Google Keep--Save what’s on your mind

Every day we all see, hear or think of things we need to remember. Usually we grab a pad of sticky-notes, scribble a reminder and put it on the desk, the fridge or the relevant page of a magazine. Unfortunately, if you’re like me you probably often discover that the desk, fridge or magazine wasn’t such a clever place to leave the note after all...it’s rarely where you need it when you need it.

To solve this problem we’ve created Google Keep. With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you. Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand.

If it’s more convenient to speak than to type that’s fine—Keep transcribes voice memos for you automatically. There’s super-fast search to find what you’re looking for and when you’re finished with a note you can archive or delete it.

Changing priorities isn’t a problem: just open Keep on your Android phone or tablet (there’s a widget so you can have Keep front and center all the time) and drag your notes around to reflect what matters. You can choose the color for each note too.

Pro tip: for adding thoughts quickly without unlocking your device there's a lock screen widget (on devices running Android 4.2+).

Google Keep is available on Google Play for devices running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and above. You can access, edit and create new notes on the web at http://drive.google.com/keep and in the coming weeks you'll be able to do the same directly from Google Drive.

Posted by Katherine Kuan, Software Engineer

Tethering Apps Being Banned From Android Market

According to this Blog Post an Android Developer's App has been banned from Android Market for violating the Developer Distribution Agreement.

According to the agreement:

"Google enters into distribution agreements with device
manufacturers and Authorized Carriers to place the Market software
client application for the Market on Devices. These distribution
agreements may require the involuntary removal of Products in violation
of the Device manufacturer’s or Authorized Carrier’s terms of service."

And the T-Mobile Terms of Service say the following:

"Your Data Plan is intended for Web browsing, messaging, and similar
activities on your device and not on any other equipment. Unless
explicitly permitted by your Data Plan, other uses, including for
example, tethering your device to a personal computer or other
hardware, are not permitted."

You can read the rest of the blog post here, but this kinda goes against the whole "OPEN" thing Google was going for?

Visa to develop apps on Android, Nokia phones

Visa has announced plans to make mobile payment-related services broadly available to United States consumers by the end of the year. Central to this effort is Visa’s delivery of mobile applications for the Android platform, which will be available for download on Android-powered handsets and initially available to Chase Visa cardholders.


The first set of services that Visa is planning to develop for Android
will allow Chase Visa cardholders to receive notifications to their
mobile devices about transaction activity on their accounts; obtain
offers from a wide array of merchants; and use the built-in
location-based technology developed by Google to quickly map nearby
merchants where they can redeem Visa offers and locate ATMs that accept
Visa.

Visa mobile services that will be
developed for the Android platform will first be offered to Chase Visa
account holders. Following this initial launch phase, Visa plans to work
with additional card-issuing financial institutions to extend
availability of its mobile services for Android to their Visa account
holders. Visa is also developing a payment application that will enable
consumers with Visa accounts to make mobile payments in retail locations
nationwide, or while on the go, over wireless networks.

”By developing these mobile services for the
Android platform, Visa has taken a major step toward achieving our goal
of combining two of the world’s most powerful
and ubiquitous consumer innovations, electronic payments and mobile
technology,” said Elizabeth Buse, Global Head
of Product at Visa Inc. “Through this effort,
U.S. consumers will, for the first time, be able to download Visa mobile
service applications directly to their handsets. Visa cardholders have
come to expect more from their Visa account than just convenience and
security of payment, and wireless customers expect their mobile devices
to carry a multitude of applications. Extending Visa payments and
services to the mobile device is a natural extension, and makes the
consumer payment experience more convenient, more secure and more
rewarding.”

Visa mobile services developed for the Android platform include:

• 
  Alerts: Consumers will receive near real-time notification of
  purchase activity based on customized cardholder preferences. The
  consumer will be able to personalize the types of alerts delivered to
  their mobile device according to pre-selected parameters, such as the
  size of the transaction, or whether the transaction is in foreign
  currency. Because these alerts are triggered by the transaction as it
  passes through the Visa network, consumers will receive notifications
  almost immediately, typically before they even leave the store. This
  adds a new layer of peace of mind when using Visa, and a new way to
  combat fraud.
  
• 
  Offers: Consumers will receive targeted offers from merchants
  directly to their phone. These offers –
  ranging from discounts to loyalty offers –
  could be based on a consumer’s previous
  purchase activity. For consumers and merchants alike, this service
  will ensure the most relevant offers are sent in a timely manner,
  helping increase merchant traffic, loyalty and customer satisfaction.
  
