android

Open-source hardware, start-ups, and land wars in Asia

Had Vizzini of "The Princess Bride" lived to relate a third "classic blunder" beyond land wars in Asia and competing with Sicilians, he might have urged start-ups to avoid hardware-dependent strategies. Hardware, after all, can be expensive to build and can't match software for ease (and cost) of distribution.

So, is hardware a bad idea for start-ups? Or are we just thinking about hardware in the wrong way?

Gadi Amit of NewDealDesign suggests that the hardware business, long shunned by Silicon Valley VCs for its costs and complexities, may be getting easier due to ready-made … Read more

Motorola Calgary to be Verizon's second Android phone?

While the Motorola Droid might be hogging the spotlight at the moment, rumors of Verizon's second Google Android device are starting to bubble to the surface.

According to the Boy Genius Report, a handset code-named the Motorola Calgary will be the carrier's other Android smartphone. It'll be a lower-end device than the Droid and have a lower-resolution touch screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard that BGR calls "workable."

Below the display, there will be three touch-sensitive buttons while the traditional d-pad will be replaced by an optical trackpad. Other reported features include a 3-megapixel camera, … Read more

Will Verizon really open its Droid?

Verizon's recent iPhone attack ad featuring its upcoming Droid smartphone has the tech world buzzing, and iPhone fans are taking notice. The iPhone Blog even posted a point-by-point reply to the commercial's claims. While most of its arguments center on minutia (see the bit about the keyboard) the iPhone Blog makes one very good point concerning open development.

"Really, Verizon, with your history, you want to play that card?" Rene Ritchie wrote. "Android is an about face for you, not a two-face. We'll wait and see on this one." Indeed, we will have … Read more

An Android phone by Google: I think not

Just when you thought the Google Android news couldn't get any stranger, Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Northeast securities, told InternetNews.com and TheStreet.com today that Google itself is planning to release a handset with the operating system.

Details are sketchy, but according to Kumar the device will be unlocked and will be available directly through retailers. Though unlocked phones typically are more expensive than carrier-branded phones, they are also free of any carrier restrictions. Google hasn't commented on the rumor, but I'm taking this one with a healthy dose of speculation.

First off, I can'… Read more

On Call: Hello, Moto

Sixteen months ago I wrote in On Call that I was not prepared to dance over Motorola's grave. While some analysts and tech journalists weren't sad to see Moto go, I wouldn't savor a cell phone world without a company that had such a pioneering role.

Over the following year, however, Moto has done little to step up its game. Besides a few decent handsets like the ZN5, its product line mainly stuck to the tried and true of rugged and thin designs. It was all getting a bit worrisome until the Google Android operating system became … Read more

Wordpress makes blogs more mobile-friendly

In an attempt to make its blogs more mobile-friendly, Wordpress has launched two themes that will automatically be displayed when a Wordpress.com blog is accessed from a cell phone, the company announced Tuesday.

The type of mobile phone a user employs dictates what the different blogs will look like, the company said in a blog post. A modified version of WPtouch will be displayed on phones with "modern Web browsers like those on the iPhone and Android phones," the company wrote. A second, unnamed theme from an old version of Wordpress Mobile Edition will be displayed on … Read more

Google Android: More than just a cheap date

For years, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM have used Linux to lower the cost of their hardware and software-based solutions, while keeping profit margins fat and healthy. Google, ever the quick learner, is now doing the same with Android.

The mobile market will never be the same.

Just as Google and others are using open-source software to lower barriers to adoption of their proprietary cloud offerings, so, too, is Google using open source to reduce the cost of mobile computing in order to drive uptake of its proprietary search-related advertising business in mobile.

Google CFO Patrick Pichette said as much in … Read more

Also in Android news

It's been a big day for Google Android news, but Verizon's upcoming Droid phone (and the accompanying TV commercial) are only part of the story. T-Mobile put its Cliq handset on preorder and juicy tidbits leaked out from other sources.

We told you last week that a GSM version of the Motorola Sholes cleared the FCC, but we failed to notice that a CDMA handset also got the government's nod (the FCC ID is IHDP56KC5 instead of IHDP56KC2). The consensus in the tech world is that this device is the Droid. Unfortunately, specs are few and there … Read more

Droid lacks Apple's secret weapon: iTunes

Apple outstripped Wall Street's expectations for the quarter ended September 30, and while the blowout quarter was mostly thanks to higher-than-expected Mac sales, the company also sold a record 7.4 million iPhones. But a lot of commentators think that the iPhone is finally going to meet its match with Droid.

Announced this weekend by Verizon in a cheeky TV commercial, the Droid is a Motorola phone running Google's Android 2.0 operating system. The advertisement notes that the Droid will do things that the iPhone won't, like take pictures in the dark and run simultaneous apps (… Read more

Humanoid bot greets guests at Tokyo store

A female android developed at Tokyo University of Science has been working as a receptionist at a department store in the Japanese capital.

Saya, an air-servo-powered robot created by Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi, just finished a stint greeting customers at Takashimaya, one of the most prestigious retailers in Japan.

Saya can interact with people by responding to questions posed through a microphone. Decked out in a Takashimaya jacket and hat along with makeup by RMK, she directed customers to the appropriate floor of the retailer's flagship store in the Nihonbashi district.

Saya has about 700 programmed voice responses, including small … Read more