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Monday, July 26, 2010

Swype, the high-speed on-screen keyboard for Android opens up for public beta testing (and a video review)

Swype, if you've not heard of it before, is a new on-screen keyboard input method. It does away with the abhorrent, RSI-inducing finger-tip tapping method of input on today's smartphones. In fact, judging by the 'Swype vs. iPhone' video that TechCrunch pushed out last year, Swype might even be as fast as those little BlackBerry keyboards.

But enough talk of iPhones and BlackBerrys -- Swype's main purpose is replacing the tap-tap-tap on-screen keyboard that ships with Android smartphones. I hope Swype eventually appears on other smartphone platforms, but for now it's Android-only -- and as of this morning, you can join the public beta and get your hands on a free copy of Swype. They say it'll only be open for a few days, so you'll want to get in there quickly.

Anyway, rather than listing the features, I suggest you watch the video review above. I must warn you, I do say 'ass' and 'shit' a few times, so it may not be safe for work (depending on where you work).

Swype, the high-speed on-screen keyboard for Android opens up for public beta testing (and a video review) originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Screenshot tour: JustPictures is an awesome photo app with powerful web integration

Filed under: Photo, Android

Android's built-in image browser, 'Gallery', isn't fantastic. By default it displays a load of tiny, unwieldy and laggy thumbnails. While you can strongarm it into behaving better, why bother when excellent alternatives like JustPictures are available?

From the outset, JustPictures replicates the built-in Android app -- but it's faster, prettier, and less fiddly. You are presented with a simple view of the folders on your phone's memory card -- click through to each one, flip through the images within, zoom -- but it doesn't stop there. JustPictures lets you connect to social networks and photo sharing sites.

It's utterly sensible, if you think about it. There might have been a time when we kept a lot of photos on our phone, but today we keep an insane amount of photos on Facebook and Flickr. It's the ability to grab photos from the Internet that makes JustPictures a killer app -- but read on to find out about its plethora of other neat features!

Continue reading Screenshot tour: JustPictures is an awesome photo app with powerful web integration

Screenshot tour: JustPictures is an awesome photo app with powerful web integration originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flash 10.1 officially hits Android, other mobile platforms to follow

Filed under: Utilities, Adobe, Mobile, Android

The much-anticipated test of Flash on a major mobile platform is about to begin! Flash 10.1 is finally ready for download on Android devices running Android 2.2 Froyo. Flash has also been sent to Adobe's other mobile partners, meaning it should be available for BlackBerry, Palm's WebOS, and WIndows Phone 7 in the near future. In fact, Adobe says Flash will even come pre-installed on some phones.

Mobile-optimized Flash sites are starting to pop up in preparation for widespread Flash adoption, but there are still questions about performance and battery life when it comes to Flash-heavy interactive sites. Fortunately, many Flash games are being redesigned to allow touchscreen controls, so Flash will be good for more than just mobile video. And really, won't it be nice not to see blue legos everywhere you go on your phone's browser?

There are still questions remaining, though: Will mobile device batteries stand up to Flash? Will Android users love it? WIll Steve Jobs have to eat his words about Flash not being ready for mobile hardware? We'll find out soon!

If you have an Android 2.2 device, including the Dell Streak, Google Nexus One, HTC Evo, HTC Desire, HTC Incredible, DROID, Milestone or Samsung Galaxy S, you can get Flash 10.1 in the Android Market.

Flash 10.1 officially hits Android, other mobile platforms to follow originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Maps for Android adds transit schedules and Latitude features

Filed under: Web services, Google, Android

Google Maps on Android was already leaps and bounds ahead of the experience on other mobile devices, but Google just unleashed some new features that make it even better. The latest update adds train and bus schedules, support for adding Google Latitude contacts, and Google Place Pages integration.

Android users can now grab transit schedules -- where they're available, anyway -- just by clicking a station or stop on the map. On my iPhone, I'm using Maps to find a route, and a separate app to view the schedules. Now Android users have got me beat. Jealous!

Google Place Pages, which launched not that long ago on the Web, are now available within maps. Place Pages give you at-a-glance info about businesses, including reviews. For the mobile version, they've organized the reviews using quick links to the terms that come up most often (food, service, atmosphere ... you get the idea). You may want to use Yelp or Urbanspoon for more detail, but Place Pages are very quick if you just need to find the closest place to eat.

As far as Latitude goes, Google has added a "suggested friends" list at the bottom of your Latitude contacts. Obviously, this is a big push to get more users sharing their locations on Latitude, which hasn't exactly taken off like a rocket since it was first released. At the very least, adding a few more contacts will make Latitude a more useful experience, so it's worth a shot.

Google Maps for Android adds transit schedules and Latitude features originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Up to 20% of Android apps could be spyware

Filed under: Security, Mobile, Android

A new report from SMobile Systems suggests that almost 20% of the 48,000 apps on the Android Marketplace could be spyware.

Now, this is a potential risk -- as in, 20% of apps have functionality that could be likened to spyware. If you've installed apps on an Android smartphone, you'll know that you get a big warning screen that tells you which services and data the app will have access to. There's no risk when an app only wants to save to your SD card, but apps can make calls, send SMSes or even read your email! Therein lies the risk: users might be installing Android apps that have the ability to transmit your personal data to a third party.