• 
  Locator: The Locator service is expected to integrate with
  technology developed by Google, such as Google Maps and Google
  location-based services, to show consumers nearby locations of
  merchants sending them offers, or of an ATM that accepts Visa. The
  location would be called out on a map displayed on the mobile device
  screen.
  

“We’re pleased to
extend the value of Visa to the mobile channel,”
said Buse. “With more than 3 billion mobile
devices already in market today, we have an opportunity deliver the
convenience and security of Visa to consumers around the globe.”

[Yahoo! Finance]

Installing Google Android SDK 1.0 On Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop

Falko Timme put together a nice guide together. The guide explains how you can install the Google Android SDK 1.0
on an Ubuntu 8.04 desktop. With this stable release of the Android SDK,
you can now develop applications for Android smartphones (like
T-Mobile's G1) and offer them on the Android Market.

Take a look at the guide if you are interested in developing apps for android on Ubuntu.

Android Developers Videos

Android Peeks - browser tricks

One thing I like about Android... browser tricks.
Watch Android team members talk about their favorite features.

Android Peeks - copy & paste

Steve what are you waiting for?

Android Peeks - reader and photos

Android Peeks - media in the browser

Panoramio Application for Android, T-Mobile G1

The application starts by showing your current location in a custom MapView. You can pan and zoom this map to choose the area you want to search.




Once you have selected a search area, the application downloads thumbnails of the most popular photos taken within that area.



You can tap on an item to see more details.



You can use the menu to find more pictures by the same
photographer or to see the original photo on the Panoramio site. You can find the location of the photo in
the real world. You can show the location on the map along with your
current location.



Or, you can bring up a radar view that uses the compass and GPS to show
you the location of the photo in relation to your own location.

T-Mobile G1 Press Confrence, Google, HTC, T-Mobile Live Blogging

T-Mobile G1 Worlds first Android Phone from Google, launched on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time. On the market by the end of this year.

Creating an open mobile internet and platform. Mobile internet will be dominant in the future, Mobile Traffic has grown 250%.

Committed to open mobile platforms. G1 brings open mobile platform to market for the first time.

Develop Applications and also make Android better, Android is future proof.

HTC, Google, T-Mobile shares same vision making mobile internet open and fun. Want to make internet experience more enjoyable.

Iconic Design (G1) maximize mobile experience, touch screen, keyboard appeals to many people, nothing like it on the market. Flexible and very powerful.

Mobile Internet lags in the USA by 16%, T-Mobile and Android want to change that.


http://announcement.t-mobileg1.com/#

Showing Phone now with teaser reel, looks like pictures. Taking Photos and getting ready to do live demonstrations.

Touch Screen, swipe across to see, long press for more features. Frame pictures to add on home screen. Drag and Drop on Home Screen.

Amazon.com one click MP3 ordering. Long press for more song options.

Multitasking, full slide out keyboard. Contacts, click to go to address with map. Directions, Traffic View, Street View (Google).

Compass moves as you move the phone.

Web Browser (Full Featured) zoom, multiple tabs, dedicated search button, search from anywhere on device (Contacts, Web) Send links by email right from browser (Gmail).

Applications:

Android Market on Phone, with user ratings. Programs, Apps, Games and more. (They Showed Pac-Man)

Open Marketplace, Great Third Party Applications to market.

Open Source, Freedom to develop any application to hoops, free to develop and Google will not stop your application from being distributed.

Track your Carbon footprint with the EcoRio Application.

Shop Savvy application lets you use as a Bar Code scanner to compare prices on the internet right in the store.

Question and Answer session.

Pricing is $179.00 (Beats the iPhone) existing customers can order today. October 22nd official launch day. 2 plan options for Data $25 Unlimited (Data) $35 Unlimited Web and Messaging/Data.

3G Network.

Europe Availability UK early November rest of Europe early 2009 First Q.

Tethering? Pricing with just data?

No tethering, data plan requires voice plan.

Support for MS Office Files? Can read Word, PDF, can develop by third party.

T-Mobile only? Yes Sim Locked to T-Mobile

Push email? Yes, Push, IMAP Pull

Desktop Application to Sync? No not yet, syncs with network.

Outside of 3G Markets? Yes but best experience in 3G. Also has Wireless.

How locked is this Phone? Issues like the iPhone?

Deflects Question.

Marketing? Google Marketing?

Yes, T.V. Ad's Marketing starts in October largest Advertising Campaign ever.

