Nexus 10 (16GB) – Google Play

This is on my wish list for Crimbo i know that for sure, the nexus 7 is awesome and I’m one happy chappy… Get them while their hot! https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_10_16gb

Dolphin Add-ons

Come n get your addons the best are free. http://dolphin-browser.com/android/addons/index.html

Ofcom must play fair over 4G, says Everything Everywhere

It would be inappropriate to prevent mobile network Everything Everywhere from providing 4G LTE technology to UK customers, according to the network’s senior adviser, Kip Meek.

According to Three, one of Everything Everywhere’s rival networks, Everything Everywhere has the biggest (43 per cent) spectrum share in the market, while Vodafone (25 per cent), O2 (22 per cent) and Three (10 per cent) are lagging behind.

Further reading

• Three CEO laments Ofcom decision to drop low-frequency guarantee at 4G auction

• 4G mobile broadband could be available this year, says Ofcom

• Ofcom again revises plans for much-anticipated 4G spectrum auction

This has allowed Everything Everywhere to apply to use its existing 2G spectrum to deliver 4G services, potentially by the end of the year, while other operators have to wait until the outcome of the 4G spectrum auction, which is also set to take place at the end of 2012.

Speaking at an event in Westminster this week, Meek said that when T-Mobile and Orange merged to create Everything Everywhere, it gave up a quarter of its spectrum and it would therefore be unfair for regulator Ofcom to stop the network launching 4G LTE technology this year.

“It would not be fair for Ofcom to say 4G should not be launched in the final quarter of 2012 and instead to be launched in the first quarter of 2013.

“In the interest of consumers, we are already behind globally in LTE technology and it would be inappropriate to deny customers the technology when it could be available,” he said.

The CEO of rival network Three, David Dyson, said that an early 4G launch for Everything Everywhere would give it an unfair advantage.

“If Everything Everywhere got their spectrum liberated, it would use it to its advantage. Customers would have to pay a reasonable premium for the service and it wouldn’t be a broad proposition but a niche one. This will give them marketing power,” he said.

Dyson believes that Ofcom should prevent Everything Everywhere from launching 4G before any of the other operators.

“They should not be able to use spectrum for 4G services. Ofcom should have waited until after the auction [to consider this]. A lot of spectrum should be available [to all operators] next year, which is when Everything Everywhere should be able to use 4G LTE technology,” he said.

Head of spectrum at Telefonica O2, Nicholas Blades, said O2 shared the concerns of Three but also had concerns about Three.

Blades questioned Dyson on reports that Three and Virgin Media had signed a contract to provide 4G services six months after Everything Everywhere.

Dyson said that there were on-going discussions taking place.

Earlier this month, Everything Everywhere submitted an application to Ofcom to use its existing 2G spectrum to deliver 4G services that give mobile networks a more efficient capacity at higher speeds.

At the time, Ofcom said that it had “provisionally concluded that [Everything Everywhere delivering 4G services] would not” distort competition.

However, the communications regulator has bowed to pressure from rival networks and has since extended the consultation period until 8 May 2012.

“We have decided to extend this period following requests from stakeholders for more time to respond,” it said in a statement.

via Ofcom must play fair over 4G, says Everything Everywhere – 29 Mar 2012 – Computing News.

Android ICS 4.0.4 rolling out to Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S?

Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 has reportedly started rolling out to the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S devices

Published on Mar 29, 2012

The Android ICE Cream Sandwich update (version 4.0.4) is now rolling out across SIM free Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S devices in Europe.

Google announced the milestone on its own Google+ page.

The exact announcement read:

‘We’ve started rolling out Android 4.0.4, Ice Cream Sandwich, to UMTS/GSM Nexus S, Xoom Wi-Fi, and HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus devices, and we’ll be rolling it out to more devices in the coming weeks. Some of you will be receiving Ice Cream Sandwich for the first time, while others will be receiving an update to your existing Ice Cream Sandwich experience with stability improvements, better camera performance, smoother screen rotation, improved phone number recognition and more.’

