AdMob’s latest metrics report, based on a survey of 12.7 million Android phones as of May 31st, shows that the Motorola DROID is the most popular Android model. With a 22% share of the Android pie, the DROID beat out the 16% that was captured by the HTC Hero. The rest of the top 5 is populated by HTC models, the Dream, the Magic and the Droid Eris, each with 8% to 10% of the market. The Nexus One was out of the top 5 with just a 2% share. Because the report was dated prior to the launch of the EVO 4G, the nation’s first 4G enabled device was not on the list although based on its high sales for the first month of its existence, the handset should be in the top 5 next month. As for manufacturers, HTC has a controlling 53% share with Motorola’s 30% mark good for second. Samsung’s 9% makes the Korean based firm a distant third. Upcoming launches that could make a quick impact on the top 5 include Motorola’s DROID X and DROID 2 (launching July 15th and August 23rd, respectively) and the 4 variants for the Samsung Galalxy S that each of the top U.S. carriers will be offering (Verizon Fascinate, AT&T Captivate, T-Mobile Vibrant and Sprint Epic 4G). As we reported, the Vibrant will be the first Galaxy out of the chute in the States, launching July 21st. 67% of Android users are in North America while China is second with 13% of the world’s users of Google’s open source OS
source: AdMob via AfterDawn

[ads right [1]]Believe it or not, there are people around that do not consider the cellphone the greatest technological achievement developed by mankind. For those people, Sprint is offering a series of YouTube videos that answer questions like, “What is an app?” and, “Which apps will I need to stay in shape?” For many, these will seem like the video equivalent of “Android applications for Dummies”, but they do serve a purpose. Next time your aggravating neighbor or relative, the one who makes fun of you for being a cellphone fanatic, has a question about the apps on his new “Android iPhone”, you can refer him to this collection.

source: AndroidGuys

Powering up just one color channel on your Android device’s organic LED display can help save your battery life. Android engineer Jeff Sharkey was able to hack his phone to allow for one color channel to be powered at a time. Using an industrial power meter, he was able to determine which color saved the most battery power. It turns out, red is the color that helps you extend your battery life the most. He said, “Filtering to show only red pixels only requires 35% of the original baseline OLED panel current, on average. Adding back the baseline current, the best case overall is about 42% of the original system current, effectively doubling the battery life. Also, showing only red pixels doubles as an awesome night vision mode, perfect for astronomy.” For more information on Jeff’s experiment, check out the source link.
source: JeffSharkey’sBlog

We recently reported that mobile-review’s Eldar Murtazin had passed along some information about Android 3.0, also known as Gingerbread. To refresh your memory, Murtazin had said that Gingerbread would launch in October and had requirements, namely that an Android handset had to have a 1GHz processor under the hood, 512MB of RAM and a 3.5 inch display or higher. Today, Dan Morrill refuted the whole story, and if anyone should know about Android, it is Morrill. After all, he is the Android Open Source and Compatibility Tech Lead. He is well connected when it comes to Android and in two tweets, he shot down Murtazin’s information. One tweet said , “In summary, please remember that rumors are not official announcements.” The second tweet said, “I love it when people just make stuff up and report it as news.” That tweet included a link to a story about Murtazin’s incorrect info. The best part of Morrill’s refuting of the original story is that Motorola DROID owners get a reprieve for the moment about the Gingerbread update. Sure, we are jumping the gun-the handset is still waiting for Froyo-but knowing that there is still a chance that the first-gen DROID will not reach the end of the line with Android 2.2 might give current owners a little more breathing room before jumping to a 1GHz device.
source: AndroidGuys

For the first time, Yahoo has developed applications for Android devices. These will run on any model running Android 2.0 or higher, but are optimized for the Motorola DROID and the HTC Droid Incredible and Nexus One. The Yahoo Mail app brings BlackBerry style-push notification to your handset and allows you to send e-mail using addresses from your contact list, upload pictures as attachments to your outgoing mail straight from the camera or gallery, offers emoticons and multi-tasking support. The look of the in-box resembles the iPhone’s mail client. The Yahoo Messenger app gives you push notification of messages and can run in the background while you take care of other things. Finally, the Yahoo Search app, available only in the U.S. at this time, has auto-suggest capabilities and will link your search request to breaking news, articles and other web pages. For example, a search for World Cup will come back with current scores. You can download all three of Yahoo’s Android apps for Free. from the Android Market.

