There are 2 ways that I've heard of lately that might lead to a Google Music invite...
First way:
Go to BestBuy and sign into your Google Account on a Motorola Xoom on display there.. or spoof the Xoom Browser user agent.
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 3.0; en-us; Xoom Build/HRI39) AppleWebKit/534.13 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/534.13
More information here <- I strongly recommend visiting the thread!
Friday, May 27, 2011
[COURTROOM] Lodsys LLC. sues Android devs too, same situation as with Apple
Yeah. I dislike these trolls. They claim that "it is just fair to get paid for their work", but why don't they have developed ONE SINGLE product that uses their "great invention". Because they are snake-oil traders. They sell imaginary stuff. An idea, that is nothing worth, because it was never realized. Others work hard to get prototypes up and running and LLC. let themselves get paid for the work of others. Great. So they are practically technology-pimps and prostitute ideas.
Whatever. So they start suing Apple devs who use in-app-payments... And not because Apple didn't properly license the technology... noooooooo:
They claim EVERY SINGLE DEVELOPER has to license their stuff. WTF?
And now they turn against Android and the situation is the same:
So please explain to me: What are Software patents for? They are simply a cheap rip-off.
Here is their "explanation" for their legal actions against devs:
So basically, they don't just want a slice of Google's or Apple's slice, they want a slice of every slice. Greedy? Indeed. So what did Google or Apple license this stuff for if their great license isn't worth anything for the devs? That's just bullpoo!
Dear Lodsys, please go and rethink your business practices.
Source: androidcommunity.com
Whatever. So they start suing Apple devs who use in-app-payments... And not because Apple didn't properly license the technology... noooooooo:
source: here
They claim EVERY SINGLE DEVELOPER has to license their stuff. WTF?
And now they turn against Android and the situation is the same:
source: here
So please explain to me: What are Software patents for? They are simply a cheap rip-off.
Here is their "explanation" for their legal actions against devs:
source: here
As a comparative example, it is the owner of the hotel who is responsible for the overall service (value proposition) that guests pay for, not the owner of the land that the hotel may be leasing, not the travel agent that sold the reservation, not the manufacturer of tools such as hammers, nor the provider of materials such as nails or steel beams, which may be used in building the hotel; nor is it the outsourced linen washing service or the architect of the building who is responsible. Lodsys’ patent portfolio is being used as a part of an overall solution and we are seeking to be paid for the use of patent rights by the accountable party.
As an extended metaphor, in the hotel example, no one would expect the architect to not be paid, or for the nails to come for free. They get paid some subset of the overall value, but they get paid for their contribution to the solution under an agreement they have with the hotel owner.
So basically, they don't just want a slice of Google's or Apple's slice, they want a slice of every slice. Greedy? Indeed. So what did Google or Apple license this stuff for if their great license isn't worth anything for the devs? That's just bullpoo!
Dear Lodsys, please go and rethink your business practices.
Source: androidcommunity.com
Thursday, May 26, 2011
[BREAKING] Updated Google Music APK for all you guys outside US
WORKS ON GALAXY TAB WITH GINGERBREAD NOW (and other Samsung devices were it was broken before probably too)
Just grab it here -> http://www.multiupload.com/KIM5LQDL0K
Just grab it here -> http://www.multiupload.com/KIM5LQDL0K
Enjoy!
[UPDATED][HOW TO] install Google Talk with Voice&Video on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" or the Motorola Milestone
NOW WITH WORKING FRONT FACING CAMERA in a signed update zip (Galaxy Tab!) If you have problems with the video: first enable "allow voice and video chat" under your status and if it still doesn't work properly, use the camera rotate button in the app :) Installing via Recovery didn't work.. I extracted the files and replaced them manually
(UPDATED: get it HERE from XDA or HERE FROM MULTIUPLOAD for front facing camera to work, thanks for the hint dirtyhandz305)
Hey everyone, it's time for some magic again!
I guess you all heard about this awesome new schtuff that came out for the Samsung Nexus S... Google Talk + Voice and Video! Envious? Oh, you don't have to be anymore! (Partially)
Samsung started today the rollout for Gingerbread on the original Galaxy Tabs and, of course, we can make use of sweet Google Talk now.
If you have been living under a rock until now, you can get all you need in this Post, which contains all the links you need for a rooted Gingerbread device.
The same works for Motorola Milestone with Nadlabak's Cyanogenmod 7 port too.
Download this zip fileand extract it's contents to your sd-card. Mount the sd-card on your device again and use root-explorer (or any similar app) to copy the libtalk_jni.so to the path "/system/lib"
next move to the original Talk.apk from "/system/app" to a backup location on your sd-card and copy the Talk.apk provided in the zip-file you downloaded before to the "/system/app" folder. Restart the device and everything should work fine. (you might have to delete the application data in the settings if you experience problems)
The downside of that whole thing is, that the devices seem to use the main camera instead of the front-facing camera... also I had no image transmitted to the Google-Talk webapp (hmpf) but maybe someone figures it out...
Voice seems to work just fine... but I haven't had time to test it in detail!
Check out the updated APK for front facing camera! http://www.multiupload.com/03VE2KXATD
(UPDATED: get it HERE from XDA or HERE FROM MULTIUPLOAD for front facing camera to work, thanks for the hint dirtyhandz305)
Hey everyone, it's time for some magic again!
I guess you all heard about this awesome new schtuff that came out for the Samsung Nexus S... Google Talk + Voice and Video! Envious? Oh, you don't have to be anymore! (Partially)
Samsung started today the rollout for Gingerbread on the original Galaxy Tabs and, of course, we can make use of sweet Google Talk now.
If you have been living under a rock until now, you can get all you need in this Post, which contains all the links you need for a rooted Gingerbread device.
The same works for Motorola Milestone with Nadlabak's Cyanogenmod 7 port too.
