Technology Phones Tablets Gadgets Gaming Computers Software and Apps Reviews Huawei Launches World’s First Android 3.2 Powered, MediaPad

Finally, the tablet which Huawei teased earlier is announced at CommunicAsia 211, as expected the device would be called the Huawei MediaPad. The MediaPad would be the first tablet announced on our planet which comes with Android 3.2 Honeycomb.

This is a 7-inch tablet device an according to the company, Android 3.2 Honeycomb would be exactly the same as Android 3.1 Honeycomb, but it would be completely optimized for the 7-inch form factor.

The Huawei MediaPad  sports a 217 pixels-per-inch IPS capacitive touchscreen, a 5 megapixel rear camera, a secondary 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, Wi-Fi 802.11n, GPS and 8GB of internal storage. The device would be powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor from Qualcomm. It will be bundled with pre-loaded applications like Let’s Golf, Facebook, Twitter and Documents To Go.

There are no pricing announcements yet, but we expect that the device will hit the Indian market sometime in Q3 2011.

Android games round-up – Draw Slasher, N.O.V.A. 2 HD, Angry Birds Summer Pignic, Herman the Hermit, Galaxy on Fire 2 THD

This week’s batch of Android games includes a couple of graphically lush 3D epics, a couple of stylish casual oddities and an update to the biggest smartphone franchise around. Not a bad week at all, in other words. Enjoy!

Draw Slasher

This stylish little action game made its debut on iPhone a couple of years ago, but such are the quality of its graphics it still looks great now that it’s been released on Android. You play the part of a ruthless ninja who must take on hordes of pirate monkey zombies. Yes, that’s pirate monkey zombies. While the action is slick and visceral, all you’ll find yourself doing is swiping the screen to direct your agile hero’s attacks. Still, if it works for Fruit Ninja… Topping it all off is the aforementioned graphics, which benefit from a detailed black and white art style. It really is very impressive, and serves to bolster the fun-if-limited gameplay.

N.O.V.A. 2 HD

Initially an Xperia Play exclusive (though still released a good five or six months after the iPhone release), Gameloft’s Halo-aping first person shooter sequel has now made its way to the Android Market. The goal is similar to the first N.O.V.A. – run through a series of sci-fi levels as a gruff space marine, blasting everything in sight with your surprisingly grounded arsenal. The sequel also introduces online multiplayer to some already potent single player action. If you can get on with those virtual analogue controls, this is one of the better FPS games on Android right now.

Angry Birds Seasons: Summer Pignic

Rovio has launched its latest seasonal level pack for Angry Birds. This time you take part in tense and gritty first person shooter… only kidding. You ping birds at pigs. It’s Angry Birds, but with a distinctly summery feeling. For those of us in the UK, that might require a bit of explaining – the sun’s out, and there are bonus flowers to hit. A new level will be locked every day, much like the Christmas edition. We should also note that the original Angry Birds has also been updated with a new level pack, called Mine & Dine. That’s a whole lot of swine-bothering to be getting on with.

Herman the Hermit

Absolutely nothing to do with a second rate Mancunian pop band from the sixties, Herman the Hermit is a casual platformer that sees you hopping across floating clumps of rock. While it’s a rather unusual premise with a rather unusual lead character, the game certainly looks the part. There’s a lovely sun effect in the background and some pleasantly detailed foreground graphics. Like Draw Slasher, the game leans entirely on a fairly simple core mechanic, but it’s fun enough and pretty enough to get away with it.

Galaxy on Fire 2 THD

Here’s another of those Android games to have been optimised for Tegra 2 handsets. What makes it all the more tantalising is that Galaxy on Fire 2 was gorgeous to start with – Fishlabs’s extra tweaking has pushed an already technically impressive game into console levels of sharpness. The game itself is an epic space combat and trading game where you fly about the galaxy running missions and improving your ship. It’s a massive, absorbing game, and this THD version could be the best one yet.

Hulu Plus Hits Android, One Handful of Devices at a Time

Finally, Hulu Plus is available on Android smartphones. Six of them, to be exact.

The paid subscription service of the popular online TV site is accessible to only a handful of Android phones, according to a company blog post published Wednesday evening.

“We know that a lot of people want [TV] content on their Android smartphones,” wrote Hulu product manager Rob Wong. “With the first phase of the Android rollout, Hulu Plus is available on six phones, including the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix.”

