Portable Electronics Ltd // Technology you can carry.

While the verdict is still out with regard to consumer appetites for a 3rd portable computing device, PC makers are betting the farm on consumer interest in tablets that fill the gap between small-screened smartphones and bulky (by comparison) netbooks/laptops. We've already seen an uptick in tablet devices on display at the big CES and CeBIT trade shows, now tablet and MID device vendors look ready to blow out Computex when it kicks off on June 1st in Taipei. According to Roy Chen, ARM's ODM manager for worldwide mobile computing, more than 50 ARM-based tablet PCs will launch in 2010 starting in Q2 with "a lot more" landing in the third quarter -- a date that just happens to line up with the most optimistic Chrome OS launch schedule. ARM's seeing so much interest that it had to rent additional floor space to show off the devices. Chen said that many of the tablets are slated for China although all of the world's top 10 carriers have signed up as well. ARM was showing off two Android based tablets at the press event, including the 7-inch Compal device (pictured above) we gave a whirl at CES. Let's just hope that tablet makers have plans for some compelling content and service hook-ups with a focus on the user experience -- 50 near-identical slabs of touchscreen computing won't generate much enthusiasm around here.

Over 50 ARM-based tablets launching this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Computerworld  | Email this | CommentsThomas Ricker04603607502933300923095560990844213649640854218179797224296013322873927018182020079845379984695039071476355350794909000802359408150557758643166457254109124857070673108403382844539115761418005463542945005633304209979393481822313003510091580401932345111360109348121478990426575882700699688753108762801516668185580241895251

The Rain Alarm Pro Android App by Michael Diener is a weather app and widget that warns you about rain and snow by alarm. The app also features a an animated radar map. The app uses the Android’s GPS feature to determine your location and report the weather in your area. The map features animations and you can enable the map’s animations if you would like.

The map features zoom in and zoom out capabilities, shows the strength scale of the rain or snow, the proximity, strength and size as well. The alarm feature will alert you of poor weather conditions in your area when enabled. From your Home Screen you add the Rain Alarm Pro widget.

Overall, this is a great weather alert app for the Android platform. At the time of this review the Rain Alarm Pro Android App is €2.50 which is approximately $3.41. There is also a free version of the app that you can check out to see how good it really is before buying the Pro version. Thumbs Up.

Screenshots:

Dell’s Mini 5 tablet is without a doubt, real, but until now, there hasn’t been much in the way of full-blown advertisements or promotions from the company itself.  A leaked promotional flyer of the Dell Mini 5 , or what will evidently be called the “Streak”, has just surfaced, and the tablet’s certainly looking gorgeous as usual, with what seems to be an array of color options to choose from.

Once again, the tablet you’re looking at is the Dell Streak, with a 5-inch WVGA 800 x 480 touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, front-facing VGA camera, WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G WWAN connectivity.  If this leaked flyer proves to be legitimate, we could eventually see the Mini 5/Streak available in a plethorea of premium finishes and colors.

As Engadget noted, “Better still, it looks as if it’ll launch with an Amazon content partnership, which will bring a Kindle e-book reader app, Amazon MP3, Amazon video streams and pretty much any other material that Amazon sells in digital form right to the slate.”  We’re just waiting for that shipping date announcement.

[via Engadget]

We know you've barely recovered from our Devour review, but Moto just threw another Blur-ified phone in our laps this afternoon - the CLIQ XT. We've been playing around with the Android 1.5-based, Flash Lite-supported, multitouch-capable handset for the last couple of hours -- but before we grace you with our first impressions, just a fair warning: we don't yet know the price of the new T-Mobile Android handset, though Motorola did promise us that it will hit shelves this month. With that said, hit the break for a quick rundown of our early thoughts.

Gallery: Motorola CLIQ XT with MotoBlur hands-on

Continue reading Motorola CLIQ XT hands-on

Motorola CLIQ XT hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Motorola CLIQ XT  | Email this | CommentsJoanna Stern0842898542796189436209842888990466865025114871870919123873841705280074528591333900171762175499637426023594081505577586430683587392910707321218045038814747833087102194566656171165960504869784228897315411859354042736942790

Polarbit announced earlier today that their applications in the Android Market have been downloaded over a million times. Congratulations to them on such a successful few months and as we are already seeing a second round of 3D games from them I’m sure two million won’t be far off.

