Motorola makes the announcement official: Android 2.1 due soon

Finally, Motorola answers the outcry of concerned Droid owners everywhere, well, sort of. Today, Moto decided to put this post on their blog. Although the mention Q1 for most of these updates, they stated the OTA is due out very soon: The DROID by Motorola over-the-air software upgrade is expected to roll out soon. We take that to mean, within the next couple of weeks. So hold on tight my fellow Droid users, we’ll have an update here shortly. In the meantime, hit the link to read about the update for the Droid and other Motorola devices with the latest Android 2.1 build.

Android Software Upgrade News

Thank you for being a Motorola customer. We have heard the overwhelming feedback asking for details on Android software upgrades for various Motorola devices, and apologize we were not able to share information sooner. We’re hoping that you will find the below timeline helpful.

Please note that we know you value having the latest and greatest technology on your devices. We are working very closely with Google and our carrier partners to bring you the most optimized experience on each of our smartphones powered by Android.  We will continue to update the information below, regarding the timing and availability of software upgrades, and will provide additional details as we have them to share. We appreciate your understanding and continued support.

This page details plans for software upgrades only; other various routine updates will be delivered to optimize device experiences and these will be communicated separately when deployed.

Phone Model Timeline DROID by Motorola (USA) The DROID by Motorola over-the-air software upgrade is expected to roll out soon MILESTONE (Europe) Upgrade to Android 2.1 planned for Q1 2010 MILESTONE (Latin America) Upgrade under evaluation MILESTONE (Asia-Pacific) Upgrade under evaluation CLIQ (USA) Upgrade to Android 2.1  planned for Q2 2010 DEXT (Europe) Upgrade under evaluation DEXT (Latin America) Upgrade to Android 2.1 planned for Q3 2010 DEXT (Asia-Pacific) Upgrade to Android 2.1 planned for Q3 2010

Q1 = First Quarter of 2010

Q2 = Second Quarter of 2010

Q3 = Third Quarter of 2010

The information contained herein is provided for information purposes only and is intended only to outline Motorola’s presently anticipated general technology direction. The information communicated is not a commitment or an obligation to deliver any product, product feature, software upgrade or functionality and Motorola reserves the right to make changes to the content and timing of any product, product feature or software release. The software functionality and features provided by a specific version of the Android operating system may vary by phone and manufacturer.

This page and the information on it is provided by the Motorola Media Team.

[via Droid Life]

[Via http://fonefrenzy.com]

Android This Week: Swype Hits the myTouch, But No Droid 2.1 Yet

Touchscreen phones — and their onscreen keyboards — are all the rage these days, and this week one from Swype found its way onto the Android-based myTouch 3G from T-Mobile. Users type on the Swype keyboard using a continuous swiping motion (hence the name); the technology then uses predictive text to figure out the intended word. Expect to see Swype begin to appear on other Android phones in the future.

Motorola (s mot), makers of the Droid, got that device’s owners excited this week with a post on the company’s Facebook page that said a big update to Android was coming. Version 2.1 — which, among other things, enables multitouch and includes the first appearance of Google Goggles — is currently only available on the Nexus One. But Motorola has subsequently pulled information of the Droid update off the web, and is telling interested parties that it jumped the gun. The company isn’t saying it won’t release 2.1 for the Droid, just not now. Perhaps it will announce a time frame for the update at the Mobile World Congress next week.

In the meantime, this week brought the launch of Google Buzz, for which Google also launched an iPhone (s aapl) and Android client. On the Nexus One, the Android Buzz client also brings new features to Google Maps that allow people to locate their friends who are nearby. Another nice feature that Buzz adds to Android phones is the ability to make updates by voice. Google Buzz can be installed on Android phones by pointing the browser to the Buzz page.

[Via http://gigaom.com]

Google Maps 4.0 OTA update available for Droid

I got an Over the Air update this morning on my Droid for Gogle Maps. The new version is 4.0, just last week we got version 3.4 which added multi-touch.

3.4 to 4.0 sounds like a significant jump, however the only new feature I could find was an additional map layer that is integrated with Google s new social networking product, Buzz.

