New video takes a look at Android’s Easter egg tradition
When I got my second Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy S III, it came shipped with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. I learned that there was a secret Easter egg hidden in the system. It took me some time, but I eventually discovered the Easter egg: pixel-art Androids wearing Ice Cream Sandwiches flying across the screen, Nyan Cat style.
Google has long included amusing little Easter eggs in their products, but the Easter eggs found in Android releases are some of their most well-known. Natalie and Lorraine, a duo of Google engineers who also make videos of what goes on behind-the-scenes at their workplace, take a brief look at these secret goodies and how they came to be.
They both travel to Cambridge to chat with Android Framework Engineer Dan Sandler. The first such Easter egg, in Gingerbread, was created by artist Jack Larson and contained a painting of a zombie gingerbread. Since then, Dan has been in charge of bringing these Android version Easter eggs to life, starting with the Android bee in Honeycomb.
Unfortunately, we do not get a glimpse of what Marshmallow’s Easter egg will look like, but Nat & Lo have also created a video on how the Marshmallow lawn sculpture was created.
Do you have a favorite Android Easter egg? Tell us yours at the comments below!
Source: Android Developers Blog
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Enable multi-window mode in Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a bit of tinkering
Multi-Window is one of the most awesome features that has blessed larger Android devices. You will never use a smartphone the same way once you try running two apps at once, but sadly this is a feature limited to very few handsets (mostly Samsung ones). This is why the whole Android modding community went nuts when it was discovered the Android M developer preview code included this featured, hidden deep within all those ones and zeroes.
People had to tinker with the phone to enable multi-window mode in the Android M developer preview, but it was definitely possible. The real question was whether this would also be the case for Android 6.0 Marshmallow when it became available, in its full glory. It turns out multi-window works, and all you have to do is follow the very same steps you did with the Android M developer preview.
The news comes from Reddit, where Android enthusiasts shared their experiences regarding the matter, and showed images as proof of this feature working. The process is not that simple, but those who know their way around rooting, flashing custom recoveries and running ADB on a PC should be fine.
And just in case those crazy words don’t manage to scare the faint of heart, the following might. Do keep in mind that rooting, flashing recoveries and tinkering with your device may harm it or void your warranty. Go on with this at your own risk and do your research, for you may be left alone if anything happens.
With that in mind, those who choose to continue can just follow the instructions over at XDA Developer forums, where pretty much all hacking and modding goodies come from. Have any of you tried this? How is it working for you?
Watch this: Inside Android’s Easter egg tradition
Google loves placing Easter eggs in its products. On Android devices, this has been a tradition since the Gingerbread days, wherein a zombie showed up on the screen after repeatedly tapping a menu’s setting. That’s still the case now, although the results have changed throughout the years to resemble the name of the platform — Android 4.1, for instance, made room for a bunch of cute, floating jelly beans that you could flick out of your sight. But what’s the story behind these Easter eggs? Now you can learn more about it thanks to Nat and Lo, a side-project started by two Google employees (Natalie and Lorraine) to give people an inside look at the company. In the video below, they sit down with Android Framework Engineer Dan Sandler, who shares some insight into Google’s long history of Android Easter eggs.
[Image credits: samthor/Flickr]
Russia orders Google to loosen its Android policies by November 18th
Russia is convinced that Google’s policies on pre-installed Android apps are anti-competitive, and it’s now drawing a line in the sand. The country’s regulators have ordered Google to remove restrictions on bundled third-party apps by November 18th if it wants to avoid stiff fines, which could include up to 15 percent of its Russian revenue from last year. That means allowing device makers to load directly competitive apps and search widgets, even if it means bumping Google’s own software to lesser positions on your home screen.
We’ve reached out to Google for its response to the deadline, including whether or not this will have ramifications outside of Russia. No matter what, this leaves Google in a tight spot. The Alphabet-owned company now has to either bend on its longstanding app strategy or risk missing out on one of the biggest mobile markets on the planet. Both could prove expensive — Android’s revenue model revolves around steering people toward Google search ads and services, and that’s much less likely to happen when you see alternatives like Yandex (which filed the antitrust complaint) front and center.
Via: Reuters
Source: Interfax (translated)
Sony and Verizon just scrapped the Xperia Z4v’s US launch
Sony makes a mean smartphone, but it could never quite crack the macadamia nut that is the US mobile market. For while there it seemed like it had another fighting chance in the Verizon-only Z4v, too. Not anymore. After much hemming and hawing about its release date, a Sony spokesperson confirmed in an email that Sony and Verizon aren’t bringing the Z4v to America after all. Way to keep us hanging, guys.
“Sony Mobile remains dedicated to the US market and aims to build a sound and stable business in this region,” the statement reads. “Verizon is a strategic partner as we continue having ongoing discussions together as part of our future portfolio.” That’s nice, but it also means Sony doesn’t have much of a portfolio to speak of right now at all. A quick check of the big 4 US wireless carriers’ websites shows precisely one Sony smartphone available for sale now: a $179 pre-owned Xperia Z1S from T-Mobile. We’re sure people are just champing at the bit to get their hands on it, too. There would’ve been more Sony-flavored options but Verizon — one of the company’s biggest US supporters — discontinued the mostly solid Z3v shortly after the Z4v was announced. Perhaps that was… a little premature.
Anyway, it’s maybe not hard to see why Sony and Verizon seemed to just wash their hands of this thing. Sony’s impressive Z5 smartphone family is slated for a global launch in October (a.k.a. this month) and its likely someone up in the corporate chain of command went nope, launching the Z4v right now makes no sense. They were probably right! Regardless, the Z4v was certainly nothing to sneeze at it with its Snapdragon 810 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 20.7-megapixel camera and Quad HD screen — it might not have been everyone’s cup of tea but surely someone would’ve gained a newfound appreciation for Sony after using it. Oh well. Bring on the Z5s, then.