Server Sync? Bluetooth?
Sync with Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and more. Supports wireless headsets.

Chrome Browser?

No, but works on Web Kit. Chrome like but not Chrome.

Device Aimed at? Consumer, Business....?

Mass appeal for everyone. Young, Family, more consumer but thing enterprise will enjoy.

Gmail Functions?

Robust experience, same as desktop experience. Integrated in front end. Online Google Talk presence inside contact list.

iTunes, Skype, International?

works with any AAC, WMA, MP3, would need to be DRM unlocked for iTunes, up to consumer. No Skype support.

Dual band and Quad Band works on any band in the world.

Special Guests, Google Founders take stage.

Awkward moment......

They have been using the Phone for a while now. Throws phone in Air uses accelerometer to demonstrate app he created to measure time in the Air.

They enjoy the phone. 

Describes Phone as a computer.

Asks crowd to do a web search on their phone to demonstrate how easy it will be to do on the G1.

Computer like functionality on Phone.

Location based services.

Taking Photos. Everyone has their G1 Phones out.


Press Conference ends, press making way downstairs to see live phone demos.


 

Android Photostream

Photostream is a simple photos browser and viewer for Flickr. All you need to use it is a Flickr screen name or user name.

This application serves as an illustrative example of several Android features and APIs:

• Activity aliases
• Adding custom shortcuts to Home
• Adding a new wallpaper chooser to the system
• Custom layouts
• Custom XML attributes
• Use of themes
• Use of styles
• Use of text colors
• Use of <include>
• Use of bitmap and layer drawables from XML
• Use of HttpClient
• Proper interaction between background threads and the UI thread
• Efficient display rotation (using the new onRetainNonConfigurationInstance() API)
• Animations and layout animations
• Cropping an image
• Image manipulation

Type in Home, to create a shortcut to any Flickr account. The shortcut
shows a custom icon, downloaded from the Flickr user profile:




If you plan on reusing the source code to access Flickr in your own application, you should modify the Flickr.java file to replace the existing API key with your own. The application source code also contains a very handy class called UserTask.java. This class is designed to help you easily write background operations that interact with the UI thread.

http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2008/09/android-photostream.html

Enkin Video, Android App

"Enkin" introduces a new handheld navigation concept. It displays location-based content in a unique way that bridges the gap between reality and classic map-like representations. It combines GPS, orientation sensors, 3D graphics, live video, several web services, and a novel user interface into an intuitive and light navigation system for mobile devices.
Check out our web page enkin.net.

Enkin from Enkin on Vimeo.Technorati Tags: google phone, gphone, Enkin, android

Wifi Army Game application!

This is awesome...


Giving you a peek at what kind of gaming platform Google's Android will host is the Wi-Fi Army developed by W2Pi Entertainment. The company hopes to win funds from the Android Challenge. This shooter game involves the 3 technologies - GPS, Google Maps, and camera phone. Instead of using video graphics, you can engage real people in a (gun) phone fight. The camera phone functions as your scope to hunt other players. The GPS is used to locate other players within 300 feet radius. Once another player is detected within the range, you will be notified about this new found enemy. Google Maps provides support to find other players. Sounds cool! Presently this game allows only 500 people to play per city. The icing on the cake is that this game is Free!

Source: Newlaunches

Android's Got Game - Dodge Balls

Check out the vid below of the first game developed for Android that I've seen so far. You can also download the source code HERE.

Android: MapMe

This application is based on BrowseMap by Davanum Srinivas, a simple Google Maps viewer for Android which lets you:

• Browse Google maps on Android
• Zoom in and out
• Move around with the mouse (could be touchscreen on a real device)
• Toggle traffic and satellite view
• Find location

(The basic functionality is the same as the Maps application that already ships with Android)

However MapMe adds several features on top of this basic functionality thanks to db4o object persistence engine such as:

• Bookmark location to db4o (full map persistence including zoom levels and satellite & traffic view)
• Browse list of bookmarks
• Edit bookmark
• Navigate to location on map from bookmark
• Center map on current GPS reported location

Screenshots

To see the application in action you can watch the MapMe video on YouTube, a high resolution video (30 Mb) on an external server or the following screenshots:

db4o headquarters (satellite + traffic view)

MapMe main menu:

Creation of bookmark/navpoint:

List of saved bookmarks/navpoints:

More info!

Android Password Manager

This is an adaptation of PasswordSafe by Steven Osborn (released under the Apache License) which is basic password manager for the Android platform. The source code have been adapted to use db4o instead of SQLite which makes the handling of persistence much more intuitive while still being fast.

