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Does an Android device with a 3.2-inch screen still qualify as a “tablet”? That was the first question that popped into my head when I saw images of the Archos 32 Android tablet that were published Tuesday by the FCC.

Maybe I’m still feeling the effects of my time with the Dell Streak, but aren’t tablets supposed to stretch beyond the confines of the pocket? Maybe not. It seems manufacturers have decided anything with a smartphone OS and a touch screen is a tablet–a tactic that may come back to bite them if Apple starts including the iPod Touch in their assessment of tablet computer market share.

Pontificating aside, the Archos 32 looks like fun. Along with details leaked from a short-lived product page on J&R, we now know the Archos 32 includes an 800MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, with 8GB of storage, running a custom version of Android 2.1 on a 400×240 resolution touch-screen display. Oddly, a touch-sensitive direction pad is also included beneath the display, along with more typical buttons for home, back, enter, and menu.

Further details reveal specs such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, composite video output, and a rear-facing camera capable of 640×480 resolution MPEG-4 video recording.

If the J&R leak is any indication, pricing should come in around $150, and the FCC filing has us thinking we won’t need to wait much longer.

Source : cnet

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A computer virus attacks smartphones using Google’s Android operating system, triggering alarms over security. There are more than 3 million smartphone users in Korea and 1.13 million of them own Android phones.

The New York Times on Tuesday said a “Trojan” virus was discovered in Russia that specifically targets smartphones using Android. Kaspersky Lab, a Russian antivirus software company, said the worm takes advantage of Android phones after users install what appears to be a “harmless media player.”

Infected users unwittingly sign up for pay sites “resulting in money passing from a user’s account to that of the cybercriminals,” the newspaper reported. Lee Chang-hoon at Kaspersky Lab Korea said, “In addition to the New York Times report, Trojan horses have been discovered in about a dozen countries in the U.S. and Europe, and there’s a strong chance of infections being discovered in Korea soon.”

Android phones are more vulnerable to hacking than Apple’s iPhones. Google’s Android software allows anyone to upload and download programs, making it easy for hackers to spread malicious codes. “Korean manufacturers of Android phones such as Samsung and LG need to develop software programs that can inspect applications for viruses,” said Cho Hyun-sook of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute.

The government plans to announce a set of measures next month aimed at bolstering mobile Internet security.

Source : chosun.com

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Starting this Thursday, popular social media management tool TweetDeck will be available as an Android app. The company is opening its beta program in the morning, and we were lucky enough to get our hands on a copy tonight.

We’ve tried other Android () apps that have promised varying degrees of functionality and features for social media work and play; we’ve experienced varying degrees of satisfaction so far with all of them.

The TweetDeck app for Android is still “very beta,” a.k.a. lacking the polish you’d expect from a completely finished application. We tried playing around with it a bit tonight; while we’ll be delighted when more mature builds are available, we still think the app has breathtaking potential.

It integrates Facebook (), Twitter (), Buzz and Foursquare () accounts into a single application. Updates are color-coded and presented in a single, blended column. There’s also a “Me” column for reviewing all your Twitter @replies and comments and like for your Facebook posts.

Source : mashable.com

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INTERNET RUMOURS have it that Sony Ericsson is working on a Playstation smartphone that will run the Android 3.0 operating system codenamed “Gingerbread”.

Engadget has spoken with trusted sources who said Sony Ericsson is working on Google’s open source OS to develop a hybrid smartphone with handheld console graphics.

The device is described as a cross between a PSP Go and a Samsung Captivate. Apparently it will have a landscape slider with gaming controls instead of a QWERTY board. The mock up has a similar button layout to Sony’s PSP with a four-way navi-pad and the Playstation’s traditional triangle, circle, cross and square buttons. While there isn’t a joystick, there is a “long touch pad” instead, so we’ll probably get games designed for touchscreen playability.

The leak even has a list of alleged specifications. The screen will be 3.7 or 4.1-inches with WVGA resolution or higher. The smartphone will also be powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

It makes perfect sense. The Android OS has hardly been the place to go for portable gaming and Apple has somehow created a name for itself as a gaming provider with its Iphones. Sony needs to take back some of that space from Apple and Google wants Android to be taken seriously as an OS that can deliver any mobile scenario. Especially portable gaming which could coin lots of cash from punters downloading online games and apps.

