Treeduck

Motorola might be getting ready to pick itself up off the canvas and rejoin the smartphone fight.

Motorola's first Android phone could look something like this. (Credit: Boy Genius Report)

The Boy Genius Report got its hands on some information and photos of Motorola's supposed first Android phone, codenamed Calgary. If the information is correct, it's a slider phone with a QWERTY keyboard that will appear on the US Verizon network at some point later this year.

Motorola has been essentially sitting out the last year or so of the smartphone market as the company tries to figure out whether or not it actually wants to be in that business. But the company was an early backer of Google's Android project, and has been rumoured for some time to be working on Android-powered handsets.

The Android news keeps getting better and better. The latest rumour from the US is that the soon to be released Motorola Droid will run Android OS version 2.0. Phones available currently run the 1.6 version of the software, affectionately known as Cupcake.

The Moto Droid next to a screenshot of car-mode from Android 2.0

The Boy Genius Report (BGR) has posted numerous photos of the Moto Droid handset, which sports a large WVGA touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and according to the BGR it is the fastest Android handset it has used to date.

The upgraded Android OS reportedly brings a swag of new features. Along with updated menu icons (visible in the screenshot above), version 2.0 also brings greater built-in social networking functionality, MS Exchange support, a universal search option which searches your phone and the web simultaneously, and a car mode that simplifies the UI for easier use when driving.

The Droid is Verizon exclusive in the US and in preparation for the big launch the company is playing some cheeky anti-iPhone ads on TV. The ads don't show the phone itself, but reminds customers of various tasks an iPhone won't do, with the tagline "Droid does".

A mobile AdSense ad appears at the bottom of the Boy Genius Report's mobile site.
(Credit: Google
The march of the ads from the PC to the smartphone took another step Monday with the launch of Google AdSense for high-end phones.
Web publishers can now design AdSense ads--groups of Google AdWords text ads displayed by third-party publishers on their Web sites--with the HTML browsers used by smartphones in mind, Google announced Monday in a blog post. Advertisers had been able to run smaller mobile ads that older mobile phone browsers could handle, but they'll now have an option of showing a more sophisticated ad on a more sophisticated browser like those used by the iPhone, the Palm Pre, and Android phones.
One of the more interesting stories for Google over the next several years will be whether it can replicate its dominant position in PC-based search and search advertising onto the mobile device. Any way you slice it, smart mobile devices are expected to grow at dizzying rates over the next several years and have already evolved to the point where they pack substantial computing power.
As people spend more and more time online with those smaller screens, there will be an opportunity for advertisers and Google to make some money. Google also offers its advertising partners the chance to display AdWords ads on mobile search or AdSense ads in mobile applications for the iPhone and Android devices.

Update at 5 a.m. PDT Tuesday: Google and Verizon Wireless announced they are forming a partnership to "leverage" Verizon's 3G network and Google's Android platform to deliver mobile applications, services, and devices. They plan to co-develop "several Android-based devices," and Verizon will release Android handsets in the next few weeks, the companies said.
Google and Verizon Wireless plan to hold a joint press conference Tuesday morning on the eve of the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment Show, they announced late Monday night.

Details were scarce, and a Google representative declined to comment on the nature of the conference. But given the timing and participants--Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam--it seems the companies are ready to talk about plans for Google's Android mobile operating system.
Verizon has yet to release an Android device. At present, the carrier leans on Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphones, as well as Windows Mobile phones. But rumors have been building for months about Verizon hooking up with Google on a number of Android-powered phones from companies like Motorola and HTC: The Boy Genius Report reported Sunday that Best Buy plans to offer an Android device for Verizon's network.
It's likewise not clear whether we are talking about a smartphone, a Netbook, or something else entirely. It will be interesting to see how Verizon's traditional policy of tight control over the software that runs on its network meshes with Google's free-and-open approach to Android applications.
Originally posted at Relevant Results

The GMSA Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona could have been a great place for Google to demonstrate progress establishing Android in the industry, but instead the open-source operating system showed only a slightly larger toehold.
Google has high hopes for Android, which the company launched in an effort to spur smartphone development, mobile use of the Web, and new search advertising. Although Android certainly isn't vaporware, and Google's clout makes the effort a serious challenge to other operating systems, so far Android's potential exceeds its real-world presence.

