Honestly the attacking of the game by game developers could be attributed that some developers spend one or two years making a game and not have the same success. Obviously there are a lot of consumers that love and support the game. You can find ton's of video's online of people playing and having fun with the game. Could it be that the designer of flappybird understands what people enjoy and developers just don't get it?

Google will feature thier new tech at the CES show this year. Google wants to be a step ahead of Apple and is partenering with car companies to do so. Once again Google has stepped up and found a niche where no one else has bothered to look.

For years now users have been wondering when Google will bring Android to the PC arena. Well now that time has arrived with the HP Slate Pro PC. The HP Slate Pro PC will come with Kingsoft Office, Skype, Evernote, HP’s Classroom Manager, 50GB of storage from Box for life, and Citrix Receiver for remote controlling other Window PCs.
So what type of processor is powering this beast? NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 4 processor, an HD webcam, WiFi N, and Bluetooth 4.0. The best feature is the price which is a super low $399 at launch. The future looks very bright for Android developers as more and more devices are being made for the OS.

Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElfSWyt4Jl8

#1 Android (Google Inc.) — 104.8 million units, 68.1 percent share (46.9 percent a year earlier)

#2 iOS (Apple Inc.’s iPhone) — 26.0 million units, 16.9 percent share (18.8 percent a year earlier)

#3 BlackBerry (Research in Motion Ltd.) — 7.4 million units, 4.8 percent share (11.5 percent a year earlier)

#4 Symbian (mostly used by Nokia Corp.) — 6.8 million units, 4.4 percent share (16.9 percent a year earlier)

#5 Windows (Microsoft Corp.) — 5.4 million units, 3.5 percent share (2.3 percent a year earlier)

#6 Linux — 3.5 million units, 2.3 percent share (3.0 percent a year earlier)

#7+ Others — 0.1 million units, 0.1 percent share (0.5 percent a year earlier)

The figures are a great reminder not only of the most popular devices but they let us keep up with what operating system is being used the most or the least. These are all important factors when it comes to knowing where the current operating systems stand as well as the development of newer technology. The figures show the developers of each operating system and device that they are either doing great, good or have more hard work to do. They can do the math! For you and I this means that we get to, as we always have, learn more with each new device and operating system while having fun at the same time. Surely these numbers come as no surprise to you, right? Let us know what you think!

Source: ABC / HTCPedia

Word has it that HTC released the following statement:

The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.

What do you think? Will this affect the pre-orders and in stores stock, just in store stock?

This news was first posted on The Verge.

Story developing…

But now it appears that apps with no permissions pose a new threat, gaining access to sensitive personal information without authorization. Leviathan Security Group researcher Paul Brodeur explained in a blog post earlier this week that he created a proof-of-concept to demonstrate that “no permissions” apps still have access to the device’s SD card, handset identification data, and files stored by other apps.

On the SD card, Brodeur’s app yielded a list of all non-hidden files, including photos, backups, and external configuration files. Brodeur said he found that OpenVPN certificates were stored on his own device’s SD card.

“While it’s possible to fetch the contents of all those files, I’ll leave it to someone else to decide what files should be grabbed and which are going to be boring,” he said.

He then fetched the /data/system/packages.list file to which apps were installed on the device and scanned the directories to determine whether sensitive information could be read from those directories. He said during testing that he was able to read some files belonging to other apps. “This feature could be used to find apps with weak-permission vulnerabilities, such as those that were reported in Skype last year,” he said.

Lastly, Brodeur’s app was able to gather the handset’s identification information. Without the “PHONE_STATE” permission, applications can’t read the device’s International Mobile Equipment Identity or International Mobile Subscriber Identity. However, the Global System for Mobile Communications information and SIM vendor IDs could still be read.

“Though this app uses buttons to activate the three different actions detailed above, it’s trivial for any installed app to execute these actions without any user interaction,” he wrote.

Brodeur said he tested the app on Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich and Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread.