Followed by a load of predictable comments asking when it will be released for other devices, including the HTC Desire HD, Xperia-branded devices, Galaxy Note and Galaxy S2 (network-branded devices).

Google declined to comment when all these other updates would be coming, but everyday we’re hearing about more devices benefiting from the update.

If you do have the Galaxy Nexus or Nexus S, it may be a good idea to check whether the update has arrived. For those with network-branded devices, you may have to wait a little longer for your network to properly test the update before rolling it out.

via Android ICS 4.0.4 rolling out to Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S? – News – Know Your Mobile.

Google’s Android will overtake Windows by 2016

Android devices will surge to slim lead in 2016

Number of ‘smart devices‘ shipped worldwide will DOUBLE in five years to 1.84 billion in 2016

By 2016, devices running Windows will be eclipsed by phones and tablets running Google’s Android, according to a report by analysts IDC.

More than 90 per cent of the world’s PCs still run Windows – but the whole technology landscape is changing around Microsoft’s operating system.

By 2016, Microsoft’s leading market share of 35.9% will slip to 25.1%.

Devices running Google’s Android will climb from 29.4% to 31.1%.

As smartphones grow in relation to PCs, Microsoft’s market share will slide so that its once-dominant Windows software will be second-placed after Google’s Android.

Microsoft is to launch a new ‘tablet friendly’ version of Windows, Windows 8, later this year.

But analyst IDC still predicts a ‘dramatic shift’ towards devices running Android.

‘IDC expects a relatively dramatic shift between 2011 and 2016, with the once-dominant Windows slipping from a leading 35.9% share in 2011 down to 25.1%,’ the analyst predicts.

The number of Android-based devices running on ARM CPUs, on the other hand, will grow modestly from 29.4% share in 2011 to a market-leading 31.1% share in 2016.

Google ‘to launch’ new GDrive storage service in April to take on rivals such as Dropbox

Meanwhile, iOS-based devices will grow from 14.6% share in 2011 to 17.3% in 2016.

Last year, 916 million smartphones, tablets and PCs were shipped worldwide.

By 2016, that figure will have doubled to 1.84 billion units.

‘Android’s growth is tied directly to lower-priced devices,’ said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices. ‘So, while we expect dozens of hardware vendors to own some share in the Android market, many will find profitability difficult to sustain.’

Samsung’s mid-sized Galaxy Note device which recently passed 5 million units shipped: In the next four years, Android devices are predicted to pass Microsoft’s Windows in terms of units shipped.

‘Whether it’s businesses looking at deploying tablet devices into their environments, or educational institutions working to update their school’s computer labs, smart, connected devices are playing an increasingly important role in nearly every individual’s life,’ said Bob O’Donnell, vice president, Clients and Displays at IDC.

Next year, 1.1 billion ‘smart devices’ – smartphones, PCs and tablets – will ship worldwide.

The numbers are growing at a compound annual growth rate of 15.4%.

Research conducted by IDC suggests that many individuals own and regularly use multiple smart connected devices. ‘We are in the multi-device age,’ continued O’Donnell, ‘and we believe the number of people who use multiple devices will only continue to increase. The trick, moving forward, will be to integrate all these devices into a unified whole through use of personal cloud-type applications and services. That’s the real challenge of what we have often called the ‘PC Plus’ era.’
‘Smartphone growth will be driven by Asia/Pacific countries, especially China, where mobile operators are subsidizing the purchase of 3G smartphones, thus increasing the total addressable market. In many if not all instances, the smartphone will be the primary connection to the Internet,’ said Will Stofega, program director, Mobile Phone Technologies and Trends. ‘In countries where devices are not subsidized by the mobile operators, competitive and component-based pricing will help drive volume.’

Google’s Android will overtake Windows by 2016 | Mail Online.

Harder than diamond, stronger than steel.

