice Cream Sandwich punch by MIPS Technologies and Ingenic Semiconductor, which created a $99 tablet running the operating system.

In today’s announcement, Asus also addressed its bootloader lock down and plans for an unlocking system. In simple terms, a bootloader tells the phone to upload the installed firmware. This is an element of the starting up process that people play with when modifying their devices to run custom operating systems or other activities. Asus decided, like many device manufacturers, to lock the bootloader, preventing anyone from accessing or tampering with it. This is because Asus provides a movie rental system on the Transformer Prime using Google DRM, or digital rights management, which says that devices must be “as secure as possible” for the comfort of content providers.

“However, we know there is demand in the modding community to have an unlocked bootloader,” the company said in the statement. “Therefore, ASUS is developing an unlock tool for that community.”

The release date of the tool is unknown at this point, though Asus does warn that those who unlock their devices will have their warranties nullified. They will also no longer have access to Google’s movie rental service because of the broken DRM rules.

The FOTA, or firmware over the air, update will also include improvements to the tablet’s camera, touch experience and APK performance, which assists in the application downloading process to Android operating systems.

Image by Jolie O’Dell

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Hopefully you didn’t pick up Sony’s stylish Tablet S Android slate before the holidays, because it’s now a cool $100 cheaper.

Starting today, the Tablet S now starts at $399 for the 16 gigabyte model ($499 for the 32GB), undercutting Apple’s iPad 2 models by a full Benjamin. Sony is also throwing in five free PlayStation Classic titles, 180 days of its Music Unlimited service, as well as credits and free downloads from its Video Unlimited store.

The price cut, while significant, may be too little too late for Sony’s tablets — especially when it seems to have been purposefully positioned after the holiday buying season. Reviews have found the Tablet S to be well designed but otherwise a fairly standard Android tablet. In a few months, Sony’s Tablet S (and dual-screen Tablet P) will have to contend with Apple’s iPad 3 as well as newer Android tablets running Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich.” (The Tablet S will be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich at some point, according to Sony.)

The S is Sony’s 9.4-inch direct iPad competitor, which features a slightly curved design that resembles a rolled back magazine, and supposedly makes it easier to hold with one hand. It’s powered by a dual-core Tegra 2 CPU and offers a five-megapixel rear camera.

Via Engadget

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

It looks like owners of Samsung’s first Galaxy S devices didn’t take too kindly to the news that Android 4.0 won’t be made available as an upgrade.

Thanks to the massive outcry from customers, Samsung is now apparently reconsidering making Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich available to the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab, reports Korea’s ajnews. As the Verge explains it (the original report is in Korean), Samsung is looking into ways to fit Android 4.0 on the devices, even though it previously said that its TouchWiz software made that impossible.

The news is a good sign for Galaxy S owners, but even if Samsung does manage to squeeze Android 4.0 on the devices, it will likely be much later than when the Galaxy S II family gets it early next year.

Additionally, but unrelated, the company expects a 15 percent uptick in handset sales next year, given the current popularity of its Android lineup.

Samsung is apparently aiming to sell 374 million handsets next year, up from projected sales of 325 million units this year, Reuters reports. 150 million of those devices are expected to be smartphones. The news comes from industry officials who divulged Samsung’s plans to the Korea Economic Daily, so there’s a chance Samsung’s actual plans could even be more ambitious.