Download this zip fileand extract it's contents to your sd-card. Mount the sd-card on your device again and use root-explorer (or any similar app) to copy the libtalk_jni.so to the path "/system/lib"
next move to the original Talk.apk from "/system/app" to a backup location on your sd-card and copy the Talk.apk provided in the zip-file you downloaded before to the "/system/app" folder. Restart the device and everything should work fine. (you might have to delete the application data in the settings if you experience problems)
It works! :D
Voice seems to work just fine... but I haven't had time to test it in detail!
Check out the updated APK for front facing camera! http://www.multiupload.com/03VE2KXATD
Saturday, May 21, 2011
[OBSOLETE?][HOW TO] find out when your Google Music Beta invite will arrive! [ANDROID needed!]
Ok, let's face it. Uncertainty is a bee, I know. But if you want to get a little certainty in your life... I might be able to help!
ATTENTION: THIS IS UNCONFIRMED SH*T, IF THIS UNCONFIRMED SH*T DOES NOT WORK, IT DOES NOT WORK. Uhm... Did that make sense?
Ok, you'll need a rooted Android for that (maybe it works without root... haven't tried), the Google Music Beta App and start it at least once(!!) (If you can't find it, you should probably use MarketEnabler to fake an US provider...) and a filemanager (I used RootExplorer for that, it also has a neat texteditor included).
Only thing you've got to do is to fire up RootExplorer and navigate to "/data/data/com.google.android.music/shared_prefs"
You might have less files than me, because I took the shot shortly after I got my invite!
Copy the signup.pref.xml to your SDcard if you don't have an integrated texteditor or open it directly on the phone and check out the contents:
You should have a little less info in there but note the string named "holdoffUntil"... It contains a time-info... in particular it contains an Epoch Timestamp... so go to the site http://www.epochconverter.com/ and enter the value you find in the XML tag. In my case it is "1305953336454" ... convert it to a readable date and tadaaaa you get the time (approx.) your invite will (hopefully) arrive! In my case it was " Sat, 21 May 2011 04:48:56 GMT
that was about the time when I got my invite... it was a little earlier.. but I think it is no coincidence that it is the exact same date (even when the time isn't quite right) -> I got the invitation email at Fri, May 20, 2011 at 11:31 PM (GMT-07:00) that is ... about that time (yeah you have to add 7 hours to get GMT :P) ^^ somehow... Try it and let me know if it works!
BTW: Once you got your invite, Google music is available worldwide, just like Google Voice! So fire up your VPN and get your invite!
ATTENTION: THIS IS UNCONFIRMED SH*T, IF THIS UNCONFIRMED SH*T DOES NOT WORK, IT DOES NOT WORK. Uhm... Did that make sense?
To make it short: it is about as accurate as the prediction of the rapture today.
It also might be, that you have to install the leaked honeycomb Google music apk first
Download it here: http://www.multiupload.com/YTUNMZH16U Install it once instead of the original Google Music apk. Enable syncing for your account (under settings -> Accounts and sync), play around a little and try again.
UPDATE: ROOT EXPLORER NEEDED
UPDATE NR.2: It doesn't work for most of you guys... so sadly it seems to be a dead end ATM. But I'll continue poking around in the system for more reliable info.
Download it here: http://www.multiupload.com/YTUNMZH16U Install it once instead of the original Google Music apk. Enable syncing for your account (under settings -> Accounts and sync), play around a little and try again.
UPDATE: ROOT EXPLORER NEEDED
UPDATE NR.2: It doesn't work for most of you guys... so sadly it seems to be a dead end ATM. But I'll continue poking around in the system for more reliable info.
Ok, you'll need a rooted Android for that (maybe it works without root... haven't tried), the Google Music Beta App and start it at least once(!!) (If you can't find it, you should probably use MarketEnabler to fake an US provider...) and a filemanager (I used RootExplorer for that, it also has a neat texteditor included).
Only thing you've got to do is to fire up RootExplorer and navigate to "/data/data/com.google.android.music/shared_prefs"
You might have less files than me, because I took the shot shortly after I got my invite!
Copy the signup.pref.xml to your SDcard if you don't have an integrated texteditor or open it directly on the phone and check out the contents:
that was about the time when I got my invite... it was a little earlier.. but I think it is no coincidence that it is the exact same date (even when the time isn't quite right) -> I got the invitation email at Fri, May 20, 2011 at 11:31 PM (GMT-07:00) that is ... about that time (yeah you have to add 7 hours to get GMT :P) ^^ somehow... Try it and let me know if it works!
BTW: Once you got your invite, Google music is available worldwide, just like Google Voice! So fire up your VPN and get your invite!
Boooom, yeah! and lots of free music too!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
[HONEYCOMB] Spacemoose needs your help!
Spacemoose sadly bricked his Galaxy Tab today while he was working on our beloved Honeycomb port... he was making quite some progress -> Check out his work here on XDA
Please donate a little to cover potential repair costs, or.. simply to cheer him up a little by buying him a beer :) Push the donation button right under his nickname on XDA... That would be awesome! Even if it's just 5$
Every cent counts :) Show him, that his work is appreciated!
Please donate a little to cover potential repair costs, or.. simply to cheer him up a little by buying him a beer :) Push the donation button right under his nickname on XDA... That would be awesome! Even if it's just 5$
Every cent counts :) Show him, that his work is appreciated!
Why the last Android security flaw is kinda... overrated.
As I read today another headline that was like "ZOMG! Android leaks data".
Before I start with the real thing, let's explore together what this hype is all about...
The University of Ulm published information about a security-flaw in older Gingerbread builds and versions lower than that (Froyo, Eclair and blah).
Basically you have to be logged into a public WIFI (or a WIFI that has been breached or belongs to the attacker) and have an older Android version... If that's the case, someone who is logged into the same WiFi as you, might in theory be able to intercept a token that is responsible for authorizing with Google services and use it to impersonate you, messing with your data.
So, how likely is this to happen? Uhm... If you haven't pissed of some nerd that is possibly also a troll, you're safe, I guess.
So what data might be in danger?
At the moment it is known that Calendar Sync, Contacts Sync and Picasa Sync are vulnerable to attacks.