The ideal crystalline structure of graphene is a hexagonal grid. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Imagine a material that is just one atom thick, 300 times stronger than steel, harder than diamond, a fantastic conductor of heat and electricity and super-flexible to boot.This might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but believe it or not, such a material already exists.The name of this supermaterial is graphene and it’s one of the most exciting prospects in science today.In the latest graphene-related research – released last week – researchers from Vanderbilt University found a way to overcome one of graphene’s most problematic flaws – a high sensitivity to external influences which causes graphene-based devices to operate more slowly than they should.The researchers found a way to dampen external influences on the graphene, and could then observe electrons moving through their graphene three times faster than was previously possible.This development could pave the way for a new generation of graphene-based devices including touch screens and solar panels.More on the uses of graphene in a moment, but first: what is graphene?Quite simply, graphene is a new structural form or ‘allotrope’ of carbon – one of the most versatile elements in the universe. It was discovered in 2004 by Russian-born physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who jointly received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their troubles.Graphene is a single, flat layer of carbon atoms packed tightly into a two-dimensional honeycomb arrangement. The in-plane two-dimensional carbon-carbon bonds in graphene are the strongest bonds known to science. It is these bonds that give graphene its unbelievable mechanical strength and flexibility.Graphene is essentially a single layer of graphite, the material found in pencil ‘lead’. When you draw on paper with a pencil, weakly bound graphene sheets in the graphite spread over your paper like a pack of cards.But because graphene is so thin – the thickness of a single carbon atom – it is extremely difficult to see. This is one of the reasons it took researchers so long to find graphene sheets among thicker stacks of graphite.Despite being so thin, graphene is an excellent conductor of electricity. Electrons flow through graphene with almost zero electrical resistance. This unusual property, and the fact graphene is nearly invisible, makes it an ideal material for the transparent electrodes used in computer displays and solar cells.While scientists have known about graphene since 2004, it was in 2010 that researchers from Samsung and Sungkyunkwan University took a critical step in developing the commercial applications of this material.

Click below to continue reading…

via Harder than diamond, stronger than steel Science Alert.

CyanogenMod-7.2.0-RC1 is upon us…

It’s been a long time in the making, but it’s finally here: CyanogenMod 7.2, the latest version based on Android 2.3(.7), has reached the release candidate stage!

We’ve been delaying it for too long, mostly because new devices kept being submitted to us, and now we feel that at 69 devices, CM7.2 is more than ready for everybody to enjoy 🙂

7.2 adds a couple of backported features and fixes from Android 4 (ICS), over 20 new devices when compared to 7.1, and even some new features to boot (be sure to check out the new predictive contact search in the phone dialer!). We’ve also fixed some bugs along the way. Some of them device-specific, others that affected everybody, and one in particular that’s been plaguing Android for a long time: the mysteriously vanishing SD-card ringtones are no more! You can check the full list of noteworthy changes at the CHANGELOG.

As usual, you can submit bug reports on these builds: if you find anything broken in your device while running CM7.2-RC1, (as downloaded from our mirrors or ROM Manager! Please do not submit reports if your build came from elsewhere), be sure to submit a report through http://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/issues/ , so that we can fix it in time for the final 7.2 release.

Also worthy of note: the new release files have a slightly modified naming-scheme, including the codename instead of the commercial/common name in the filename. So the following is a handy “translation chart” to make sure you don’t mis-identify your device:

ace – HTC Desire HD

anzu – SE XperiaArc-LT15i

blade – ZTE Blade

bravoc – HTC Desire CDMA

bravo – HTC Desire

buzz – HTC Wildfire

c660 – LG Optimus Pro

captivatemtd – Samsung Captivate

click – HTC Tattoo

coconut – SE LiveWithWalkman-WT19i

cooper – Samsung GalaxyAce

crespo4g – Google Nexus S 4G

crespo – Google Nexus S

desirec – Droid Eris

droid2 – Motorola DROID2

droid2we – Motorola DROID2 World Edition

e510 – LG Optimus Hub

e730 – LG Optimus Sol

e739 – T-Mobile LG myTouch

encore – Barnes&Noble Nook Color

epicmtd – Samsung Epic

espresso – HTC Slide

fascinatemtd – Samsung Fascinate

galaxys2att – Samsung Galaxy S2 ATT

galaxys2 – Samsung Galaxy S2

galaxysbmtd – Samsung GalaxyS_B

galaxysmtd – Samsung GalaxyS

glacier – T-Mobile myTouch 4G / HTC Glacier

hallon – SE XperiaNeo-MT15i

heroc – HTC Hero CDMA

hero – HTC Hero

inc – Droid Incredible

iyokan – SE XperiaPro-MK16i

jordan – Motorola Defy

legend – HTC Legend

liberty – HTC Aria

mango – SE XperiaMiniPro-SK17i

mesmerizemtd – Samsung Mesmerize

morrison – Motorola Cliq

motus – Motorola Backflip

olympus – Motorola Atrix

one – Geeksphone ONE

p920 – LG Optimus 3D

p925 – LG ATT Thrill

p970 – LG Optimus Black

p990 – LG Optimus 2X

p999 – T-Mobile G2x

passion – Google Nexus One

saga – HTC Desire S

satsuma – SE XperiaActive-ST17i

shadow – Motorola Droid X

sholes – Motorola Droid

showcasemtd – Samsung Showcase

smultron – SE XperiaMini-ST15i

speedy – HTC Evo Shift

supersonic – HTC Evo

tass – Samsung GalaxyMini

u8220 – Huawei U8220

urushi – SE XperiaRay-ST18i

v9 – ZTE V9

vega – Advent Vega

vibrantmtd – Samsung Vibrant

vision – T-Mobile G2 / HTC Desire Z

vivo – Droid Incredible S

vivow – Droid Incredible 2

zeppelin – Motorola CliqXT

zero – Geeksphone ZERO

zeusc – SE Xperia Play CDMA-R800x

zeus – SE Xperia Play -R800i

And that’s all, folks; Head on to http://get.cm/?type=RC , install, and have fun!

Aaa

Woho

via CyanogenMod-7.2.0-RC1 is upon us | CyanogenMod.

Google rebrands US Android market as ‘Google Play’

Google wants to sell you “content” that you might otherwise buy from Amazon, Apple or Microsoft etc. It has therefore rebranded the Android Market as Google Play, and pulled its apps, ebooks, music, and movies — excluding its YouTube movie service — into a single cloud-based offering. Or at least, it has if you live in the USA. If you’re one of the UK residents contributing £6 billion a year to Google’s revenues, you can just wait in line with the rest of the world, though there is hope….

Google introduced Google Play in a blog post today that says:

“In the US, music, movies, books and Android apps are available in Google Play.

In Canada and the UK, we’ll offer movies, books and Android apps; in Australia,

books and apps; and in Japan, movies and apps. Everywhere else, Google Play

will be the new home for Android apps.”

However, the link from “When will I get Google Play?”, at the bottom of the home page, brings up a page that says: “We’re sorry, but the information you’ve requested cannot be found.” It should lead to the Play FAQ.

Google says that “Google Play is entirely cloud-based so all your music, movies, books and apps are stored online, always available to you, and you never have to worry about losing them or moving them again.”

If so, “always available” means users can access their files when they have a working internet connection. This could work out very expensive for people who pay for bandwidth.

Cross-platform approach

Only Android apps are actually written for Android, and the content files are mainly cross-platform, so the Android name had to go. Google could have held on to “Market” but this has a somewhat downmarket feel, so that went as well. Play is dull but does the job, though it remains to be seen if the popular online retailer Play.com will object. (Google would have rejected iPlay as making the service sound too much like an iTunes knock-off.)

