Google Android software and hardware: Post here

[haven]

HD screens coming soon

The most popular analogy used to describe the new iPad's Retina Display is: "Remember the first time you saw a high definition TV next to a conventional TV?" The Retina Display is that big a difference. The iPad has a 9.7 inch display, with 2048 x 1536 pixels. That's 264 pixels per inch (ppi).

The Retina Display establishes a new standard that other manufacturers will quickly follow if they want their tablets to be considered premium products. Several Android tablet makers announced new products with high res screens, but they have not reached the consumer yet.

Examples: The Acer Iconia Tab A700 and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime have 10.1 inch, 1920x1200 pixel color touchscreens. That's 225 ppi. These machines will be in the stores in a couple of months.

 

[haven]

Archos G9 tablet $265

On St Patrick's Day, Woot is selling the Archos 101 G9 Turbo tablet for $265 delivered. That's a low price for a 10 inch tablet with GPS.
Details and specs:

Archos 101 G9 Turbo Android tablet computer

Processor: Texas Instruments OMAP4 4460 CORTEX A9 dual core, 1.5GHz
Memory: 512 MB RAM, 8 GB flash storage

Display: 10.1” capacitive display, 1280 x 800 resolution
Camera: 720p forward facing camera
Connectivity: Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR

OS: ships with Android 3.2
automatic Android 4.0 upgrade available now "over the air" from Archos
Applications: Android Market approved

HDMI out port
USB Slave 2.0: Mobile Transfer Protocol (MTP)
…allows connection to PC or Mac
USB Host: Mass Storage Class (MSC)
…allows connection from devices like keyboard, flash drive, camera
microSD slot, accepts memory cards up to 32 GB

built-in GPS
G-sensor
compass

Lithium Polymer battery
kickstand on rear

Dimensions: 10.86"(W) x 6.59"(H) x 0.5"(D)
Weight: 1.49 lb (iPad 1.33 lb)

Optional:
USB stick with 3G modem, fits in special slot on bottom of Archos G9 machines
Modem is unlocked, will work with many GSM networks worldwide
Modem also works with PC or Mac

GSM frequencies: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
UMTS frequencies: 900/2100MHz

In USA, modem will give highest data speed with T-Mobile

 

[haven]

Amazon.com has released an update to its Kindle for Android software. The update makes your Android phone or tablet almost as capable as the Kindle Fire tablet at interacting with Amazon's digital content. You still can't stream videos for Amazon Instant Videos, however. Find the update in the Google Play store, here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5hbWF6b24ua2luZGxlIl0

Update: some Android users are reporting that the new software crashes on devices running Android 4.0, so maybe it would be best to wait for a day or two for Amazon to work out the bugs.

 

[haven]

Opera Mini web browser

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.opera.mini.android

Opera has released version 7 of its Mini web browser. Opera Mini's claim to fame is that Opera's servers compress the web page you want to view before the page is downloaded to your Android phone or tablet. The result is a reduction of up to 90% of the data.

Less data = faster page rendering and reduced use of your cellular plan's data allowance. Makes sense, particularly when you're in the boondocks and don't have a strong signal. Reduced data is a good idea if you're roaming (off you cell provider's network) or using some sort of satellite link.

Opera Mini works on systems running Android 1.5 and above. This program is available for free from Google Play at the link above. (Google renamed the Android Market, starting the use of Google Play a couple of weeks ago.)

 

[LR Max]

I picked up a Toshiba Thrive a couple of weeks ago. Traveling for work and now not having access to my personal computers (moving...long story), it has SAVED MY REAR END!! Really good tablet for normal-people use. Bought it at Best Buy and got their case with it.

Only regret is not paying the extra $50 for the 32 gig, got the 16 gig instead.

Being able to plug in a full size SD card or a USB drive is HUGE. The Thrive has a fairly good file management system, allowing one to move files between the hard drive (for a lack of a better term), to USB, to SD card. This is very important for me.

The built in picture viewing isn't as good as I would hope, so I am going to look around for a better app for that.

Been testing it out for use in off road travel and whatnot. Kinda being a cheapo and not buying apps for it, so I'm testing the limit of free apps. I've had ok results with this. Nothing earth shattering.

Overall I like the Toshiba.

 

[haven]

I picked up an Archos 101 G9 Turbo tablet during the sale mentioned above. It was useful as an introduction to Android 4.0, but was plagued with problems. Even with a 1.5 Ghz dual core processor, touch response lagged -- a lot. I was regularly left wondering, Did I press that button, or not? The system would lock up and require a reboot every couple of hours. And the WiFi often failed to connect to my router (admittedly a cheap D-Link wireless-N model) unless I rebooted the router. So I returned the tablet.

Android 4 looked very good. The range of apps available covered everything I could think of, and there were free apps for most of the stuff I needed. It was a pleasure to have a real file system, and to access the microSDHC card for file transfers.

The 10 inch 1280x800 screen on the Archos was fine for watching HD movies from Amazon.com. But I found the 10 inch display a little awkward to hold in landscape mode when I wanted to use the onscreen keyboard. I look forward to trying the Samsung 7.7 or 8 inch tablets.