Multi-touch was a huge usability improvement and got no mention from Google, it was just slipped in. Clearly they are jazzed about buzz at Google. I’ve got one follower on Buzz and automatically was made follower of 12 others. Looks like Google are going after twitter with the way the Buzz network is setup. Is buzz a twitter killer? I don’t think so (just yet) because it integrates with Twitter, right now I view it more as a supplement to twitter and other social micro blogging. It maybe a freindfeed killer.

[Via http://jpwhitehome.wordpress.com]

Mobile mayhem - and a peek into our future

Perhaps the only thing more bewildering about yet another “major” technology conference is a major technology conference on another continent. But Mondays start of the Mobile World Congress is worth watching from a newspaper perspective.

Which, of course, is why I’ll be there.

News desks always see a flurry of wire reports on new gizmos and dire prediction when techies gather for CES, Apple’s WWDC or TED.  Of course, we have to surreptitiously check Wikipedia to make sure those initials don’t just identify alien-worshipping cults.  The aliens at the MWC, however, will be Americans like me because the huge gathering in Barcelona focuses on a technology sector in which our country has minority voice.

Minority voice, but a huge stake. Our unique system that gave cell phone service providers almost absolute control of what handsets were available left the United States way behind the rest of the world in mobile technology.  Now, however, American consumers are demanding what others have had for years.  And they want it now.

Starting Monday we should see a flood of new smartphones (even “super smartphones”), yet another operating system, screens you can read in sunlight, mobile banking systems, ranks of Androids and all sorts of mobile television.  I hope that among the thousands of booths, experts and demonstrations that I can get a better handle on how soon even Average Joe will be surfing the Web one-handed.  I’ll also look for the less-sexy technology that can help us deliver news to the nearly 80% of American’s with app-less “dumbphones” while we are waiting for the whizz-bang technology to become dominant.

If the snow lets up enough for me to make my flight connections, I’ll be blogging from MWC several times daily.  I’ve set up a Flickr photo gallery, linked at the right side of the blog.  And our MobileNews discussion list is active even if the text below the list archive widget says it isn’t.

Let me know if I can dig up answers for you in Barcelona.  Opportunity is  calling. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself).

[Via http://mobile.rjiblog.org]

Flash CardZ! For Android Is Released

It’s official, Flash CardZ! is available for download for your Android Device.  We have been working hard to get these applicaitons done.  We hope you and your kids enjoy this one.  Oh, and it’s 100% FREE

“Fun and Educational app for your Android phone. Flash CardZ! is a learning tool for young children. They will learn their A, B, C’s the fun way! Parents, you can teach your children in a convenient way, simply install this application and hand it over to your little ones. Enjoy this free app & keep checking in for new ones.”

[Via http://bustedappz.wordpress.com]

MWC 2010 - Android Attack and Other Issues?

Other Questions before Mobile World Congress

1. Based on current smartphone momentum, I really expected MWC to be  something like Android World Congress, but apparently the slate is being cleared to provide WinMo7 with as much spotlight as possible. Recent  reports indicate Android’s presence at this event is going to pretty limited with several expected vendors deciding to not show devices (HTC, Sony Ericcson, and Samsung). However, several Chinese cell phone manufacturers still will be demoing devices.

2.  At least MS is allegedly demoing a new OS. Blackberry OS 6 is nothing but a rumor and the Blackberry OS continues to look further and further dated.  The Storm 2 OS clearly represents the future of Blackberry, but improved browsing and media functionality is desperately needed. And how does Blackberry fully integrate their OS between their full screen touchscreen model (Storm 2) and their classic screen/keyboard model (Bold/Tour)? Blackberry’s numbers are still on the rise due to the combination of Blackberry Enterprise Server and cheap Blackberry devices (Curve,Bold). Blackberry does not appear to have a slider phone on the horizon as their new phones seem more evolutionary updates to Pearl and Tour. How long can Blackberry continue with this approach? Especially with Apple and Android gaining a massive application advantage.

3. What will Nokia demo? Nokia appears to be following an insane two OS approach with both Symbian and Maemo. We will see the first real Maemo device to challenge the iPhone and Android? Nokia is rumored to be releasing upwards of 6 Maemo based phones in 2010. After 2.5 years of not having a competitor against Apple’s flagship product in the US, is this the year Nokia finally makes their presence felt?