Source: Steve Musil/CNET

Pocketnow has an image it says might be the rumored new Nexus line of tablet.

Take a look and see if you think it’s a sure fake or if it’s the real thing.  The debate rages as to whether it’s Samsung or Asus, 7.7″ or 10″.

When Google does actually drop the Nexus tablet, it might be some good competition for the iPad that has dwarfed the industry.  As you can see from the image it has all google apps and no indication as to any proprietary apps from a different vendor.  It also is plainly running ICS.  We’ll soon see when the tablet is actually released.

The latest Nielsen survey released shows some pretty amazing trends in the cell phone industry. First to note is that smartphones now account for 50% of all phone purchases in the U.S., marking a 38% increase over last year at this time. According to Nielsen, this growth is attributed to increasing smartphone adoption, with more than two thirds of the phones purchased in the last three months being smartphones.

What could be considered even more of a telling sign of things to come are the numbers per platform. Android remained unchanged with 48% of the market share, with iOS coming in at 43% and the remaining 9% comprised of RIM, Nokia and Microsoft. The increase of iOS and the unchanged share of Android smartphones in the survey show that these two powerhouses form nothing short of a duopoly in smartphone purchases, in the U.S. RIM slipped to an all time low of 5% with all ofthers comprising the remaining 4%.

While Android is at the top and iOS is steadily coming up behind them, what does this leave for RIM, Nokia and Microsoft? Will they be able to survive the loss of so many new customers? Do they have something up their sleeves to turn things around or are we destined to witness their collapse in the cell phone industry? Which OS do you use and are you tempted to try anything else? If so, which ones?

Give us your thoughts below!

Source: Nielsen Survey

Samsung if finally pushing ICS to the Galaxy Sll in select countries today, then across the U.K. starting in about a week.  As far as the U.S. variants go, it will be coming along “soon.”  ICS came out about five months ago and people who own Samsung and HTC devices have been patiently waiting for their phones to get this awesome update, and it looks like Samsung is finally ready to deliver.

If you do happen to live in a country that is updating, you need to download Kies and connecting your device.

Stay tuned to see when the U.S. will get their ICS updates (or maybe Jellybean will be out by then!)

Move over Apple’s iTunes store. There is a new and improved Google Market coming to town and it is called Google Play. Google Play is taking the accessibility of  books, music, apps and movies to a whole new level. With everything being cloud based you will not have to worry about where you are in a book, game or movie again. Just pick right back up to where you were no matter which of your devices you want to use. Storage will no longer be an  issue either since everything will be stored in the Google cloud.

Google Play will allow  the storage of  20,000 songs not purchased through the service. Which may seem like a disadvantage to Apple’s 25,000 but when you take into consideration that Google isn’t charging you a $25 fee every year?? That sounds like a bargain to me!

Google is also introducing their “7 Days to Play” promotion by discounting various apps, books, music and movies in celebration of the launch of  the Google Play Store. It is my understanding that this will eventually take the place of the Android Market. Gameloft has an offering of N.O.V.A. 2: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance & Asphalt 6: Adrenaline in honor of Google Play. So make sure to check the Android Market and see what you can find on sale everyday!

What do you think? Are you looking forward to Google Play?

Google Play Advertisement

When comparing iOS to Android in terms of how well HTML5 web rendering can be done, Spaceport.io found that iOS smokes the competition.  The Galaxy Nexus, the Android device with the latest hardware and the very latest software, did the best as far as Android devices go, but it fell very short of the iPhone 4S.  Overall, it looks like Apple is way ahead of its competition in HTML5 rendering, although everyone has a ways to go before HTML5 becomes a significant daily player.

Take a look at the comparison below to get the concept of how the two largest mobile operating systems stacked up!