While I'm sure the vast majority of available apps are not spyware -- this is probably just developers selecting the wrong 'flags' when they upload their app to the Marketplace -- it does highlight a big risk with 'open' app stores. Only 3 months ago we covered a story about Android and iPhone devices being turned into a giant botnet!

With Android going mainstream, you can be guaranteed that the platform will soon have its very own breed of malware. Once enough newbies have had their Android phones bricked by malware, how long do you think it'll be before they retreat to Apple's walled utopia?

[via CNET -- direct PDF download of the report]

Up to 20% of Android apps could be spyware originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google can remotely remove applications from your Android phone

Filed under: Security, Android

Google, in a fantastic case of counter-PR, has published a story detailing how it has the ability to remotely remove applications from an Android phone. It comes just a day after the sensational news that up to 20% of Android apps could be malware, and is obviously intended to showcase some of the meatier safeguards available on the Android platform.

The story details how the Android Security team removed two applications that broke the Android Market Terms of Service -- here's the clause in question:

2.4 From time to time, Google may discover a Product on the Market that violates the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement or other legal agreements, laws, regulations or policies. You agree that in such an instance Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your Device at its sole discretion and without notice to you.

(Is 'from time to time' regular legalese?)

The story itself leaves a lot of questions unanswered -- are developers contacted before their app is removed? is the app's locally-stored data purged? -- but the point of it is clear: Google wants you to know that they have a firm reign on the Android Market. Erroneous apps will be exterminated.

I feel safer already!

Google can remotely remove applications from your Android phone originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Understanding the Android Market security system

Filed under: Security, Features, Mobile, Android

Last week I (and a bunch of other sites) ran a scandalous-sounding story about the Android Market and how 'up to 20% of its apps could be malware'. Google actually contacted us and asked for a retraction; I refused. Instead, I decided to explain the Android Market permission system.

If you don't own an Android phone, the permission system is fantastic. Every app has to define which resources it wants access to. When you install an app (via the Market), you are shown a bunch of very clear warnings that detail what data and services the app will have access to. The great thing about this system is that apps can't lie. An app can't, after two weeks, gain access to your email.

The system is, in all honesty, fantastic. The only real weakness is user ignorance -- if you install a wallpaper app that wants the ability to send SMSes, that's your fault!

So, this guide goes some way to explaining what each of the permissions allow your phone to do. I'm not going to cover every single facet of the system, but hopefully you'll be a little more savvy by the time I finish.

Continue reading Understanding the Android Market security system

Understanding the Android Market security system originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android 3.0 Gingerbread rumored to launch in October for high-end devices

Filed under: OS Updates, Google, Android

While a lot of people are still waiting for Android 2.2 Froyo to arrive on their phones, new details about the next update, Android 3.0 Gingerbread, have started making the rounds online. The new OS will supposedly arrive in October, followed by new handsets in November and December.

According to mobile site Unwired View, details of Gingerbread were revealed in a Russian-only podcast by Eldar Murtazin of mobile-review.com.

Now that you know where the rumors are coming from, let's take a look at the good stuff:

Gingerbread will only run on high-end Android phones (1GHZ CPUs and better), while the less powerful, more affordable phones will still use 2.1 or Froyo.
There's an all-new UI that reportedly looks a lot like the Nexus One's Gallery app.
Gingerbread supports a resolution of 1280x760 for larger displays, 4" and up. That sounds more like a tablet feature than a phone feature, eh?

As Unwiredview points out, this might spell doom for the various device-specific third-party UI shells that are floating around out there. Froyo devices will still have them, of course, but Gingerbread users can expect a more consistent UI across devices.
[via Mobiputing]

Android 3.0 Gingerbread rumored to launch in October for high-end devices originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MIT's do-it-yourself Android optometry app puts a new glasses prescription in your pocket

Filed under: Mobile, Android

Our friends at Engadget just reported on a revolutionary new optometry app from MIT that lets you analyze your vision using an Android phone. It uses a small box to refract the image from a smartphone screen and makes adjustments until you can see it perfectly, just like the eye doctor did with that expensive equipment last time you visited. Here's the thing, though: this app isn't expensive. It just requires a 2-buck box to look through.

The app was designed to be used in poor areas of the world where accurate vision diagnoses are tricky to come by, but it could just as easily be for starving students who need to order glasses online so they can see the board in class and still afford the next month's supply of Ramen noodles. I'm sure this is going to catch some flack from professional optometrists (who, after all, have a degree in this stuff), but providing an essential service to people who didn't have access before is a noble goal.

MIT's do-it-yourself Android optometry app puts a new glasses prescription in your pocket originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo! introduces Mail, Messenger and Search on Google's Android platform

Filed under: Utilities, E-mail, Yahoo!, Android

Yahoo! has come into Google's house, introducing apps for its competing services on the Android platform. Android is obviously geared up to work with Gmail and Google Apps from the start, but now you can use the Yahoo! versions instead. Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger (does anyone still use Yahoo! Messenger?) are now in the Android Market, and there's even a Yahoo! Search widget. The apps were announced in a blog post with the longest, most meandering title in history.

I don't know many Android users who would be interested in switching to Yahoo!, especially when Google's service is so convenient on Android phones, but at least you have the option now. Lifehacker reports that intregration with the OS is actually pretty good, too: Yahoo! Mail can access your phone's address book, for example. The apps have push notifications and the ability to download attachments, too.

Yahoo! introduces Mail, Messenger and Search on Google's Android platform originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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