RIM offers free PlayBook to attract Android developers

Official Formspring for Android application available now

If you're one of the more than 28 million users of Formspring, you'll notice that there has been a lack of an official application from the social network. That all changes now as the official Formspring for Android application is available right now in the Android Market. 

It offers a pretty full experience, allowing you to ask and respond to questions from your contacts on the go. Sharing photos is also built in, and that pretty much covers everything Formspring is about. If there's room for one more social network on your Android device, hit the download links after the break. A word of warning though, it force closes at every time of asking on the Galaxy Nexus so you'll have to wait for an update to join in if you're using one.

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NSA releases a security-enhanced version of Android

The National Security Agency (NSA) has released SE Android, a security-enhanced version of Android, which provides and enforces stricter access-control policies than those found in the popular mobile operating system by default.

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Android Central Editors’ app picks for Jan 14, 2011

Guess who's back?! Sorry about last week folks, we know you want your apps and all but we were busy getting ourselves ramped up for CES 2012. Either way we are back in action this week so let's hit the break together and check some out!

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What Android gifts did you receive this year?

The gift-giving season is winding down to a close, and we're all enjoying the time with our loved ones, warm holiday comfort foods, and maybe some cool Android goodies.  Did you get a new Android phone?  Or a tablet?  Maybe you got a Google TV unit of some sort or another, or your stocking was full of accessories.  Sound off and share with us (we're like your extended Android family) to let everyone know what great stuff you got this year. 

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Firefox for Android Will Get Its New Interface Tonight

Firefox fans may remember hearing back in October about a new, native interface planned for the Android version of the browser, and now it looks like that new addition is on the brink of arrival.

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Google Reader website sees a major face-lift, new Android app expected soon

If you use Google Reader to make all your RSS feeds a little more sane organized, be ready for a pleasant surprise.  Google has begun the rollout of the new look and feel for the reader website, and everyone should expect it by this evening.  Go on and hit F5 for a while, we'll wait (have to admit, I did just that).  The new look lines up with the rest of the updated Google service websites, including the black omnimagicbar across the top and your Google+ notifications baked right in to the upper left corner.

Speaking of Google+ and integration, the new Reader allows you to +1 and share stories right from the stream.  This is an easy way to share with friends, and should work much better than the previous friending, following, sharing, and comments methods, which have been removed in favor of the new integration.

It works the same as the +1 button does anywhere — click it, and you're given the option to share it on Google+.  Type in your message, and the magic happens.

We're big users of both Google Reader and Google+ around these parts, and we're excited about the new look and the new + integration, but the last little tidbit Alan Green (Google software engineer) threw out on the official announcement is the best of them all — expect a new Android app shortly.  Sweet.

Source: Google Reader blog

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DELL STREAK PRO 101DL (An Android PHONE) With Super AMOLED Display To Hit Japan 2012

And here’s the third phone from Japanese carrier SoftBank‘s fall/winter line-up that deserves a dedicated article: it’s the so-called DELL STREAK PRO 101DL [JP], which the company will start offering to its subscribers in January 2012 (priced tbd). And this isn’t a Android tablet but a phone.

And judging by the specs, it’s going to be quite a nice one:

• Android 2.3
• 4.3-inch super AMOLED screen with 540×960 QHD resolution (Gorilla Glass)
• 8MP CMOS camera
• 1.3MP sub camera
• 1.5GHz dual-core MSM8260 CPU
• SyncUp compatible
• Dell Stage 2.0 pre-installed
• Bluetooth 2.1＋EDR
• IEEE802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• GPS
• microSDHC card slot
• W-CDMA, GSM
• size: 65×126×10.3mm, weight: 140g

Here’s how the phone looks like from the back:

Japanese tech news site Keitai Watch reports that there are global sales plans for the DELL STREAK PRO 101DL but that Japan will get the device first.

View full post on TechCrunch » Gadgets

If A Motorola Android Tab Leaks And It’s Just Like The Rest, Does It Really Matter?

So apparently there’s a new Xoom in the works. Big surprise, right? The old one is nearing its eight month birthday and thanks to the rapid Android aging process, it’s about as a relevant as a Handspring Visor at this point. But in all seriousness, does anyone care any more? I ask that with void of snark or sarcasm. I’m serious: Does anyone care about Honeycomb tablets anymore?