(via AllThingsD)

With every new release of Android, rumors start flying about the name of the next Android release.  Since the first couple of public Android releases, it became rather apparent that Google had something of a sweet tooth.  Well The Verve is reporting that they have a “reliable source” who claims Android 6.0 will be released as Key Lime Pie.  Apparently this is the same course who correctly predicted that version 5.0 would be called Jellybean.

More importantly, is what new features are we going to see when KLP drops.  With ICS still absent from most current devices waiting on an update and Jellybean in the works, we may be getting a head of ourselves, however you can’t get started too early wondering what next and the next versions of Android will have in store for us!

First we have the Nokia PureView808.  This phone packs an insane 41 Mega-Pixel Camera.  It basically captures image data from seven adjacent pixels and combines it into one, which results in 5 MP stills with apparently awesome detail.  Video recording is up to 1080p @ 30 fps.  The phone runs a single-core 1.3 GHz processor with 512 MB or RAM and although you might expect it to run Windows Phone 7, it actually runs Symbian Belle.  It packs a 4″ Gorilla Glass display with 640 x 360 and also has NFC.  Look for it around May of this year.

The LG Optimus Vu is LG’s answer to the Samsung Galaxy Note, designed for those of us who appreciate a big screen.  This phone boasts a 4:3 IPS 5″ 1024 x 768 with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB or RAM.  It comes with 32GB internal storage, an 8MP camera and is powered by Android 2.3.6.  As you can see, this device looks different than the Samsung Galaxy Note, although it has the “big screen” concept.  It also comes with a stylus, but this one does not fit into the actual phone and is a bit bigger.  Look for an LTE version of this device in the U.S. later this year!

The latest installment from Sony, the Experia S, packs a 1.5GHZ dual-core Snapdragon CPU with 1GB RAM.  It runs on a 4.3″ 1280 x 720 screen.  This phone features a 12MP camera which records in 1080p at 30FPS.  It ships with Android 2.3 but, like all these new phones, promises an ICS update.  Look for it any day now!

One of the most anticipated phones coming out is the HTC One.  This phone is coming in various flavors.  The One X packs a Tegra 3 quad-core 1.5HZ cpu (the AT&T version has a dual-core Snapdragon S4) with 1GB RAM.  It has a 4.7″ 720p Super LCD display showcasing Sense 4.0 over ICS, which seems pretty scaled back from previous Sense installments.  This phone looks to be a flagship device for HTC akin to the Samsung Galaxy S series and it competes heavily with the Galaxy S3 this year.  The One S is of the same ilk in a more mid-range level.  It still packs a decent punch though, with a 4.3″ qHD Super AMOLED display, the same 8MP camera the X sports, and a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor.  Look for both phones later this year!

LG shows off it’s latest installment in the Optimus series with the 4X HD.  It packs a Tegra 3 quad-core 1.5GHZ cpu with an 8MP Camera and a large 4.7″ IPS display over a 720p resolution.  The form factor looks to be pretty aesthetic with a very thin design and short length and LG is trying to stay on top of the game with the very latest hardware, although it sadly doesn’t have 4G capability.  LG also ships the phone with a skinned version of Android 4 ICS

The ASUS Padfone brings a whole new concept in phones.  This phone, which runs a dual-core 1.5GHz snapdragon S4 over a 4.3″ Super AMOLED qHD display powered by Android 4 ICS,  is actually designed to be slipped into an accompanying 10″ tablet.  The tablet interacts with the phone and charges it, and the keyboard accessory also has a battery that charges both the tablet and the phone.  Look for this phone in the near future and we’ll see how this tablet/phone transformer does out in the market.  The concept certainly is intriguing.

Stay tuned for more devices roundup where we’ll feature more upcoming phones with amazing specs and different form factors!

If you are like me you have been frantically searching for a fix to the dreaded orientation issue with the game Dead Space on your android tablet. If you are not sure what I am talking about, here is the scoop. The game would load, but it would only allow you to play the game in portrait mode. This would effectively kill your ability to play the game since you could only see a portion of what you needed to see.

