Google to turn your mobile into a 'tap and pay' virtual wallet

Google’s newest iteration of its Android phone OS will include a wallet that lets you use your phone to make payments by tapping it against a cash register, CEO Eric Schmidt revealed Monday.

“This could eventually replace credit cards,” Schmidt said.

Android 2.3, codenamed Gingerbread, will be released in a “few weeks,” Schmidt said on stage at the Web 2.0 Summit conference in San Francisco. Schmidt showed off how so-called Near Field Communication would work using an unnamed smartphone he called an unannounced product. Using the software from Android and a NFC chip in the phone, Schmidt was able to “check in” to the conference, launching Google Maps, by touching the phone to a conference sign that had a built-in antenna.

(For geeks, there was little doubt Schmidt was showing off the Nexus S, a device thought to be made by Samsung as the successor to the original Nexus One. Unlike most other Android phones sold, the Nexus S will run the stock Android OS with no carrier modifications, making it the perfect phone for app developers and tinkerers.)

Near Field Communication sounds fancy, but it’s the same technology build into debit cards that can be used to make a payment by bumping against a reader at a store or gas pump. Android 2.3 devices that have the right on-board chip will be able to make payments using stored credit card numbers or other payment systems such as PayPal.

While U.S. geeks have long hungered for their phones to take the place of plastic credit cards, the NFC technology is not likely to replace credit card companies. In fact, Schmidt said those companies are excited about Near Field Communication because they think it will reduce fraud.

Despite running its own payment solution called Google Checkout, Google will be aggregating many payment systems, not trying to replace them, according to Schmidt.

“Ultimately, it is a personal, secure and aggregating technology,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt says he’s bullish on mobile and says it will be a core focus for Google.

“I don’t think people figured out how much more powerful the mobile devices would become than desktops,” he said, referring not to their processors, but to their ability to keep a user connected to the net everywhere and use location to customize the net.

Nexus Two To Be First Native Android 2.3 Device

The Nexus One was the very first phone to get the upgrade to Android 2.2, so it makes sense that the Nexus Two will also be a flagship phone for a new Android operating system. If new reports are to be believed, it'll be the first to have Android 2.3, AKA Gingerbread, pre-installed.

The device, which was designed and manufactured by Samsung instead of HTC in collaboration with Google (like the Nexus One), will be officially unveiled November 8 at a pumped-up media event in Times Square. I4U will be on hand at the event to provide all the full details once they become official.

But for now, we're getting word that Android fans should be happy to hear. By incorporating Android 2.3, that would mean the new OS is complete and ready for deployment. Updates to existing Android phones should hopefully not be too far behind.

Other early details about the Nexus Two suggest it will have a 4-inch AMOLED or Super AMOLED display, a 1.2 GHz processor, 5 MP external camera and 1.3 MP front-facing camera, as well as 16 GB of internal storage and 512 MB of RAM.

It'll pack a powerful punch to the Android market, as those specs are more powerful than we've seen on any existing Android phone to date.


Again, the Nexus Two will be officially christened at an exclusive, balls-out New York City spectacle, and we'll be there to get all the juicy details. Stay tuned.

HTC Desire HD hits Australia in November

Available early next month ... HTC Desire HD

HTC's challenger to the iPhone 4, the Desire HD, goes on sale in Australia early next month at Vodafone and 3 mobile stores.

Last night Vodafone revealed that the Desire HD would be available for $0 upfront on a $59 a month plan with a two-year contract. It will also be available around the same time on 3 mobile but specific plans have yet to be announced.

The Desire HD is an update to the original Google Android-based Desire launched earlier this year, which many critics said was superior to the iPhone 3GS.

Telstra, which was for a time the exclusive carrier for the original Desire, pushed the Android platform heavily and tomorrow Vodafone will throw its weight behind Android with a major marketing campaign for the Desire HD. This will include a "Vodafone Android Island Party" attended by leading Australian music acts.

Google's Android platform has a smaller market share in Australia than the iPhone but several manufacturers, including HTC and Samsung, as well as the mobile carriers, have strongly backed it. By Christmas, the iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7 platforms will be engaged in a cut-throat battle for smartphone supremacy.
"The over-arching message is really that Android is giving power back to the telcos," said Telsyte mobile analyst Foad Fadaghi.