Wong says the service will gradually expand to more devices as the year continues.

Android smartphone users who want to watch TV and movies on their devices don’t have it easy. Just last month, Netflix came to the Android platform in a similar fashion, with only five phones able to run the movie-streaming service at launch. Google also launched a movie rental and purchase service.

So why the holdup on devices?

“Generally it’s some kind of porting cost or fee that manufacturers want to get that they’re holding out for,” Gartner mobile analyst Ken Dulaney told Wired.com. This may involve an update to the phone’s firmware in order to run the application. “But [companies] usually won’t disclose this.”

Netflix gave a different reason when it launched its app on Android. “In the absence of standardization” across Android device hardware, wrote Netflix product team member Roma De, “we have to test each individual handset and launch only on those that can support playback.” So ostensibly, the holdup is legitimate, due to the major task of pushing out an app that can run on the 300-plus different Android devices currently available.

It could also be the result of TV studios worried about theft of content. “Rooted devices” — or phones that have been unlocked in order for the user to gain more comprehensive access to their phone — “can probably work around the DRM system that they have set up,” Gartner analyst Phillip Redman told Wired.com in a previous interview. DRM (Digital Rights Management) systems control the uses of digital content like that seen on Hulu or Netflix. Essentially, studios don’t want their content stolen with an app that could potentially make copies of the content you’re viewing.

When Netflix’s app dropped, DRM holdups were essentially the reason given for the small release. “There are requirements we must fulfill in order to obtain content from major studios for our subscribers to enjoy,” Netflix product-development manager Greg Peters wrote in a blog post. “Although we don’t have a common platform security mechanism and DRM, we are able to work with individual handset manufacturers to add content protection to their devices.”

Hulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hulu has been available on the iPhone and iPad for close to a year. The service is also available on the XBox, TiVo and the PlayStation 3. This makes more sense, however, because Hulu only has to deal with one or two devices on these platforms, rather than the myriad that exist on Android.

Of course, if you aren’t in the fortunate minority of Android customers that can run Hulu Plus quite yet, you can always run it in your laptop’s browser window. Call us old school.

In other news, Hulu is rumored to be shopping itself around for acquisition; the Los Angeles Timesreported that Yahoo is entertaining an interest in buying the company, and AllThingsD reported that Hulu has hired bankers from Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim partners to shop the site to potential buyers.

Hulu Plus is free for one month to new customers, and costs eight bucks a month to continue service past the trial period.

Archos unveils G9 series Android tablets with option of 250GB HDD

Archos has unveiled its 3rd generation Android tablets with its new G9 series, which includes the 8-inch 80 G9 with 1024 x 768 pixel resolution and the 10.1-inch 101 G9 with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. Powered by a dual-core OMAP 4 processor (1.5GHz ARM Cortex A9) and running Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), the G9 series also offers a first for Android tablets - the option of 16 GB of flash storage or a 250 GB HDD.

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Archos claims the G9 series' 1.5 GHz OMAP 4 processor reduces web page loading times by up to 50 percent compared to tablets powered by a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. The extra grunt also provides smooth playback of 1080p H264 video, which can be outputted to a HDTV via the mini-HDMI port or watched on the device with the built-in kickstand. Other specs include 1 GB of RAM, 720p front facing camera, GPS, G-Sensor, compass, Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), built-in microphone, full-size USB port, micro USB port, Adobe Flash support and access to the Android Market.

Making use of the Seagate Momentus Thin hard drive, which is just 7 mm thick, the 250 GB HDD models will be 3 mm thicker than the 16 GB Flash models. They will also be heavier - 465 g and 599 g (17 oz and 21.9 oz) for the 8-inch Flash and HDD models respectively and 649 g and 755 g (23.8 oz and 27.7 oz) for the 10.1-inch models. There's no word on whether the Flash and HDD models will differ in price, but the 16GB Flash model will include a microSD card slot, while the 250GB HDD model won't.

Archos also doesn't differentiate between the Flash and HDD models in terms of battery life, simply stating up to 36 hours of music playback, up to 7 hours of video playback and up to 10 hours of Internet surfing, but we'd expect the HDD models to chew through the electrons a bit quicker than the Flash models. Seagate also offers its Momentus Thin HDDs in 160GB and 320GB capacities, but it's unclear whether the Archos tablets offer HDD upgradability.