Well, after lots of feedback to EA, an update hit the market today and I am happy to report that the orientation issue has been resolved! I can not tell you how exciting this is for this girl gamer. I love the Dead Space franchise and having a copy to take with me on the road is just what the doctor ordered!

Get your updated copy here.

Have fun and get your Dead Space on.

-NinjaMom

If you and your friends both use the Vonage app, you can now enjoy free calls and texts to each other via WiFi or 3G/4G. You can also add calling credits to call people that don’t have the app. For a limited time, calls to any phone in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico are free as long as you stay under your minutes.

Source: Engadget

Vonage Launches New Mobile App Providing Free Calling and Texting to Other App Users around the World
Savings of more than 70 percent on international calls to those without the app

HOLMDEL, N.J., February 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) announced the launch of Vonage Mobile®, the new iPhone® and Android app that lets users make free high-definition calls and send free texts to all users of the app, worldwide1. The app works over Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G wireless data networks.

When calling those who have not yet downloaded the app, Vonage Mobile provides ultra low-cost international calling with per-minute rates that are on average 70 percent less than major mobile carriers and 30 percent less than Skype2. Users can instantly add calling credit directly from the app through iTunes® or Android Market in increments of $4.99 and $9.99.

Vonage Mobile uses the phone’s existing mobile number and contact list, eliminating the need for unique user names and duplicate identities for contacts. Users can instantly build a free global calling and texting network using the app’s multi-invite system from their existing contacts.

“Vonage Mobile consolidates the best features of our prior applications, while adding important functionality, better value and improved ease of use,” said Marc Lefar, CEO of Vonage. “It combines the best of free high-def voice and messaging along with incredible value for traditional international calls, all while using the existing mobile number and address book for unsurpassed ease of use.”

In addition, calls to any phone in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico from anywhere in the world will be free for a limited time3.

Users do NOT need to be a Vonage customer to use the app. However, as an added benefit to all app users, calls to Vonage home or business lines are also free. The Vonage Mobile app can be downloaded to any iPhone or Android device for free; and it also works on the iPad®, iPod Touch® and Android Tablets.

For more information on Vonage Mobile, please go to iTunes, Android Market or www.vonagemobile.com.

# # #

1 Data rates may apply.

2 Based on per-minute rates to the top 50 countries called. Comparison reflects published rates of leading mobile carriers in markets representing the majority of iPhone and Android users.

3 Limited time free calling offer to the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico is for personal, non-commercial calling and excludes calls to certain geographic locations, premium and special services numbers, satellite telephony services and other call forwarding services. Not to exceed 3000 minutes per month.

iPhone and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

While Microsoft has had games released on different platforms, so far, the XBox Live experience has really only been on Windows Phone 7 devices. Microsoft now states that it will be bringing “a few” of their XBox Live experiences and titles to the iPhone, iPad, and Android. There’s no word yet on when this might happen, or what experiences or titles that might be.

While the Xbox Live experiences and games always work best on the Windows platform, we understand that some Xbox fans may be using other types of devices. To satisfy that need, we are working to extend a few of our Xbox experiences and titles to other platforms.

They already have My XBox Live which brings some of the experience to the iPhone. Those of you XBox users out there, would this be enough to make you switch to the iPhone or Android instead of a Windows Phone 7?

Source: iMore

We’ve seen these rumors before, but here’s another one. Which smartphone will overtake the world by 2015? According to this study, the winner is clearly Android, but then it also shows that Windows Phone 7 will surpass the iPhone, by one-tenth of a percent. This study was done by IHS iSuppli Mobile & Wireless Communications Service.

One of the hottest new products unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show was the Lumia 900, a Windows Phone-based smartphone sporting a flashy set of features that makes it competitive with the best alternatives offered by the Android camp,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS. “This hot product represents Nokia’s first step to reclaim its market share. Combined with Nokia’s efforts to drive the development of the Windows Phone ecosystem, the Lumia 900 and its successors will help Microsoft to reclaim its No. 2 ranking in smartphone operating system market share in 2015.

