Welcome back…we were missing last week, but now we’re back. Jere has Froyo, Guru is still waiting. We have more to talk about, and a musical number.
Show Notes
- Thoughts on Froyo.
- Android Adoption
- As of July 15th, Android 2.1 and up is now on 58 percent of devices. 18.9 on Android 1.5 and 22.1 on Android 1.6
- Top 10 Android apps appear on 34% to 99% of phones using AppBrain(courtesy androinica)
- Android Sales Overtake iPhone sales
- Android up 350% in the UK
- Changes in the Market
- The Market has a 24 hour return policy, but you can request a refund from the developer up to 48 hours. Refunds are not required or allowed for “Products that can be previewed by the buyer (such as ringtones and wallpapers).”
- Google introduced Licensing Service for Paid Apps as a Form of Copy Protection – “Obviously, you can’t call out to the server when the device is off-network. In this situation you have to decide what to do; one option is to cache licensing status, and License Verification Library(LVL) includes prebuilt modules to support that. “
- Google removed the applications of several developers this past week, totaling about 6000 spam applications. One of those spammers reached out to the AndroidGuys blog, and commented that they would flood the market as long as it was profitable to do so.
- You might be Able to Pay for Apps on your Telephone Bill
- Report of a Chinese Android wallpaper app that steals data and sends it to a site in China. Is this something we need to start worrying about? The app developer responded that the data they actually collect is about screen size to return more suitable wallpapers for the phone, and a subscriber ID to uniquely identify the user so it can display their favorites.
- Google Voice
- Google Voice App allows free SMS for those who don’t have a text plan. Still no MMS
- Google Voicemail can take over for your provider’s mail and provide transcription and online playback. (Guru Note: Verizon Visual Voicemail costs $2.99 a month)
- More on the E-Book Front
- Nook E-Book Reader, 15 font sizes, but no day/night/sepia mode. 17MB file size, over 5x the other apps.
- Borders E-Book Reader – As good as Kindle in functionality, but can purchase books in-app. Kindle requires browser purchase
- IGN will be launching Android coverage. They have been reviewing iPhone games for two years and will now review Android games.
- Developer’s Corner
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:34 — 26.5MB)