Instead of extending the range by offering separate Wi-Fi and 3G models, Archos gives users the option of purchasing a 3G stick if or when they need it. The specially designed Archos GP 3G stick slots perfectly into the recessed full-sized USB-port on the rear and accepts any standard SIM card. Archos also offers its own Archos Connect SIM that lets users add more credit to subscription or pay-as-you-go data plans straight from the tablet.

Dimensions and weight

• 80 G9 Flash series: 226 mm x 155.3 mm x 11.7 mm (8.90 x 6.11 x 0.46 inch) - 465 g (17 oz)
• 80 G9 Hard Drive series: 226 mm x 155.3 mm x 14.7 mm (8.90 x 6.11 x 0.58 inch) - 599g (21.9 oz)
• 101 G9 Flash series: 276 mm x 167.3 mm x 12.6 mm (10.86 x 6.59 x 0.50 inch) - 649g (23.8 oz)
• 101 G9 Hard Drive series: 276 mm x 167.3 mm x 15.6 mm (10.86 x 6.59 x 0.61 inch) - 755g (27.7 oz)

Archos will release its G9 seres tablets at the end of September starting at US$279 for the 80 G9 and $349 for the 101 G9.

Firefox 5.0 for Android arrives

Firefox developers have tweaked page-load performance and now the mobile web browser works smoother over 3G networks using phones running Android 2.0 and newer versions.

Mozilla has released Firefox 5 mobile web browser for Google Android with a Do Not Track privacy feature and improved page load performance on 3G networks. Firefox for Android mobile web browser works like a port of the desktop version. Firefox 5.0 for Android is available from Android Market or you can check it online throughthis link.

Firefox for Android has matured to version 5.0 and added the Do Not Track privacy feature that prevents websites from tracking the user's actions online. Firefox for Android developers has tweaked the latest version to work better with the SwiftKey X keyboard.

The previous version of the browser did suffer from some panning issues and sluggish performance over fast 3G networks. The new version promises that both issues have been fixed to give a zippier mobile web browsing experience on Android smartphones. Firefox and add-ons go hand-in-hand and thereby about 20 add-ons for the mobile web browser will be released with this update.

Besides all that, Firefox offers a Sync feature that synchronizes the history, bookmarks, notes and sessions on the desktop version of Firefox with those on the Android version.

Surprisingly the Firefox 5.0 for Android file comes to 14 MB, compared to Firefox 5.0 for Windows platform. Do note that this new update is available for compatible handsets running Android 2.0 update or higher.

app picks

  ElectroDroid (Paid)

Like many EE's in the 1990s, I felt the call of software development and got away from my roots. That means things I should be able to calculate and remember the formulas to do, I just don't. To offset this, I've tried all manner of cheatsheets, pocket guides, and reference books to a certain degree of success, but none are as simple as this tiny free App from the Android Market called ElectroDroid. Things like Voltage drop calculation, resistor and inductor color codes, schematic symbols, and even SI unit prefixes are all at my fingertips -- no digging through my pockets or notebooks looking for the right reference. It's been years since I sat at a CAD workstation, and even longer since I've been in the field, and ElectroDroid has been a lifesaver the few times I have had to use it, and if you're doing any type of field engineering or electrical work you'll probably find a use for it too. ElectroDroid is free in the Android Market for devices running Android 1.6 and higher, with an ad-free version available for €1.95 (about $2.80). [Market Link]

 Discover Mobile (Free)

It is all too easy to spend a weekend on the town without a shred of regard for my finances. Come Monday morning, my head is hurting, but my wallet is hurting even more. Thankfully, Discover Card has an easy-to-use Android app that helps you keep track of your spending and manage your account. Its clean homescreen gets right to the point: see your current balance, your previous statement, your upcoming due date, your available line of credit, and your rewards balance. And with a powerful recent transaction search, you'll never be left wondering where your money went. Goodbye, Monday morning financial hangover. [Market Link]

Start Talking [beta] (Free)

