Android to appear on HTC Handset device end of this year and Windows Mobile 7 to follow later beginning of 2009.

HTC Corp, produces powerful handsets that continually push the boundaries of innovation to provide true mobile freedom.

Chen announced at HTC Touch Diamond launch in South Africa, that HTC is planning to unveil a device with Google Android Operating System by Q4 of this year, and a Windows Mobile 7 by Q1 of next year, at least that’s what’s on the planned release schedule from HTC.

Google has chosen 50 finalists in the Android Developer Challenge, doling out $1.25 million in the process.

” Each of the 50 finalists will receive $25,000. Another 10 of them will get $100,000 and 10 will get $275,000, for a total of $5 million. That’s a nice coup for each of them and a great deal for Google, which got to review some 1,800 programs, and ended up paying a mere $2,800 for each of them. ” from AlleyInsider

List of Winners are…

(more…)

Good news for GOOGLE and ANDROID Fans. Google announced, android for sure in 4th quarter of 2008.

“We’re still on track to announce Android-powered phones this year. Some of our partners are publicly stating that they plan to ship Android phones in the fourth quarter.”

Crunchgear

Qualcomm product manager Choudhury said, the company plan to launch 5 android handsets within one year to year and half.

Choudhury said the Android phones will have similar features to the Apple iPhone but be available at prices closer to mass market feature phones and sport better links to Web services for photos, video and more, he added.

“Google has really thought through what Apple has just begun to unlock,” said Choudhury.

Qualcomm was among many companies who demonstrated working Android devices at cellular shows earlier this year. Developers are now bringing up media applications on the systems and then will turn to work on location-based services and systems optimization for lowest power and maximum throughput, he said. From : EE Times

It’s amazing how whenever I search for “Android” on Google or Yahoo! the first link that comes up is Google’s Android. It almost seems that the original humanoid term has been outdated. So here’s a post on the top three updates on “Androids”.

“An android is a robot designed to resemble a human, usually both in appearance and behavior.” -Wiki

“Thus far, androids have largely remained within the domain of science fiction, frequently seen in film and television. However, some humanoid robots now exist. The word droid, a robot in the Star Wars universe, is derived from this meaning.” -Wiki

1. New Asimo humanoid

The Robotics Institute of CMU: ASIMO’s Fancy Footwork

A humanoid robot is a robot with its overall appearance based on that of the human body. In general humanoid robots have a torso with a head, two arms and two legs, although some forms of humanoid robots may model only part of the body, for example, from the waist up. Some humanoid robots may also have a ‘face’, with ‘eyes’ and ‘mouth’. Androids are humanoid robots built to resemble a male human, and Gynoids are humanoid robots built to resemble a human female.

Source: New Asimo

2. Pal Technology of the UAE

United Arab Emirates has announced a very sophisticated new humanoid called REEM-A. It stands 1.45 m tall, weighs 41 Kg. and has 30 DOF (Degrees of Freedom). ” REEM-B is the evolution of the first humanoid created by Pal Technology Robotics, the REEM-A. The first prototype was designed to play chess with the Hydra chess engine and to be used as development platform. With REEM-B, Pal Technology comes astonishingly close to its final goal; to create a humanoid service robot that will be able to help humans in the future with sophisticated tasks. Our robot can walk dynamically, recognize and grasp objects, lift heavy weights and go around by itself inside any building complex, avoiding obstacles.” Source : Pal Technology

3. Actroid DER2 fembot loves Hello Kitty

Kokoro and Osaka University have developed a new life-like android called Actroid DER2. This android looks very human and talks and moves its head, arms, hands, and body. The android is available for rental now at the rate of $3,500 for 5 days. Actroid DER2 is an upgraded version of Kokoro’s previous fembot, Actroid DER, who has made quite a name for herself by providing services at a number of events, including the 2005 World Expo. Compared to the previous model, DER2 has thinner arms and a wider repertoire of expressions. The smoothness of her movement has also been improved, making it now even more likely for the uninitiated to confuse her with an actual human being.

Source: Kokoro Android Projects

What is Android?

What is Android?

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications.

The Amazing Features Of Android:

1. Application Framework: Which enables the reuse and replacements of component.

2. The Usage of Dalvi Virtual Machine: It is optimized for low memory requirements, and is designed to allow multiple VM instances to run at once, relying on the underlying operating system for process isolation, memory management and threading support. Dalvik is often referred to as a Java Virtual Machine, but this is not strictly accurate, as the bytecodeJava bytecode. Instead, a tool named dx, included in the Android SDK, transforms the Java Class files of Java classes compiled by a regular Java compiler into another class file format (the .dex format).

3. Integrated browser: Which is based on the open Source WebKit Engine.

4. Optimized graphics: powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)

You can get more information about Optimized Graphics

5. SQLite: Which is mainly for structure Data Storage.

SQLite is a mostly ACID-compliant relational database management system contained in a relatively small (~500kb) C programming library.

Unlike client-server database management systems, the SQLite engine is not a standalone process with which the program communicates. Instead, the SQLite library is linked in and thus becomes an integral part of the program. The program uses SQLite’s functionality through simple function calls, which reduces latency in database access as function calls are more efficient than inter-process communication. The entire database (definitions, tables, indices, and the data itself) is stored as a single cross-platform file on a host machine. This simple design is achieved by locking the entire database file at the beginning of a transaction.

You can get More Information on SQLite about the Features, Adoptions and More.

6. Media support: Android will support advanced audio/video/still media formats such as MPEG-4, H.264, MP3, and AAC, AMR, JPEG, PNG, GIF.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(mobile_phone_platform)

7. GSM Telephony: Which is a hardware dependent.

What is GSM?

GSM is a Global System For Mobile Network. GSM uses a variation of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and is the most widely used of the three digital wireless telephone technologies (TDMA, GSM, and CDMA). GSM digitizes and compresses data, then sends it down a channel with two other streams of user data, each in its own time slot. It operates at either the 900 MHz or 1,800 MHz frequency band.

REF: http://www.tech-faq.com/gsm.shtml

8. Hardware Support: Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, WiFi,Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer

Architecture of Android:

Source: code.google.com/android/