Yahoo’s new iPhone Web app is not a native application for the iPhone but is a mobile web site that uses HTML 5 to allow for certain features like offline access. Yahoo says that its Mail for the mobile-web is the most advanced mobile-web site it has ever created and offers full search, message and attachment previews. It is available in 8 languages for over 200 countries and you must opt in at this link from your iPhone or iPod Touch’s web browser. The Yahoo News Web app has also been redesigned with animated effects, a new layout and new touch-based navigation. Check out the video below for more details.
source: ReadWriteWeb

Now that movie rental company Netflix has completed building its app for the iPhone/iPad, it is focusing on its next project. To that end, the company has posted on its web site a job opening for an Android Video Playback Expert. The job description explains that the company is seeking a great engineer to help them build “Instant Streaming client implementations on Android devices.” The position is for a job opening in Los Gatos, California. Netflix will have a lot of catching up to do on the Android platform as competitor Blockbuster already has a streaming video app that will debut with this month’s launch of the Motorola DROID X. Check out the video below to see how the Blockbuster app worked on Android during the CTIA show earlier this year.
source: Netflix via BGR, YouTube (video)

Next month, AdMob plans on changing the monthly analytical report that it has been famous for. The company wants to make the report “more useful going forward” to focus on the industry’s long term trends. The last report of its kind shows that Android is closing on a little more on Apple thanks to a multitude of new devices. The company, recently acquired by Google, reported in its latest survey, dated May 2010, that about 40% of the worldwide OS marketshare belonged to Apple while Google’s open source OS owned a 26% share. Symbian was third with a 24% piece of the pie. In North America, the results for May had Apple with 54%, Android 33% and Symbian with 7%. As of May, 7 out of the top 10 smartphones were Android models. The iPhone was number one with 39.9% with the Motorola DROID a distant second with 6.8% of the market. In third was the HTC Magic with a 2.9% followed by the Nokia N70 with a 2.3% slice of the pie. In firth place was the 2.4% share of the HTC Hero. Besides the DROID, the Magic and the Hero, the other Android devices in the top ten included the HTC Dream (7th, 2.1%), Motorola CLIQ (8th, 1.8%), HTC Droid Eris (T-8th, 1.8%) and the Samsung Moment (10th, 1.5%). As a comparison, in the May 2009 top ten, 7 of the phones were Symbian powered with only the third place Samsung Dream representing Android.
source: Admob via Read, Write, Web

Love movies? With information on 1.5 million films, IMDb brings its repository to the Android Market. Besides reading about old and new motion pictures, and the 3.5 million celebrities and crew that worked on them, the download also brings you movie trailers, reviews from users and professional critics, and movie times for theaters in your area. U.S. users can obtain a guide to what’s on television in your area and recaps of shows from the previous night. Have a bet to settle? The IMDb app provides lists of Academy Awards Best Picture winners, top ranked television and movies from current day and all-time and U.S. Box Office figures to name a few. Already available in the App Store, you can download the app for free from the Android Market or scan the QR code on the source link.
source: IMDb via LATimes

With only the Nexus One gobbling up Froyo at the moment, is it premature to take a gander at the Gingerbread Man? According to Eldar Murtazin of mobile-review, the requirements necessary to get the Android 3.0 OS will mean the end of the line to some household names, including the Motorola DROID-arguably the phone that kicked the current run of Androidmania into high gear. It seems that the Gingerbread Man loves to munch on 1GHz chips which is one of the requirements for 3.0. 512MB of RAM is also a must as is a display of at least 3.5 inches. Just about all of the super spec’d models from HTC, Samsung  and Motorola would be eligible for upgrade. The main focus of Android 3.0 is expected to be to a UX that would eliminate the need for Sense, Motoblur or TouchWiz. According to Murtazin, the galley in Android 2.1 resembles the feel of Android 3.0. The spec requirements could lead to some Android owners deciding to upgrade to one of the newer 1GHz models faster than they might have otherwise. For DROID owners, coming to the end of the line might force them to make some hard decisions.
source: AndroidandMe

Although it’s meant to run on the Linux-based Maemo OS, we’ve seen the Nokia N900 get some face time with Android in the past. In fact, the handset has been a playground for coders and developers ever since it came out, constantly evolving the platform, and adding functionality not there before.

It was just a matter of time before someone shouted “first!” that they have managed to install Android 2.2 on the handset. A video on AndroidCentral forums has popped up to prove it, and the execution seems to work well. Now, the effort is still work in progress, since the phone lacks some basic features such as cell phone signal and Wi-Fi, but it is still fun to watch Android doing its thing on the handset. The first Froyo build on the Nokia N900 also can’t mount your SD card, but other than that the point is proved in the video below.

Now how upsetting is the fact that a Nokia handset is running Froyo, and your Android handset is still waiting in that line?
source: AndroidGuys