Launches New Android homescreen

There are many applications out there that can offer the option of how something looks and feels on your Android device. The most common of these is a homescreen replacement. It is very popular in the early days of Android, because they offer functionality not available in the stock configuration. Version by version, the stock Android experience grew to the point where power users no longer feel the need to use anything but the stock Android. There is something to be said, however, to have experience on your tablet is intentionally different from the one on your phone. With that in mind the team at Teknision consumption has begun to provide experience-based tablet which they have dubbed the Chameleon Launcher. Chameleon is a unique approach to the Android home screen and launcher. Rather than base their work on what has been provided by Android, Chameleon is based almost entirely on HTML5. Hope with this design is that a broader base of developers will be interested in building widgets for the platform, and thus provides a quick and stable experience on each device. As a result of HTML5 environment, there is no native Android widgets are available in the Store Play Google will work with this launcher. Instead, the system is divided into a grid page that allows you to place the widget wherever you like chameleons. Currently there are less than 10 widgets for the platform, with some examples that Twitter, Instagram, RSS feeders, and other similar tools. The common thread is that the widgets are all designed to present information that you can see at a glance. The interesting thing about the launcher Chameleon is how our own work. You can have a homepage as much as you like, and you can collect them based on what information you find relevant. When I first wake up in the morning, I want to see the email, weather, and RSS. To achieve this, all I did was create the page, set the widget that I want, and setup the page to be the first thing I saw in 07:00. No matter what I do or what my page before I went to bed, when I wake up I will see this page Chameleon. You can set the context for any page, including the location or event, and the page will change to provide the information that you tell it you want to see. Surprisingly, the team Teknision not only build the application and release it to the store Play Google. Like several others, I first discovered through Kickstarter Chameleon. The project is getting enough support to move forward, and now they are paying $ 10 for beta access to gain access to the new Launcher. When I spoke with Gabor Vida of Teknision, we talked a little about why the company has gone with Kickstarter. Teknision is a development company that specializes in work for other brands, they never released any of their own. There are those who are interested in Teknision on Chameleon, but no way to confirm that there are users who are interested in the service there is no way for companies to determine how much energy to dedicate to the app. So, instead of sticking their necks out and take the risk of it being successful, the project created Kickstarter that earn more than $ 66,000. As a beta application $ 10, I found the Chameleon somewhat less. Apart from some obvious performance problems, which I have been assured will be increased from polished before the beta app, the lack of native widgets either their own or a collection of widgets make it difficult for reliable launcher. At this point, many people have been paying far more than you do for some other homescreen replacement for the promise that developers will come up and the launcher will be improved.

New keyboard NFC for Android smartphones from Elecom Japanese manufacturer Elecom is well-known for offering a range of mobile keyboards. In 2012 they have already launched a keyboard/Bluetooth handset combo, a mini Bluetooth keyboard compatible with a wide range of gadgets, and even a laser projection keyboard for Android and iOS. This week Elecom has embraced a new standard in wireless communication: NFC. Where as most companies are using it for secure mobile payment data transfers, Elecom is utilizing the standard for, you guessed it, interfacing with a new wireless mobile keyboard for use with Android smartphones. The new keyboard is called the TK-FNS040BK and complies with the NFC IP-1 ISO communication standard. Elecom argues it’s more convenient to use NFC than Bluetooth as there’s no pairing involved, but that is replaced by the requirement to use an Elecom app available on Google Play otherwise the keyboard won’t work. As you can see from the images, the keyboard has a section in the middle where your phone sits. This is necessary as the range of the signal is only 10mm. The keyboard also includes its own battery, which Elecom says will last 6-12 months based on typical usage. The keyboard may be long, but it does fold up, is supplied with a case for easy transport, and weighs just 143 grams. Even so, like many Elecom peripherals the TK-FNS040BK isn’t cheap. You can expect to pay around $240 to get your hands on one of them, but apparently there’s little point at the moment due to very limited compatibility with Android handsets.