Possible benefits of this hack:
- Gaining information about a certain individual
- Harvesting telephone numbers and email addresses to sell them to marketers / spammers
- Gaining access to pics about Aunt Erna's birthday party
Effort to pull this off:
- Good knowledge about the Android system, the Sync-process and networking in general
- Enough time on location to harvest enough viable data
- Setting up a hotspot, compromising a hotspot or using a public hotspot
- Coding software that automates the spoofing and harvesting process
- Possession of suitable hardware
Crackers (the mean form of hackers) won't even think about exploiting this path, because it is simply not profitable to pull that off. You won't gain information that is valuable enough to justify the effort... no credit card data, no social insurance numbers... nothing. Email addresses and phone numbers are way too cheap from other sources and way easier to harvest in large amounts from the web or compromised servers.
The most likely reason for this to happen is to try out if it really works, or just for fun.
Even if you might be stupid enough to save your credit card data in an appointment on Google Calendar, a clever cracker would never use it, because it would be way too easy to trace the fraudulent transaction back to him if the origin isn't cloaked by reselling the data.
Crackers concentrate on webservers which host more precious information (see the Playstation Network) in a way larger amount, but you'll never hear the media talk about these possibilities. No one thought that a large company like Sony would be so easy to compromise. They had stored all the data way too accessible in one combined database, where it would make much more sense to fragment the data until it becomes unusable without knowing how to put it back together.
The media basically just spreads a little panic because they don't have not enough skill to look into possible large breaches on their own.
So, update your Android version or don't piss off angrynerds. That's all.
Sources: uni-ulm.de
Before I start with the real thing, let's explore together what this hype is all about...
The University of Ulm published information about a security-flaw in older Gingerbread builds and versions lower than that (Froyo, Eclair and blah).
Basically you have to be logged into a public WIFI (or a WIFI that has been breached or belongs to the attacker) and have an older Android version... If that's the case, someone who is logged into the same WiFi as you, might in theory be able to intercept a token that is responsible for authorizing with Google services and use it to impersonate you, messing with your data.
So, how likely is this to happen? Uhm... If you haven't pissed of some nerd that is possibly also a troll, you're safe, I guess.
So what data might be in danger?
At the moment it is known that Calendar Sync, Contacts Sync and Picasa Sync are vulnerable to attacks.
Possible benefits of this hack:
- Gaining information about a certain individual
- Harvesting telephone numbers and email addresses to sell them to marketers / spammers
- Gaining access to pics about Aunt Erna's birthday party
Effort to pull this off:
- Good knowledge about the Android system, the Sync-process and networking in general
- Enough time on location to harvest enough viable data
- Setting up a hotspot, compromising a hotspot or using a public hotspot
- Coding software that automates the spoofing and harvesting process
- Possession of suitable hardware
Crackers (the mean form of hackers) won't even think about exploiting this path, because it is simply not profitable to pull that off. You won't gain information that is valuable enough to justify the effort... no credit card data, no social insurance numbers... nothing. Email addresses and phone numbers are way too cheap from other sources and way easier to harvest in large amounts from the web or compromised servers.
The most likely reason for this to happen is to try out if it really works, or just for fun.
Even if you might be stupid enough to save your credit card data in an appointment on Google Calendar, a clever cracker would never use it, because it would be way too easy to trace the fraudulent transaction back to him if the origin isn't cloaked by reselling the data.
Crackers concentrate on webservers which host more precious information (see the Playstation Network) in a way larger amount, but you'll never hear the media talk about these possibilities. No one thought that a large company like Sony would be so easy to compromise. They had stored all the data way too accessible in one combined database, where it would make much more sense to fragment the data until it becomes unusable without knowing how to put it back together.
The media basically just spreads a little panic because they don't have not enough skill to look into possible large breaches on their own.
So, update your Android version or don't piss off angrynerds. That's all.
Sources: uni-ulm.de
Monday, May 16, 2011
[PREDICTIONS] What will come up next in the Google System? Part 1
You all know the drill... I have no special insider information about what's happening at Google, I just try to put all puzzle-pieces together and that's why my assumptions can be right or... complete bullpoo.
My predictions for the Google IO were quite... satisfying. There are still some open points that were not covered at the IO but are highly likely to happen.
First of all..
Chrome Store for GoogleTV
Hey, this beast is running chrome? What would you expect? I bet my ass they will introduce the web-store as soon as they update Google TV to Honeycomb in Summer 2011. Sadly, I'm almost sure, that they will just announce the Store instead of launching it. They need more Web-App devs who have their Web-Apps ready/optimized for the TV-Screen. The Web-Apps and extensions have to deal with a few things that you won't encounter in regular Chrome... For example the "overscan" etc... The other thing is, that they might want to ensure, that developers can test their Webapps/extensions right on the hardware, that's the reason why they wait for the update to Honeycomb in summer.
Chrome Store will get a separate Market or Category for GoogleTV Webapps
That's a no-brainer... otherwise people will just complain about the fact that the Apps are unusable (too small font-sizes, layout problems, navigation issues) or broken if they are not marked as "GoogleTV compatible"
The WebApps will have to ensure that they follow the standard-Guidelines for GoogleTV optimization
-> http://code.google.com/tv/web/docs/design_for_tv.html
Andrew Rabon also pointed out that there was a screenshot out in the wild, showing a new icon, presumably the web-store, on GoogleTV, so I'd say that it is fact that this will happen...
Blogger will get it's redesign
Yeah we all noticed the outage of the Blogger service lately... I guess that was the first attempt to roll out the new design, but who knows.. I guess they postponed the release until the next scheduled update... Might take days or weeks... Who knows. It will happen soon :)
+1 button and Chrome-extension rollout
As mentioned during the Google I/O it will happen soon. I guess it will be End of this month or mid-june.
Google Docs, GMail, Google Calendar offline versions
Will happen in the next few weeks, not much information about that yet...
Google Music invites
Will probably start to roll out end of this month.