Honeycomb was supposed to be the iOS killer. It was supposed to stand-up, challenge the mighty iOS and ultimately slay the champion through a power combo of multitasking and openness. But it didn’t happen mainly because consumers don’t care about that nonsense. They want apps, which Honeycomb has very few. So here’s Android tablets now, sitting on retailers’ end-caps and shelves, huddled together, sharing the warmth of a single power brick just hoping someone will figure out how to unlock their screens.

Back to my question that’s not influenced by any nefarious bias. It was almost a given that Motorola would release a successor to the original Xoom. The original Xoom was the first Honeycomb tablet and it was supposed to be the Android faithful’s Joshua and purge the consumer landscape of the iPad insurgents. Companies don’t release a product, see what happens, and then start developing the next model. No, they map the course and what leaked today is just details about the next stop on Motorola’s Android trip.

The specs sound nice: an 8.2-inch HD IPS screen, an unnamed 1.2GHz CPU, faster RAM, Netflix HD, 1080p cam, and an IR emitter just in case you want a massive TV remote. Per ThisIsMyNext, all this comes in a casing that’s 9mm thick. That’s 0.2mm thicker than the iPad 2′s 8.8mm thickness in case that matters to you. (Hat tip to Droid-Life for the images)

But specs do not sell tablets. Most consumers are looking for a different experience than what they can get on their desktop or notebook. Without knowing it, they’re looking for lasting novelty. Sure, some consumers want multitasking, some want a tweakable interface, perhaps some out there even want a tablet with seven homescreens and an app drawer. That’s where Android tablets come in. The iPad, however, captures consumers with a slightly new paradigm in portable computing and does so with style and class.

Android tablet makers are going to steal their own revenue by following the PC notebook’s time-honored tradition of releasing new products every quarter. This upcoming Xoom model will steal sales from the original Xoom while seemingly offering nothing but a smaller casing. It will further divide the Android fanboys and ultimately dilute the appeal.

Little is really known about this next Xoom tablet. It could perhaps follow the trailblazing spirit of its predecessor by launching as the first Ice Cream Sandwich tablet, which would restart the iPad hype machine but would likely fall short again. Some commenters will no doubt cry that it’s premature declaring a product irrelevant or unwelcomed prior to its announcement, let alone release. They’ll state that we don’t have all the facts, or that this tablet could be different, or even, consumers are looking for something more than a large iPod touch. That’s what they said when I stated the BlackBerry Playbook, then called just by its codename of BlackPad, would crash and burn. (Here’s the post, but the hundreds of comments were lost when TechCrunch swallowed CrunchGear)

Look, I’m not an Android hater. I’m a very curious onlooker. I look at new Android tablets like I look at my Droid X vs the new Android phones and conclude that the new phones, say the Galaxy S II, lack any new compelling features besides the 4G radio.

Choice is good. But often, and this is coming from years of working retail, too many options overwhelm the average consumer who is just looking to get in and out of a store with the latest gadget and minimum hassle. So on one Best Buy shelve is a baker’s dozen of Android tablets, priced within a $100 of each other, all featuring nearly identical processing speeds and RAM types. Then, five feet away, is the iPad 2 advertised with its blockbuster apps where the only choice is 3G or WiFi and white or black. Apparently rather soon a new Motorola Android tablet will join its friends, but unless it features a $100 price tag, it will fail to get any attention.

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Reminder: Enter to win a Motorola Atrix 4G from Nvidia and Android Central [contest]

The Motorola Atrix 4G is one of the first Android "superphones" to use the Tegra 2 chip, as well as the first dual-core device to hit AT&T here in the states.  To go with the performance of that Tegra CPU, Motorola threw in a full Gigabyte of RAM, and a 4-inch qHD display.  When we first looked at it back in March, we knew the phone had huge potential, and once Google and Motorola got together and sent some tasty Gingerbread out to the Atrix, it became one of the best phones available for power users.  With the latest software, this thing is a beast.  And you still have a chance to win one of your own in Nvidia and Android Central’s Tegra Madness giveaway!

It’s easy, just hit the forums and drop a note in the contest thread, and you’re entered.  Each contest runs for 24 hours (midnight to midnight, Eastern Time), and we’ll pick the winner at random, then announce them all in one big blog post next Sunday (Sep. 18).  Good luck to all, and be sure to enter all week!

Win a Motorola Atrix

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