Some people tend to forget that Apple and Google were the best of mates before the latter decided to join the mobile world with its Android platform – something which didn’t get much appreciation from one Steven Paul Jobs.

Nevertheless, Google is not the type of company that will give a knee-jerk reaction to this sentiment. Quite the opposite, actually, as Mr. Daniel Alegre, the company’s president in the Asia Pacific region claims that Google benefits from the strong sales of Apple’s iPhone. In his own words:

“Whenever iPhone succeeds, Google succeeds. I actually don’t look at it as iPhone versus Android. iPhone is a very strong driver of query growth for Google. We also monetise apps through the iPhone..we actually benefit from iPhone’s growth.”

Well, it seems Apple and Android fanboys may fight each other in the forums, but the Mountain View-based giant doesn’t mind the iPhone’s success even one bit, which is quite understandable given the fact it profits some good money from the above-mentioned handset.

That, however, is not to say Google is not focused on its Android OS – a notion that’s proved by its success. Mr. Alegre says on the topic:

“We truly believe there has to be as few platforms as possible in order for apps developers to focus their development. So far we are starting to see tremendous success for the Android operating system. We have 300,000 activations per day which is a phenomenal number.”

Do you think that we, as end consumers, will benefit if there are fewer OSs?

source: AdNews via TUAW

We learned about the Maestro tablet line of the indie Australian company Evolve III at CES in January, when they briefly demoed their next generation tablet, which ran all three Windows 7 Home Premium, Android and MeeGo. The previous tablet in that lineup was powered by Intel’s Pinetrail chipset, which is known for providing very short battery life, 2-4 hours at best, when running Windows.

With the Oak Trail platform that Intel announced last week, the company plans to get back in the mobile game, since it is done with a 45nm manufacturing process, meaning less heat, and more hours of work. Intel is also working with Google to run Honeycomb on the Arom chipset family. It’s precisely that 1.5GHz Atom Z670 platform that is in Evolve III’s new Maestro C tablet, and the manufacturer’s specs claim 10+ hours of battery life, while running Windows 7 Home Premium, and the astounding 16+ hours in Android mode. The company has been working closely with Microsoft on the Windows 7 interface, which will have a touch-friendly overlay for the most used functions.

We can already see ourselves surfing with the Android browser, and switching over to Windows 7 for the inevitable scenario when you just need Windows. The 10″ tablet is not spec-shy either – 1024×600 pixels is not great, but Maestro C sports 32GB of internal memory, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, HDMI port, and two USB 2.0 ports – oh, the joy of USB support. The slate is actually a nice example of about 50 devices which Intel promised to run Oak Trail by year-end.

Moreover, the slate comes with an intriguing swivel that covers the ports, and can turn into a kickstand for the tablet, plus Evolve III has made a magnetic cover for it, that doubles as a built-in keyboard, sold separately. Maestro C weighs alright for a 10″ Win7 tablet, at 1.74 pounds (790 grams), but the thickness with the keyboard snapped on is the significant 1.02″ (24 mm).

It can be had as Wi-Fi only, or the more expensive 4G version, which adds a 21Mbps HSPA+ baseband chip, as well as GPS connectivity. The website of the manufacturer says the Maestro C will start from $880, which is quite steep, but, hey, you’ve got stereo speakers to soothe the retail pain with gentle music. Moreover, at CES the reps mentioned it should cost about $100 more than the Pinetrail tablet, which at the time was running for $500, so we might see the Maestro C for the more palatable $600 in the US, but knowing Win7 license costs money we don’t keep our hopes too high. Here’s a video demo below, disregard the S in the title, they are actually showing the Maestro C.

source: EvolveIII via Netbooknews

Weeks after the release of Angry Birds Rio, just in time to feed your game addiction, Angry Birds Seasons: Easter, an update to Angry Birds Seasons, arrives bringing 15 new egg-popping fun levels featuring the familiar set of upset birds facing bunny-clad pigs as the arch-enemy. This update is free for owners of the Angry Birds Seasons edition in both its phone and tablet optimized versions for iDevices, while for Android an ad-sponsored edition of Seasons edition was initially available for free. Three Eastery golden eggs can also be unlocked adding challenge to the fun.