My predictions for the Google IO were quite... satisfying. There are still some open points that were not covered at the IO but are highly likely to happen.
First of all..
Chrome Store for GoogleTV
Hey, this beast is running chrome? What would you expect? I bet my ass they will introduce the web-store as soon as they update Google TV to Honeycomb in Summer 2011. Sadly, I'm almost sure, that they will just announce the Store instead of launching it. They need more Web-App devs who have their Web-Apps ready/optimized for the TV-Screen. The Web-Apps and extensions have to deal with a few things that you won't encounter in regular Chrome... For example the "overscan" etc... The other thing is, that they might want to ensure, that developers can test their Webapps/extensions right on the hardware, that's the reason why they wait for the update to Honeycomb in summer.
Chrome Store will get a separate Market or Category for GoogleTV Webapps
That's a no-brainer... otherwise people will just complain about the fact that the Apps are unusable (too small font-sizes, layout problems, navigation issues) or broken if they are not marked as "GoogleTV compatible"
The WebApps will have to ensure that they follow the standard-Guidelines for GoogleTV optimization
-> http://code.google.com/tv/web/docs/design_for_tv.html
Andrew Rabon also pointed out that there was a screenshot out in the wild, showing a new icon, presumably the web-store, on GoogleTV, so I'd say that it is fact that this will happen...
Blogger will get it's redesign
Yeah we all noticed the outage of the Blogger service lately... I guess that was the first attempt to roll out the new design, but who knows.. I guess they postponed the release until the next scheduled update... Might take days or weeks... Who knows. It will happen soon :)
+1 button and Chrome-extension rollout
As mentioned during the Google I/O it will happen soon. I guess it will be End of this month or mid-june.
Google Docs, GMail, Google Calendar offline versions
Will happen in the next few weeks, not much information about that yet...
Google Music invites
Will probably start to roll out end of this month.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Thoughts about Honeycomb and the new course of Google
We all are pissed. Yeah, we are. No Honeycomb source in the foreseeable future.
This is hard to swallow. It is even harder because it was confirmed by Andy Rubin himself (and later by Jean-Baptiste Queru on Twitter, one of the leading Android devs at Google, responsible for AOSP)
Google doesn't make honeycomb open source for one simple reason:
So china-tablets can't ruin the reputation of Android tablets in general.
Just remember what happened last year: A sheer overwhelming amount of easily affordable but cheaply built and low performing Android tablets flooded the market. While the tech-blogger community posted one hands-on video after another, looking for an "iPad-killer", the tech world was almost certain that Android would never succeed as a tablet-OS. But this wasn't Google's fault. Android's full code is and was back then freely available for everyone, so if you built a bad product, everyone just saw "the Android OS" as a failure, not that you built a bad product.
Android's reputation took severe damage during this time and Google had to react.
They had to find a way to keep Android open but also repair the damage that has been done to the Android Ecosystem. So they came up with Honeycomb, specifically designed for tablets, but only made open to a small circle of companies that had to apply for access to the Honeycomb code.
It is like Google would say: "Only tablets running honeycomb are original Android experience tablets." It is a quality seal.
Google chose that path to get better reputation on the tablet market and to gain share against the Apple iPad and BlackBerry's playbook. They knew they would piss a lot of people off by doing so and that they would be criticized for their (temporary) course.
The official reasons for the closed Source are quite stupid, but most people swallowed them (also some certain tech-bloggers I don't want to name here)
It sucks for the development community. It really does. But what would be the alternative?
If you are a software engineer and want to build an application specifically designed for tablets, you have to evaluate if the effort/revenue ratio pays off. Building for tablets means additional effort, so you are looking for a stable, well maintained platform that shows continuous growth. The platform has to be "mainstream compatible" to show significant revenue, what means especially, that it is (relatively) frustration-free.
A big point is the hardware that the platform will be running on. So Google had to gain trust of the hardware manufacturers first. They did that by making an exclusive deal with Motorola for building the XOOM. It should be the flagship... a good visible invitation for other major companies to hop on board. And this strategy was a success. We're seeing a lot of high quality, powerful Honeycomb tablets surfacing on the market and this is just the beginning.
The new course, as controversial as it might be, doesn't change much for the Open source spirit of Android if you take a closer look. They fulfill the GPL by open-sourcing all the GPL bits (you can find them in AOSP right now) but this is less than 10% of the original Honeycomb code.
It is kind of disappointing for us, the dev. community, that some devices which should in fact deserve a working Honeycomb port like: The nook color, The Adam Ink our belover Galaxy Tab, the GTab and others, won't get a clean build so soon.
Honeycomb might or might not ever be fully released into AOSP, but they will definitely (that IS confirmed) fully publish every single bit of Ice Cream Sandwich in Q4 this year (which also contains all of Honeycomb merged into this release)
Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.0 is a merge of all platforms and releases that are now in separate branches:
And I dare to speculate that Ice-Cream Sandwich will be also containing the infamous new big thing called "Android@home"/Project Tungsten. A platform making it possible for Android to function as a hub for all kind of appliances and also as home-automation system.
Merging the platforms has some practical reasons. 3 different source-trees are hard to maintain. Every major change has to be merged into each branch and maintaining intercompatibility becomes more and more difficult over time. This might be what you can refer to as fragmentation.
[And dear Captain Crunch: Different user interfaces do not mean fragmentation, it means freedom of choice, that is something GOOD. Like if I want to have several ways of commenting on a blogpost, instead of being forced to use facebook for authentication.]
I know it is a terribly long wait, but it will be worth it.
In the end it will pay off for us, because if the manufacturers and customers all over the world gain trust in the Android Platform as a good, solid, well supported (and most important an open) OS for Tablets and other devices, the dev. community gains strength and support too.
Furthermore the open spirit of the Android platform gains more momentum by better acceptance among the users and major hardware developers worldwide.
So, even if it might seem like a punch in the balls for us Galaxy Tab owners, we will profit from it later on.
