Google sells Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion. Google is selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo, giving the Chinese smartphone manufacturer a major presence in the US market. Lenovo will buy Motorola for $2.91 billion in a mixture of cash and stock. Google will retain ownership of the vast majority of Motorola's patents, while 2,000 patents and a license on the remaining patents will go to Lenovo.
At the deal's closing, Lenovo will pay Google $660 million in cash and $750 million in stock, while the remaining $1.5 billion will be paid out over three years. Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said that although his company doesn't have "an effective plan yet," it has confidence that it can turn the currently unprofitable Motorola's fortunes around. Yang also stated that, within a year of the Motorola acquisition, Lenovo expected to sell 100 million smartphones worldwide. Google believes Lenovo can turn Motorola into "a major player within the Android ecosystem.
" "We will become a much stronger number three smartphone company. " Google Is About To Make Apple's Siri Look Like A Joke. Dropbox can now automatically backup your camera roll at the touch of a button. An update to the Dropbox for Android client issued yesterday allows users to automatically save every photograph taken with a phone’s camera to their Dropbox in full resolution. A new setting to Turn on Camera Upload also lets you upload existing photos and videos over wireless or both wireless and cellular networks.
In case of the latter, Dropbox will not upload large videos using a data plan; although, you can override the preference in settings. Your photos and clips save in a private folder on your Dropbox called Camera Uploads. The company said people wishing to test the new feature would get an extra 3GB of free storage for a total of 5GB. It is important to note that you will not get an extra 3GB at once but rather your storage limit will gradually increase as photos and videos upload with the new feature. For example, your first automatic upload scores 500MB of free extra storage. The Most Secure Android Phone, Ever. A new German project makes Android phones significantly more secure for business communications--this could change the way people use smartphones, entirely. The project, Bizztrust, creates virtual "work phones" on Android smartphones, and employs BlackBerry-style encryption to guarantee secure communications.
The new product has the potential to create headaches for Research In Motion (RIM), which uses security as a major selling point for BlackBerrys. Bizztrust is a modified version of the Android operating system that separates all installed applications into separate "work" and "personal" partitions. Control over apps in the "work" partition is handled by the end user's corporate IT team, which automatically updates and deletes work apps as needed. All software installed on Bizztrust-enabled Androids is automatically scanned before the user logs on to their company's network via VPN; if any irregularities are detected, the user will not be able to use compromised apps.
Richard Stallman On Android. Boeing chooses Android for 787 Dreamliner's entertainment system. While Apple continues to score wins in the use of its iPad for inflight entertainment, Boeing has chosen its nemesis – Google’s Android operating system – to provide music, video and even airline-specific apps for the next-gen 787 Dreamliner. According to Mark Larson, technical manager at Boeing’s Dreamliner Gallery, all 787s now in production will be fitted with Android-based servers and touchscreens. “Those Dreamliners that are being configured right now can get (Android)” Larson told Australian Business Traveller. Panasonic has already built the first 787-certified Android touchscreen, which is available in everything from economy seats to first-class suites.
However, Larson explains that “a lot of the larger screens (for business and first class) will be non-touch because you can't reach them, although they’ve also got a prototype of gesturing,” so if your monitor is too far away you can control it using simple hand gestures. About David Flynn. Apple's victory over HTC may set high royalty precedent for Android devices. By Neil Hughes Apple's initial legal victory over rival HTC in a patent infringement suit could pave the way for Apple to collect high royalties from devices running Google Android, according to one analysis.
Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets believes that Apple has the upper hand over HTC, which is a smaller handset maker with a limited portfolio of intellectual property. As such, Apple could potentially push for an injunction and ask the U.S. International Trade Commission to bar the import of HTC handsets. Instead, Abramsky believes it's more likely that Apple will try to establish a high royalty precedent on Android devices. Microsoft's licensing deal with HTC is so lucrative, it's caused some pundits to speculate that the Redmond, Wash., software giant makes more money off of Google's Android than it does from its own Windows Phone 7 platform.
The two patents HTC was said to be infringing upon are also part of a separate lawsuit Apple has filed against Motorola. Mobile World Congress: Google's Android Big in Barcelona. Android Users Can Now Check In To Foursquare By Using Their Voice. Thanks to a partnership with Vlingo, owners of Android 2.0 or higher-equipped phones can now check in to Foursquare and update their status on Facebook and Twitter simply by speaking into their phones.
To try it out, download the free Vlingo app to your Android handset. Using your voice, you can then update your location status on Foursquare by saying “check into Logan Airport”, locate your friends with commands like “where are my friends?” And “who’s nearby?” As well as send shout-outs to your buddies (e.g. “shout at Logan Airport waiting to board a plane to San Francisco”). That’s not all though. Previous Vlingo features remain, too: you can still use the app to send text and email messages, search the web, use Google maps and more. As for BlackBerry, iPhone and Nokia S60 users – they’ll have to be patient for a while before they can start updating their status and locations with their voice. Chaîne de androiddevelopers. First Impressions Using Android Honeycomb, Google’s iPad Rival.
This morning Google held an event to showcase Android Honeycomb, the new version of the mobile OS that is focused on tablets. There wasn’t much news around the OS — we’ve seen it previewed in a few demos — but the team did show off some of Honeycomb’s slickest features, like widgets and an improved 3D rendering engine. But what about actually using the tablet OS? For all the whiz-bang previews we’ve seen, very few people have actually written about what it’s like to use these tablets. Unfortunately today’s event wasn’t the ideal place to do a full hands-on, either — there were dozens of reporters and only four tablets (most people got to play with one for maybe five minutes). Here are some of the features and apps that stood out — be sure to check out the video below for some of these in action. The Action Bar If you’re in the tablet’s browser (which is based on Google Chrome) then this is where you’ll find your open tabs.