I freely concede I suck at math, but as they first debuted on the market on December 18th of last year that means they are averaging 12,346 (I rounded up) downloads a day. Granted a huge percentage of those are likely the free “lite” versions of their games, but just for funsies let’s imagine that 8% of the downloads were paid versions, that would come out to about $360,000 in 81 days. (Please note this is total supposition and I have no idea how many were paid downloads.)

This coupled with the recent news that the maker of “Car Locator” is taking in approximately $13,000 a month could help to finally turn developer opinion regarding the potential profitability of the Android Market.

The Game Developer’s Conference is going on today and tomorrow and as we reported in January every early registrant is receiving a Nexus One or Droid. All developer’s meeting a minimum threshold of 5,000 downloads while maintaining a 3.5 star rating were also recently gifted with one of these two devices.

The Android NDK Revision 3.0 that just landed yesterday has Open GL ES 2.0 support providing developer’s with the t0ols to create better looking and functioning games.

Google appears to be doing what they can to get the necessary hardware and tools in place for developer’s to create a new wave of high quality apps and games for the Android Market.

To borrow from Steve Job’s lexicon for a moment, do you think that the Android Market “gold rush” is finally upon us?

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One phone we've been hearing about for what seems like an eternity is the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.  After getting announced back in 2009, we've been patiently awaiting its arrival here in the US.  The biggest problem we've seen facing the X10 is that it's slated to arrive with Android 1.6 under the hood.  According to CNET Asia, the Xperia line of handsets could get an update  to Android 2.2/Froyo  later this year. We'd previously heard that the phones will ultimately get an update to a newer version of Android, but which exact iteration wasn't clear.

We assumed this would be version 2.1 but were informed today that it "will be an Eclair variant, so it could be 2.1 or even 2.2", according to the spokesperson.

To dampen your enthusiasm just bit, we should point out that "later this year" has a 9-month window. This could be pushed out near the end of the year and possibly later than other handset makers. For all we know, Android could be at 2.5 or 3.0 by then.

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For now this is just a rumor, I don’t think that this will replace the Eris. No other Android has been replaced this soon after it’s release. But, according to a reliable source at Berryscoop, the HTC Incredible will be replacing the HTC Droid Eris at Verizon Wireless.

April 1st is the rumored launch date of the Incredible and the Eris’s product life is expected to end on the same day. Berryscoop also said that Verizon is viewing the Incredible as their version of the Nexus
One (that’s funny to me because the Nexus One is a far better looking device and more powerful). This information has not been confirmed by Verizon or HTC so as it stands now it’s just a rumor and we will be following this story to see what happens.
.

I wish this beautiful device was in my hands but it isn’t. This unboxing is done by a few guys from the Sony Ericsson team that run the company’s product launch blog.

There isn’t much to see in this video since the device is not running, but you do get to see all the goods that comes with this phone. This will be one of the hottest Android devices to release and should propel Sony towards the top of the Android heap. There is also two mini devices releasing shortly after this monster hits. A few specs of this device, in case you haven’t heard, 4.0? screen, 1GHZ CPU and Sony’s own custom UI, Rachael.

Click here to view the embedded video.

[via Sony]

Mobistealth doesn't play coy when describing their services.  Right out of the gate, they bill their software as "Spy Software for Android".  For as low as $49.99 (3 mo subscription), users can catch a cheating spouse with real-time updates of phone calls, pictures, location and more.  In fact, as I read through the bullet point list of features, Mobistealth seems as if it could provide darn near everything there is to know about your suspected mate.

• Record all calls made from/to specific numbers
• Find out when and who is being called.
• Exact call duration of each call.
• Remotely record all conversations in the surrounding of the phone.
• Monitor movement and location history.
• View all photos and videos from handset
• Web history, bookmarks, text messages, emails, and more

All kidding aside, there are some very practical features to be found with Mobistealth.  As a parent, the subscription costs are a small price to pay for peace of mind in knowing where their children are or where they've been.  Employers can keep an eye on their staff and wherebouts in addition to what they're doing with the phone in downtime.

To read more about Mobistealth, or to make a purchase, head to https://mobistealth.com/spy-software-buy.php

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The Jetsons kitchen of the future is upon us with SnS Design's Ikan kitchen appliance. Either that, or we're looking at quite possibly the most expensive and glorified grocery app yet. With its 7-inch touch screen, WiFi integration, and voice input capability, the device builds a shopping list from items you scan or input before disposing of them. Oh, and it runs Android.  Simply place this on the counter or mount it near the trash can and add +50 productivity point to your life!