I know this is hard to understand and you can be damn sure that I was raging when I heard that Andy Rubin himself said that Honeycomb will remain (to large amounts) closed source until further notice, but... what the hell. I'll donate all the money I can give to developers like XDA's Spacemoose [link] that work on inofficial Honeycomb ports, based on the SDK's Google has published and enjoy a great, unofficial Honeycomb SDK port until those Mountain View people release the next big thing. And it will be all open and awesome.
If you haven't seen the keynote yet, head over to youtube and watch it today.
As a little apology for their unfriendly decision to let us wait for so long, Google is working on an agreement with the hardware-manufacturers to guarantee 18 months of updates to the latest version of Android (if the hardware supports it, of course). And stop hyperventilating, because every single time some stupid techblog vomited something about minimum hardware-requirements, it was just made-up bullpoo.
So support spacemoose [link] and Dip7 [link] with all the spare change you can give.. We can build something awesome too, with or without the support of Google.
They have their reasons to temporarily close the development.
But WE are the community and WE will get our Honeycomb, it is just a matter of hard work, time and brainpower.
We will succeed. :D
spacemoose's Honeycomb CDMA port for Samsung Galaxy Tab -> here
Dip7's Honeycomb GSM port for Samsung Galaxy Tab -> here
This is hard to swallow. It is even harder because it was confirmed by Andy Rubin himself (and later by Jean-Baptiste Queru on Twitter, one of the leading Android devs at Google, responsible for AOSP)
Google doesn't make honeycomb open source for one simple reason:
So china-tablets can't ruin the reputation of Android tablets in general.
Just remember what happened last year: A sheer overwhelming amount of easily affordable but cheaply built and low performing Android tablets flooded the market. While the tech-blogger community posted one hands-on video after another, looking for an "iPad-killer", the tech world was almost certain that Android would never succeed as a tablet-OS. But this wasn't Google's fault. Android's full code is and was back then freely available for everyone, so if you built a bad product, everyone just saw "the Android OS" as a failure, not that you built a bad product.
Android's reputation took severe damage during this time and Google had to react.
They had to find a way to keep Android open but also repair the damage that has been done to the Android Ecosystem. So they came up with Honeycomb, specifically designed for tablets, but only made open to a small circle of companies that had to apply for access to the Honeycomb code.
It is like Google would say: "Only tablets running honeycomb are original Android experience tablets." It is a quality seal.
Google chose that path to get better reputation on the tablet market and to gain share against the Apple iPad and BlackBerry's playbook. They knew they would piss a lot of people off by doing so and that they would be criticized for their (temporary) course.
The official reasons for the closed Source are quite stupid, but most people swallowed them (also some certain tech-bloggers I don't want to name here)
It sucks for the development community. It really does. But what would be the alternative?
If you are a software engineer and want to build an application specifically designed for tablets, you have to evaluate if the effort/revenue ratio pays off. Building for tablets means additional effort, so you are looking for a stable, well maintained platform that shows continuous growth. The platform has to be "mainstream compatible" to show significant revenue, what means especially, that it is (relatively) frustration-free.
A big point is the hardware that the platform will be running on. So Google had to gain trust of the hardware manufacturers first. They did that by making an exclusive deal with Motorola for building the XOOM. It should be the flagship... a good visible invitation for other major companies to hop on board. And this strategy was a success. We're seeing a lot of high quality, powerful Honeycomb tablets surfacing on the market and this is just the beginning.
The new course, as controversial as it might be, doesn't change much for the Open source spirit of Android if you take a closer look. They fulfill the GPL by open-sourcing all the GPL bits (you can find them in AOSP right now) but this is less than 10% of the original Honeycomb code.
It is kind of disappointing for us, the dev. community, that some devices which should in fact deserve a working Honeycomb port like: The nook color, The Adam Ink our belover Galaxy Tab, the GTab and others, won't get a clean build so soon.
Honeycomb might or might not ever be fully released into AOSP, but they will definitely (that IS confirmed) fully publish every single bit of Ice Cream Sandwich in Q4 this year (which also contains all of Honeycomb merged into this release)
Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.0 is a merge of all platforms and releases that are now in separate branches:
- Google TV (Android 2.x with full Chrome Browser)
- Honeycomb (Android 3.x especially built for tablets but lacks some smartphone functionality/optimization)
- Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x including NFC capability and ADK thingy-stuff)
And I dare to speculate that Ice-Cream Sandwich will be also containing the infamous new big thing called "Android@home"/Project Tungsten. A platform making it possible for Android to function as a hub for all kind of appliances and also as home-automation system.
Merging the platforms has some practical reasons. 3 different source-trees are hard to maintain. Every major change has to be merged into each branch and maintaining intercompatibility becomes more and more difficult over time. This might be what you can refer to as fragmentation.
[And dear Captain Crunch: Different user interfaces do not mean fragmentation, it means freedom of choice, that is something GOOD. Like if I want to have several ways of commenting on a blogpost, instead of being forced to use facebook for authentication.]
I know it is a terribly long wait, but it will be worth it.
In the end it will pay off for us, because if the manufacturers and customers all over the world gain trust in the Android Platform as a good, solid, well supported (and most important an open) OS for Tablets and other devices, the dev. community gains strength and support too.
Furthermore the open spirit of the Android platform gains more momentum by better acceptance among the users and major hardware developers worldwide.
So, even if it might seem like a punch in the balls for us Galaxy Tab owners, we will profit from it later on.
I know this is hard to understand and you can be damn sure that I was raging when I heard that Andy Rubin himself said that Honeycomb will remain (to large amounts) closed source until further notice, but... what the hell. I'll donate all the money I can give to developers like XDA's Spacemoose [link] that work on inofficial Honeycomb ports, based on the SDK's Google has published and enjoy a great, unofficial Honeycomb SDK port until those Mountain View people release the next big thing. And it will be all open and awesome.
If you haven't seen the keynote yet, head over to youtube and watch it today.
As a little apology for their unfriendly decision to let us wait for so long, Google is working on an agreement with the hardware-manufacturers to guarantee 18 months of updates to the latest version of Android (if the hardware supports it, of course). And stop hyperventilating, because every single time some stupid techblog vomited something about minimum hardware-requirements, it was just made-up bullpoo.
