Posts Tagged ‘Android’
-
Google delays Android handsets in China (CNN)
0Beijing, China (FT) -- Google's standoff with the Chinese government over hacking has claimed its first casualties outside the U.S. Internet company itself, with the delay to the launches of two Android-based mobile handsets in the country. -
Google Search by voice: Now in Times Square!
If you've been to Times Square in New York City over the past couple weeks, on any day from 12:30-2:00pm or 6:30-8:00pm, you may have noticed that Google Search by voice is powering Times Square's largest combined displays -- the Reuters Sign and the NASDAQ sign. Anyone can call 888-376-4336 and say the name of a business or a location that they want to search for, like "museum of modern art" or "pizza". Then, the query and local search results from Google will appear on one of the two electronic billboards. This is all part of Verizon's "Droid Does" campaign and has been developed in partnership with Reuters and R/GA, a digital advertising agency.
On Black Friday, Times Square's gigantic interactive search-by-voice demo will be running for 20 hours straight. So if you're in the area and have a chance to take a break from your shopping, or if you want to see your next shopping destination displayed on a Google map on the huge signs, give the demo a try and let us know what you think. And for those of you that aren't in Manhattan on that day, you can still watch the action via webcam.
I flew out to New York last week to try it myself. R/GA gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of the setup, and I was impressed by how they pulled this off. A caller's voice is sent through the phone system, directly into a small farm of real Droids running voice search that are connected to the big outdoor electronic displays! R/GA developers made use of the Android voice recognition API just like any Android developer can.
It's been quite a ride for the search by voice team -- from launching on the iPhone about a year ago, to our launches on BlackBerry and Android, and on S60 in Mandarin Chinese, to powering billboards in Times Square. We're thankful for the chance to work on technology that excites us and that can help more of you search faster and more easily on your phone. And we hope you've been noticing the ongoing improvements in the accuracy of our voice recognition. We can't wait to show you what we have in store for next year.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! -
Happy Thanksgiving Travels: Google Maps Navigation now available for Android 1.6
A few weeks ago we launched Google Maps Navigation (Beta) as a free feature of Google Maps on Android 2.0 devices. Today we're expanding availability of Google Maps Navigation to devices running Android 1.6 (Donut) and higher, such as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the G1.
Google Maps Navigation is an internet-connected GPS system with voice guidance and automatic rerouting, all running on your mobile phone. Using Google services over your phone's data connection brings important benefits to GPS navigation users, like using Google search (typed or spoken) to enter your destination; fresh map, business, and traffic data; and satellite and Street View imagery along your route.
This release also includes the new Layers feature, which lets you overlay geographical information on the map. View My Maps, transit lines, Wikipedia articles about places, and more.
So if you're traveling this Thanksgiving, you'll be able to enjoy the benefits of an internet connection, whether it's free Wi-Fi at the airport or Google Maps Navigation in your car.
If you have a phone running Android 1.6, you can download an updated version of Google Maps from Android Market to use Navigation today. Google Maps Navigation is in beta and is currently available in the United States. Some features of Android 2.0 are not available on Android 1.6, for example, the ability to use the "navigate to" voice command as shown in our demo video. However, you can still create a shortcut that will allow you to launch Navigation and start getting directions to a specific place from your current location with just a single touch from your home screen. For example, you can create a "Home" shortcut to quickly navigate home, no matter where you are. Just use the "Add" menu item from the home screen, then choose "Shortcuts", then "Directions." Please visit our forum to give us feedback, or our Help Center to get help using Google Maps Navigation. -
Introducing Google Analytics for Mobile Apps
Last week, we introduced expanded mobile reporting features in Google Analytics. To help developers, this launch includes features that make it easy to see how people are using specific parts of their iPhone and Android applications. The same Google Analytics reports that provide insights into website traffic and engagement are now available for mobile apps.
As with websites, there are two basic categories of user interaction you can track: pageviews and events. Since mobile apps don't contain HTML pages, developers simply determine when their apps should trigger pageview requests. Google Analytics then aggregates this data in the Content reports to display the number of visits, session length and bounce rates. The data gives insight into how your users interacted with the app.
Developers can also track visitor actions that don't correspond directly to pageviews using Event Tracking. These user actions can include views of embedded videos, button clicks, downloads and more. App developers can then use this data to understand which features are most popular and inform decisions about which features should be promoted or prioritized for further development.
Redfin, an online brokerage for buying and selling homes, recently tested Google Analytics on their mobile application. Watch this video to learn more about their experience:
To get started using Google Analytics to understand and optimize how people use your iPhone or Android mobile app, check out the SDK and technical documentation. -
Google And Others Sued Over ‘Android’ For Trademark Infringement
Tricia DuryeemocoNews.net
An Illinois software developer is suing Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and 47 other international corporations for using the word “Android” to describe its open-source mobile operating system. In the lawsuit, Erich Specht is claiming “it is clear that Google stole first and asked questions later.”
He says the name infringes on his company’s name, Android Data, for which he was granted a trademark in October of 2002 by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The Register reports that he is seeking millions?in fact, $2 million for “each use of the trademarked term by each defendant.”
Apparently, Google left itself open to the legal problems after it applied for a trademark for Android in October of 2007 and was denied. Since then, it has filed objections and asked the Trademark office to suspend the trademark until further clarification of its use could be determined. The office has granted the suspension, according to The Register. The Trademark Office originally denied Google’s applications because “consumers are likely to conclude that the goods are related and originate from a single source.” But in Google’s rebuttal, the Register reported that Google said that the “Android Data” trademark hadn’t been used for more than three years, that the company has been dissolved for more than four years, and that there couldn’t be any confusion between the two names.
Despite the suspension, that didn’t stop Specht from filing a lawsuit on Tuesday. In addition to Google being named, he cited 47 other companies, including the Open Handset Alliance, China Mobile, Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel, T-Mobile, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), ARM, Broadcom, Intel (NSDQ: INTC), Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Samsung, Toshiba, and Wind River.