Details

The application basically stores login information for websites such as url, username and password in a secure way using 128 Bit AES Encryption. The user must provide the correct password in order to access the application and this password is then used to encrypt/decrypt the data.

This is a sample video of the db4o powered application running on the Android Emulator:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFSD44AcBwM

If you check the source code (see the end of this page) you'll see that the the DBHelper class (SQLite persistence) has been replaced by the Db4oHelper class (db4o persistence). Let me now show you some of the differences between handling persistence with db4o and SQLite.

Link for more info and download:

http://developer.db4o.com/ProjectSpaces/view.aspx/Android_Password_Manager

db4o - the database for Android

db4o: Persistence for Android

• Native Java queries
• 600K footprint
• Easiest database you have ever used
• Object persistence out-of-the-box

db4o - the database for Android
Google has created a stir with the release of the Android SDK, a comprehensive software platform for mobile phones that was recently announced at the Open Handset Alliance. The Java programming API and the fact that it is free makes it an ideal platform for millions of application developers - and immediately compatible to db4o.

Only hours after the Android release the db4objects team had some quick evaluations of the SDK running with db4o. The result: db4o runs without a snag on Android and is much easier to use than SQLite.

Important Links:

• Android Incubator ProjectSpace
• Android Discussion Forum
• Why Android will start the mobile Tornado
• Android brings handsets to the next level - and open doors a mile wide for db4o
• db4A - database for Android
• Android Password Manager demo application

Use Object-Oriented Database Technology for Android...
While Your Competitors Struggle With Flat Files or SQL.

Embed db4o's super-light database engine into your Android project and store any object structure with only one line of code - no more mapping required!

Powerful and lean at the same time, you can now build more data- and feature-rich applications, that propel you far ahead of competition and that make your users and customers cheer.

Enjoy superior performance, zero-administration, transaction safety, encryption, automatic deployment, shared memory processing, and much more. Out of the box.

db4o for Android
Download and test drive the world's most popular object database! It's free and open source under the GPL!

http://www.sybase.com/

Keep this company on your Google Apps radar. More to come in the near future.

http://www.sybase.com/

MyMobiSafe® Mobile Antivirus next Android App?

MyMobiSafe^® Mobile Antivirus Security Solution
http://www.mymobisafe.com/

I stumbled upon this site today while searching for news about Android.
Could we be seeing the first Mobile Antivirus application for Android?

And could this become the winner of the $10 Million Dollar Prize?

Do you really think there is a need for Mobile Antivirus Applications at the moment? In the future?
I bet as these Phones get more popular and we see more applications we will also be seeing more need for Security for the Mobile Platform.

Only time will tell.

» Google’s big TV plan: Android on set-top boxes? | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Following Credit Suisse’s $900 price target for Google one nagging question remains: Where–and how–is Google going to generate large TV advertising revenue?

If you recall Credit Suisse analyst Heath Terry slapped a big price target on Google and made some assumptions for 2010. One of them was a base case that Google would have TV advertising revenue of $416 million in 2010, up from nothing today. The bullish case called for $1 billion in TV ad revenue with the bear case being $130 million.

All day, I was wondering how Google would get there. Its deal with Echostar isn’t going to cut it. And TV partners are wary of Google anyway.

However, Tech Crunch’s Erick Schonfeld has a working theory. Google will take its Android software to the set-top box, get a bunch of developers on board and give us the future of television. As to be expected, few are commenting on the record about this plan. And Google is doing its denial without denying routine (it likes these rumors).

Color me skeptical. Here’s why:

Android is unproven. There are high hopes for an Android announcement that so far is a nice press release, a developer kit and a partner roster that is a bit noncommittal about the whole thing. If Android were launched by any company other than Google it would be classified as vaporware already. Before Android makes it into a handset, we’re leaping toward the set-top box.

Set-top boxes are difficult to get into. There are two primary makers of set-top boxes–Cisco and Motorola. Any effort for an open platform has to go through them. And then there’s Microsoft, which has spent billions over the years and is just now getting some traction. Sure, the ability for consumers to buy their own set-top boxes (Googlebox) is a plus, but the set-top box sure is getting crowded. On the bright side, Cisco has Web 2.0 religion and Motorola is an Android partner.

Partners matter. In the land of the set-top box, Google will run into the same problem it has in mobile–entrenched players that tell you what you put on their network. Google can have the best set-top software on the planet, but it needs Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, AT&T and Cablevision to play along.