Folks from Rovio are definitely not letting the hype die down – after Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day updates, what could be next?

Download links:

Angry Birds Seasons on Android Market, free

Angry Birds Seasons on iTunes, $0.99

Angry Birds Seasons HD on iTunes (for iPad), $1.99

Samsung Galaxy S II prototype at 1GHz Smartbench 2011 scores

Smartbench 2011 scores from tested pre-production version of the HTC Sensation (our hands-on here), formerly known as the HTC Pyramid, have been leaked. In the same table, the results from a Samsung Galaxy S II have been displayed for comparison purposes.

Smartbench 2011 is one of the few synthetic benchmark tests that are able to measure multicore performance, so these results are for both CPU cores at work. The Samsung Galaxy S II steadily beats the HTC Pyramid in both the productivity (3732 vs 1898 points), and GPU tests (2431 vs 1426 points).

Bear in mind that the Galaxy S II that the test was run on, seems to be the final version, with the 1.2GHz Exynos chipset, and the HTC Pyramid was the internal name of the HTC Sensation when it was still a prototype, so we’ll wait for the retail version to pass judgement on the 1.2Ghz Snapdragon chipset inside.

As you can see on the right, we tried our own preview unit of the Samsung Galaxy S, and scored 3346 on the productivity part of Smartbenchmark 2011, and 2076 on the GPU test, but it is clocked 20% lower than the retail version, at 1GHz for each core.

Thanks for the tip, Philip!

source: TomPDA

Why, oh, why are you the country of dream phones, Japan? Just when we thought we are catching up after years of superior Japan-only handsets, NEC comes out with the NEC MEDIAS N-06C. It still stays slimmer than the Samsung Galaxy S II, but is slightly thicker than its MEDIAS N-04C predecessor. However, it comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread (the N-04C was running Froyo), and is waterproof up to 3 feet.

The chipset has also been bumped to the modern 1GHz, and the rest of the specs stay the same – 4″ display with 480×854 pixels, 1GB RAM/512MB ROM, and 5MP camera with LED flash and HD video recording abilities. The data connection is taken care of with 14.4Mbps download speeds on NTT’s FOMA network.

Nippon Electric Company swaps the physical buttons on the NEC MEDIAS N-04C with touch buttons in the N-06C, and, despite its IPX7 waterproof category, the phone is only 0.31″ (7.9mm) thick. Its predecessor was 0.3″ thick, and carries the crown for the world’s thinnest Android handset.

We don’t know if the NEC MEDIAS N-06C will ever make it outside of Japan and NTT DoCoMo’s confines, although we are willing to sign somewhere for it, but on the right is the spec sheet to drool over the physical dimensions of this Slim Jim. Not to mention it seems to come in a few color combinations, including the all-time favorite pink, and will probably grace the summer lineup of NTT DoCoMo.

via Engadget

The Samsung Galaxy S II is gearing upfor prime time, and as it’s being rolled out for pre-order in various countries, it got its first commercial focusing on the handset’s vivid SuperAMOLED Plus display. Just how vivid is it? This ad aims to convince us that it’s too realistic – enough to fool a kid the fish on the screen is real. With this being said, don’t leave your kids dropping your phone into the fish tank as the awesomeness of punchy colors on the 4.3-inch screen of the Galaxy S II comes for a retail price comparable or even surpassing that of a notebook.

Skip back for the full video below, but if you want more than your usual market speak about the wonders of Super AMOLED Plus, feel free to also check out our cold-blooded comparison detailing its pros and cons over some of the hottest screen technologies like iPhone’s Retina Display and Super AMOLED.

With the eco-friendly Samsung Replenish, Sprint also unveiled a new Android pack, called Green ID, which will serve as a source of green news and earth-friendly information. It will be preinstalled on the Replenish, but you can dress up your own Android phone or tablet in it, if so inclined.

The Sprint ID packs for its Android handsets are in essence topical themes, which vary from sports to business. Green ID sports the Green Now homescreen, which feeds you the latest news from sites like TreeHugger, Earth911 and GreenBiz. Other content from these sites will also be featured in apps – for example, you can find the nearest recycling station with Earth 911’s iRecycle service, or watch videos from Treehugger.

