Opera partners with Appia to launch Opera Mobile Store.

Oslo, Norway - March 8, 2011 - Opera Software, the leading provider of mobile browsers around the world, today announced that the Opera Mobile Store is now open and available at mobilestore.opera.com. This storefront is a featured Speed Dial link in the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers, which makes the storefront immediately accessible by more than 100 million people who use an Opera browser on their mobile phones. The Opera Mobile Store has been built and delivered through a strategic partnership with Appia, the leading provider of open application marketplace technology. The Opera Mobile Store offers both free and paid applications for virtually any mobile platform and device.
The Opera Mobile Store is available to Opera users and users of other mobile browsers, on all popular mobile phone platforms in more than 200 countries. The Opera Mobile Store uses Appia's storefront commerce technology and leverages a wide catalog of applications for phones with Java, Symbian, BlackBerry and Android operating systems. The storefront experience is customized to each user's phone, providing a tailored catalog based on the phone's operating system, local language and currency.
The launch of the Opera Mobile Store supports Opera's core belief in an open, cross-platform mobile Internet experience by providing Opera users with an integrated storefront of mobile applications," said Mahi de Silva, EVP, Consumer Mobile, Opera Software. "Our partnership with Appia delivers to all Opera Mobile and Opera Mini users easy access to a wide variety of great content, on any device, all over the world."
To support the Opera Mobile Store, Opera Software has also launched the Opera Publisher Portal, providing developers with an easy way to get their applications on to the Opera Mobile Store and in front of millions of Opera users every month. In its pre-launch state, the Opera Mobile Store attracted more than 15 million users in February, from 200 countries, achieving more than 700,000 downloads per day. These metrics establish the Opera Mobile Store as a top 10 mobile application store around the world.
"The Opera Mobile Store presents a remarkable opportunity for mobile application developers to distribute localized content through a single, far-reaching marketplace," said Jud Bowman, CEO of Appia. "Appia is thrilled to partner with Opera to deliver an incredible storefront of applications to Opera users and beyond."

A Geek is born

HTC announces 1.5GHz, 7 inch tablet

Tablet Tablet everywhere. Now that MWC is going full fledge in Barcelona, it is being dominated by Android both in the form of phones and tablets. Samsung was the first to showcase its 10.1 inch tablet and now it's HTC's turn to launch the Flyer, a 7-inch tablet with a 1GHz single core processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of flash storage etc. The device is powered by Android 2.4 and will come to market in the second quarter of this year.

The Flyer looks great but why with the 7-inch screen knowing that the Samsung Galaxy Tab was not a big hit? Only HTC knows the answer.

Go over to Engadget to learn more the Flyer.

Adobe says Flash 10.2 coming to handsets soon, offers roundabout confirmation of Honeycomb for smartphones

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/14/adobe-says-flash-10-2-coming-to-handsets-soon-offers-roundabout/

BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At Mobile World Congress, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) announced that developers and content publishers can now deploy Adobe(R) AIR(R) applications to more than 84 million smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS. Thousands of applications have been created and made available on Android Market and Apple's App Store to date. By the end of 2011, Adobe expects more than 200 million smartphones and tablets to support Adobe AIR applications. For examples of popular AIR applications for Android and iOS, visit m.flash.com.

"We are thrilled to see mobile adoption of Flash Player and AIR exceeding even our own expectations, with much more to come in the months ahead"
In addition, Adobe announced that more than 20 million smartphones were shipped or upgraded with Adobe(R) Flash(R) Player 10.1 software on over 35 certified devices in the first six months following the launch. For 2011, the company expects Flash Player to be supported on more than 132 million units worldwide. More than 50 tablets are expected to support Flash Player this year alone. Using Adobe Creative Suite(R) 5 tools, over three million Adobe Flash Platform developers are now able to author content across a substantial number of devices for both Flash Player and AIR.

"We are thrilled to see mobile adoption of Flash Player and AIR exceeding even our own expectations, with much more to come in the months ahead," said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Creative and Interactive Solutions Business Unit, Adobe. "This is tremendous progress toward ensuring that mobile users everywhere have access to their favorite content from casual games to Web video and enterprise applications regardless of what device they are using. And, our CS5 customers are excited about the ability to easily extend their creative work across millions of mobile devices."

Adobe is also showcasing the latest release of Flash Player - Flash Player 10.2 - along with additional performance advancements at the conference. The new release includes support for innovative new features including Stage Video, which delivers much improved video performance through optimizing hardware acceleration on mobile devices, desktops and TVs. Stage Video decreases processor and memory usage while enabling higher frame rates and improved video quality. Test results show up to 80 percent CPU savings when playing back video in 1080p on Windows(R) and Mac OS. Stage Video support for mobile devices will be available on Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" and BlackBerry Tablet OS. Existing H.264 video content on the Web will benefit from Stage Video on mobile platforms without any changes to the content.

Adobe AIR

A key element of the Adobe Flash Platform, AIR enables developers to leverage existing code to create and deliver standalone applications across devices and platforms. Adobe AIR supports smartphones and tablets based on Android[TM], iOS, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and desktops including Windows, Macintosh and Linux(R) operating systems. In addition, Samsung is the first television manufacturer to ship Adobe AIR in its line of Samsung SmartTV devices. With Adobe AIR, developers are able to use familiar tools including Adobe Flash Professional CS5, Adobe Flash Builder[TM] and Flex to build rich standalone multiscreen applications. Thousands are already available on Android Market, Apple's App Store, Adobe InMarket and Intel AppUpSM center today.

