We all love free things, especially if they're really nice or worth something. Here's a list of our 15 favorite free icon sets that you designers and developers will love.
As you may have heard, last week Valve released their Steam Mobile app for both iOS and Android on a closed beta. Many users were upset because they couldn't do anything through the app without beta access. That all changes now though, Valve has opened the Steam Mobile service to all users.
Head on over to the App Store/Market and download your free copy today.
So since I last posted, quite a few new android phones have made their way out to the market. The most notable of these are:
HTC Rezound
Samsung Galaxy S II
Google Galaxy Nexus
Motorola RAZR
HTC Rezound
The Rezound is an impressive phone from HTC that resembles the HTC Thunderbolt. It packs a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor from Qualcomm, an Adreno 220 GPU, 1GB of RAM, an 8MP rear camera capable of taking 1080p video, a 2MP front-facing camera, 16GB of internal storage, a 720p HD 4.3" HD screen and integrated Beats audio. Of all its impressive specs, the screen is the most noteworthy. With a pixel density of 342ppi, it outshines even the iPhone 4S's screen with its sharpness, not to mention the fact that the screen is significantly larger.
Samsung Galaxy S II
The Galaxy S II is the successor to the widely popular Galaxy S, and at the time of its release it was one of the slimmest smartphones, weighing in at 8.49 mm thick. The Galaxy S II features a 1.2 GHz dual-core "Exynos" System on a Chip (SoC) CPU, 1GB of RAM, an 8MP camera capable of 1080p video in addition to a front facing cam, and a 4.3" Super AMOLED+ screen. The Galaxy S II is one of the first devices to offer a Mobile High-def Link, this allows up to 1080p uncompressed video output with HDMI while charging at the same time.
Google Galaxy Nexus
The Google Galaxy Nexus is one of the most anticipated android phones of the year. It boasts a 4.65" 720p Super AMOLED HD screen, a 1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor, 1GB of ram, 16GB of internal storage, an 8MP camera that can take 1080p video & front facing cam, and is the very first phone to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Motorola Droid RAZR
The RAZR is an Android-based follow up to Motorola's iconic RAZR flip-phone that dominated the market years ago. The RAZR is the thinnest android smartphone on the market right now, being 11.1 mm thick. The RAZR is powered by a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, has 1GB of RAM, has an 8MP rear facing camera that can take 1080p videos, a 1.3MP front facing cam, 16GB of internal storage, and a Super AMOLED Advanced 4.3" qHD screen.
Samsung is holding a Google flavored event on October 11th with the tagline “What’s new from Android?“. This is right around the time we expect the Nexus Prime/Ice Cream Sandwich combo to be released, so it’s only fitting to assume that the event will revolve around the next major Android update. The specs of the Prime are unknown, but if history tells us anything, it’s that Google won’t hold back in the hardware department. 4.5″+ screens and dual core processors are now standard on high-end Android devices, and we’re sure that the Prime will be able to keep up with anything that’s currently available.
Ice Cream Sandwich will merge Gingerbread and the tablet-optimized Honeycomb into one single OS capable of running on all form factors. Android has a major issue with fragmentation, and ICS should unify the experience and bring Android’s UI up to par with iOS.
Google-branded SIM cards have been found in testing with Nexus S devices in Spain, fitting with previous rumors of a Google-based cell service. Google currently offers VoIP calling and free texting through their Voice service, but expanding to a full-fledged carrier would be a major update. Currently Google is testing their own ultra-high speed fiber internet service in Kansas City, and is working on offering that same service in other parts of the country.
A friend of mine who works for T-mobile tipped me off to the fact that Google was considering buying T-Mobile. Honestly I'm not surprised, think about it: Google owns the Android OS, and they recently just bought Motorola Mobility. With T-Mobile under their belt they would have complete control of the OS, the phone, and the service.
While this seems like an excellent idea, I'm not entirely sure how this would work out with AT&T purchasing T-Mobile...
The popular Dolphin Browser for Android has made its way to the App Store. This third-party browser is free on the App Store and is fully compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Dolphin Browser has a variety of features such as highly customizable gestures, built-in translations, speed-dial, tabbed browsing, and much more. However, Dolphin Browser is based off of Apple's WebKit so it won't be too much different than any other third-party iOS browser. Hit the link below to head over to Dolphin's website.
This comes by way of Chinese site tw.apple.pro, which has actually a decent track record in recent Apple product releases (they leaked parts of the iPad 2). This photo supposedly shows a white iPhone 5′s backplate with even more evidence of the separation of the camera and the flash components.
The page is in Chinese, so you’ll have to use Google Translate to read it (unless, that is, you speak it). Apparently, this component was from the Beijing Fengtai district.
Google has released their cloud-based music service for Android dubbed "Google Music". Google Music is very similar to Amazon's Cloud Player in that users can upload their media to Google using Google's music managing sync application. (Which is able to connect to your iTunes libraries) Once uploaded, music can be listened to over the air via Google's webapp or an Android device, this is convenient (Especially for older Android devices with little internal storage) because no local storage is required; all your music will be held on Google's servers. Fortunately, Google's music player stores cached copies of recent songs in the even that you lose your connection while listening to your music. Another great feature is that users can manually select songs and albums to be downloaded to their device for offline listening. Another cool feature is the "Instant Mix" that allows for iTunes' Genius-like music mixing.