So support spacemoose [link] and Dip7 [link] with all the spare change you can give.. We can build something awesome too, with or without the support of Google.
They have their reasons to temporarily close the development.
But WE are the community and WE will get our Honeycomb, it is just a matter of hard work, time and brainpower.
We will succeed. :D
spacemoose's Honeycomb CDMA port for Samsung Galaxy Tab -> here
Dip7's Honeycomb GSM port for Samsung Galaxy Tab -> here
How a 25 million Euro wall saved 3.000 people thanks to the former mayor of Fudai, Japan
Two months have passed since the huge quake of Japan and the devastating tsunami that caused thousands of deaths and the suffering of millions. Thankfully the Japanese are tough and boldly rebuild what was destroyed. It is this certain mentality that makes me value these people so much. They never give up.
As the dust settles, some incredible stories go around the world and one of these stories is really fascinating.
Fudai is a small town on the north-east coast of Japan's main island. About 3.000 people live there and one man is responsible for the fact, that these 3.000 individuals survived the tsunami without a scratch.
This man's name is Kotaku Wamura. Directly after the second world war, he was elected mayor in this small town and stayed official mayor until 1987 for 10 re-election periods. The small town bloomed and attracted fishermen and tourists and became relatively wealthy but Kotaku was suspicious. He knew that 1896 and 1933 two large scale tsunamis devastated the small town and killed hundreds.
Even all the milestones from the middle-ages that marked the edges of the big floods and warned the local population not to settle too close to the coast were ignored.
"remember the harm of the tsunami. do not build beneath this point"
Wamura made a very controversial decision. 1967 he initiated the construction of the 25 million Euro (~30 million $) flood wall with an expensive but very robust flood gate. He got publicly attacked and criticized for the enormous expenses and land-owners were forced to sell some of their coastal-land to the government, so that the wall could be build. I have to admit, if I'd lived back then, I would have been skeptic too.
But on this very fateful day, the 11th of March 2011, the huge and heavy doors, closed right after the quake, protected the town from total destruction.
The surrounding villages and towns, which were without or with less effective protection faced total destruction.
No single soul died in Fudai that very day.
Wamura never got notice of how many lives his big wall saved. He died 14 years ago.
Moved by the fact that they owe their lives to Kotaku Wamura, the citizens of Fudai, laid down flowers and presents at his grave, showing their respect and their gratefulness for what he has done.
source: http://www.spiegel.de
As the dust settles, some incredible stories go around the world and one of these stories is really fascinating.
Fudai is a small town on the north-east coast of Japan's main island. About 3.000 people live there and one man is responsible for the fact, that these 3.000 individuals survived the tsunami without a scratch.
This man's name is Kotaku Wamura. Directly after the second world war, he was elected mayor in this small town and stayed official mayor until 1987 for 10 re-election periods. The small town bloomed and attracted fishermen and tourists and became relatively wealthy but Kotaku was suspicious. He knew that 1896 and 1933 two large scale tsunamis devastated the small town and killed hundreds.
In a book Wamura wrote about his hometown, he reported about his impressions after the flood in 1933:
"When I saw all the dead, buried under all this earth, I was speechless. I didn't know what to say."
Even all the milestones from the middle-ages that marked the edges of the big floods and warned the local population not to settle too close to the coast were ignored.
source: AP [here]
Wamura made a very controversial decision. 1967 he initiated the construction of the 25 million Euro (~30 million $) flood wall with an expensive but very robust flood gate. He got publicly attacked and criticized for the enormous expenses and land-owners were forced to sell some of their coastal-land to the government, so that the wall could be build. I have to admit, if I'd lived back then, I would have been skeptic too.
But on this very fateful day, the 11th of March 2011, the huge and heavy doors, closed right after the quake, protected the town from total destruction.
The surrounding villages and towns, which were without or with less effective protection faced total destruction.
No single soul died in Fudai that very day.
Wamura never got notice of how many lives his big wall saved. He died 14 years ago.
Moved by the fact that they owe their lives to Kotaku Wamura, the citizens of Fudai, laid down flowers and presents at his grave, showing their respect and their gratefulness for what he has done.
source: AP [here]
source: http://www.spiegel.de
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Facebook caught red handed in smearing campaign against Google
Best story this week: Facebook got caught in their attempt to ruin Google's reputation by anonymously hire a PR company to pay journalists and bloggers to spread lies about customer data privacy.
Fun enough, but guess who they hired for this campaign?
A company called "Burson-Marsteller"
check this out:
More on: thedailybeast.com and usatoday.com
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
[+HOW-TO] Gingerbread for Samsung Galaxy Tab (7") is finally rolling out! (and rooted!)
The long awaited firmware JQ1 is finally rolling out and already available for you to flash!
Just jump to the thread at XDA Developers -> here (thanks to xda's Chainfire!) and download all the tools you need to get the hot stuff :)
It is currently rolling out over Kies starting in Italy (started today) so it could take a while until you get the official update.
It is a GSM Rom (I guess) for the European unbranded Galaxy-Tab (GT-P1000whatever), the branded ones still have to wait for their bloatware-infested versions.
I have already tried it and it works! (use the version WITH the bootloaders... they might be signed, but they are unprotected and work with unsigned kernels!)
I'll try to root it and will report later if it worked!
The instructions for flashing the new Firmware worked for me with Clockwork-Mod Recovery and Overcome ROM and the ext4 filesystem, so you should be safe to go, no matter what you've poisoned your System with :)
EDIT: Rooting worked with CF-Root and Odin -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=885734 use the CF-Root-TAB7_XX_OXA_JQ1-v3.2-CWM3RFS.zip File to root the tab with Gingerbread!
EDIT: Google Talk+Video works on it, but not flawlessly
Just jump to the thread at XDA Developers -> here (thanks to xda's Chainfire!) and download all the tools you need to get the hot stuff :)
It is currently rolling out over Kies starting in Italy (started today) so it could take a while until you get the official update.
