This week has not had the same flurry of announcements that there were during CES, instead the news has been more varied and there has been an increase in the Android/iOS tensions. I expect more rumours to begin circulating in the coming month as we lead into MWC at the end of February
If you're keen to see what's been happening in the world of Android for the last week then keep reading after the jump.
News
Device & Technology Announcements
Image courtesy of electronista.com
In case you were living under a rock last week, The Verge has roundups of the tablets and phones announced at CES. As for this week's announcements read on below.
Tablets:
Notion Ink has confirmed their sequel to the ill-fated Adam tablet, unsurprisingly named the Adam II
This news might be disappointing for some but Asus have said that they currently have no plans for a 3G enabled Transformer Prime. They didn't rule out a 3G enabled TF700T however
I'm fairly certain this has been announced before but Asus have said that the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update for the original transformer is coming 'soon' as it's being approved by Google currently
Coby, a relative unknown has announced some low-end tablets that will run ICS
Motorola released Honeycomb for their Xoom tablet, surprisingly over a week after it came out on the Transformer Prime
Phones:
Image courtesy of pocketnow.com
Sony's 2012 launch schedule leaked, you can't really tell a whole lot from the code names but prices are included
Rumours of LG's X3 device have been abound this week with a supposed 4.7" 720p screen and quad core Tegra 3 processor
Although ICS hasn't yet been released for the Galaxy Note, there has been a maintenance release that introduces some interesting new features including a one handed mode for typing
Accessories:
It's a pocket sized controller!
SteelSeries have announced a pretty cool mobile game controller that will apparently work over bluetooth with Android devices
Technologies:
Image courtesy of spectrum.ieee.org
Samsung's VP of Product Innovation has been cited saying that battery life is an issue they hope to tackle with devices coming out this year
Some smart folk over at the London Centre for Nanotechnology have been tinkering with solar panels in OLED smartphone displays. While not quite viable yet, these could be a boon for those running out of juice on their phones all the time
The NSA have released the source code for their Security Enhanced Android, if you're a developer there might be features you want to build into your next rom
On the Patent/Lawsuit front
Samsung may begin fighting back against Apple with hints of their new aggressive stance revealed in this article by ArtooDetoo
Of course Apple are continuing their tirade against everything Samsung, this time they are pursuing them over 10 devices in German courts
App News
The hit iOS game Temple Run is coming to Android as a free app with in-game purchasing, there is no release date as of yet
According this interview with Madfinger Games, the multi-player expansion for the hit 3rd person shooter Shadowgun is due in Q1 2012 for Tegra 3 devices
The CyanogenMod team have released their new music app which will be featured in the CM9 release of their rom
Google Sky Map is sort of dead, but not - it's been open sourced by Google
Yep, Wikipedia
Wikipedia released their official Android app this week, around the same time they blacked out for the SOPA protests coincidentally
The ICS only launcher replacement Nova Launcher got an upgrade to include folder icons and infinite home screen scrolling
Can't get enough Counter-Strike on the go? you're in luck as a CS 1.6 clone using Unity3D has been released over on XDA
A somewhat lame Call of Duty companion app has been released, check it out if you're into pointless apps
WebOS Twitter client Carbon is finally coming to Android
Polarbit are releasing a sequel to their highly popular Reckless Racing game and calling it *gasp* Reckless Racing 2. It's due on Feb 2nd if you're interested
Speaking of Polarbit, they also have an Arctic themed game called Penguin Palooza that just came out for $0.99 USD
Been playing GTA3 on your Android device but feeling stifled by the lack of modding community? Well stifle no longer, GTA3 Mobile Modding now has a website dedicated to the modification of the Android game
If you have somehow managed to get a Hulu plus subscription here in New Zealand but always wanted to watch your shows on the go, now you can with the hacked Android application
The Industry
Image courtesy of Nielsen
Nielsen have released some statistics for smartphone sales in Q4, 2011 and things aren't looking good for RIM, iOS and Android both keep increasing their market share and it's clear that the battle is not over yet.
We knew Samsung had a strong focus on their home country South Korea, what we didn't know was how much Koreans love Samsung. Apparently 10% of their population own a Samsung Galaxy SII with over 5 million units sold
Interesting other stuff
That is Windows 7, not Android btw
Have you been pining for a way to make your Windows 7 desktop look more Android-esque? Well some dude over at Flickr did and he made an ICS themed desktop! check it out over on Lifehacker
Apparently "Woz" (Steve Wozniak) Apple's co-founder said some nice things about Android, he still uses an iPhone as his primary device though..
Reviews
Gianpy has reviewed the SGP Ultra Capsule for Samsung's Galaxy Nexus
He has also reviewed another case, the Incipio Sylicrilic
Over at Engadget they've reviewed the decidedly mid-range handset - the Huawei Honor. Turns out it's not a bad device and performs very admirably for it's humble single core beginnings
Over at Anandtech they have a decent review of the Galaxy Nexus and ICS, it doesn't have a very good analysis of the performance however
Looking for a minimalist word processing app for your Android tablet? well like the bible says, seek and you will find - Jotterpad HD is free and Androinica has a short review
How To's
Over at AndroidCentral they have a How To for flashing ICS to the stock LTE Motorola Xoom
If you're interested in modding your Galaxy Nexus, there's a new version of the Toolkit that helps you to do it. Here's the guide over at XDA
If you feel there's anything important we've missed, let us know in the comments below.
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