Once recorded, the items are sent to your mobile phone or directly to an online grocery retailer's shopping cart, providing they support Ikan. Schedule your list to be sent to you on preset days so you can be ready to knock out your shopping on the way home from work! With the kitchen appliance, users can include their own branded retailer apps and view specials, recipes, promotions, and more from etc. right from their kitchen or Android phone.

The biggest obstacle I see with a device like this is price. At $400 a pop, I can imagine a bunch of people turned away simply because of the sticker. Even at half that cost, I have a hard time imagining myself "getting my money's worth" out of it. However, if SnS Design were to send me one to change my mind, I'd love the opportunity.

So what's your take on the Ikan?  Glorified shopping app?  Does it scratch a real itch for you?  Leave a comment below.

We have a few pictures of the Android version below, thanks to Bill over at Ikan!

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Recently we announced a small startup called appubator whose focus is to elicit ideas from average folks who do not have the means to bring a mobile applications to market. They take on the complete mobile application lifecycle: development, testing, marketing & promotion, and finally sales. Thus they split revenue share with the idea holder. Connected Development put together industry leading wireless components to help those delving into the mobile industry from concept to completion with outsourced services from custom design, to certification & validation, to manufacturing.

There are many facets to bringing products into the marketplace from a mobile perspective:

The idea was conceived by president Stefan Lindvall, Connected Development was created to address the complexities of the wireless development cycle. “Often, companies trying to gain the advantages of wireless find the learning curve steep and expensive, just to get started,” Lindvall said. “And once they’ve invested in product design, they can be overwhelmed by the certification process. We formed Connected Development to simplify the entire process, eliminate barriers to entry and enable wireless innovation for better business and better living.”

To have a team of experts help avoid pitfalls, offer advice and streamline the process can prove to be invaluable. Connected Development will be attending CTIA Wireless 2010 in Las Vegas March 23-25 where AndroidTapp.com will be covering mobile and Android-related hot topics.

[Via Press Release]

Jig.jp has released an Android application that combined RSS feeds, social networking and web-browsing all into one neat little application. The jig browser has had over 4 million downloads and these numbers do not include the US or Europe.

This app is still in beta and there has been a few complaints which I am sure the makers are aware of and trying to fix. The Market description reads:

“SPIDERSS combines a powerful RSS reader with a browser, making it fast and easy to access your favorite news and updates from your Social Networks, all in one place. With the Application deck, SPIDERSS receives all the usual RSS feeds plus the updates from the major Social Network websites.”

Try it out and see how you like it. How does it compare to Dolphin, Steel or even the stock browser?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

gTasks. First offline Task, Todo list application that syncs with Google Tasks. No credentials needed and no phone that syncs with GMail/Calendar needed.

Price: Free

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review: Pros & Cons:

Pros

• Easily sync tasks with Gmail/Google Apps tasks
• No account/credentials sign in… just works!
• Features Android Widget to quick launch the app
• Create tasks offline and sync later

Cons

• Would be cool to have Android notifications with Tasks

Features:

gTasks Android App conveniently allows you to sync your task/to do lists from your Android phone to your Google Tasks from either Gmail or Google Apps email accounts. gTasks offers a solution to an issue surprisingly not solved by Google in their Gmail client. More beautiful, you don’t have to login nor grant permission to the app as it just works with your Gmail/Google Apps account(s). For Android 2+ devices, you can sync tasks with all accounts created. Features an Android Widget to quickly launch the full app. Create tasks locally offline and choose when to sync or set it to do so automatically.

Usefulness:

For those who use the Tasks feature in the web experience of Gmail or Google Apps often fret at Android’s inability to natively sync tasks and gTasks solves this problem.

Ease of Use:

No signing in as it should have been done already when your Android phone was initially set up. Simply download and start tasking.

Frequently Used:

User dependent. Potentially multiple times daily.

Interface:

Simple user interface that works, resembles the UI of Gmail/Google Apps tasks.

AndroidTapp.com Rating

(4.3 out of 5)

Should you Download gtasks? Yes! Must have for the Mobile Organized.

The two-day Game Developers Conference kicks off today in San Francisco and Google will be there promoting Android. In fact, members of the Android team will be presenting a handful of sessions including development in Java and/or C++.  They'll also make themselves available for Q&A'a, product demonstrations, and feedback for budding developers.  For the lucky folks who pre-registered for conference, you'll be walking away with a Droid or Nexus One.

In a related note, Google announced yesterday their updated Android NDK (r3) is out and offers direct access to OpenGL ES 2.0 features.  Essentially this means developers are able to create better, richer, and more detailed games with the tools in the NDK.