The Live Green homescreen provides weekly tips how to satisfy your eco-cravings, Shop Green directs you to sustainable manufacturers products and services, and finally the Green ID pack forces you to be proactive with the Take Action screen, which presents you with opportunities for volunteering in various eco-oriented actions in your own neck of the woods.

The aforementioned TreeHugger app, and Earth 911’s iRecycle have also been included in Android market, so every owner of an Android device can take advantage of them now.

source: Sprint

The dual-screen Kyocera Echo is being launched today by Sprint. The device got off to a poor start when the Sprint faithful gave it a lukewarm reception when it was introduced. Back then, Sprint customers were hoping for the announcement of a high-end Android device and were taken back by the unique device they were shown.

The Kyocera Echo does have some meat on its bones-a 1GHz Snapdragon chip is on board, a 5MP camera on back, and Android 2.2 under the hood. The display is where the action is, however. Two 3.5 inch screens can be used in various combinations including as a single 4.7 inch display. Both screens have a 480 x 800 resolution.

Sprint is offering the Echo for $199 after a $100 rebate and a signed 2-year pact. Will the phone get a better reception from Sprint customers now that it has been launched?

source: AndroidCentral

Word to the wise. If you’re planning on buying a Sidekick 4G on its expected April 20th launch date, better get up early that day because the demand-supply equation is supposed to be heavily skewed toward the demand side. As popular as the original Sidekick models were, this time the model is 4G enabled and is powered by Android. And the device is also priced to sell at $99 with a signed two-year contract.

While some more high-end devices are expected at T-Mobile at around the same time like the T-Mobile G2X and the T-Mobile G-Slate, the Sidekick 4G has some decent specs as well. While the series is known for its outstanding physical QWERTY keyboards, the Sidekick 4G looks like it won’t disappoint with a 5 row QWERTY. A 1GHz Hummingbird processor powers the phone which has Android 2.2 under the hood. A 3MP camera graces the back of the handset while a VGA front-facing camera allows for video chat, which you will be able to view on the 3.5 inch WVGA display. And with the 4G next to its name, the Sidekick has HSPA+ connectivity which should allow the phone to fly at speeds as high as 21Mbps.

The Sidekick has replaced the swivel design on the display with a unique hinge. An optical trackball is worked into the design of the hardware and the software now includes some social networking features like Sidekick Group Text and Cloud Text. The former allows for group text conversations similar to having a “reply-all” option while texting. The latter allows you to text your friends while on your PC.

Besides Sidekick fans happy to get a chance to buy an up-to-date version of the phone, T-Mobile also will get buyers looking for a device that comes with a multitude of features for a low price. With that in mind, a source at Tmo News says that manufacturing limitations could lead to shortages of the Sidekick 4G for the first 1 to 2 weeks after launch.

source: TmoNews

There could be a shortage of the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G for the first 2 weeks after the expected April 20th launch

Arriving at T-Mobile stores is the LG manufactured G-Slate. And because the tablet offers 3D video capture without a 3D screen, a pair of red and blue anaglyph 3D glasses comes with the device. As we reported, the T-Mobile G-Slate is expected to launch on April 20th.

The G-Slate is arriving at the stores with the Honeycomb build of the Android OS under the hood. That version of Google’s open source OS is optimized for tablets. A Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor is on board. The processor isn’t the only part of the G-Slate with the word “dual” in front of it. On the back of the device is dual 5MP cameras so that the tablet can photograph and capture video in 3D. We already pointed out that the 8.9 inch screen is not a 3D display (and again, that explains the 3D glasses) and does have resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels.

Now that your local T-Mobile store is building up inventory of the G-Slate, anyone impatiently counting down the days until Wednesday?

source: TmoNews

Launching as soon as April 20th, the T-Mobile G-Slate is being shipped to the carrier's stores now

Along with the tablet, buyers will receive a pair of 3D glasses for viewing pictures and video taken with the unit's dual 5MP cameras