We reported in May that Sony was beavering away on boosting its online games infrastructure and wanted to charge for premium services.

Sure enough, at E3 Sony announced the PSN Plus premium subscription service. The company needs new hardware to attract users into its extended gaming network and a Playstation phone might be just the ticket.

Source : theinquirer.net

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The growing family of Android devices is expected to push Google’s mobie operating system above Apple’s iOS by 2012, according to a Thursday report from iSuppli.

iSuppli’s prediction follows a report from NPD, which tracks retail sales, that said that the number of devices that used the Android operating system outsold those manufactured by RIM, which manufactures the popular BlackBerry.

By 2012, the firm said, Android will be used in 75 million smart phones, up from 5 million in 2009. The number of Apple iOS phones will grow to 62 million in 2012, up from 25 million in 2009.

That, in turn, will give Android a 19.4 percent share in the world smartphone market in 2012, versus 2.7 percent in 2009; Apple’s share of the smartphone market will grow from 13.8 percent in 2009 to 15.9 percent in 2012, iSuppli said.

“Android is taking the smart phone market by storm,” said Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications, for iSuppli, in a statement. “The OS started with entry level models in 2008, but the flexibility Android offers for hardware designs and its appealing business model in terms of revenue sharing have attracted vigorous support from all nodes in the value chain, including makers of high-end smart phone models. Cell phone OEMs representing Read the rest of this entry »

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Reports surfaced late Tuesday night that Motorola is looking to enter the tablet game, becoming the next company to enter the space currently dominated by Apple’s iPad.

If the rumors prove true, the handset manufacturer would be the latest high-profile company to try its hands at a slate, following forthcoming devices from Hewlett-Packard, Asus , Dell, Samsung, Toshiba, and Sony—to name but a few.

According to the Financial Times, the device will include a 10-inch screen and run Google’s Android, the mobile operating system at least partially responsible for changing the fortunes of the struggling Motorola, through devices like T-Mobile’s Cliq and Verizon’s Droid and Droid X.

Motorola is reportedly working with Verizon once again. The rumored tablet is expected to be tied to Verizon’s FiOS service, with a focus on TV content. As the Times points out, Motorola is also the manufacturer behind Verizon’s FiOS set-top boxes.

Word of an Android-based Motorola tablet first surfaced back in May, when Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha told the press, “We’re very focused on participating in this convergence between mobility and home, and I actually think you will see some products from us in a very short period of time.”

Motorola is reportedly readying the device for release “as early as this autumn.” According to reports, it will be thinner than Apple’s iPad and will feature front- and back-facing cameras for photos and teleconferencing.

Yesterday, rumors also surfaced that fellow smartphone manufacturer Research in Motion is readying its own tablet for a November release.

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For the first time on a mobile phone, true caller ID is available. No more guessing who’s on the other end of the line.

There have been more times than I can count where I’ve gotten a phone call and have had no clue who might be calling from the number alone. Mobile developer First Orion aims to change that with the release of an Android version of its app called PrivacyStar. For the first time on a mobile phone, true caller ID would be available. No more guessing who’s on the other end of the line.

PrivacyStar does more than just tell you whose calling – it will also Read the rest of this entry »

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Judging by recent leaks and tips, the next Android phone for AT&T could be the Motorola Sage. First spotted in the FCC last week, the quad-band device appears to support AT&T’s 850 and 1900MHz bands in addition to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Assisted-GPS, and EDGE. Over the next few days, a handful of images emerged showing the Sage and its sliding QWERTY form factor, looking much like the T-Mobile Cliq.

If you are familiar with Motorola’s Android handsets so far, you’ll likely recognize shades of T-Mobile’s Cliq XT and the keyboard on AT&T’s Backflip. Aside from the touch pad on the bottom front, the pictures show that the phone also features a Micro-USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD card expansion slot, and a dedicated camera button. According to an Engadget source, the device has Android 2.1 with the new, less-obtrusive MotoBlur interface.

Without knowing the processor and memory for the Sage, I would imagine the handset will carry a $99-$149 price tag. Historically, Motorola has released high-end Droid devices for Verizon and entry-level consumer phones for everyone else. Looking at what we’re given so far, I see another low-tier AT&T model in the future.

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