4. Samsung’s OS. Bada as it is called. Other than the WinMo 7 launch/demo the biggest new event at MWC could be the presentation of a Bada smartphone. Lots of questions surround this OS? Can the smartphone market really support another OS, and more specifically can Apps developers support multiple operating systems?

4. Palm Web OS: Palm has already released the Pre Plus and the Pixie Plus with updated internal specs and WiFi for both devices. Does Palm have something else in their lineup? A slider more in the size of the Android? A full touchscreen device with virtual keyboard? Palm’s 4th quarter sales’ numbers could be ugly with the surge of Android devices during the 4th quarter.

[Via http://molsenite.wordpress.com]

What's the Platform of the Future for Developing Interactive Graphical Educational Software?

So, what is the platform of choice for folks who want to create interactive graphical educational software (see for example all the stuff at PHET and NLVM). Currently, there are two primary options: Flash and Java Applets. I’m not covering in this post web applications, which can still use just about anything you want: PHP, Java, Ruby, Python, .NET, etc., or business/office/administrative software which can either be web apps or desktop apps coded in C++/Java/.NET/Python, etc., or 3D desktop games, usually coded in C++/Java/.NET/Python. I’m centered on interactive, graphical educational software like you see all over the web now.

The PHET project, for example, uses both java and flash. This has not always been the case, however, and I suspect it will change again in the near future. Here’s a short history of some of the development tools I’ve leaned on for educational software development over the past 15 years:

• early 90s – hypercard / supercard, Perl/CGI for web apps
• late 90s – java, visual basic, real basic, PHP emerges for web apps, javascript in the browser
• early 00s – by this time, commercial options no longer cut it for me, too many bugs, ignored feature requests, too expensive – free and open source is king: python, java (later open sourced), C#/vb.net (esp. the Mono open source clone). Unfortunately there is no alternative to the commercial, proprietary flash, which becomes king of RIAs (rich internet applications) instead of java applets.
• late 00s – by this time, desktop apps no longer cut it. RIA is king for creating interactive graphical educational apps – java and JVM languages like scala, and still no real alternative to flash. But the move to RIA means no more Mono/.NET since it doesn’t run in the browser – support for silverlight is weak/non-existent on many browsers/platforms. And no python, although perhaps one day perhaps browsers will support it as an alternative language to javascript. Mono/.NET is emerging again now in 3D virtual world space, however, because it is the basis for Second Life / OpenSim, and it’s only open source competitor, the java-based Project Wonderland is no longer supported by Oracle, who bought out Sun. The project is continuing outside of Oracle, but it’s future is unclear.
• early and late 10s? – This is the question of this post. Mobile platforms can no longer be ignored, and that means no java. Actually android is essentially java (dalvik), but standard java applets do not work. Flash is only just now being ported to work on android, and its future on the iphone platform is unclear although it has been ported, apparently. Thanks to google not supporting applets (even android applets), and Apple wanting total control of their platform, Flash is only increasing its dominance and importance.

HTML5

Since Oracle bought out Sun, and there is no support nor any planned support for java on the android and iphone platforms, it appears the only open source alternative for the future of RIA apps may be HTML5. But that cannot be used for creating the kind of highly interactive graphical educational software that you can create in java and flash. For this to work in HTML5, it would require WebGL, a 3D (OpenGL ES) canvas for HTML5. WebGL still does not work on any mobile platform, but it has been or is being ported to work on WebKit (the browser engine for Palm’s WebOS and the iphone web browser) as well as android. Here are some more resources on WebGL:

• Learning WebGL – blog
• Vladimir Vukićević, blog of the main developer for the canvas control, and porting it to android. He did similar work on the mono platform earlier.
• Blender to WebGL exporter

The main drawback to the HTML5 platform is that javascript is the only language supported. That’s not a problem for me, personally, I’ve been using javascript since when it was called livescript. But my interest also is in programming languages/tools that make it easier for students, teachers, and other non-CS types to develop interactive educational software, as discussed in this chapter (pdf). A workaround for now would be to create a to-javascript compiler for alternate languages, as has already been done for java with the GWT project, but in the long run it would be best if a common runtime were developed for WebKit and Firefox to support other languages than javascript, but then we are just re-inventing java and the JVM. So I don’t dismiss the java platform at all just yet, but it’s definitely not having a good year so far

[Via http://edtechdev.wordpress.com]