We’ve already heard of some changes that Google’s planning to make to boost app purchases in the Android Market, and it looks like it’s now also undertaking a considerable in-house effort to increase the number of quality apps that are available. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is planning to hire “dozens” of software engineers, product managers, user-interface experts and “others who have ideas for mobile apps,” and it’s apparently already shifted some of its current employees to work in this new “apps lab.” As you might expect, that’s being done at least in part to close the so-called “app gap” with Apple, and it looks like the new apps will reach far beyond Google’s usual properties — the WSJ even specifically mentions games as one area they’ll focus on. The apps would also apparently all be free (but possibly ad-supported), and Google is said to be trying to woo developers with its distribution power, noting that it will be able to promote the apps in the Android Market and even have them pre-installed on many phones.
Google is looking to intensify its internal work on mobile app development, in a play to better challenge Apple in software for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. According to the WSJ‘s sources, Google plans to recruit software engineers, product managers, user-interface experts and others to help bolster the Android Market with quality apps; however, insiders also claim that not all of the titles will be Android-exclusive.
Product manager Benjamin Ling is believed to be leading the recruitment drive, and Google apparently intends to fund small groups producing anything from games to LBS apps and more. It remains to be seen whether Android developers will lose out as part of the new strategy; both they and Google itself have been disappointed by paid app sales in the Android Market, and having the search giant wade in may not make that proposition any easier.
The Android 3.0 SDK has been revealed for developers and eager wanna-be customers alike. Google has issued their non-final preview of Android 3.0′s SDK. Noted “highlights” include support for multicore processors, high-quality 2D and 3D graphics, and a UI framework for building large-screen device applications. There are also new APIs for Bluetooth A2DP and HSP.
Enterprise customers will be glad to see support for encrypted storage, password expiration and email with a new two-pane UI for more comfortable browsing.
The new Honeycomb UI includes a system bar at the buttom of the display that gives global status info. There’s also a top action bar for managing your apps. The larger bulk of the display is empty space, arranged as a grid for all the widgets, apps and other shortcuts you want on a device as robust as a tablet.
Over in the browser, multiple tabs allow for more comfortable full-screen navigation. Users will be able to auto-sign into Google accounts when browsing on their Android device, and Chrome bookmark syncing is supported. There will also be multitouch support for JavaScript and plugins.
The big walkthrough on the Android developers site is well worth a deeper look. We’re suitably hyped up now, Google. Have your minions make with the Honeycomb tablets.
Google is looking to improve the performance of paid apps in the Android Market with tools like in-app purchases and carrier billing, after Android platform manager Eric Chu told developers this week that the search giant was “not happy” with paid-app growth. According to Forbes, Chu outlined Google’s rough strategy for the Android Market in 2011, which will see carrier billing for software extended from just AT&T in the US.
The AT&T arrangement began in December 2010, and Chu says that Google is working with more carriers worldwide to set up similar systems. As for in-app payments, that’s expected to debut sometime this quarter, and as on iOS will allow free or paid apps to offer further downloads for add-ons and extras.
Meanwhile, Google’s is looking to make discovering apps more successful, with tweaks to the search algorithm and more emphasis on removing titles that contravene the terms of service. There’ll also be a push for HTML5 apps and leveraging “the best social graph”: the user’s own address book since it aggregates contacts from multiple platforms.
A new jailbreaking system for Windows Phone 7 devices is promised, though the developer is waiting until after the first official update is released so as to avoid Microsoft patching the exploit. According to Windows Phone dev Julien Schapman, his Windows Phone 7 Device Manager app works in a way “similar to that of ChevronWP7 in the way they both use a fake registration server, but my method is different and more reliable” according to WinRumors wrote Schapman in an email to WinRumors.
“For example it automatically detects when a WP7 is plugged in and will check if this is a registered developer phone,” he continues, “if not it will register it once and for all, so the device will never re-lock like with ChevronWP7.” The previous tool was the handiwork of the ChevronWP7 team, who agreed to pull the app at Microsoft’s request and who are now working with the company on ways to engage with the homebrew community.
Google appears to be paving the way for the Android Market’s debut on Google TV, updating the app store submissions system to advise developers that touchscreen use in their software will now be treated as a “filtering” feature. Developer Al Sutton spotted that android.hardware.touchscreen access in an APK is now flagged up, a differentiator which will likely be used to prevent touch-dependent apps from being offered to Google TV users.
That’s important, since touchscreen-dependent apps might not work so well on hardware like Logitech’s Revue. The STB comes with a wireless keyboard complete with an integrated trackpad for navigation, which should cater for most apps, but anything more touch complex might not make for an especially usable setup.