Source: WPCentral

Computer scientist from North Carolina State University have discovered a weakness in smartphones running Google’s Android operating system that allows attackers to secretly record phone conversations, monitor geographic location data, and access other sensitive resources without permission.

Devices sold by HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and Google contain code that exposes powerful capabilities to untrusted apps. These “explicit capability leaks” bypass key security defenses built into Android that require users to clearly grant permission before an app gets access to personal information and functions such as text messaging. The code making the circumvention possible is contained in interfaces and services the device manufactures add to enhance the stock firmware supplied by Google.

The researchers wrote in a paper (PDF) scheduled to be presented at next year’s Network and Distributed System Security Symposium. “We believe these results demonstrate that capability leaks constitute a tangible security weakness for many Android smartphones in the market today,” said the scientist. “Particularly, smartphones with more pre-loaded apps tend to be more likely to have explicit capability leaks.”

A diagnostic app named Woodpecker was created by the scientist and ran on eight smartphones from the four vendors. The most vulnerable was HTC’s EVO 4G device, which was found to leak eight functions, including its precise geographic location finder, camera, text message service, and audio recorder. HTC’s Legend came in second with six leaks. Samsung’s Epic 4G contained three leaks, including the ability to wipe data and applications off the handset. Google’s Nexus One and Nexus S contained one leak.

The researchers found that the manufacturer-supplied enhancements offer a way to circumvent this permissions-based model. In a video demonstration, they show how an app they designed is able to access audio-recording and SMS functions on an EVO 4G without first getting approval from the user. As a result, the app is able to turn on a recorder that collects nearby audio or phone conversations. The app is also able to send unauthorized text messages.
 

 
The researchers said both Google and Motorola have confirmed the vulnerabilities in their handsets, but that HTC and Samsung “have been really slow in responding to, if not ignoring, our reports/inquiries.”

Android started pushing the source code for v4.0.1 (which is the version that will be shipping on the Galaxy Nexus) last night. They note that this is a large push and not to sync just yet because it would probably be corrupt until their push is complete. This means that we could start seeing AOSP ROM developers coming out with ICS soon.
[showhide type=”pressrelease”]
Hi! We just released a bit of code we thought this group might be interested in.
Over at our Android Open-Source Project git servers, the source code
for Android version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is now available.
Here’s how to get it:Follow the instructions at
http://source.android.com/source/downloading.htmlCheck out the
‘ics-release’ branch:repo init -u
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/manifest -b android-4.0.1_r1
That’s it! However since this is a large push, please be aware that it
will take some time to complete. If you sync before it’s done, you’ll
get an incomplete copy that you won’t be able to use, so please wait
for us to give the all-clear before you sync.
This is actually the source code for version 4.0.1 of Android, which
is the specific version that will ship on the Galaxy Nexus, the first
Android 4.0 device. In the source tree, you will find a device build
target named “full_maguro” that you can use to build a system image
for Galaxy Nexus. Build configurations for other devices will come
later.
Unfortunately we still don’t have our Gerrit code review servers back
online. That remains our top priority though, and we hope to have them
back soon.
This release includes the full history of the Android source code
tree, which naturally includes all the source code for the Honeycomb
releases. However, since Honeycomb was a little incomplete, we want
everyone to focus on Ice Cream Sandwich. So, we haven’t created any
tags that correspond to the Honeycomb releases (even though the
changes are present in the history.)
JBQ, on behalf of the AOSP team.
—
Jean-Baptiste M. “JBQ” Queru
Software Engineer, Android Open-Source Project, Google.
Questions sent directly to me that have no reason for being private
will likely get ignored or forwarded to a public forum with no further
warning.
[/showhide]

Source: Google Groups via PPCG (Thanks djgallis)