"It's giving them the opportunity to operate the way that they used to operate before the iPhone came around. Telcos want to own the customer, they want to have a greater slice of the value chain, they want to have their own app stores, and they don't want to be locked into the Apple way of doing things. That's why you're seeing the massive push from all of the carriers."

The Desire HD, an Android 2.2 handset, features a huge 4.3-inch touchscreen display (compared to 3.5-inch on the iPhone 4), an 8-megapixel camera, 720p video recording, a 1GHz processor, an aluminium unibody shell and Dolby/SRS sound support.

The phone comes with a new version of HTC's user interface overlay, Sense, which includes a number of small tweaks and access to a new suite of online services dubbed HTCSense.com.

HTCSense.com, which can be accessed from a PC, has some similarities to Apple's Mobile Me, allowing users to find their phone on a map if they lose it, trigger it to ring loudly, lock the device, erase all data, forward calls to another number or leave a text message for the finder of the phone.

A complete history of calls and text messages, even those that have been deleted from the handset, can be accessed at HTCSense.com, as can a range of wallpapers and plugins.

The new HTC Sense features a new navigation tool called HTC Locations, which includes turn-by-turn navigation and a compass that helps with orientation when users are on foot.

Like Nokia's Ovi Maps, the maps can be stored on the phone so users don't have to have an active data connection to access them. Through HTCSense.com, users can mark landmarks or specific locations on the map and have this data automatically sent to the phone.

Through a partnership with Kobo, users can access a range of e-books to read while also being able to highlight passages and add notes. Another new feature, HTC Fast Boot, promises to power the handsets up within 10 seconds.

There is also an improved camera app with photo editing tools allowing users to add effects such as fish eye and sepia.

Videos, photos and music stored on the phones can be played wirelessly on TVs that support DLNA home networking technology. Those without DLNA-enabled TVs can buy a dongle adapter.

Meanwhile, Vodafone, attempting to pre-empt findings from the Australian Communications and Media Authority's customer service inquiry, announced a major overhaul of its customer service capabilities today.

This includes a call back service to avoid customers having to wait on hold, new Vodafone and 3 handset service centres around the country that can do repairs within an hour and an online self-service application that lets customers better track their spending.

Video allegedly shows Android 3.0's TV-like screen shutoff

What is believed to be the first video (below) showing a handset powered by Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) has surfaced on Thursday. Courtesy of Phandroid, the video may not be much more than the blurry photo spotted on Monday, but it does show a piece of the OS that's more refined. Upon powering off, the screen "zaps" out not unlike an older tube TV shutting off.

Android Market expands: More Countries, More sellers, More buyers

Support for paid Android application sales is now expanded to developers in 29 countries, with the addition of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan.

In addition, Android Market users from 32 countries will be able to buy apps, with the addition of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, and Taiwan.


Official blurb here.

Android development for beginners

Samsung Galaxy Tab looks moderately awesome!

Hardware specs
Android 2.2 running TouchWiz 3.0
7-inch TFT LCD with 1024 x 600 resolution (WSVGA)
Weighs 380 grams
1GHz Cortex A8 processor
16GB or 32GB internal storage
microSD expansion for up to 32GB additional storage
Front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera and rear 3 megapixel camera with flash
4,000mAh battery
3G data / voice (there's a speakerphone and Bluetooth for phone calls, but no earpiece)
5GHz dual-band 802.11n WiFi
Standard back color is white, carriers might offer different colors
Full HD video playback
There's a 30-pin dock connector on the bottom that allows for HDMI, USB, and docking accessories (a car dock at least is planned)

Man Raises Money to Send Android Phone to Space

A total of 66 backers have pledged over $2,000 to help send the first Android phone to space.

The Astdroid project hails from Danny Pier, a 25 year-old self-described computer nerd who turned to Kickstarter to raise funds to get an Android smartphone into space.

Pier believes that he can outfit a weather ballon with an HTC Evo, and use its camera, transmitter, computing power and GPS technology to track the phone’s journey into space.

Funds will be allocated to finance the expenses of the weather balloons, recovery parachutes, helium and other supplies. Pier will also write an application for the device that will take photos and videos of the journey, as well as automatically transmit the device’s location for tracking purposes.

Pier’s ultimate goal is to prove that it’s not difficult to send a smartphone in to space, capture the journey and retrieve it once it returns to Earth. He will document his successes and failures along the way using social media. Pier hopes his endeavors will encourage others to follow his lead.

