One of the hottest, most talked about Android handsets on the radar today is the LG Star. The not-yet-announced LGP990 features a Tegra 2 processor, an 8 megapixel camera, and HDMI output among other things. We’ve seen a handful of images arrive lately but nothing teases folks better than moving pictures. The lucky folks at GSM Israel were privileged enough to get their hands on a Star and only too kind to film it for us. Hit the jump below to see seven minutes of their hands-on time with the hotly anticipated smart phone!
Although the Star is seen sporting Froyo (2.2) in pictures and video, we’re expecting to see it launch with Gingerbread when it debuts in 2011. So who is ready to set aside a little cash for this one?
So you’re a former iPhone lover with a bunch of .mp4 and .mov videos backed up. You do the right thing and buy an Android, but have no way to play those videos of your best friend making a fool of himself at the local pub. Although your friend may be thankful for that, he’ll have to hold his breath, cause the VPlayer for Android is available in Alpha release, and it’ll play those vids no problem.
Along with the 2 codecs mentioned, VPlayer will also play DivX, WMV, MKV, avi, Xvid, and many more. Currently this app is only supported on Android 2.2 devices, but has been found to install on most devices with Android 2.1 as well (Droid X and Droid 2 are not supported).
Search for “VPlayer” in the Android Market or scan the QR below to dust off those once “unplayable” videos!
It’s no secret that smartphones are becoming wildly popular as time goes on, and that trend looks like it will continue throughout 2010. According to the International Data Corporation, market share in Q1 2010 grew by 54.7% compared to the same quarter in 2009. The overall mobile phone market grew 21.7%, with 18.8% of phones shipped in Q1 of this year happening to be smartphones.
Both Motorola and HTC showed the most impressive growth on the Android side of things in Q1 2010 compared to 2009 with market share growth seeing 91.7% and 73.3% for both companies, respectively (note: HTC currently has Windows Mobile-based offerings on the market). Other Android devices were included in the “Others” category, which shows a 23.6% increase of market share from Q1 2009.
Basically what this means is that smartphones are gaining every day in popularity, and Android is right up with their with Nokia, RIM, and Apple as growth is expected to be even more impressive throughout the year (for reference, Q4 is seen as the strongest growth period for the market, which saw growth of 38% in 2009 compared to Q4 of 2008).
Kevin Restivo, senior analyst for IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker says:
More consumers are aware of smartphones now due to positive referrals from friends and family and manufacturer’s mass media campaigns,” said. Restivo. “Coupled with increased confidence on the part of consumers, these factors will create a perfect storm of demand for suppliers this year.
I can’t wait to see how these numbers end up looking with the large influx of high-end, mid-ranged, and low-end devices coming our way this year. As Android is custom-fitted (on a phone-by-phone basis) to tailor to non-techies, we should see a steady increase in market share from Android as a whole, as well.
Rhapsody made a few pretty huge announcements today, one of them being that their Android Application is now available on Android Market! You can download it for free and since Rhapsody offers a free 7-day trial, you can get at least one full week of testing out their streaming music service. If you decide to continue on it’ll cost you $10 bucks a month.
On Tuesday, Rhapsody is also releasing a Rhapsody mobile app for
the Android platform. It is available for free through the Android
Market.
Now, people with Android-powered handsets (like the Motorola
Droid or HTC’s Nexus One and EVO 4G) can explore and stream Rhapsody’s
entire library of over 9.5 million songs from pretty much anywhere.
The app, which has been in beta since January, offers the same
features as the Rhapsody iPhone app released last fall — with one
important difference: Android allows Rhapsody (or any app) to play in
the background while you do other things on the phone.
Using the app requires a Rhapsody subscription — but anyone can
try it for free for seven days.
Actually Mr. Rhapsody sir, that whole “Now” thing along with the “EVO 4G” is a little bit inaccurate… but how we wish it were true. In due time… in due time. Good thing we can ALL say bravo to the whole “background” thing!
Rhapsody also made official their spin off as they are now a singular entity focused entirely on music – rock on! They also took a few moments to expand on that:
Rhapsody has finished the process of formally separating from
RealNetworks and Viacom/MTV Networks. This process took the better
part of a year.
It is now a standalone company, focused solely on music.
Rhapsody will remain headquartered in Seattle, with offices in San
Francisco and New York City.
The news brings Rhapsody full circle, from startup (2001-2003),
to division of a public company (2003-2007), to joint venture with
Viacom (2007-2010), and back to startup — albeit a resource-rich one.
Rhapsody’s 150-person team is relocating to its own offices.
Last week, the company moved into a new downtown Seattle HQ; the San
Francisco and NYC offices will move in the coming months.
Yet another option for streaming music on your Android device – is Rhapsody your long awaited favorite?
Rhapsody made a few pretty huge announcements today, one of them being that their Android Application is now available on Android Market! You can download it for free and since Rhapsody offers a free 7-day trial, you can get at least one full week of testing out their streaming music service. If you decide to continue on it’ll cost you $10 bucks a month.
Recent Comments