Adobe AIR enables rich application experiences through a series of features, including support for accelerometer, camera, video, microphone, multi-touch and gestures. Support for geolocation allows developers to create location-based applications and services. AIR is also able to display native browser controls within the application allowing for the integration of HTML and .SWF content. With SQLite support developers can easily store and cache databases inside an AIR application.

Adobe Flash Player

One of the top free apps on Android Market, with more than 6 million downloads to date and more than 150,000 users giving it a 4.5-out-of-5 star rating, Flash Player brings rich Flash based content to mobile devices inside the browser. In addition to Android Market, the runtime is distributed directly by device manufacturers and operators via pre-installs and operating system upgrades.

Flash Player is available today on Android, HP webOS and Google TV. BlackBerry Tablet OS, future versions of Windows(R) Phone, LiMo, Samsung SmartTVs and others are also expected to support Flash Player. For a list of certified devices, visit http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/supported_devices/smartphones.html. For examples of the broad variety of content running in Flash Player on the Web, visit m.flash.com.

Google's Androidify app lets you create your very own bot avatar (video)

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/14/googles-androidify-app-lets-you-create-your-very-own-bot-avatar/

Sent from my iPad

Official Android Twitter app updated.

The official Twitter application for Android has always been, in my opinion, below par compared to Seesmic, Tweetdeck and others. That does not just apply to the Android platform; it's the same on my Windows Phone 7 on which Seesmic is my default and favorite Twitter app. It seems that Twitter wants that to change and they released version 2.0 that does away with the blue sky and white clouds background.

Instead, there are now icons at the top that let you view mentions, messages and list. This change allows for faster browsing. Twitter 2.0 for Android also includes universal search. Therefore you can find tweets containing your keywords, including tweets sent by people near your location etc.Twitter 2.0 is available free for download through Android Market or just click the link to have it sent to your device.

Twitter for Android.

Google introduces new weather search snippet, requires browser.

The snippet does not do anything different than any other weather apps you'll find on Android market, the only difference being that it works within the browser on an Android phone and an iPhone. Simply go to google.com and search for weather and information about the weather forecast for your location will be displayed. You will also notice that it has a slider that lets you see the forecast by the hour. I'm not sure if I'm missing something here, but i wonder why Google did not build an app instead. Maybe it's part of their strategy where all apps work through the browser. That said, the weather snippet is functional in the U.S. only for now. So watch this space for an update on worldwide availability.

Read more.

Nexus One getting OTA update, no Gingerbread yet.

It seems that the Nexus One is getting an OTA update bringing the version number to 2.2.2. Yep no Gingerbread yet, but the update fixes some important bugs in relation to SMS on the device. Unfortunately I do not have my Nexus One anymore to provide details about the update. If you have not received the update yet and are unwilling to wait for it to be pushed to your phone, you can perform a manual download from Google servers:

http://android.clients.google.com/packages/ota/passion/2854b06b22b9.signed-passion-FRG83G-from-FRG83D.2854b06b.zip

Upgrade your HD2 to Gingerbread for $99.99.

Those of you out there who were disappointment when you did not get an upgrade to Windows Phone 7 for your beloved HD2, rejoice, On the Go Solutions is offering an upgrade to Android 2.3 for a $100. What that means? Well, you won't have to buy another device or dual boot your phone. The upgrade turns your phone into an Android phone. The only problem is that you will need to ship your device to them, so it's going to cost a bit more than a $100 but dramatically less than purchasing a new device. My recommendation: GO for it.



I wonder what is Microsoft position on this. They probably did not notice, too busy trying to build a slate powered by Windows 7.


Upgrade features:

- This upgrade is for the HTC HD2 T8585 or T9193 Models .
- T-Mobile HD2 Models are also supported
- Rooted Android 2.3 Gingerbread
- MDJ CyanogenMod7 Latest Version
- Nand Install, with new Radio firmware
- ClockworkMod Recovery Installed


Visit http://www.onthegosolutions.com/product.asp?ref=email&itemMDL=UP_HD2_DROID for more information.

Migrate to Android with SPB Migration Tool

With Android getting more traction, it is no surprise that SPB Software is now offering a tool to help migrate your data from the "old Windows Mobile or Symbian devices to a new Android smartphone." SPB Migration Tool is an easy-to-use software to transfer your personal data to your new Android phone. "SPB Migration Tool comes as a complete solution, which allows copying your personal information like call history, text messages, contacts, and bookmarks to a new Android smartphone. What makes SPB Migration Tool unique is an easy-to-use and convenient interface. The migration can be made in several simple steps and it doesn't require desktop to save the data on it."

There are two ways to do this through a simple interface:

1.     Using a MicroSD card

2.     Through the cloud.

If you choose the cloud, your data will be encrypted and stored on the servers for 12 hours before being completely deleted.

Main features:

• Copies text messages, contacts, call history and bookmarks
• Migration with storage card
• Migration through web without registration
• Data protection and encryption
• Easy to use wizard interface with complete explanation

Pricing and Availability

The tool can be used to transfer data from: Symbian S60 3rd edition and up, Windows Mobile 5 and later Professional edition. The target platform supported: Android 2.1 and up. The SPB Migration Tool is available for 9.95 USD from Android Market.

SPB Migration Tool product page: http://spb.com/android-software/migration/

Instructions on migrating: http://www.migratetoandroid.com/