Bluestacks’ beta lets you run almost any of the over 450,000 Android app on Windows

Bluestack was the recipient of the prestigious Best Software award at CES 2012. BlueStacks allows Android apps and games to be enjoyed full-screen on a desktop PC. The company today has released a free beta version of its software, which now supports most of Android’s 450,000 apps.

The new release is a major upgrade over Bluestacks’ alpha version, which initially launched last October, and was downloaded over a million times was made available for three months last year to early testers and was only able to run nine preselected Android apps. The new beta version, which supports Windows 7, Vista, and XP, gives you access to pretty much any Android app — though not all of them run very well.



The beta version launched today uses the company’s Layercake technology, allowing Android apps to run on x86-based PCs.This is a  big step for the startup, which made waves last year when it first announced its emulation technology. Dubbed Layercake, the software emulates Android apps written for ARM processors on x86 processor-based Windows PCs. Without such emulation technology, software between the two different chip platforms is fundamentally incompatible (without being recompiled). Emulation is nothing new, but Bluestacks is the first company devoted to bringing the rich variety of Android apps to PCs.

While the Bluestacks software won’t appeal to everyone, it could be useful for those who want to test out Android apps, or users who want access to apps that don’t yet have desktop versions.

Games like Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds were playable (though the latter had choppy graphics and sound at times), and productivity apps like Evernote worked without much issue. Strangely, the new Angry Birds Space performed almost flawlessly (see the video below). 3D-heavy apps, like Google Earth, didn’t fair as well, and brought Bluestacks to a crawl.



The company is currently working on making the application faster & also working on a Mac version as gleamed from viewing the source of their website.

So far, California-based BlueStacks has raised $10.6 million so far in a single round of funding.

Top Smartphone Facts and Figures in 2011

VisionMobile just released an infographic on the top smartphone facts and figures of 2011.

Android is the undisputed king of smartphone platforms, at least in terms of shipments. While this was true even at the end of 2010, Android grew even further in 2011, grabbing a highly impressive 49% share in the smartphone market – this can easily be translated as follows: 1 in 2 smartphones sold in 2011 was an Android device.

Moreover, Android’s share keeps growing, rising from 42% share in the first half of 2011 to a crushing 54% share in H2 2011. This level of pervasiveness has not been seen since Symbian’s heyday, but let’s not forget that Symbian didn’t have to face such stifling competition back then.

APK Downloader Chrome extension saves Android apps to your desktop

Developer redphx has released a Chrome extension that lets you download Android app files (.apk) directly onto your desktop. It hasn't been impossible for Android users to get the files onto their computers before, but the new extension, called APK Downloader, makes it simple.

Why would you want to have the installation files for an Android app on your desktop and not your phone? Well, as seasoned Android users know, not all apps are available on all devices: you can't find and download tablet apps for your phone, for example, and some apps are region locked. However, all apps are visible on the Android Market website, so with this extension you can easily download any app and then sideload it — something that's especially helpful for Android devices that don't have the Android Market, like the Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire.

The extension is compatibile with Windows, OS X, and Linux.

Source

Neurotechnology Develops Biometric Technologies for Low-Power Android Devices

A software development and algorithms developer for biometric, voice and object recognition technologies, Neurotechnology has expanded its biometric technologies offering to include the VeriFinger Embedded SDK, the VeriLook Embedded SDK and the MegaMatcher Embedded SDK (software development kit) for finger biometrics, facial biometrics and multi-biometric systems, respectively.

The latest embedded biometric technologies developed by Neurotechnology have been designed specifically for mobile platforms such as compact, low-power devices like handheld computers, smartphones and tablets. These advanced products incorporate the same algorithms as the PC counterparts of MegaMatcher, VeriLook and VeriFinger, thus ensuring AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System)-level accuracy in terms of recognition quality and usage.

With a 1 GHz processing speed, it hardly takes a second for VeriLook Embedded or VeriFinger Embedded to process and identify face images or fingerprints. The initial release version of MegaMatcher Embedded includes both VeriLook and VeriFinger biometric algorithms. Subsequent versions of the MegaMatcher will include voice and iris biometrics as well. The embedded technologies require the same biometric templates and API as their PC counterpart, thus enabling easier and faster migration to embedded applications. They support Android operating system version 2.2 or higher. Neurotechnology will also enable support for WinCE and ARM Linux operating systems.

The software development manager, Pavel Cuchriajev stated that since mobile platform support is crucial to biometric applications, the new embedded product line has been developed to support the Android platform. Cuchriajev added that this new feature opens several opportunities for development of end-user biometric solutions.

VeriLook Embedded, VeriFinger Embedded and MegaMatcher Embedded are available as a software development kit that can support web-based or stand-alone biometric solutions for devices running on the Android OS.

Huawei Unveils the World’s Slimmest Android Smartphone

Huawei unveiled the Ascend P1 S, which it claims is the world’s slimmest smartphone.

Running on the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, the Ascend P1 S is only 6.68mm thin; in comparison, the Motorola RAZR is 7.1mm thick and the Samsung Galaxy S II is 8.49mm thick. In addition to its super slim form factor, the Ascend P1 S is also the fastest and most compact smartphone in its class, with a dual-core 1.5GHz processor with 1GB of RAM.

The Ascend P1 S boasts a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display with HD resolution of 960×540, toughened with Corning’s Gorilla Glass for extra durability. For imaging it comes with a back-lit 8MP camera and a front facing 1.3MP camera.

Read more

Prettify your Google Android Emulator with these Nexus S & Nexus One Skins

Heiko Behrens recently created high-quality skins for Samsung Nexus S and HTC Nexus One for use in the Android emulator. Every Android Developer knows that the emulator by default comes with an ugly looking skin that looks more like something from the 90s when you compare it to the look of the Android phones out there. 