Being cross-platform should give Google an advantage against Apple, which is only really interested in providing content to play on Apple devices, and tries to force Windows PC owners to use its widely-hated iTunes software. However, that hasn’t helped Amazon much, even though it frequently offers better products than Apple at lower prices.

But at this stage, it’s not clear whether Google actually intends to target Play at the cross-platform market. Play could be aimed mainly at users of Google TV, and possibly at owners of Google-branded mobile phones and tablets, in the way that Amazon uses its Kindle Fire tablet as a shop window.

In December, Google chairman Eric Schmidt apparently told an Italian publication: “In the next six months, we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality.” In May, before that, Google showed developers some Android@Home devices that streamed music. An FCC application has revealed that Google is testing the device in homes this year, from 17 January to 17 July.

Google is in the process of buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion — a 63 percent premium on what it’s worth — so it should soon own its own hardware division. This would enable Google to make phones, tablets, set-top boxes and other devices without consulting or involving other Android users such as Samsung and HTC… and risk wrecking the Android ecosystem.

@jackschofield

via Google rebrands US Android market as ‘Google Play’ | ZDNet UK.

DARPA’s “Cheetah” robot sets new speed record of 18mph on treadmill

DARPA’s “Cheetah” robot sets new speed record of 18mph on treadmillBy John Timmer | Published about an hour agoBiologically inspired designs are not a new thing in robotics, but the video embedded below is the first time I’ve ever seen something that looks like it’s modeled on a family pet. Development of the Cheetah robot is being funded by DARPA, the US’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The folks at DARPA have been seing an increased military reliance on robots for disarming and disposing of explosives, so they’ve set about funding programs to improve the perforance of this hardware.Cheetah, built by Boston Dynamics, is an attempt to add some speed to robots with legs wheeled robots can already go pretty fast. It’s somewhat disorienting to watch, because it appears to be running backwards—the legs are flexed in the opposite direction from the one most animals travel, and a bit of hardware that looks like a head is actually in the rear. But one key development is actually in the robot’s body, which is able to flex as part of the stride. The end result is a top speed of about 18 miles an hour, nearly a third faster than the previous record for a robot on legs.There’s still a long way to go before we catch up to an actual cheetah, which can hit 70 miles an hour. A video of the robot is embedded below.

via DARPA’s “Cheetah” robot sets new speed record of 18mph on treadmill.

Dolphin Browser Comes to Barnes & Noble’s Nook | Dolphin Browser® Blog

Browsing just got sweeter for those of you with a Nook tablet.

Dolphin Browser HD is the fastest, easiest and most fun mobile Web browser. It’s also the world’s first Gesture, Webzine and Add-on enabled mobile web browser on Android — All of this is now available on Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

Continue to browse your favourite sites, books, magazines and videos through Dolphin Browser on your Nook.

Download your free Dolphin Browser for Nook Colour and Nook Tablet here.

• #1 Mobile Web Browser on Android Market Over 10 million downloads

• #2 on CNETs 100 Android Apps for 2011

• #1 PC Mags “The 40 Best Free Apps for 2011″

• Dolphin Browser’s Gestures and sidebars make Web surfing fast, intuitive and fun while on the go. – USA Today

• Its a great, simple browser that feels more at home on a touchscreen device than pretty much anything else you’ll try. – Lifehacker

Features:

• Gesture – Let your inner artist out and create a personal Gesture (symbol) to access the mobile and desktop websites you use the most.

• Webzine – Fast Web page loading, with no ads. Dolphin Webzine simplifies the way you read your favourite mobile content, from news to blogs and websites.

• Speed Dial – Visit you favourite mobile and desktop websites on the go with one touch.

• Tabbed browsing – No need to toggle between screens, tabbed browsing lets you open and switch between Web pages fast as lightning.

• Sidebars – Make the best of mobile interface via Dolphin Sidebar.

via Dolphin Browser Comes to Barnes & Noble’s Nook | Dolphin Browser® Blog.