Score another win for innovation at the hands of Kickstarter’s alternative fundraising application.

Google announces Google App Inventor, a simple-to-use DIY app maker.

Today Google announced a simple-to-use DIY app maker called Google App Inventor.

Google App Inventor brings Android development to non-programmers, employing a design scheme that relies on visual blocks rather than writing pages of code, the App Inventor -- In true Google style, still in Beta, of course -- has functions for just about anything you can do with an Android handset, including access to GPS and phone functionality.

I can imagine this would be fantastic in classrooms.

more information here: http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/
complete this form to apply for access: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/appinventorinterest/

.. from Android for Beginners

Google Looks to Emerging Markets for Android's Growth

Google plans to push its Android mobile software in India and China and is exploring ways for developers to make more money from applications, stepping up competition with Apple and Nokia.

To attract programmers to its Android operating system, Google may offer tools that help them sell subscriptions, virtual goods and other items from within applications on mobile phones, Andy Rubin, vice president for engineering at Google, said during an interview.

The company also aims to put its Android system on lower-priced phones made by Huawei and LG in parts of Asia and Europe, where it is taking on Nokia, the mobile market leader.

“The down-market opportunity is about to happen,” Mr. Rubin said. “It’s actually quite a revolution.”

Google is trying to get more of its software on mobile devices, opening up new opportunities to sell advertising, its main source of revenue. The total mobile ad market will grow to $13.5 billion in 2013, from less than $1 billion last year, according to the research firm Gartner.

Google lags behind Apple in mobile applications, which are a growing platform for ads and are helping to breed customer loyalty to devices. Android users have about 65,000 applications available, fewer than a third as many as Apple, which has more than 200,000.

Google is taking steps to hasten Android’s growth. By increasing its presence in new markets like South Korea, Google managed to drive up the number of users who activated Android devices to 160,000 a day in June, from 100,000 in May, the company said. The majority of the sales of Android-based phones were in the United States.

Gartner predicts that Android will pass Apple’s iOS system by 2012 to become the world’s second-most-popular mobile operating system behind Nokia’s Symbian.

Among the incentives for application developers, Mr. Rubin said, are making it easier to accept payments within the applications themselves or to sell subscriptions.

Most Android developers still make money from placing ads within their applications or from one-time fees. That makes it harder for them to earn as much as their Apple counterparts. Of the $4.4 billion that consumers will spend on application downloads this year, Apple’s App Store will receive at least 77 percent of the revenue, according to Futuresource Consulting in Dunstable, England. The Android Market application store will collect 9 percent.

While businesses like eBay’s PayPal already allow payments to be made within their Android applications, dealing with multiple companies increases the complexity, Mr. Rubin said. Since starting its in-application payments tool May 19, PayPal has been downloaded by more than 1,000 developers, said Osama Bedier, a vice president at PayPal. Most of the developers came from China.

In connection with efforts described by Mr. Rubin involving Huawei, a Chinese maker of wireless equipment, and LG of South Korea, Huawei released four Android phones and an Android-based tablet device in February.

Getting more of Google’s software on phones in China has the potential to increase ad revenue to help offset sales Google might lose if the Chinese government refuses to renew the company’s license to operate its Internet search engine there.

Smaller Chinese manufacturers, which account for about 10 percent of the global supply of mobile phones, are also adopting Android, seeking to gain market share with lower-priced devices.

Many pin their hopes on MediaTek of Taiwan, which supplies chips for lowcost phones sold in Asia, Africa and South America. The company has joined the Open Handset Alliance, the group that promotes Android, Google said. Devices based on MediaTek may cost carriers as little as $70 each, said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner.

Today, the least expensive Android phones cost carriers about $200, while low-cost Symbian devices run to about $170, she said.

As more lower-priced phones reach the market, more carriers will offer the devices to consumers free.

That approach will help position Android against Nokia. While Nokia controls only a fraction of the U.S. market, it is the leading phone maker globally.

“As Android develops, the main vendor who is going to feel the pressure is Nokia,” Ms. Milanesi said.

In the first quarter, more than 41 percent of smartphones shipped worldwide were powered by Symbian. Almost 16 percent used Apple’s operating system and 10 percent ran Android, according to ABI Research, a consulting firm based in New York.