How Could Android Ever Be Considered “The Evil OS”? | Android Phone Fans When we think about Android, we often see it as the greener grass beyond the lucrative fence separating the dark and gloomy farm from the healthy-looking fields of grass, trees, and colorful selection of flora growing about. I understand that everyone may not buy into Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” mantra as easily as others – and I get that it might not even ring true in everything that Google as a company does – but I’m finding it rather difficult to imagine how Android, of all other Google entities, could be considered evil. Andreas Constantinou – a research director for VisionMobile Ltd. – voiced his opinion on the open nature of Google’s mobile OS on the company’s blog today claiming that “…Android might be the most closed system in the history of open source.” That one line in and of itself is more than enough reason for me to warrant a response to his opinion. Next is carrier support. Is Android completely open source?

Android 8-levels of secrecy Nice article at How does Google control what services, software and hardware ships in Android handsets? The search giant has built an elaborate system of control points around Android handsets.To dig deeper we spent two months talking to industry sources close to Android commercials – and the reality has been startling. From a high level, Google uses 8 control points to manage the make-up of Android handsets: I love Android, yet I am also the webmaster of the Archos Fans community. This whole unofficial Google Apps deal is absolutely not sustainable, it’s like some kind of cyanogen thing. As the roadmap of Android is top secret, as Google geniuses prepare their Knock Out blows against Apple/Microsoft/Nokia/Intel, I think we as Android fanboys can also rather straight forwardly guess what that roadmap likely is going to be. I see it a bit like some kind of trojan horse approach.

gStrings: A must have app for any musician – Android and Me Maybe you’re an experienced musician who knows the importance of a perfectly pitched instrument. Or, maybe for old time’s sake, you want to revive that awfully out of tune guitar that’s been rotting away in your attic since who knows when. Either way, an ugly plastic tuner will cost you a good $15 at your local music shop. Save yourself a little time and money and download gStrings, a handy little chromatic tuner (with a suggestive title) that should never leave a musician’s side. The cost? In spite of my skepticism of a cell phones capability to measure an instrument’s pitch, this tuner is exceptionally accurate. In case you get tired of the color scheme, the app comes with a total of 7 skins. Although gStrings is a free application, there is a donate version available in the market for about $4, with double the processing power. If you’re a musician of any sort, this is simply a must have. Pros: Suggestions: Add a metronome for an all-in-one musician’s tool Add a tuning widget

10 Must-See Usability Videos I guarantee they’ll change the way you think, and design! If a picture is worth a thousand words than a useful usability video is probably worth several million more. The following 10 must-see usability videos provide excellent examples of practical approaches to usability testing and usability topics. I guarantee that if you watch and internalize the messages from each of these, you’ll change the way you design for the better. These usability videos can also be used for: Demonstrating usability testing conceptsTraining or educating on usability methods and best-practicesProviding stimulus to your team members to apply key learningsServe as the starting point for discussions of applying usability systematically I hope you find these valuable and refer back to them from time to time. The top 10 must-see usability videos: Paper Prototype usability test by Corel Corporation 7:36 SXSW 2010 Presentation – My 3-year-old daughter is my usability expert by Dave Stanton 53:21 Google+

Pantech Sirius IM-A600S comes bearing Snapdragon (and a stylus?) – Android and Me Pantech has just announced their fledgling Android effort, the Sirius IM-A600S, will be launching on SK Telecom in Korea by the end of April. Readers in the U.S. and Japan should pay attention as well though as Pantech is in talks with AT&T and Verizon in the U.S. and KDDI in Japan. A more complete specs list can be found at the bottom of the post, but the major bullet points are: Qualcomm Snapdragon (QSD8250) 1Ghz3.7″ WVGA AMOLED Screen (800×480)5MP Camera w/flashHDMI outAndroid 2.1500 MB ROMOptical Joystick Snapdragon has definitely become fairly commonplace for new Android releases; although I haven’t gotten sick of seeing that 1GHz listing yet. The optical joystick/trackpad is another feature that we are coming to expect from these devices, so no ground won or lost for the Sirius there. On to the few possible dark clouds on the horizon for this device. I tried reaching Pantech for confirmation on some of the missing specs, but they have yet to respond.

The running dynamics screen displays a color gauge for the primary metric. You can display cadence, vertical oscillation, or ground contact time as the primary metric. The color gauge shows you how your running dynamics data compares to those of other runners. Garmin has researched many runners of all different levels. How To Create Outstanding Modern Infographics In this tutorial you will learn that data doesn't have to be boring, it can be beautiful! Learn how to use various graph tools, illustration techniques and typography to make an accurate and inspiring infographic in Adobe Illustrator. Start by using the Rectangle Tool (M) to draw a shape. Give it a subtle radial gradient too. The entire design is based on a grid of four columns. Condense the shape so it fits within the left-most guide and centre guide. Move the shape over to the right and add another guide to the centre here. Using the Rectangle Tool (M) draw a thin white box on the centre line that will be the width of the gap between the columns. Repeat the process for the other columns with your final result being below. I like to place the most important graphics first and work-in the ancillary charts and graphs afterwards. Early on you can experiment with placing a main graphic that will help give the piece some visual interest. Give the circles a variety of gradients. That's it!

Mis à part Facebook, les réseaux sociaux sont-ils en déclin ? Cela fait un bon bout de temps que je voulais vous entretenir des prédictions 2010 de la firme de vigie américaine Gartner. Habituellement, cette dernière se lance dans des prédictions très orientées informatique d’entreprise mais j’ai mis la main sur un rapport plus orienté usagers et appelé: «Gartner Top End User Predictions for 2010: Coping with the New Balance of Power». Et une des multiples prédictions qui a retenu mon attention concerne non pas le Cloud Computing ou la mobilité mais bien Facebook et les réseaux sociaux. Ainsi, Gartner y va de la prédiction suivante : «By 2012, Facebook will become the hub for social networks integration and Web socialization.» Ce qui implique que Facebook devrait cannibaliser les autres réseaux sociaux, qu’il y aurait une restructuration de l’offre sur le marché de la socialisation sur le Web. Ce qui fait que les 177 autres plates-formes recensées par Wikipédia vivent actuellement une baisse significative de fréquentation. Les nouveaux «chouchous»