It is a GSM Rom (I guess) for the European unbranded Galaxy-Tab (GT-P1000whatever), the branded ones still have to wait for their bloatware-infested versions.
I have already tried it and it works! (use the version WITH the bootloaders... they might be signed, but they are unprotected and work with unsigned kernels!)
I'll try to root it and will report later if it worked!
The instructions for flashing the new Firmware worked for me with Clockwork-Mod Recovery and Overcome ROM and the ext4 filesystem, so you should be safe to go, no matter what you've poisoned your System with :)
EDIT: Rooting worked with CF-Root and Odin -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=885734 use the CF-Root-TAB7_XX_OXA_JQ1-v3.2-CWM3RFS.zip File to root the tab with Gingerbread!
EDIT: Google Talk+Video works on it, but not flawlessly
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
For everyone outside of the US: The Google Music Beta APK and how to apply for a Beta invite
http://www.multiupload.com/1PWUT5G88H
And if you want to apply for a Beta-Invite, use TOR or ddwrt hotspot shield, which worked for me to apply for an invitation! http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/dd-wrt_privacy (this one is sadly Windows only) but it contains adware, so uninstall when done!
And if you want to apply for a Beta-Invite, use TOR or ddwrt hotspot shield, which worked for me to apply for an invitation! http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/dd-wrt_privacy (this one is sadly Windows only) but it contains adware, so uninstall when done!
After installing, go to http://music.google.
Monday, May 9, 2011
[OBSOLETE?] New news or no news? Google Docs Offline suit will roll out soon!
ATTENTION: It is still uncertain if the findings are corpses from google Gears or if a relaunch of offline storage is really going to happen soon! Thx@Felix Kloft for pointing that out!
And now something we all have been waiting for a long long time. How have you been? Uh, sorry, Portal 2.
Nah, Google Docs will get offline support really soon -> Found in the production-code of Google Docs:
If you thought this was exciting, than have a second look...
So you will be able to have a fully featured office-suite on your computer/laptop you can use offline.
Here an entry that reveals more of the functionality:
You have changes which are stored on this computer but have not yet been saved to Google's servers. The changes will be saved when you next open this document with this browser while connected to the internet.
And now something we all have been waiting for a long long time. How have you been? Uh, sorry, Portal 2.
Nah, Google Docs will get offline support really soon -> Found in the production-code of Google Docs:
We will be phasing out support for Google Docs offline soon.
"Docs Offline installation is being updated."
Please wait while Docs Offline software resources are being updated.
So you will be able to have a fully featured office-suite on your computer/laptop you can use offline.
Here an entry that reveals more of the functionality:
You have changes which are stored on this computer but have not yet been saved to Google's servers. The changes will be saved when you next open this document with this browser while connected to the internet.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
New news or no news? Why Google music and YouTube Rentals for Android devices are obviously ready to roll
And once again, my dear Google, I've to apologize for all that poking around in your guts.. But I can't do anything about my feelings for you...
Today I discovered something special... small bits of Google Music, buried deep down in the javascript code of the Android Market.. that's right. The Android market and nowhere else...
What does that mean? Basically that you will be able to push-sync the music to your devices... but let's step through every bit of my discoveries together.
The magic lies in the production-compiled javascript found easily inside the website.
Now let's see what we can find if we search for some music terms inside our javascript:
Nothing special so far, but wait...
Here we have the parts of the Audio-Player that is used for previewing the Audio-Tracks :)
So, if you thought this was neat, wait for what comes next:
YouTube Movie Rentals on your Android device!
<h1 class="co-dialog-additional-header">', "How to watch your movie", '</h1><div class="co-dialog-additional-content"><table><tr><td style="width: 47%"><div class="chrome-icon goog-inline-block"></div><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-movies goog-inline-block"><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-title">', "On the web", '</div><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-info">', f, '</div></div></td><td><div class="android-icon goog-inline-block"></div><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-movies goog-inline-block"><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-title">', "Verizon Motorola Xoom", '</div><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-info">', "Open the Videos app on your Motorola Xoom.", "</div></div></td></tr></table></div>"), d = d.toString(), fj(c, d || ""));
If I may de-clutter that whole stuff for you:
"How to watch your movie" "On the web", "Verizon Motorola Xoom" "Open the Videos app on your Motorola Xoom."
So, YouTube rentals come to our Android devices real soon! You have to keep in mind that this is the Production-Code of the Android market and not the canary-build! (Yeah, they actually have testing builds of all the webapps too -> Poke around in the Google Voice code and you find the proof for the canary version)
So that means that basically they just have to flip a switch and get going!
Here the embed code for the Trailer-Popups:
Here are some more findings... these Variables define the page-selectors that determine the current visible page:
And some wording-definitions:
For all those who were brave enough to browse all that lame code until here... One of Googles infamous Error messages :D
"Oops, we're temporarily having trouble with your order. Right now our engineers are busy searching the back room for another copy of \"" + (a.f + "\". Once they find it, we'll be back in business. Apologies, and please try again later."
By the way there is in fact a hidden "Post to Buzz" button, but it is obviously not enabled... I don't know why :(
<div class="google-buzz-button-container goog-inline-block"><a title="',"Post to Google Buzz"
And my personal favorite:
'" data-message="CONFIDENTIAL - INTERNAL ONLY! POST USING ONLY YOUR GOOGLE.COM ACCOUNT! '
This string is included in the hidden buzz button! :D
So, what I expect:
The appearance in the production code probably hints that one or more of these features will be revealed at the Google I/O 2011!
Only 2 days left!
Today I discovered something special... small bits of Google Music, buried deep down in the javascript code of the Android Market.. that's right. The Android market and nowhere else...
What does that mean? Basically that you will be able to push-sync the music to your devices... but let's step through every bit of my discoveries together.
The magic lies in the production-compiled javascript found easily inside the website.
here you are :D
I beautified the code a little, so it is easier to read..