He was able to create the skins with their native screen resolution at a superb image quality. They offer a glow effect when hovering over the hardware buttons, render a subtile drop shadow on both orientations and come with smooth corners on every edge. However, the outstanding feature of this set of skins is the fitting overlay image that can be put on top of the actual emulator screen. The skins were based on the great work of Alexander Gillis. 

To download the skins and to read instructions on how to put them to use, read more on his blog.

Google Launches Android Training for Aspiring Developers

It seems that two can play at the same game Microsoft began months ago in trying to pull more developers to the platform. Google’s Android team has just launched some online training sessions to help aspiring developers create their own magic.

Android Training is the name of the program, and so far it includes as many as 11 general sections, 34 lessons to help you get started. We’re not really sure how much of a developer you already have to be in order to not have a hard time following through these courses, but for a free price tag, you can’t lose.
Reto Meier, part of Android Developer relations, said:

“From designing effective navigation, to managing audio playback, to optimizing battery life, these classes are designed to demonstrate best practices for solving common Android development problems. Each class explains the steps required to solve a problem, or implement a feature, with plenty of code snippets and sample code for you to use within your own apps. We’’re starting small and this is just the beginning for Android Training. Over the coming months we will be increasing the number of classes available, as well as introducing over-arching courses and sample apps to further help your development experience.”

Head on over to Android Training to get started.

The Click Through Rate (CTR) of different Mobile Devices

Inner-active did a good job on enlightening developers about the CTR of various mobile devices.

Creating Beautiful & Compelling Android UIs

Android isn't known for beautiful UIs, but you can fix this. In the talk below, Eric Burke shows how Square customizes every aspect of the UI to create delightful user experiences. Through real code taken directly from Square, we'll see how to create custom views that defy expectations.




If you develop on Android, you should watch the video in it's entirety.

A Graphical Deep Dive into Android's 10 Billion App Downloads

The app with the lucky number 10 billion is Photobucket Mobile and they’ll be getting a great prize package, including tickets to next year’s Google I/O developer conference.

Google still has a few days to celebrate 10 billion app downloads with 10-cent apps on Android Market. That's like buying an app for less than N20, in Nigerian currency. What are you waiting for? You can follow which apps are promoted each day on +Android, their Google+ page.

A Visual History of Android

The Verge has just put up a very elaborate post on the history of Android. Very informative.

Android Is Totally Blowing Away The Competition

Android now has an amazing 52.5% of the global smartphone market. It's stealing share from every other smartphone operating system other than iOS, which is basically flat.

Source: BusinessInsider

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Review

Here's the review of the first smartphone to feature Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich:

Google Unveils Android-based Online Music Store

Google has just launched an online music store in the US, which will allow devices running its Android software to buy, store and stream MP3 files.

EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal and 23 independent labels with the exception of Warner Music Group are providing content to create a library of 13 million songs.

This new service is being integrated with the Google+ social network. Users will be able to share songs with their Circles contacts who can listen to the full length of the tracks one time without making a purchase.

Songs range in price from 69 cents (44p) to $1.29 and come without DRM copy-protection. The search giant is also offering a different track free for download every day.

The rapper Busta Rhymes - who was at the launch event - is debuting his new studio album on the Android store. The Rolling Stones and Coldplay are offering previously unreleased live performances.

Google is also hoping to link with smaller artists through its new Artist Hub. Musicians can add their own page for a $25 fee and set their own prices. Google will take a 30% share of each sale.

Google is adding music to its app, video and book sales on the Android Market. They are yet to discuss any plans to offer Google Music outside the US.

They sure would with time.

Kindle Fire has been rooted and source code released

Is the Kindle Fire just a BlackBerry PlayBook with a big Kindle logo imprinted on its back? iFixit recently did a teardown of Kindle Fire to see what's crammed inside. If you want to experiment with the Kindle Fire, the source code for the tablet is now available for download.

Matias Duarte on Why Android doesn't use Helvetica

Matias Duarte, Android design chief, speaks on why Android doesn't use Helvetica.

Android design chief addresses the face-unlock controversy

Android design chief, Matias Duarte, recently addressed the face-unlock issue while speaking with the Verge.

Ice Cream Sandwich Face Unlock feature compromised.

Android 4.0's new facial recognition to unlock phone feature can be fooled with the photo of the phone's owner.

Huawei U8180 Android phone goes for only N19,000 on Etisalat network.

You've heard so much hype about iPhone or Android but have never really gotten to use any of these devices, Etisalat Nigeria gives you a good offer to get a pretty decent Android phone for just N18,999 and it's exclusive to their network only. That is not all, you also enjoy special offers including:

• Free monthly 50MB for 4 months (Free 200MB in total)
• Cheapest call rates of 20kobo/sec with no access fee for first 4 months and for subsequent months on purchase of consistent data plans.

Here are some of it's features:

• Android 2.2 Smartphone
• 2.8 inch full capacity touch screen
• Accelerometer function
• HSDPA of up to 7.2 Mbps
• Etisalat customized device(Hardware & Software)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Bluetooth function, FM radio and GPS functionality
• 3.2 MP camera.
• Document viewer; word, excel, PDF, Adobe Flash.

Shelling out less than N20,000 for a decent Android phone as this, isn't a bad deal when you think of how much it costs to get the amazing ones like Samsung Galaxy S II which was offered to me for N105,000 at Slot recently, though MTN seems to offer the same S II for N90,000 I think.

But one thing of note is that the Etisalat Gaga Android phone is locked to their network :), which is pretty sad, but they all do this, so I wouldn't really say much about that.