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Google announces 900 million Android activations to date

900-million-android-activations

The Google I/O developer conference has just started and the company which has the most popular smartphone platform in the world has just announced that there have been 900 million Android activations till date. This is a huge number, and growth never seems to stop according to Google. Sundar Pichai, the man behind Android, Chrome and Apps at Google announced this number with a nice build up of Android’s history.

Showing a world map, Sundar stressed that there is still tremendous potential, and there is still room for more growth. Asia and African countries are reportedly still only at 10% on Android penetration and Sundar says they are working to bring these 4.5 billion people to the internet, using Android of course. Adding to this, Google also announced that 48 billion app installations have happened from the Google Play store.

You can watch the Google I/O live stream here –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pmPa_KxsAM

Google Nexus 4 now available for pre-order from Flipkart at Rs. 25990

Google is yet to release the Nexus 4 in India on their official Play Store, but the phone has appeared on the online retail site Flipkart at a price tag of Rs. 25,990. Google started selling the Nexus 7 through their official Play Store in India back in March 2013 and the Nexus 4 page on the Google Play said it is not available in India. The 3G version of the Nexus 7 went on sale from retail stores last month and from online retailers earlier this month, but it is not available from Google Play Store. Continue reading “Google Nexus 4 now available for pre-order from Flipkart at Rs. 25990”

Google Nexus 7 32GB WiFi + 3G now available from Snapdeal for Rs. 21999

Google Nexus 7 16GB version went on sale in India from the Google Play Store back in March at a price tag of Rs. 15,999, and the 32GB version went on sale from the Google Play last month at Rs. 18,999. Asus launched the 32GB WiFi and 32GB 3G versions of the tablet in India last month. The 3G version went on sale only from select retail shops such as Reliance, but it didn’t show up on Google Play. Now online retailer Snapdeal has started selling the Nexus 7 32GB WiFi + 3G version along with the 32 GB WiFi version. Continue reading “Google Nexus 7 32GB WiFi + 3G now available from Snapdeal for Rs. 21999”

Google Search for iPhone and iPad updated with Google Now

Remember the leaked YouTube video that revealed that Google Now is coming to iOS ? The update for Google Search is now live that brings Google Now finally. The new Google Search update version 3.0 brings Google Now that shows several cards weather and traffic, favorite sports teams, breaking news stories and lots more. You can just swipe away the cards to dismiss them. Continue reading “Google Search for iPhone and iPad updated with Google Now”

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean might be announced at Google I/O

While we all wait with baited breath for Google to announce the next generation of Android at its annual Google I/O event, it turns out we might be in for a bit of disappointment. Rumors have surfaced that the next update will still be a part of the Jelly Bean family.

Android build numbers traditionally start with the letters of the variant. So, Android Key Lime Pie based OS builds will have the K suffix. The folks over at Android Police have discovered server logs and reports that detail an OS build showing Android 4.3 JWR23B which means that it is based on Jelly Bean. With a bit of IP tracing it has been discovered that the build numbers were from the Nexus 7 and Nexus 4 coming from Google employees. Continue reading “Android 4.3 Jelly Bean might be announced at Google I/O”

Google Mobile search is now faster, gets new Quick view feature

Google has always been improving the search feature on mobile phones. Google search is now faster and easier than before. The new quick link feature for searches lets you jump to a particular information you need quickly, instead of browsing through several pages. Google has also introduced new Quick view feature. Google changed the home page design for mobile similar to Google+ last year. Continue reading “Google Mobile search is now faster, gets new Quick view feature”

Google Play v4.0 announced, brings redesigned UI

Google Play 4.0

Google has announced the new Play Store for Android smartphones and Tablets. The new Google Play version 4.0.25 is a major update from the current version 3.10.14. This update brings a redesigned Holo-inspired user interface with new fonts, bigger images and lots more. This update also lets you discover things faster. The Google Play v4.0 sufaced in a leak last month, that revealed some of the features. Continue reading “Google Play v4.0 announced, brings redesigned UI”