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The GTalk Status Widget Android App by Billy Francisco allows you to view your Google Talk status on your home screen as well as update it. The widget is small and does not take up a lot of room which is good.

Simply press on the top of the widget and a screen will appear where you can change your status to a saved status or create a new status. If you want to refresh your status simply press the refresh button in the bottom right hand corner of the widget. You can have one GTalk widget per GTalk account so if you have multiple GTalk accounts you will need to create a widget for each.

Overall, if you do a lot of status updates throughout the day on GTalk then this is a great widget to have on your Android phone. At the time of this review the GTalk Status Widget Android App is $0.99. Thumbs Up.

Screenshots:

The Barcode Scanner Android App by ZXing Team allows you to scan bar codes on products as well as Android App QR Codes. A QR Code looks like this:

If you can that code with the Barcode Scanner Android App you will see that it links to our Best Android Apps category of our website. This app can come in very handy while shopping. Simply scan an item’s barcode and you can look up prices and product reviews.

Overall, this is a very useful app for scanning QR Codes and products that works great. At the time of this review the Barcode Scanner Android App is free. Thumbs Up.

Screenshots:

The Snow Fall Live Wallpaper Android App by NewCaboose is an accelerometer based live wallpaper made specifically for the Nexus One. This live wallpaper features a winter background with snow flakes that fall if your phone is held in a vertical position right side up. If you place your phone on a flat surface the snow will stop falling and the snow flakes will stay where they were until your pick up for phone again and put it in the right position for the snow flakes to fall.

Overall, this is a cool winter live wallpaper that is specifically designed for the Nexus One. At the time of this review the Snow Fall Live Wallpaper Android App is free. Thumbs Up.

We've yet to hear anything official from Motorola or T-Mobile in regards to the release of the Cliq XT.  For a phone that's rumored to launch tomorrow, both the carrier and handset manufacturer have been super silent.  To confirm that the phone is ready for release,   I spoke with the manager at my local T-Mobile store.  Sounds like it's ready to go as I was advised they've received both dummy, non-working displays as well as the floor model for demonstration.

Engadget was recently passed some images of the brochure for the CLIQ XT showing how sales reps can effectively sell the handset.  Details include talking about the web browser with Flash Lite, the 5 megapixel camera, and MOTOBLUR.  The smart phone also features Flash Lite, multi-touch, and preloaded apps SHOUTcast, Midomi, GoTV, Last.fm, TuneWiki, and SoundHound.

Look for the CLIQ XT to sneak out tomorrow for $129 with a 2-year agreement.

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Gesture Search lets you quickly find a contact, bookmark, application, or music track from hundreds or thousands of items by drawing English alphabet gestures on the touch screen. Gesture Search continuously updates search results as you add each letter and improves search quality by learning from your search history.

Price: Free

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review: Pros & Cons:

Pros

• Innovative way to search Contacts, Apps, Music, and Bookmarks on your phone by drawing letters

Cons

• Experimental app and only available for Android 2.0+ devices like DROID and Nexus One
• Only available in the U.S. currently

Features:

Gesture Search Android App is an experimental app from Google Labs that allows you to search Contacts, Apps, Music, and Bookmarks on your phone by drawing letters… Awesome!

Google Gesture Search is only available on Android 2.0+ devices in and the U.S. currently as it uses English characters to recognize search queries.

Usefulness:

Gesture Search is both cool and convenient to search Android phone contents. With this addition you can type, talk and draw search queries on Android Phones.

Tips for Using Google Gesture Search:

• I’ve found it works even faster if you toggle it in the Settings menu. The app then indexes the searchable content on your phone allowing for faster gesture searches and results display.
• Write more than one letter to narrow down search results.
• You can delete one letter written by swiping right to left (equivalent to backspace button).
• Delete all written letters by swiping left to right.

Frequently Used:

User dependent. I would encourage placing an icon on the home screen to entice more usage. This feature should really be a core feature of the OS.

AndroidTapp.com Rating

(4.3 out of 5)

Should you Download Gesture Search? Got an Android 2.0+ then Grab It!

Etsy seller Craftsquatch may have just bitten off more than they can chew with their made to order Android pillows.  These 12"x12" squares are made with fleece and stuffed with polyester and run $19.99 a piece.  Order a few for yourself and hold onto them as you wait for your phone to get updated from Android 1.6 to 2.1.

If you'd like to pick one of these up, head over to Etsy!

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