Here we have the first evidence of Google Music purchases:
Ze: "This music can be heard on..."
Nothing special so far, but wait...
Here we have the parts of the Audio-Player that is used for previewing the Audio-Tracks :)
function Ym(a, b, c) {
a = M(a.a, "preview-control", b);
Rb(b, "audio-playing", c);
Rb(b, "audio-idle", !c);
Rb(a, "pause", c);
Rb(a, "play", !c);
}
r.Pi = function() {
var a = M(this.a, "audio-playing");
Ym(this, a, !1);
Xm(this, uc(a, "tr", "track-row"), !1);
};
So, if you thought this was neat, wait for what comes next:
YouTube Movie Rentals on your Android device!
<h1 class="co-dialog-additional-header">', "How to watch your movie", '</h1><div class="co-dialog-additional-content"><table><tr><td style="width: 47%"><div class="chrome-icon goog-inline-block"></div><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-movies goog-inline-block"><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-title">', "On the web", '</div><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-info">', f, '</div></div></td><td><div class="android-icon goog-inline-block"></div><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-movies goog-inline-block"><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-title">', "Verizon Motorola Xoom", '</div><div class="co-dialog-additional-content-info">', "Open the Videos app on your Motorola Xoom.", "</div></div></td></tr></table></div>"), d = d.toString(), fj(c, d || ""));
If I may de-clutter that whole stuff for you:
"How to watch your movie" "On the web", "Verizon Motorola Xoom" "Open the Videos app on your Motorola Xoom."
So, YouTube rentals come to our Android devices real soon! You have to keep in mind that this is the Production-Code of the Android market and not the canary-build! (Yeah, they actually have testing builds of all the webapps too -> Poke around in the Google Voice code and you find the proof for the canary version)
So that means that basically they just have to flip a switch and get going!
function Oc(a, b) {
var c = b || new N;
Kc(Bc(a, {
xe: "movies",
Ze: "This video can be watched on...",
mg: "You are renting...",
lg: !0,
kg: "Rental period",
ig: "Compatible with..."
}), c);
if (!b) return c.toString();
}
function Eg(a) {
return a.a == "YOUTUBE_MOVIE";
}
sa("enableTrailerPopup", function() {
var a = M(Gc.c, "trailer");
if (a) {
var b = a.getAttribute("data-trailerId"), c = a.getAttribute("data-docTitle");
T(Gc.u, a, $, function() {
var a;
a = {
wi: b
};
var f = new N;
Jc({
dg: "https://www.youtube.com/embed/" + O(a.wi) + "?autoplay=1&vq=large&rel=0&autohide=1"
}, f);
a = f.toString();
Vi(Fc.a[4], a || "", c, "trailer-dialog", .98);
});
}
});
Here are some more findings... these Variables define the page-selectors that determine the current visible page:
function Hg(a) {
if (a.indexOf("app-") != 0) if (a.indexOf("album-") == 0) return "MUSIC_ALBUM"; else if (a.indexOf("artist-") == 0) return "MUSIC_ARTIST"; else if (a.indexOf("song-") == 0) return "MUSIC_SONG"; else if (a.indexOf("book-") == 0) return "OCEAN_BOOK"; else if (a.indexOf("movie-") == 0) return "YOUTUBE_MOVIE";
return "ANDROID_APP";
}
And some wording-definitions:
switch (c.Li) {
case "ANDROID_APP":
c.wb ? d.a("Installed") : d.a("Purchased");
break;
case "OCEAN_BOOK":
d.a("Read");
break;
case "MUSIC_ALBUM":
d.a("Listen");
break;
case "MUSIC_TRACK":
d.a("Listen");
break;
case "YOUTUBE_MOVIE":
d.a("Watch");
}
And some status messages:
var Ai = {
ANDROID_APP: "This app will be downloaded to your device shortly.",
MUSIC_ALBUM: "Your album is now ready for you to listen...",
MUSIC_SONG: "Your song is now ready for you to listen...",
OCEAN_BOOK: "Your ebook is now available for you to read.",
REFUND: "Your refund was successfully processed.",
YOUTUBE_MOVIE: "Your movie is now ready to watch..."
}, Bi = {
ANDROID_APP: "Processing the install request...",
MUSIC_ALBUM: "Adding the album to your library...",
MUSIC_SONG: "Adding the song to your library...",
OCEAN_BOOK: "Making the book available to read...",
REFUND: "Processing the refund request...",
YOUTUBE_MOVIE: "Making the movie available to watch..."
}, Ci = {
ANDROID_APP: "Please sign-in to purchase this Android App.",
MUSIC_ALBUM: "Please sign-in to purchase this Album.",
MUSIC_SONG: "Please sign-in to purchase this Song.",
OCEAN_BOOK: "Please sign-in to purchase this Book.",
YOUTUBE_MOVIE: "Please sign-in to purchase this Movie."
}, Di = {
ANDROID_APP: "Please sign-in to install this Android App.",
MUSIC_ALBUM: "Please sign-in to get this Album.",
MUSIC_SONG: "Please sign-in to get this Song.",
OCEAN_BOOK: "Please sign-in to get this Book.",
YOUTUBE_MOVIE: "Please sign-in to get this Movie."
};
For all those who were brave enough to browse all that lame code until here... One of Googles infamous Error messages :D
"Oops, we're temporarily having trouble with your order. Right now our engineers are busy searching the back room for another copy of \"" + (a.f + "\". Once they find it, we'll be back in business. Apologies, and please try again later."
By the way there is in fact a hidden "Post to Buzz" button, but it is obviously not enabled... I don't know why :(
<div class="google-buzz-button-container goog-inline-block"><a title="',"Post to Google Buzz"
And my personal favorite:
'" data-message="CONFIDENTIAL - INTERNAL ONLY! POST USING ONLY YOUR GOOGLE.COM ACCOUNT! '
This string is included in the hidden buzz button! :D
So, what I expect:
The appearance in the production code probably hints that one or more of these features will be revealed at the Google I/O 2011!
Only 2 days left!
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