Facebook Home hands on impressions

Facebook Home, the launcher aimed at overtaking your Android phone has just leaked out in a half baked beta release. We took it for a spin on our Google Nexus 4, and found it to be quite buggy, but using the UI for the first time was a fresh experience. So, what do we think about the Facebook home? Will it change your mind about Facebook on mobile? Should you go for Facebook home, if you are a heavy user? We will try to answer them in our initial hands on impressions, past the video below –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq2JsyFOVeA

Continue reading “Facebook Home hands on impressions”

Facebook Home Android launcher coming to select HTC and Samsung phones on April 12

Facebook just announced their Facebook Home Android product and only select HTC and Samsung devices will be getting it initially. The Samsung Galaxy S3 , Galaxy Note 2 and HTC OneX+ are existing devices which are supported.The HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 are new devices which will be compatible with the app. Facebook put rumors about a Facebook phone or an forked Android OS with the launch of this app.

Continue reading “Facebook Home Android launcher coming to select HTC and Samsung phones on April 12”

Chrome for Android updated with password and autofill sync

Google Chrome for Android Autofill and Password Sync

Chrome for Android has been updated to version 26 that brings the password and autofill Sync that was available in the Chrome Beta for Android last month. The Password sync would let you sync passwords easily, and the auto fill option lets you fill out forms quickly on a small screen. The new experimental data compression feature from the beta version is also available for the this stable version of Chrome for Android. It is based on SPDY proxy running on Google servers that would improve the page loading. Continue reading “Chrome for Android updated with password and autofill sync”

Google launches Blink rendering engine based on Webkit

Google has announced today that it is forking Webkit to launch a brand new rendering engine called Blink. Blink will be focussed on speed and simplicity and will be a part of Chromium. The rendering engine will also power future versions of the Chrome app for phones and tablets.

chrome Continue reading “Google launches Blink rendering engine based on Webkit”

Quickoffice for Android and iOS now available for Google Apps for Business users

Back in June 2012, Google had acquired Quickoffice to strengthen its mobile productivity suite offerings. The company has now rolled out the application to Google Apps for Business customers. The application has already been available on the iPad but now Google and iPhone users too can edit Microsoft Office files using the application on their devices.

quickoffice-nexus-android Continue reading “Quickoffice for Android and iOS now available for Google Apps for Business users”

Google Nexus 7 successor coming in July, says Reuters

Google plans to release a new version of the Nexus 7 tablet powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, reports Reuters. The upcoming Google Nexus tablet would have a high-resolution display, thinner bezel and have a Snapdragon Chip, instead of a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor says Reuter’s sources. No details about the model number of the Qualcomm chip or the display size yet. Continue reading “Google Nexus 7 successor coming in July, says Reuters”

Jelly Bean now on 25% of Android devices, Gingerbread down to 39.8%

Android Platform Versions Distribution Pie Chart March to April 2013

Google has released the Android’s Platform Distribution Numbers for the March to April 2013. Devices running on Jelly Bean (Android 4.1 and 4.2) has jumped from 16.5% to 25% compared to February to March stats. This 8.5% jump in a single month shows that manufacturers have started releasing new Jelly Bean devices. Companies like Samsung and Sony have started releasing Jelly Bean updates for their high-end and mid-range devices. Even Indian companies have started rolling out Jelly Bean updates for their devices, but the contribution of these devices might be very less. Micromax A110 Canvas 2 and Salora PowerMaxx got the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update last month. Continue reading “Jelly Bean now on 25% of Android devices, Gingerbread down to 39.8%”

Google Nexus 7 orders already being delivered in India

When the Google Nexus 7 tablet went on sale last week , Google indicated that it would ship the orders by April 5th. But looks like the company decided to ship them out earlier than expected. A few readers have already mailed us that they have already received Fedex tracking numbers for the shipment and 1 reader actually got the device delivered at his home as you can see from the photo below. Continue reading “Google Nexus 7 orders already being delivered in India”