Playlists are automatically synced across all platforms so no wires are needed. At the moment there is no iOS app, but Apple should be releasing their streaming service sometime soon. But with both Amazon and Google's cloud-based music services, Apple needs to get a move on it to keep up.
Samsung and Sprint have announced that the Google Nexus S 4G from Google will be coming to Spring on 5/8. Pricing will be the same as on other carriers, $199.99. It is currently unknown if Sprint will have both the black and white versions of the Nexus S available. Will you be getting one?
Engadget has found an interesting accessory from a Chinese company called Yosion that turns your iPod Touch into the phone it has always wanted to be.
Powered by an Infineon baseband chip, this adapter not only offers voice calling and text messaging (presumably requiring a jailbroken iPod Touchfor the apps; GPRS not possible yet), but it also doubles up as an 800mAh battery and provides 4.5 hours of call time or 120 hours of standby juice.
It’s unknown whether or not it will ever be available stateside, but it could potentially allow users to buy cheaper cell plans without a two year contract or carrier lock-in. Hit the source for a video of it in action.
Update: I dug around a little, and found the Yosion forums, which have a bit of chatter about the accessory if you’re looking for more info. (Google translate is a must-have, unless you speak Chinese.)
A member of the iPhone Dev Team (the hackers who jailbreak the iPad and iPhone) has successfully installed Google’s Android OS on an iPhone. It’s an early version of the hack, so it’s a little buggy, but it’s definitely working as you can see in the video below. Currently, it only runs on the original iPhone but it’s just a matter of time before it’s running on the 3G and 3Gs.
Oh, and did we mention that you can dual boot the iPhone OS and Android? You can! That means you’ll be able to use all of the 38,000 Android apps (some of which are banned from the iPhone) as well as your old iPhone apps.
Google Maps has added a new feature in Street View, 3D Street View. Unfortunately, since I have lost my 3D glasses I will not be able to test the new street view for a while.
But on top of all that, Google books also has a 3D option. Reading in 3D? I honestly don’t know if I could stand that…
Notion Ink demoed its final version of the Android tablet called Adam prior to Mobile World Congress 2010. In the video cofounder Rohan Shravan shows off some awesome hardware innovation.
It was demonstrated in an area outdoors which was partially shaded and fully exposed to bright sunlight. This was done to show how wonderfully the tablet adapts in either condition; beautiful LCD display in normal lighting and crisp monochrome display in direct sunlight.
Unlike the Apple iPad, Adam has a camera that conveniently swivels 180 degrees. Imagine the use cases: turn towards yourself to have video chats, turn away 90 degrees to record a lecture or seminar while working simultaneously, turn another 90 degrees to take a picture of someone in front of you. Let’s not forget to throw in multi-tasking capabilities.
Another interesting feature places the touch pad on the back, very interesting to control touch screen operation without looking. The Adam tablet also features 3 USB ports, one HDMI out port for full HD in 1080p, eco-friendly using a tenth of the power, and boasting 24 hours of battery life(more than 10 hours viewing full high definition video).
Notion Ink plans to customize the Android operating system it will ship with, plus open up the API for developers to write apps for the larger screen. Although the final software was not ready for the demo, they noted they will have split screen virtual keyboards to allow typing with thumbs on the tablet. Look for it in June 2010 with a price point of $327-$800.
Madison is pulling out all the stops in order to attract Google Fiber to its shores. Dane101 has confirmed with Ald. Mark Clear that Babcock Dairy will launch a "Google ice cream flavor" as part of the city's service bid. Samples will be available tomorrow night at a public meeting being held at Olbrich Gardens at 7:00 p.m. where the public is invited to share ideas for how to convince Google to make Madison its flagship city for the high-speed internet project.
For what it's worth, we're told that the ice cream is "Google colored," with M&Ms and granola (to represent fiber--heyo!).
For more about the Google Fiber project, go here. For more on the meeting,click this.
Google on Thursday will give a technical update on its Chrome OS.
The company is holding an event at its Mountain View campus. The event will be “a technical announcement,” but Google will be showing a few demos as well as detailing its launch plans for next year.
The Chrome OS is in its infancy, but there has been a lot of buzz around a potential launch. At the event, Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management, and Matthew Papakipos, Engineering Director for Google Chrome OS, will be talking up reporters.
Garett Rogers has wondered if launching a bare bones preview of the Chrome OS is a concern. He noted:
The initial release of Chrome OS will likely be very bare-bones, bordering on useless — but depending on what kind of feedback they get, it may grow rapidly. The “release early and often” mantra adopted by many software companies that use agile practices can be extremely dangerous, however.
You’ve probably seen the latest commercial for T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G smartphone, where comedian Whoopi Goldberg, NBA coach Phil Jackson and motorcycle builder Jesse James pass the handset to each other.
But did you ever wonder if the thing was any good?
I spent the better part of a month with the myTouch 3G to find out.
