The Nexus One, grandaddy of Android’s latest pure-bred wonder, appears to have some fight left in it. Developer drl33tmd has managed to coax the old man into running an early port of Ice Cream Sandwich, although it’s not perfect. The somewhat unstable build is a bit sluggish, and suffers from media playback issues and a distinct lack of WiFi. Check out the demo after the break to see the original Google smartphone struggle up some increasingly steep software stairs.

Continue reading Nexus One takes a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich, chews slowly

Nexus One takes a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich, chews slowly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Take that, Xperia Play. USB gamepads are already supported in Honeycomb, so we had plenty of hope that Android 4.0 — also lovingly referred to as Ice Cream Sandwich — would offer the same functionality. We finally have the answer, and it’s a resounding yes, courtesy of Google framework engineer Romain Guy’s Twitter account. The cool part, though, is that HDMI’s playing nice as well. In short, you could hook up an external gamepad to a USB-to-microUSB adapter on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, connect it to your TV and transform your handset into a fancy portable gaming console. It’s definitely something we can see developers flock towards, and we’ll expect some cool stuff to come out of it. Just in case you thought the Nexus wouldn’t let you get anything else done around the house already, this pretty much seals the deal. Move below the break to see a screenshot from the SDK.

Continue reading Ice Cream Sandwich supports USB game controllers and HDMI, turns your phone into full game console

Ice Cream Sandwich supports USB game controllers and HDMI, turns your phone into full game console originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

At AsiaD this week, Google’s Andy Rubin noted that there were at least six million Android tablets in use. That number included only those running Google services. One could question whether the briskly selling Nook Color — which is not open to Android apps at large — is relevant to that tally, at least from a developer perspective. It will certainly be the case, though, that the Kindle Fire — also expected to be a hot seller — will be an important addition to the number moving forward.

Still, Rubin conceded, it was a tally far behind that of the 30 million cumulative units of the iPad, which broke open the modern-day tablet category, extended its lead with the iPad 2, and will likely see another revision this coming spring. When Apple introduced its tablet device, it set a precedent for third-party developers by rewriting core applications to take advantage of the iPad’s larger display with “HD” versions. And while there are still far fewer native iPad apps than iPhone apps, Apple is far ahead in the race for native tablet software.

But not everyone wants to join that race.

Continue reading Switched On: Android’s tablet traversal

Switched On: Android’s tablet traversal originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a few leaks and false starts, Verizon has finally made its plans to offer the Galaxy Nexus “later this year” official. That’s really the only detail revealed, as its price, release date and availability on other carriers are still unknown. Check out the press release after the break if you need any more confirmation.

Continue reading Verizon (finally) confirms it will have the Galaxy Nexus

Verizon (finally) confirms it will have the Galaxy Nexus originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already gotten some information about which phones will be getting the Ice Cream Sandwich update and when, and we’re now starting to get some official word on tablet upgrades as well. Speaking with Pocket-lint, an ASUS rep said that the Eee Pad Transformer “will be getting [the] update to ICS,” but that the company “can’t provide a schedule at this stage.” Still no word from other Honeycomb tablet manufacturers, unfortunately, but we’ll keep you posted. Of course, this also leads us to believe that the freshly-unveiled Transformer Prime will likely have Android 4.0 right from the factory, but we’ll have to wait (presumably, anyway) until November 9th to know for sure.

ASUS says Eee Pad Transformer tablet will get ICS upgrade… sometime originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is there such a thing as too much Ice Cream Sandwich? We didn’t think so either, and booted up Google’s own Android Emulator to play around with version four-point-oh — in tablet proportions. We don’t know whether manufacturers will end up slathering their own interpretation of Ice Cream Sandwich on top of the vanilla original, but this is probably very close to what we’ll be dealing with when arrives on tablets sometime this quarter. Scrollable, resizeable widgets are here, as is a tabbed, synchronizing web browser. There are some minor niggles; we hope they’ll make some adjustments to the comically over-sized native keyboard, but the main thing we took away from this stuttering simulation is that the UI is nigh-on identical to what we were using on the Galaxy Nexus. Android looks like it has any future convergence issues in order — this version will feel at home on both your phone and tablet. Android Beam has never sounded better. If you can forgive the low-performance emulation, check out the video after the break for more Ice Cream Sandwich, king-size.

