One thing Google doesn’t have, that Apple and Amazon, their current competition, do have, is a music store. Google will help you find music to buy, but you can’t buy music from them. Sure, Google bought a music service, but it seems up in the air as to what that service will actually be doing.
Well, courtesy of their dev blog, we just got a hint.
One of the key selling points of Google’s Android platform was its open source mentality; anybody could have the code! Anybody could do anything with Android! It’s your mobile phone OS! It’s free! Free!
Many analysts predicted that this would do two things: make Android the number one smartphone OS and backfire horribly and cause dozens of broken versions of Android. Guess what? They were right. Now Google is yanking some control back, and its partners are less than happy about it, as in “talking to the Justice Department” unhappy.
Say what you will about Android, the phone operating system, and the multiple issues it’s faced as it has entered the market and Google learned the hard way that “open source” to phone manufacturers means “Ooooh, we can break it in new and interesting ways like monkeys throwing stemware!”, but man, that is an incredibly cuddly mascot.
And, if the plushies, t-shirts, and other memorabilia aren’t enough for you, you can now get an Android headset jack. Well, sorta.
It may not to be a function that most Android users care about, but it’s something developers have been eagerly anticipating for months. No, not Google unlocking Honeycomb. No, not Google repairing Honeycomb from its painfully busted beta state. Nope, they’re finally ready to test…in-app billing.
Around here, we see enough carefully-timed press releases and slowly trickling droplets of information that it’s worth a laugh when a company’s spot gets blown up. So here we have a Dell netbook that runs on Google’s Android operating sytem, being announced by a company responsible for the porting of Flash Lite onto the computer. That Bsquare then tried to pull the press release in hopes that people wouldn’t notice (they did) makes the situation more comical. Being an announcement related to Adobe Flash, there’s really no other substantial information except that the netbook will be called the Mini Inspiron 910, but hey, now you know. [Yahoo! Business via Gizmodo]
There’s money in the smartphone business, especially if your company’s name becomes coveted by cell phone OS makers. Erich Sprecht, who runs Illinois-based Android Data Corp., has sued Google and 46 other companies including T-Mobile, Samsung and Motorola for stealing the Android name. He’s seeking $96 million, and it’s believed the parties will settle because of how many companies are involved. Alternatively, a restraining order could require a massive rebranding effort. This may seem like a simple money grab, but the case has some meat on it: The US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected Google’s application for the Android trademark several times due to Android Data’s presence, despite the Google’s claim that the name sat unused for many years before being reactivated. See also: Apple and Cisco’s tussle over the iPhone brand. It’s easy to cash in with just a little foresight. [Forbes via Electronista]
In the war for smartphone operating system supremacy, Google’s Android has earned another recruit. Samsung’s I7500 will be the first smartphone from a major worldwide cell phone manufacturer. The 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen is good for viewing all sorts of Google services, such as Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps, along with apps from the Android Market. Other features include HSDPA and Wi-Fi support, a 5-megapixel camera, GPS and 8 GB of storage, plus a Micro SD slot for up to 32 GB more space. The I7500 is coming to major European markets in June, with no official word on a US release. However, Crave notes that the smartphone’s supported bands are compatible with T-Mobile’s 3G network. Perhaps a US announcement isn’t far behind. [via Akihabara News]
The headline says it all. Good job T-Mobile, for selling a million G1 smartphones, or 66 percent of your total US 3G sales. Android will be so proud. We’re not talking Apple or Blackberry levels of market share here, but it’s a great start considering the smartphone only launched in October of last year, and with no 3G coverage at that. Deutsche Telekom, which reported the statistics, says 3G smartphones will be a major selling point in the year ahead. Accordingly, T-Mobile will expand its US “points of presence” under the 3G network from 107 million to 205 million. It’s going to be a bloodbath as telecoms try to sell you their fancy handsets. [Deutsche Telekom via Engadget]
This morning at the MWC 2009 event, HTC has officially revealed its latest phone for Google Android, the HTC Magic. The HTC Magic features a 3.2″ touchscreen, a 3.2 MP digital camera, GPS, HDSPA, and a bottom-center trackball. The HTC magic will be available for Vodaphone contracts and priced between 99 and 199 Euro in Spain, Germany, UK, France and Italy. The hard stats are available after the jump! More to come… [via engadget]