Android 4.1, Jelly Bean: The world's most popular platform gets even better

Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. Jelly Bean improves on the simplicity and beauty of Android 4.0, and introduces a new Google search experience on Android. 1. Fast & smooth We put Android under a microscope, making everything feel fast, fluid, and smooth. With buttery graphics and silky transitions, moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book. More reactive and uniform touch responses mean you can almost feel the pixels beneath as your finger moves across the screen. Jelly Bean makes your Android device even more responsive by boosting your device's CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don't need it to improve battery life. 2. Simple, beautiful and beyond smart Expandable, actionable notifications. Android has always put you in control when it comes to staying notified and connected. Now you can take action directly from the notifications shade. Late for a meeting? Email everyone to let them know. Missed a call? Call them back in an instant. And because they’re expandable, you can get an even deeper look into the things that matter most, like multiple emails or photos on Google+. 3. Widgets work like magic. With Jelly Bean it's now even easier to personalize your home screen. As you place widgets on the screen, everything else automatically moves to make room. When they're too big, widgets resize on their own. Interacting with your favorite apps and customizing your home screen has never been easier. 4. Seamlessly take and share photos. Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, made snapping photos super fast; Jelly Bean brings that same speed to the next step: viewing. Just swipe over from camera to filmstrip view to instantly view the photos you just took, and quickly swipe away the ones you don’t like. Now sharing — and bragging — are a breeze. 5. A smarter keyboard. Android's dictionaries are now more accurate, more relevant. The language model in Jelly Bean adapts over time, and the keyboard even guesses what the next word will be before you've started typing it. With improved text-to-speech capabilities, voice typing on Android is even better; it works even when you don't have a data connection, so you can type with your voice everywhere you go. 6. Accessibility. With Jelly Bean, blind users can use 'Gesture Mode' to reliably navigate the UI using touch and swipe gestures in combination with speech output. Jelly Bean also adds support for accessibility plugins to enable external Braille input and output devices via USB and Bluetooth. 7. Android Beam. With Android Beam on Jelly Bean you can now easily share your photos and videos with just a simple tap, in addition to sharing contacts, web pages, YouTube videos, directions, and apps. Just touch two NFC-enabled Android devices back-to-back, then tap to beam whatever's on the screen to your friend. Instantly pair your Android phone or tablet to Bluetooth® devices like headsets or speakers that support the Simple Secure Pairing standard by just tapping them together – no more syncing or searching required. The new Google experience on Android The best of Google just got better on Android. The search experience in Jelly Bean has a new look-and-feel, and has faster and more natural Voice Search. And Google Now brings you just the right information, before you even ask 8. A new look for Search. Android has search at its core. With Jelly Bean, a redesigned experience uses the power of the Knowledge Graph to show you search results in a richer way. It's easier to quickly get answers and explore and browse search results. 9. Voice Search. Sometimes you'd rather just speak your search query. Or just ask a question. Android lets you search the web with your voice, and it's convenient for getting quick answers on the fly. It speaks back to you and is powered by the Knowledge Graph, bringing you a precise answer if it knows it, and precisely ranked search results, so you can always find out more. 10. Google Now brings you just the right information at just the right time. Google Now tells you today's weather before you start your day, how much traffic to expect before you leave for work, when the next train will arrive as you’re standing on the platform, or your favorite team's score while they’re playing. And the best part? All of this happens automatically. Cards appear throughout the day at the moment you need them. Learn more