The appeal of the myTouch 3G is apparent from the beginning: it’s the first fully touchscreen handset (no QWERTY keyboard here) powered by the Google Android operating system, and by extension, it’s been positioned as the kind of smartphone that you can feel safe giving to both your parents and kids.
The surprisingly light myTouch 3G is sold to be “100% you,” satisfied by three colors (black, white, burgundy) and an array of customized backplates, skins and apps from the T-Mobile myTouch Studio. It also comes, in a nice touch for users, with headphones, a screen protector, a soft drawstring phone case, a charger that mimics the shape of the phone itself and a cushioned, branded soft-hard case to pack it all inside.
But the aspect of customization also refers to the Android OS that powers the handset. With it, you can program widgets to sit on the three screen-wide home screen, download apps through Android Market and generally do whatever you want with the device — work, play, whatever.
To challenge this proposition, I used the phone for the better part of a workday, syncing my work and personal lives to the device. The phone supports Microsoft Exchange out of the box, and offers a separate icon for the purpose.
I had no problem syncing my corporate mail account to the device, and naturally didn’t have any problem syncing my personal Gmail account, either (Android offers a third option if you have another e-mail provider).
I set up Yahoo! Messenger (work) and Google Chat and AIM (personal) and was effectively on my way.
As is expected, the myTouch integrates perfectly with all Google services. That’s a great thing for those of us who use Google services regularly; if you don’t, this phone will still suffice, but you’ll be missing out on key integration opportunities.
Android uses a notification system that alerts you at the top of the screen of an incoming message. The feature becomes useful if you’re in one connection tool and get messaged with another, but the alert is a bit hard to read.
In this sense, the Android flavor of the myTouch 3G (Cupcake) is still fairly basic, and you need to duck in and out of connection apps to keep abreast of your potential avenues of contact. (It’s the same limitation iPhone users face.)
Other vendors have already begun addressing this problem, including Palm with its webOS for the Pre and Pixi and Motorola with its Motoblur RSS-based widget architecture for the CLIQ. But unless you’re using this device as a hardcore business communication tool, it’s not truly essential to navigate three different IM clients at once.
That said, the myTouch can be quite effective if you’re a user who prefers a touch interface. It improves on the somewhat-maligned T-Mobile G1, made by the same manufacturer, HTC. In losing the G1’s heavy slider keyboard, the myTouch 3G is remarkably lighter, thinner and more pleasurable to use.
(Strangely, I had a difficult time conditioning myself to not confuse the home and power/off buttons.)
The 3.2-inch, 262,000-color, 480×320 pixel resolution screen is as impressive.
The myTouch 3G offers a rollerball that can serve as an alternate navigation method; in practice, I found that the touch-rollerball combo was versatile, intuitive and effective in addressing different situations. (For example, I found myself using the rollerball to navigate menu options; I preferred using my finger for navigating media, such as photos.)
But business-minded users will note the myTouch 3G’s lack of Outlook calendar and contacts sync, as well as a missing file manager. And the virtual keyboard was just a bit scrunched for my big thumbs.
Curiously, despite being “about you,” there aren’t any options to edit photos, or for that matter, a flash for the camera. Furthermore, the handset lacks a standard 3.5mm jack, so you’re limited to using the earbuds that come with the phone.
Storage comes in the form of an included 4GB microSD card — smaller than the iPhone’s storage.
In use, I found the myTouch 3G to be mostly smooth in navigation and loading content, but occasionally Android would hiccup for unexplained reason, a moment’s snag before the interface would catch up (such as when using the sliding main menu on the home screen).
Integration with Google Maps was great, but I found that about 50 percent of the time it was inaccurate. In New York City, it occasionally mapped me 30 blocks from where I was standing; driving down I-95 in New Jersey, it occasionally pinned me in a field adjacent to the highway, rather than on the road itself.
The Android Market for apps is fine enough, but it’s still lacking in surfacing key offerings, such as an official Facebook app. As the Android platform grows in popularity (and it will), this will become a non-issue.
The battery life on the myTouch 3G is much improved over the G1. It’s rated at 7 hours and 30 minutes of talk time and 420 hours standby, and I browsed and messaged and e-mailed on 3G for most of the day without a problem.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Currently, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G is the most versatile Android smartphone on the market. It’s fairly easy for people of all ages to use, and it can be configured to suit a person’s needs rather easily.
The little accessory touches that T-Mobile packages with the device make the purchase price ($199 with a two-year contract) a little easier to swallow.
The mytouch 3G is also a good choice for someone who wants iPhone-like features without buying into Apple’s product ecosystem.
With that said, the market for Android phones is about to expand dramatically, and the reign of the myTouch as the best Android phone out there will be short-lived. Motorola, Samsung and HTC have more Android-based handsets in the pipeline, and several (HTC’s Hero, on Sprint, and Motorola’s CLIQ, on T-Mobile) have shown themselves to be equal to or superior than the myTouch 3G.
Still, when those handsets arrive to market (October), they will command higher prices, and the myTouch 3G will likely be reduced in price. When that occurs, the myTouch 3G will still be able to reinforce its value as the easiest way to transition to a 3G smartphone — no whiz-bang required.
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