Android Marshmallow begins rolling out to Nexus devices today
As expected, Nexus owners are in for a treat this week as Google’s latest OS revisions begins rolling out to select devices. According to a post on the Official Android Blog, the Nexus 5, 6, 7 (the 2013 model), 9 and Player are all in line to receive the over-the-air software update starting today. The newly released Nexus 5x and 6P handsets, of course, come with Marshmallow already installed.
[Image Credit: Shutterstock]
Source: Android Blog
ASUS’ ZenWatch 2 launches in the Google Store
Want a brand new Android Wear smartwatch while sticking to a tight budget? It’s your lucky day. The Google Store has started carrying ASUS’ ZenWatch 2, which offers the latest Android experience while starting at a very frugal $149 US. You don’t have the full selection of straps or case colors — sorry, no Milanese band here. However, you can pick from either a moderately-sized 45mm silver body with an aqua blue rubber strap, or a large 49mm gunmetal case with a wristband in navy blue leather. Either wearable will give you a heart rate sensor, improved weather resistance and as much as 66 hours of use between charges. The ZenWatch 2 isn’t as posh-looking as the new Moto 360 or the 2nd Edition LG Watch Urbane, but you probably won’t mind when you’re going to save a wad of cash.
Via: TechnoBuffalo
Source: Google Store
(Deal) Channel your inner hacker with this bundle for FREE
There are a lot of deals post featured when it comes to learning how to code or develop. Much of that is due to the boom in the industry with startups popping up everywhere, so a lot of people want to get a piece of the ever-growing pie.
Today’s deal is no different, other than the fact that it’s geared toward starting from the ground up, for multiple mobile platforms. Today’s deal from AndroidGuys is the Free: Android Mobile Hacker Bundle.
That’s right, you read it correctly, today’s deal is ABSOLUTELY FREE. The Android Mobile Hacker Bundle aims to find your inner hacker, and get you coding ASAP.
- iOS & Android HTML5 Apps for Beginners
- Learn Android Studio in 2 Hours
- Development Essentials with DIY Project
- Game Development Crash Course
- Learn Android 4.0 Programming in Java
With the Android Mobile Hacker Bundle, you’ll start from the ground up with HTML5, move into Android Studio, and keep building your way up. The final course, teaches you all the ins and outs of developing for the Android platform, with the help of Java.
When anything costs free, it’s worth taking a look at. Normally, this bundle would run you about $126, so you’re really saving some money here. If you’ve been looking for something to get your feet wet, check out today’s deal from AndroidGuys and StackCommerce.
You can find this, and many other great tech bargains through our Deals page. Backed by StackCommerce, there are daily promos, giveaways, freebies, and much more!
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[Infographic] From the HTC Dream to Marshmallow, Android continues its path to world domination
Back when Android.Inc was founded in 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Milner, Nicks Sears, and Chris White, I wonder if they had an inkling of how popular the Android operating system would become. Google acquired the company in 2005, and thanks to the influx of resources from the search giant, the first Android smartphone (HTC Dream) would soon be released to an unsuspecting world. It’s been an interesting ride, as documented in the great little infographic below.
The HTC Dream was released on October 28th in 2008, with a massive (back then) 192MB RAM, 256MB internal storage and a single-core 528MHz processor. And now? Now we have phones with 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and 8-core processors clocked at more than 2GHz. It’s been a fantastic journey for the world’s most popular mobile operating system, and it isn’t finished yet. In 2015, BlackBerry has belatedly turned to Android, and Google has just announced the LG-produced Nexus 5X and the Huawei-made Nexus 6P.
Source: Mobilemadhouse
Come comment on this article: [Infographic] From the HTC Dream to Marshmallow, Android continues its path to world domination
Android and iOS users get sized up with PornHub statistics [SFW]
With the launch of the new iPhone series, the good guys at PornHub decided to mash some stats together regarding how mobile users entertain themselves. Both Apple and Android users were studied to put together some nice-looking infographics.
In the last five years, mobile usage has rocketed to 63% of the total traffic to the site, as compared to a mere 12% in 2010. This aligns perfectly with how much tablet and smartphone usage has increased globally. In addition, Android has the slight advantage with the number of visitors, coming in with a decent 32% of traffic, just a bit more than iOS’s 31%. This leaves other OS users with 37% of the share (including desktop) , representing a nicely rounded distribution between platforms.
If you leave desktop viewers out, however, Android and iOS leave just 6% left for other operating systems. This either means Windows and FireOS based-phones are just really a small percentage of the population, or they prefer the big screen experience.
It also appears that Android users have more time on their hands. At least, in the hand that they’re not using. Clocking in at an average of 10 min and 06 seconds, they spend more time surfing the site when compared to iOS at an average of 8 min and 40 seconds. This also generally means that Android explorers viewed more content to satisfy their wants.
This is where it begins to get interesting. iOS viewers prefer more traditional-type content, using tried and tested methods to reach their goal. Android, on the other hand, tends to view more taboo categories that also reflect more modern content.
It is also noticeable how the demographics play out; with Android users making up the majority of developing countries and how some of their searches correspond with this.
Last but not least, is the age categories. The youth easily makes up the majority here, with 18 – 24 year olds bringing in 36.3% of total traffic.
The difference between each generation is certainly noticeable. Thanks to the cream pie chart, the step down between the age groups is easily visible, and goes down consistently until those that are 65 years and older make up a mere 2.2%. Turns out that granny in your local area might just be a rare deal.
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