 

[Cody1771]

im wondering if it wouldnt make sense to start sub forums within this forum so that Hardware and software can be entered as new threads rather than fishing through 22 pages of one thread

 

[haven]

The thread is getting long. The problem I see is that most posts about hardware also mention software in some way. Take my post about the problems I had with the Archos 101 G9 Turbo tablet. Were the problems I experienced the result of poor hardware (the touch sensitive screen, the WiFi) or laggy Android 4.0 software?

 

[Corey]

Boeing Planning Secure Android Device for U.S. Government

The company is near the end of the development cycle and getting ready to launch what he called “the Boeing phone” in late 2012, said Brian Palma, vice president of the company’s secure infrastructure group...

http://allthingsd.com/20120412/boei...-for-u-s-government/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=742

 

[ThomD]

The thread is getting long. The problem I see is that most posts about hardware also mention software in some way. Take my post about the problems I had with the Archos 101 G9 Turbo tablet. Were the problems I experienced the result of poor hardware (the touch sensitive screen, the WiFi) or laggy Android 4.0 software?

That's Archos - fair screen response and buggy WiFi reports are common the Archos Fans forum. I had a 7 inch version of the last generation (android 2.2 I think). Price point gear for sure. I can't recommend Archos. Their customer service is poor. My unit died about 10 days outside the one year warranty. Something failed inside and the battery expanded enough to crack the case open. They have no phone support that I could find. It took Archos 2-3 weeks to answer my RMA request via their web site (without even saying if they would honor the warranty, just following their script). By then I has used AmEx extended warranty for a full refund (easy peasy by the way), so I didn't even respond to their request for proof of purchase.

Now the question is, Galaxy Tab 2.0 or Galaxy 7.7?

 

[Corey]

Here is more on that Boeing phone, video at the link.
http://news.yahoo.com/boeing-developing-super-secure-spy-phone-video-194414702.html

 

[haven]

The original Samsung Galaxy Tab was introduced in late 2010, and was widely hailed as the best 7 inch Android tablet for much of 2011. Now it's 2012, and Samsung has refreshed the original design.

The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) is built to a price, which is $249. So it lacks the fastest new processor and highest resolution screen. Samsung is leaving the new features to a couple of its other small tablets. Instead, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) is supposed to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, both of which cost $200.

For $50 extra, you get many features missing from the Kindle Fire. The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) offers:
-- Android 4.0
-- 1 GB RAM (up from 512K in the Fire) for better multitasking
-- the same 8 GB of storage as the Fire has, but...
-- a MicroSD slot to expand storage memory
-- Access to Google Play marketplace
-- Front and rear facing cameras
-- Bluetooth 3.0

The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has a 1 GHz dual core processor, and a 1024x600 LCD screen that's just OK in today's world of Super AMOLED panels. But it looks to be the best tablet in this price range -- for now. Google is rumored to be working with ASUS to produce a new 7 inch tablet that will cost less than $250, and feature a 1280x800 pixel screen. The Google tablet should be announced in Summer.

 

[expedition4x4]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.opera.mini.android

Opera has released version 7 of its Mini web browser. Opera Mini's claim to fame is that Opera's servers compress the web page you want to view before the page is downloaded to your Android phone or tablet. The result is a reduction of up to 90% of the data.

Less data = faster page rendering and reduced use of your cellular plan's data allowance. Makes sense, particularly when you're in the boondocks and don't have a strong signal. Reduced data is a good idea if you're roaming (off you cell provider's network) or using some sort of satellite link.

Opera Mini works on systems running Android 1.5 and above. This program is available for free from Google Play at the link above. (Google renamed the Android Market, starting the use of Google Play a couple of weeks ago.)

The problem with transcoding browsers is that you are allowing all your traffic to be intercepted by a man-in-the-middle attack. Never submit any confidiential information using the opera mini browser as you have no idea of the security of opera's servers nor of any assurance that the people who have access to your web stream are not capturing information.

 

[haven]

There are two apps (maybe more) that extend your PC or Mac desktop onto your Android tablet. The extra screen real estate is useful to run programs in the background on your PC, like a streaming music program or your email program, while you use all of the main monitor for something else, such as a spreadsheet program or Photoshop.

iDisplay is a $5 app, with parts that run on your Mac or PC, and a part that runs on your tablet. The connection is via WiFi, or via USB cable. Connected by USB, your tablet's battery is charged up while you're using it as an extension to the PC screen.
http://www.shape.ag/en/products/details.php?product=idisplay&platform=android

AirDisplay is a $10 app that started out as an app for iPad, but recently added a version for Android. It connects via WiFi only.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...isplay&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd

 

[haven]

Acer introduces $199 tablet

The Computex trade show has been a coming-out party for Windows 8 tablets. But some interesting news about Android devices has surfaced, as well.

Acer just announced that they intend to market a 7 inch quad core tablet for less than $200. The device will be called the A110, and features Android 4. Delivery should start in time for back to school shoppers.

The announcement of the A110 makes it more likely that Google's rumored Nexus tablet will also cost close to $200. And Amazon will need a refresh of its Kindle Fire to stay competitive. This Fall should be a good time to shop for an Android tablet!

http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/6/3067386/acer-iconia-tab-quad-core-tablet-price/in/2825891