Visa Mobile Application
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Visa has launched the first financial application for Android powered mobiles. This app allows to receive informations about account activity on mobile phone.
Moreover, it offers such features like finding ATMs that accept Visa with help of GPS and map or receiving offers from merchants, like discounts on shopping and coupons directly to Android mobile.
Very interesting is alerts feature, implemented in this application, that is useful in fighting identity theft. You would be informed if anyone else began using your card.
At this moment, application is available for some Chase Visa cardholders who use the G1 smatphone.
Opera Mini 4.2 for Google Android
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Opera has ported the final version of its, J2ME based, mobile phone browser, to Google OS.
Any T-Mobile G1 user is able to download this app via Android Market. T-mobile G1, also known as a HTC Dream, is the first smartphone that uses Google’s Android platform.
Opera mini also works with iPhone and some Windows Mobile, Blackbery devices.
This browser offers such features like easy to access and navigate controls, bookmarking, searching, zooming and saving.
Opera Mini also supports more than 90 languages and many border colors.
Android ported to BeagleBoard
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Google Android platform, OS dedicated to mobile phones, was ported to Beagle Board, a low-cost and low-power, single-board computer produced by Texas Instruments. This project was made by elinux.org members.
BeagleBoard was created by TI engineers, as a demonstration of Texas Instrument’s OMAP3530 chips. This small (3 inch by 3 inch) device based on OMAP3530 @ 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 core processor, includes 128MB LPDDR RAM and 256MB NAND Flash memory and has got such peripheral connections like HDMI, S-Video, USB2.0 OTG (mini AB), SD/MMC card slot, RS232 port, stereo in and out jack and JTAG connections.
Porting Android platform to BeagleBoard demonstrates that it can be used viably on alternative hardware, for example TI OMAP besed, like Nokia’s N Series.
T-mobile G1 - cost of materials
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iSuppli has presented a list of components, required to construct first device powered by Android Platform, OS form Google.
Estimated cost of hardware is $143.89.
The most costly componentof the G1 is the baseband, at $28.49. This Qualcomm’s chip is a combination of an fast ARM11 microprocessor for multimedia applications and an ARM7 architecture core for modem functions.
Next parts are Sharp’s TFT-LCD display, at $19.67, 3 megapixel camera with autofocus at $12.13 and Radio Frequency/Power Amplifier, responsible for 3.5G network connection, at $9.84.
T-mobile G1 main components
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G1 based on Qualcomm MSM7201A @ 528MHz, a dual-core Base band and Applications Processor, but Qualcomm is also responsible for GSM/WCDMA Transceiver (RTR6285) and Power Management IC (PMB7540).
Memory used in first Android fone is from Samsung - Multichip K5E2G1GACM has 256MB NAND flash and with 128MB DDR SDRAM.
WCDMA Power Amplifiers (ACPM-7381 and ACPM-7391) and GPS Low Noise Amplifier (ALM-1412) are form Avago.
Texas Instruments started with WLAN - Power Amplifier WL1251FE and IC WL1251B 802.11b/g. TI is also responsible for Bluetooth with BRF6300 Single-Chip.
G1/Dream touchscreen is form Sharp, this part is Controlled by Synaptics 1007A.
The 3.2MP autofocus camera is similar to HTC Touch Diamond - 3.2MP CMOS Image Processor (MT9T013D) is from Aptina Imaging and a flip-chip Lens Coil Driver (AD5398) is from Analog Devices.
iSkoot - Scype for Android
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iSkoot, an application for Google Android, allows to puts all Scype features in to Android powered mobile.
iSkoot, first mobile Viop solution for Android, allows to chat and make & receive calls via peer-to-peer technology to all phone numbers.
What is immportant, this app does not require a WiFi connection, it alllows to make Scype calls Via 3G infrastructure.
Application is free to download, and is available in the Android Market.
iSkoot brings such features as adding or removing friends from contact list, making low-cost calls and receiving calls from Skype users.
Bonsai Blast for Google Android
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Bonsai Blast is a first arcade game available for Android powered phones, like T-Mobile G1, only in the Android Market. This classic, Zuma like game was developed by Glu Mobile, one of the biggest phone games producers. This game is free, all you need is free 7MB of ROM memory on mobile.
Bonsai Blast offers more than 20 levels of rich, detailed environments. Gameplay variations iclude tunnelled chains, ricochets and swappable shooter locations.
Action is controlled by a mixture of touch and tilt controls, moreover there is a possibility to use accelerometer.
This Zuma-inspired puzzler is not a technologically innovative, but look nice.
VoIP for Android and other news
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VOXOFON is going to develp Viop application for Android Platform. This app will helps to make cheap call via internet. VOXOFON already offer an iPhone version of Viop client.
Motorola is going to hire up to 300 Android Platform developers. It suggests that this one of the biggest mobile phone supplier set to Android as a permanent fixture.
It looks that such mobile games developers like EA and Gameloft will launch games for OS form Google.
iPhone vs. HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1
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iPhone is besed on Samsung S3C6400 chip, that runs on an ARM1176JZF processor at around 620 Mhz. HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1 is powered by Qualcomm MSM7201™ chipset, with Integrated ARM11 processor at 528 MHz.
T-Mobile G1 has more powerful GPU, ATI Imageon 2D/3D is able to generate up to 4 million polygons per second, and 133 million textured 3D pixels per second. iPhone’s Power VR GPU is able to generate up to 3 million polygons per second.
Google phone is equipped with 3 megapixels camera and Apple phone with 2 megapixels.
Communication and multimedia futures are similar - WiFi, GPS, USB, Bluetooth, web browser, games, applicatoins, etc.
Iphone has bigger display - 3.5″ to 3.17″, and memory - 8GB and 16GB flahs memory to 1GB (micro SD, up to 8GB).
iPhone and T-Mobile G1 have got touch screen, but HTC Dream is equipped with qwerty keyboard.
Price, with two year contract Google phone - $179, Apple phone - $199.
Google fone
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In New York City on September 23 at 10:30 a.m., Google and T-Mobile has announced the first smartphone powered by Android, Google’s operating system.
This handset is called the T-Mobile G1, has a QWERTY keyboard and touch-screen functionality.
Device will be available in retail beginning October 22, for $179 with a two-year contract.
HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1 is equipped with Wi-Fi, 3G (with dual-band UMTS), quad-band GSM support, GPS functionality, Bluetooth, a 3-megapixel camera, multimedia messaging, e-mail support, instant messaging, a full HTML browser, a music player with access to the Amazon MP3 store.