Continue reading Android Ice Cream Sandwich: What will it look like on a tablet? (video)

Android Ice Cream Sandwich: What will it look like on a tablet? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thought today’s festivities were over from Hong Kong? Think again. While Samsung and Google tag-teamed the morning with the introduction of the Galaxy Nexus, the first-ever AsiaD conference is kicking off as the sun sets over Victoria Harbour. The opening keynote is quite the impressive one, with Google’s own Senior Vice President of Mobile, Andy Rubin, on the docket. Mr. Rubin’s no stranger to these events — in fact, we’ve liveblogged his interviews twice from All Things D events — and we’re expecting quite the talk tonight following the official unveiling of Ice Cream Sandwich. Join us after the break for the liveblog!

Continue reading Liveblog from AsiaD: Andy Rubin, SVP of Mobile at Google

Liveblog from AsiaD: Andy Rubin, SVP of Mobile at Google originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thought today’s festivities were over from Hong Kong? Think again. While Samsung and Google tag-teamed the morning with the introduction of the Galaxy Nexus, the first-ever AsiaD conference is kicking off as the sun sets over Victoria Harbour. The opening keynote is quite the impressive one, with Google’s own Senior Vice President of Mobile, Andy Rubin, on the docket. Mr. Rubin’s no stranger to these events — in fact, we’ve liveblogged his interviews twice from All Things D events — and we’re expecting quite the talk tonight following the official unveiling of Ice Cream Sandwich. Join us after the break for the liveblog!

Continue reading Liveblog from AsiaD: Andy Rubin, SVP of Mobile at Google

Liveblog from AsiaD: Andy Rubin, SVP of Mobile at Google originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s Andy Rubin kicked off the opening keynote here at the Asian branch of All Things D (that’s AsiaD, if you’re curious), and he finally cleared up a figure we’ve been wondering about for eons. During a back-and-forth with Walt Mossberg about the proliferation of the iPad and whether or not Android was “a flop” in the tablet market, he affirmed that around six million Android-based tablets were “out there.” Of course, that’s only tablets that access Google services, as those are the only ones Google can account for with any degree of certainty. For comparison’s sake, Apple pushed 15 million iPads onto the market in 2010 alone, selling three million in just 80 days after the launch of the original. In fact, Apple sold 11.12 million iPads in its most recent quarter alone (9.25 million the one before that), which represented a 166 percent increase year-over-year. Moral of the story? Apple still owns the tablet market, but hey, at least we now know the score.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Google’s Andy Rubin: ‘six million’ Android-based tablets out there originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus gets official: Android 4.0, 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display (video)
• Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus launches in November on NTT Docomo, Verizon, and more
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Droid RAZR by Motorola: the tale of the tape
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Ice Cream Sandwich hands-on (video)
• Google confirms Nexus S will get Ice Cream Sandwich — for real this time (Gingerbread devices, too)
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Galaxy S II, Nexus One and Nexus S (macro hands-on)
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus camera and 1080p video samples
• Samsung: the LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus will be ‘a little’ thicker

• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now official, includes revamped design, enhancements galore
• Roboto font and the new design philosophy of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
• Android Ice Cream Sandwich adds Face Unlock feature
• Ice Cream Sandwich revamps Android camera and gallery features
• Google announces NFC-based Android Beam for sharing between phones (video)
• Google Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0): a hands-on screenshot gallery
• HTC: We’re reviewing Ice Cream Sandwich and determining our plans
• Ice Cream Sandwich face unlock demo (video)
• Android Beam takes us to the future of close-proximity data exchange (video)
• Google’s ‘very close’ to launching a digital download store with ‘a little twist’

Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich roundup: specs, details and insight, oh my! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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