Maybe we don’t want our set-top boxes to be all Webified. Schonfeld argues quite well that the set-top box is a computer that doesn’t do much. What if it could? Schonfeld argues that a TV screen polluted with widgets, weather, sports scores and stock quotes could be a better experience. Well, I can have all of that now with Verizon FiOS TV via Microsoft’s widgets. I’ve hit the widget button maybe twice for giggles. TV is a different experience and more often than not I want all the boxes, TVs and technology to disappear in the background. Even the news scroll has become annoying. Some of us just want to watch the game in peace–without better targeted ads, widgets and other clutter.

First Google Android Apps now available for download!

Below are the first ever available Android apps from Google. You can download and run these on the Android emulator. Enjoy!

ApiDemos.apk
HelloActivity.apk
Lunar Lander.apk
Notepad.apk
SkeletonApp.apk
Snake.apk

For those unsure how to do this, a tutorial will be posted shortly.

Software tools for Google Android

Google released a software development kit for its Android mobile-phone software on Monday. This shot shows what programming looks like in the open-source Eclipse programming tool project, including an emulator that lets coders get started even if they don't have a phone prototype handy.

Credit: Google

The Android software developer kit includes an interface to the Google Maps service. Pictured here are driving directions shown in a translucent window above a map.

Credit: Google

This shot shows the "home screen" running in the emulator with various menu options below. The user interface look and feel shown in the emulator is a "placeholder" that will change by the time Android phones ship in the second half of 2008, Google said.

Credit: Google

This emulator screenshot shows applications available on an Android phone. Google is offering $10 million in contest prizes to encourage programmers to build new software for the phones.

Credit: Google

What is Android?

What is Android?

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. This early look at the Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.

Features

• Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components
• Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices
• Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine
• Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)
• SQLite for structured data storage
• Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)
• GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)
• Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)
• Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)
• Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE

Android Architecture

The following diagram shows the major components of the Android operating system. Each section is described in more detail below.

Applications

Android will ship with a set of core applications including an email client, SMS program, calendar, maps, browser, contacts, and others. All applications are written using the Java programming language.

Application Framework

Developers have full access to the same framework APIs used by the core applications. The application architecture is designed to simplify the reuse of components; any application can publish its capabilities and any other application may then make use of those capabilities (subject to security constraints enforced by the framework). This same mechanism allows components to be replaced by the user.

Underlying all applications is a set of services and systems, including:

• A rich and extensible set of Views that can be used to build an application, including lists, grids, text boxes, buttons, and even an embeddable web browser
• Content Providers that enable applications to access data from other applications (such as Contacts), or to share their own data
• A Resource Manager, providing access to non-code resources such as localized strings, graphics, and layout files
• A Notification Manager that enables all applications to display custom alerts in the status bar
• An Activity Manager that manages the lifecycle of applications and provides a common navigation backstack

For more details and a walkthrough of an application, see Writing an Android Application.

Libraries

Android includes a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components of the Android system. These capabilities are exposed to developers through the Android application framework. Some of the core libraries are listed below:

• System C library - a BSD-derived implementation of the standard C system library (libc), tuned for embedded Linux-based devices
• Media Libraries - based on PacketVideo's OpenCORE; the libraries support playback and recording of many popular audio and video formats, as well as static image files, including MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, and PNG
• Surface Manager - manages access to the display subsystem and seamlessly composites 2D and 3D graphic layers from multiple applications
• LibWebCore - a modern web browser engine which powers both the Android browser and an embeddable web view
• SGL - the underlying 2D graphics engine
• 3D libraries - an implementation based on OpenGL ES 1.0 APIs; the libraries use either hardware 3D acceleration (where available) or the included, highly optimized 3D software rasterizer
• FreeType - bitmap and vector font rendering
• SQLite - a powerful and lightweight relational database engine available to all applications

Android Runtime

Android includes a set of core libraries that provides most of the functionality available in the core libraries of the Java programming language.

Every Android application runs in its own process, with its own instance of the Dalvik virtual machine. Dalvik has been written so that a device can run multiple VMs efficiently. The Dalvik VM executes files in the Dalvik Executable (.dex) format which is optimized for minimal memory footprint. The VM is register-based, and runs classes compiled by a Java language compiler that have been transformed into the .dex format by the included "dx" tool.

The Dalvik VM relies on the Linux kernel for underlying functionality such as threading and low-level memory management.

Linux Kernel

Android relies on Linux version 2.6 for core system services such as security, memory management, process management, network stack, and driver model. The kernel also acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and the rest of the software stack.