In sci-fi movies you always see people interacting with computers with only their voice. Sure, they might grab a keyboard or delve into virtual reality for complicated tasks, but for simple stuff they just talk with the computer and get things done. It's awesome, and along with flying cars, it's what I always assumed the future would bring. Instead, most talk services require some sort of input on your part to get them to work, whether it is tapping a button on your Bluetooth headset, or hitting a shortcut, it still requires some input on your part. Start Talking is one of the few applications that aims to be totally "hands free" after you activate it. How the app works is it runs in the background and activates itself when you say a configurable activation phrase. Then, you can use the application to send a text message, or update your Twitter/facebook accounts. If someone sends you a text, you can have it read the text out to you and then you can respond without ever touching your device. I used it on my way to the meetup this week, and while I had to say things a few times to make sure the program got it right, I never had to take my hands off the steering wheel or my eyes off the road to do it. The app is currently in beta, so don't be surprised if you run into a few bugs, but it's an awesome application to try out, and for me it's worked more often than not. Free in the Android Market. [Market Link]

 Pac-Man (Paid)

It might seem antiquated, but I, too, grew up on Pac-Man. Hearing the distinctive "wakka-wakka" sound as this disembodied yellow head floated around devouring anything in its path carries a bit of nostalgia for me, so when I discovered it on the Market, I had to buy it. It's nothing more than advertised, just the Pac-Man game on your phone's screen, with a digital joystick to move around, but man, is this game still as fun as ever. For a mere 99 cents, you're gettin' the best of old school, and that's something I'm not sure any other game out there can really touch. [Market Link]

XE Currency (Free)

If you travel a lot, or happen to be paid in mystical currency from far away lands, then the XE.com Currency app is a tool which may come in handy. Based on technology from the popular conversion website, the app provides a simple, easy way to see how a range of different currencies stack up against each other. To set your "home" currency, simply tap the entry you want and shake your phone -- it'll immediately set to 1.00. By default you get US Dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling, Canadian Dollars and Australian Dollars, but more can be added via the "edit currencies" menu, where you can choose from 180 different flavors of money. The XE Currency app is available for free on the Android Market, for devices running Android 1.5 and above. [Market Link]

 X-Men (Paid)

X-Men, from Konami games which came out in 1992 and features arcade game styling is another classic game that now lives on in the Android world. You'll get to play as some of your favourite X-Men characters including: Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, and Nightcrawler and battle The Blob, Wendigo, Nimrod, The White Queen, Juggernaut, Mystique and of course, Magneto. The gameplay controls are rather easy but may take a few rounds to get used to. Overall, the graphics are what you would expect from a game developed in 1992 meaning -- they're certainly not mind blowing any more but that's part of the joy in playing the classics. Plus, if you're looking for some online battles with your friends you can add up to 4 players through the multi-player mode and kick some Sentinel butt over WiFi. You can grab X-Men today from the Android Market for $3. [Market Link]

 PhotoFunia (Free)

Apps that allow users to do cool stuff with their photos are always fun. PhotoFunia offers a wide selection of scenes/effects that it then places your favorite photos in. It uses facial recognition to draw the face(s) from the photo to put it on something else, like a bodybuilder or Brazilian carnival dancer. Some of the other fun effects are: pencil drawing, wanted poster, NYC billboards, national gallery and more. With over 150 effects to choose from, you should be able to find some that suit what you’re looking for. PhotoFunia is a great app to play around with, especially if you take a lot of pictures with your camera and want to do something fun with them. [Market Link]

aCalendar is a free Android calendar with detailed month, week views

The default calendar for Google Android is a mobile version of Google Calendar which is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it means you can create appointments on the web and view them on your device, or vice versa — so you can access your calendar virtually anywhere. You can also view multiple calendars on your device. But there are some things the Android version of Google Calendar doesn’t do very well.

It doesn’t show text in the month view, just busy time. And the week view makes it difficult to see all your appointments at a glance. There are a few third party apps that address these shortcomings. My favorites are Business Calendar and Pocket Informant. But there’s also a new app called aCalendar. It’s not the most powerful or customizable app, but it has nice week and month views. And it’s free.

The app grabs data from Google Calendar and any new appointments you create will be saved to your Google account. You can flip between day, week, and month views by swiping left or right. And you can move forward and back in the calendar by swiping up and down.

There aren’t any advanced features such as the ability to move an appointment from one Google Calendar to another from the edit screen (something Pocket Informant allows). There’s also only a single home screen widget which shows an icon with the current date. But it’s hard to argue with the price.

It also took a little while to get used to the fact that when you swipe between views, you don’t automatically go to this week or today. Instead, the calendar shows the week or day that you swiped from. So if you’re looking at the month view and you want to switch to this week, you should start swiping your finger across the week you want to view in the calendar.

You can download aCalendar for Android 2.1 and up from the Android Market.