Google hasn’t confirmed an exact launch date for the Android Market on Google TV, though the features page does suggest it should arrive in early 2011.
After development studio Infinity Ward (IW) lost Vince Zampella and Jason West, there was some speculation about how the next Call of Duty title would turn out, considering two of the largest influential elements of the titles were no longer in the picture. Since then, publisher Activision has tried its best to make sure that everyone is calm, collected, and understands that the development studio is doing just fine without the pair on hand. However, if calling in a pair of two other development studios is any indicator, it doesn’t look like IW is doing all that well on the next title in the franchise.
The LA TImes is reporting, via their Company Town Blog, that Infinity Ward has called in some support for the next game, which is still officially unannounced at the moment. However, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is indeed coming, and now Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games have been called in to help with the development. Sledgehammer Games has even had to stop development of its own spin-off on a Call of Duty title to help out IW.
It’s being reported that Sledgehammer Games will be helping IW with the single player campaign, while Raven Software will work with the remaining IW team members to develop multiplayer. All of this information is coming from “sources familiar with the matter,” so keeping that salt shaker in hand may not be a bad idea.
When hackers are playing with your platform, you can either try to thwart them – leading to a cat & mouse situation as with Apple and the iOS jailbreakers – or you can work with them; sensibly, Microsoft is apparently doing the latter when it comes to Windows Phone 7. According to WinRumors, the company recently met with part of the ChevronWP7 team, responsible for the Windows Phone 7 Unlocker tool, to discuss how homebrew application developers can co-exist with Microsoft’s existing official developers.
The Windows Phone 7 Unlocker made it possible for unofficial apps to be sideloaded to a regular WP7 handset, rather than demanding that developers pay Microsoft’s $99 annual developer registration fee. At the time it was heralded as the first step toward an unofficial Windows Phone Marketplace, similar to the iOS Cydia app store; however, ChevronWP7 later pulled the tool at Microsoft’s request, and the company plans to close the loophole that facilitated it in the upcoming WP7 software update.
Instead, it seems Microsoft wants to look at more legitimate ways to enable the homebrew community, and given the amount of catch-up it has to do to compete with Android and iPhone that seems the sensible route. According to Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 group product manager Greg Sullivan, the company will have more to announce about homebrew on the platform “in the coming months.”
The development community can make any phone live long past its manufacturer support timeline. For the HTC HD2, which features plenty of hardware to make it a stand-out device even in today’s market, the fact that it wouldn’t be able to be upgraded to Windows Phone 7 rubbed a lot of owners the wrong way. But, thanks to the development community, Windows Phone 7 hasn’t been a complete stranger to the device. And now, thanks to Dark Forces Team (DFT) a true-to-life Windows Phone 7 ROM is available for the HD2.
Unlike some earlier builds that had been released for the handset, this version of Windows Phone 7 is functioning at 100%. However, the developers weren’t able to include Windows Live services. That means you can’t download any applications or other types of media from the Windows Marketplace, nor will you be able to take advantage of Xbox LIVE or put your Avatar on your phone.
The missing Windows Live services obviously make the experience not the complete one envisioned by Microsoft, but for those who own an HD2 and want to get their hands on the newest mobile Operating System (OS) from Microsoft, but don’t want to buy a new phone, it’s better than nothing. You can check out a quick demo of the ROM loading onto an HD2 below.
There’s no doubt at this point that the Nexus S from Samsung, which out of the box runs Android’s latest version of Android (2.3), is a versatile device. We’ve already seen the handset boot up MeeGo, and now the developer is at it again. This time, though, we’ve got Ubuntu loading up on the device. The XDA developer forum member, stroughtonsmith — or Steven Troughton-Smith– has gone through the same method of bringing MeeGo to the device, but focusing his attention on Ubuntu this time around.
The Nexus S, while running the different Operating System, isn’t a perfect handset, and if you’re thinking about doing this, you should definitely not do it on your personal, every day device. stroughtonsmith points out that, as of right now, the touchscreen isn’t working. However, he says that is something to do with his kernel, and that it should be fixed soon.
stroughtonsmith used the same Ubuntu image that was used in the HD2 process, but he used the same process to bring Ubuntu to the device that he used bringing MeeGo to the handset. Of course, there’s instructions through the source link below, and we shouldn’t have to say that you should be extremely careful when attempting anything like this, on any device. So tread carefully, if you do decide to step forward.
Google is looking to improve the performance of paid apps in the 