Android loses ground to Apple in second quarter

Android still owns more than half the U.S. smartphone business, but it declined in both shipments and market share in the second quarter. Google's mobile OS grabbed a 56 chunk of the the market in the June quarter, down from 61 percent a year ago, according to a report released today by Strategy Analytics. Shipments fell to 13.4 million from 15.3 million in 2011's second quarter. At the same time, the iPhone saw increased demand. Apple's smartphone market share surged to 33 percent last quarter from 23 percent a year ago. Shipments rose to 7.9 million from 5.9 million over the same period. Apple revealed last week that it sold 26 million iPhones for the quarter. That proved lower than the 29 million anticipated by Wall Street but up 28 percent from the 20.3 million sold in the prior year's quarter. And with a new iPhone reportedly on the way in September, Apple is poised to witness a surge in demand in the coming months. "Android remains the number one platform by volume in the United States, but its market share is approaching a peak and Apple iOS has been gaining ground," Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said in a statement. "Apple is rumored to be launching a new iPhone in the coming weeks, and that event, if it takes place, is going to heap even more pressure on Android in its home market."

iPhone, iOS Rule the Enterprise, but Android Is Gaining: Good

Mobile devices based on Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Phone platforms are increasingly being supported by enterprises, but it’s Apple’s products that dominate, according to a July 25 report from Good Technology. Good, which provides cross-platform support for enterprise customers, reported on its customers’ mobile device activations during the second quarter. Key findings from the report include: The Apple iPhone 4s, which during the first quarter was activated at the rate of four times any other device, leveled out during the second quarter, accounting for nearly 31 percent of activations. iOS activations accounted for nearly 71 percent of all activations during the second quarter, down from nearly 80 percent during the first quarter. Activations of Android phones, meanwhile, grew to 37 percent, nearly doubling its first-quarter presence. The Apple iPad was by far the most popular tablet, accounting for 94.5 percent of all second-quarter activations, but Android tablets still made strides during the quarter, increasing from 2.7 percent during the first quarter to 5.5 percent during the second. Driving this growth, Good found, was Samsung’s Galaxy Note “phablet,” which features a 5.3-inch display. Samsung devices put in a good showing overall, with the Galaxy S II, the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy Note being among the top 10 devices to be activated by Good customers. More specifically, the top devices, in descending order, were the Apple iPhone 4S (nearly 31 percent), the iPad 3 (13.5 percent), the iPhone 4 (12.5 percent), the iPad 3 (10 percent), the Samsung Galaxy S II (4.5 percent), the Motorola Droid Razr (3 percent), the iPad (2 percent), the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (nearly 1 percent) and the Galaxy Note, at about a half a percent. Windows Phone 7.5 devices, which Good began supporting in April, accounted for 1.2 percent of overall activations, which Good expects will increase with time, and particularly the release of Window 8 and Windows Phone 8 during the fourth quarter. Mobile deployments rose within government and public sector industries—where BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has been losing ground—as well as manufacturing and wholesale and retail industries, Good found. On the whole, the report echoes similar indicators of a market in which Apple, despite its might, is losing market share to Android devices, and Microsoft, with partners including Nokia and HTC, are fighting for a foothold from which to work to build market share. “Android’s gains in this quarter mirror the pattern Good saw in Q2 2011, where Android picked up steam once the latest iPhone hardware had been on the market for a while,” according to the Good report. “By comparison, Android activations were 29 percent in Q4 2011, 32 percent in Q3 2011 and 25 percent one year ago in Q2 2011.” The report is the among the latest to suggest that Apple’s one-device-a-year policy it part of the reason that Samsung has gained on it and become the world’s largest manufacturer of both mobile phone and smartphones. “Good attributes Android’s growth this quarter—with activations nearly double—to the availability of new and feature-rich Android devices by Samsung,” the report continued. “The company attributes the iOS decline to market saturation, as most iOS device hardware has been available for some time.” Despite the above-mentioned industries that showed particular growth during the quarter, Good’s financial services customers, by far, continued to lead in mobile device activations. Finance activations were 37.8 percent during the quarter—up from 36.1 percent during the first quarter—while the next-largest industry, professional services, accounted for just more than 10 percent of activations. Good believes the wealth of financial services activations is “a direct result of the industry’s continued embrace of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model,” the company wrote. This group also overwhelmingly led tablet activations, exceeding 45 percent during the quarter, while the next-largest industry accounted for 9 percent of activations. “Mobility is not simply another device for IT to support or hurdle to overcome. Rather, it’s a much broader shift to a new way to empower employees, customers and partners with new applications to connect and collaborate as never before,” John Herrema, senior vice president of corporate strategy for Good, said in a statement on the report. The report suggests, Herrema added, that Good customers—and presumably similar businesses—are “really embracing mobility as a new strategy for boosting productivity and business insight.”