Browser Kicks the pants off of the iPad’s browser. Gmail Performance. Android To Nokia: You Ain’t Cool Unless You Pee Your Pants [Video] Is Android Only Surging Because Apple Is Letting It? This weekend, I’ve been catching up on some reading. One post that was of particular interest to me was David Beach’s article from last week about developing for Android. Beach, who is a product manager at eBay Mobile and a co-founder of 12seconds, basically says that the experience sucks for a number of reasons (all of which Google can fix, but will take quite a bit of work and time).
But one quote in particular stuck out to me: Android has succeeded despite Google. In fact it’s safe to say that Android is successful for one primary reason. The iPhone is only available on AT&T. Obviously, Beach isn’t the first person to bring this idea up. This is going to sound like flame bait, and everyone knows that I love the iPhone — but I have to agree with Beach.
Now, don’t get me wrong, almost all Android phones are a million times better than the phones we had just a few years ago before the iPhone burst onto the scene. It’s great that there is competition in the market right now. Android Users Can Now Check In To Foursquare By Using Their Voice. Google Chrome To Phone, Soon With Phone To Chrome (TCTV)
Like many projects in Silicon Valley (see: Twitter), Chrome To Phone started as a mere side project at Google. Dave Burke, Google’s Engineering Manager for Mobile and the chief architect for Chrome To Phone, was just tinkering around with Google’s third party developer tools in his free time. Fascinated by the divide between mobile and desktop, he stumbled upon Chrome To Phone. “I created an early version that I sent around internally, and then I started getting sort of notes and e-mails from people going ‘Wow, this is really useful, thanks for creating it!’ And over time people started using it more and more because it really just addresses a need today and I guess it just generated some momentum after that,” Burke says.
On Thursday, Google officially launched Chrome to Phone to the public, it’s a useful extension that allows you to push information, like web pages, phone numbers and maps directly from your Chrome browser to your Android phone. Google_voice_inforgraphic_big.png (905×1103) What’s Next For Google Voice Actions? A Discussion With Google’s Mobile Team. Google: 25% Of Queries From Android 2.0 Devices Use Voice Search. Today in at its office in San Francisco, Google has rounded up the press for an event with news on its mobile operating system, Android. Hugo Barra, Google’s Director of Product Management for Mobile, took the stage to discuss the evolution of mobile computing capabilities, when he shared a key new stat: 1 out of 4 queries on Android 2.0 devices in the US are being made using voice search. That’s a big deal, and it shows that Google’s investment in Voice Search is paying off. Barra says that even Google was surprised by just how frequently its users are using voice to generate search queries.
During a Q&A Barra said that there is a “significant difference” in how many queries come from Google’s voice search application on iPhone, but he wouldn’t say exactly how many fewer queries the iPhone app receives. The discrepancy likely stems from the fact that Google voice search is deeply embedded in the Android OS, whereas you need to launch a separate, dedicated app to use it on iPhone. Google Unveils Awesomely Fast And Accurate Voice Actions For Android.
Today at Google’s office in San Francisco, the mobile team took the stage to unveil a couple new products. Hugo Barra, Google’s director of product management for mobile kicked off things by noting that we’re entering the mobile supercomputing era. What he means by this is that thanks to computation in the cloud, modern mobile devices are actually more like supercomputers.
The first new feature Google showed off was the ability to send text messages with your Android phone — using only your voice. This is a part of Google’s new Voice Action feature in their new version of the Voice Search application which is available starting today for Android phones. It’s awesome — but that’s not the only voice action, there are 12 of them (plus search) — and growing. Another feature is the ability to call any business in Google Search. This does not have to be a company in your local contacts app — it can be any business. Here’s a list of the current voice actions: See more in the video below: Google Launches Chrome-To-Phone Extension To Link Chrome With Android. Today at its press event in San Francisco, Google has just announced that it is officially releasing Chrome-To-Phone, a Chrome Extension it showed off as a preview at Google IO. The extension allows you to take a page you’re currently viewing on your web browser and send it to your Android 2.2 device — if you’re looking at a map and want it on your phone, you can just click the ‘Chrome to Phone’ button in your browser, and your phone will immediately open that map in the Maps application.
You can download the extension here. Other possible uses for the extension: if you’re looking at a webpage and want to continue reading it on your phone, just click the button in your browser. And, if you come across a phone number on the web that you’d like to call, you can send that directly to your phone to automatically launch the dialer (no more typos when you’re trying to place a call). The extension is open sourced. Android’s Awesome Gesture Search: Turn Your Phone And Write With Your Finger. Back in March, Google launched an experimental new app for Android called Gesture Search. It’s an awesome idea: you can search for anything on your device simply by writing a letter with your finger on the touchscreen. Today, they’ve made it even more accesible thanks to a new flip-to-activate feature. With Gesture Search 1.2, all you have to do is turn your phone to the side and then move it back to the regular position to activate Gesture Search.
You can fine-tune the sensitivity in the settings as well to make sure you don’t, you know, activate this every single time you move your Android phone. Google is smart to play up these types of features as they’re something Apple is unlikely to allow with the iPhone (granted, it was Google who made this particular app). Currently, Gesture Search is only for your Android contacts, bookmarks, applications, and music (you need Android 1.6 or later to run it) — hopefully Google can come up with an effective way to let it search the entire web. Android and Me.