Google announced today that it will not be investing anymore money into Clearwire, and that the best thing it could do to help the WiMAX carrier is by cooperating on products and strategy.  They said they still support their efforts to build a high-speed wireless network using WiMAX.

“We have already made a significant financial investment, and at this point we think the best way we can continue to add value is through continued product and strategic cooperation,” Google spokesman Andrew Pederson said in an email.

As of this posting, both Clearwire and Google stocks were up for the day.

Source: Reuters

Google has announced a beta version of its new Google Maps Navigation program, that will provide voice-guided turn-by-turn directions on your Android 2.0 device.

“This new feature comes with everything you’d expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone’s Internet connection.”

Features include:
-Most recent maps (and business listings) by downloading them as you drive
-Search in “plain” English by using the simplicity of Google search
-Search by voice
-Traffic view by downloading live traffic information while you drive
-Search along route
-Satellite view
-Street view

The first phone it will be available on is the Droid from Verizon.

So, will it come to other platforms such as Windows Mobile? Or is this another way to pull people into Android?

Source: Google Blog

According to TheStreet, Google has plans to manufacture its own wireless phone to run its Android platform. They are working with a smartphone manufacturer to produce the phone.

Rumor has it that they will be selling it, unlocked, through retail stores, and not subsidized through cell phone companies. Will they have both CDMA and GSM versions? What carriers will it work with? All of those questions have yet to be answered.

Source: TheStreet via DSLReports

Your good friends here at PPCGeeks have once again been digging through the dumpsters of HTC and have some interesting news to report regarding HTC’s Dragon.

It’s been recently reported that the Dragon will be running Google’s Android and will be running it at 1 GHZ.  While this information is correct, our recent “trash recycling efforts” have determined that the Dragon will be running on the OMAP 3640 chipset (not the reported Qualcomm 1 GHZ) running ARMv7 Cortex A8.

Additionally, the dragon will be released in China only as a CDMA device.  HTC is testing with OMAP chipsets and releasing these devices in China only (see our previous article about HTC’s Qilin).

Buckle up your seat belts and make sure you have all loose papers and personal items secured when you fire this bad boy up…because with 1 GHZ, Android, and OMAP it’s going to be ridiculously fast….compare it to putting instant coffee in the microwave.  You’re nearly attaining light speed and the ability to go back in time.

After months of waiting, Google now supports email synchronization via its push service, Google Sync.

Google Sync Push Mail is here!

Using Windows Mobile’s Microsoft Exchange service, your favorite windows mobile device can now synchronize its content with Google Contacts, Calender, and even Mail now via Push Mail!

For some time now, Google has been offering its Synchronization service (in the form of a Exchange Server in Windows Mobile’s Case) to mobile users for some time in the common Google BETA phase. Over time, these features have accumulated to include Calendar appointments synchronization, Contacts Synchronization, and email all through Gmail. One can now go completely cloud with these new opportunities and options!

As said above, this service takes the form of your exchange service. This means (If you already have) push email setup, you cannot set this up! This also requires activesync software.

Note: In order to sync, you must have Google Contacts, Google Calendar, and Google Mail all setup under your account name. If you do not want to use any of the above services mentioned, or do not have them set up, do not try to sync them or you will get an error!

go here to get started

source

The Goods

The good people at Google have just released Android 1.6 (a.k.a. Donut). Donut appears to be fully compatible with Cupcake (Android 1.5). Android 1.6 provides greater support for screen densities and resolutions. In fact Android 1.6 now also supports QVGA and WVGA. It also now includes support for CDMA in the telephony stack which makes it compatible to U.S. networks.

The Android SDK is now available for donwload.  The 1.6 SDK requires a new version of Android Development Tools.

Read more…