Android Gets Security Boost From Duo Security, DARPA

A DARPA-funded project will help Android users keep tabs on mobile vulnerabilities and help its developer, Duo Security, gather data on the problem of the slow patching of smartphone flaws. A software project funded by the U.S. government and developed by a small security startup will put wireless carriers' patching practices under the microscope. Smartphone security firm Duo Security plans to release an app for Android phones on July 23 that will check the operating system on consumer devices for known, but unpatched, security flaws. Dubbed X-Ray, the application will detect all privilege-escalation vulnerabilities, which would allow a malicious app to take control of a smartphone, as well as other severe security flaws, said Jon Oberheide, chief technology officer and co-founder of the company. While developers of desktop operating systems and software have accelerated their patching of vulnerabilities, smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers are far slower in securing mobile devices. "Mobile malware authors have capitalized on the fact that such vulnerabilities go unpatched for many months due to conservative carrier patching practices," Oberheide wrote in an email. "We hope that X-Ray will raise user awareness about the security of their mobile devices and put pressure on carriers to step up their game when it comes to patching their users' devices." Once installed, X-Ray will probe the system and determine what software and which versions are running. Duo Security maintains a database of which software versions are vulnerable to the eight major privilege-escalation flaws that could be used by an attacker to take control of the user's phone. In addition, unknown binaries are submitted to Duo Security's servers for analysis and vulnerability scans. "There is a very small number of unique binaries out there in the world, maybe 100 or so different variations and different builds and different models of phones, so we can very quickly gather information on the near-100-percent population or binary variations," Oberheide said in an interview. When X-Ray finds a vulnerable smartphone, it will notify the users, who have, unfortunately, a limited number of options. The user can check their carrier for an update, complain to the company, if there is no patch, or jailbreak the phone and install a third-party version of Android. A typical flaw in the Android operating system must be discovered by researchers, fixed by the original developers, added to the Android source code, incorporated into the firmware for the specific phone make and model by the manufacturer, and finally, pushed out by the carrier to each individual device. It's a process that can take months to patch a vulnerability, if at all. In July 2011, for example, nearly half of all phones were still vulnerable to the RageAgainstTheCage vulnerability—and a malicious application known as DroidDream that used the flaw—even though the fix had been available in the Android source code for nearly a year. At some point, Duo may offer a user the option of patching the vulnerability on their phones automatically, but that would require the company's software to exploit the flaw and use it to patch the system, Oberheide said. The software project is one of the first to get funding under the Cyber Fast Track program, an initiative managed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to spur innovative security research by funding small companies and individual researchers. The initiative, managed by former L0pht hacker Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, has funded some five-dozen projects to date. As part of the project, the company plans to port the application to other mobile-device platforms.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

4.1.1 July 9, 2012 Vsync timing across all drawing and animation done by the Android framework, including application rendering, touch events, screen composition and display refresh Triple buffering in the graphics pipeline Enhanced accessibility Bi-directional text and other language support User-installable keyboard maps Expandable notifications Ability to turn off notifications on an app specific basis Shortcuts and widgets can automatically be re-arranged or re-sized to allow new items to fit on home screens Bluetooth data transfer for Android Beam Offline voice dictation New interface layout for tablets with smaller screens (closer resembling that of a phone)[70] Improved voice search Improved camera app Google Wallet (for the Nexus 7) High resolution contact photos Google Now Multichannel audio[71] USB audio (for external sound DACs)[71] Audio chaining (also known as gapless playback)[71][72][73]