HTC's Magic is the second Android-powered phone to hit the market.
(Credit: HTC)
The biggest Android news from the show was the debut of the HTC Magic. This new Android model is the second Android model from the Taiwanese company; the first, HTC's Dream, is better known as the T-Mobile G1.
The Magic has a touch-screen keyboard, like the Apple iPhone and unlike the Dream's physical keyboard. Vodafone will offer the Android phone as the exclusive supplier in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and France, and as a nonexclusive supplier in Italy.
The Magic also made a cameo in a Google demonstration of a high-powered, offline-capable version mobile Gmail.
The next tidbit came with Huawei Technologies' mock-up of an iPhone-like Android model. Although that system wasn't actually running any software, Edward Chen, leader of Huawei's device business unit, said the company expected them to be on the market in the third quarter of 2009.
After that, though, it was slim pickings, though Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and Garmin all have committed to releasing Android devices this year. Samsung decided against showing off its Android phone. Meanwhile, Microsoft showed off its forthcoming Windows Mobile 6.5, due in the fourth quarter.
Rich Miner, leader of the Android effort, wasn't worried about the relative lack of Android phones.
"We think we are very much on track. We only released the open-source code late last October," Miner said in an interview. "We said we'd have the release software out in 2008 and we did. We said we'd have at least one phone out in 2008, and we launched that in October."
Designing phones takes time, he added. "If you understand anything about the design cycle for OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to build handsets, it takes a good 12 to 18 months to go from paper to completion. And there are many handsets in development now. The second phone has been announced and we expect to see more throughout the year," Miner said.
Android shows in smartphones with a lot of computing muscle today, but Miner also promised that Android would move into more mainstream phones next year.
"The vision long term is to take this down market, but this is the first version and we wanted it to be best-in-class and to come out with a bang. In terms of going down market, we'll probably start to see lower-end smartphones and higher-end feature phones using it in 2010," Miner said. "The key thing to remember is that this release is 1.0 of the software. We're very happy with the first and second phones that have come out."
CNET News staff writer Maggie Reardon contributed to this report.

Streaming music service Spotify has launched on the iPhone and Android devices for its premium subscribers only. You can download it from Apple’s App Store here and the Android Market. Though plans to launch there are in play, the service is not yet live in the US, and it has already taken several European markets by storm. This iPhone app is basically identical to the leaked beta we reviewed in detail.

The mobile apps will allow you to play the entire Spotify catalogue and the ‘offline mode’ caches playlists so they can be played… when you are offline, like on a plane. Spotify has set up a special mobile section with more details.

The launch of this mobile version now fires the starting gun on their US launch plans. A large number of record labels have actually invested in the Swedish-born, London-based startup, which is now valued at €170 million, or about $242 million, with a post money valuation of around €200 million.

This is the first time Spotify has gone mobile with its service and it’s sure to cause a lot of interest. Spotify really is unlike pretty much any streaming service you’ve tried before, mainly because tracks start to play almost instantly due to the P2P technology employed. On a mobile the effect is impressive. See the video below.

Though on the face of it Spotify appears to compete with iTunes,in reality, as we predicted, Apple appears to be relaxed about the service, presumably so long as the mobile app remains tied to premium subscribers. Oh, and Mark Zuckerburg loves it.

Competition in the smartphone market is heating up this summer as one new hot smartphone after another hits the street. The latest is T-Mobile's next Google Android device, called the myTouch.
T-Mobile myTouch

T-Mobile will announce the new smartphone Monday. It is the second smartphone the carrier has introduced that uses Google's open-source mobile operating system, Android. T-Mobile introduced the world's first Google Android phone, called the G1, last fall. And so far the company claims it has sold over 1 million devices.

The myTouch is manufactured by HTC and is essentially the same hardware design as the Google Ion, which is also known as the HTC Magic. The device was introduced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February and is now being sold by Vodafone in various markets around the world.

The Google Ion/HTC Magic has been described as thinner than the G1 and slightly smaller than Apple's iPhone. But it features a large 3.2-inch touch screen with a resolution of 320 x480 pixels and no physical keyboard. The phone offers network support for 3G and Wi-Fi.

The myTouch comes with 512 Megabytes of internal memory and supports microSD for external storage. The device will ship with a 4GB microSD card, but customers can add more storage if they'd like.

Even though T-Mobile's first Android phone hasn't even been out a year, T-Mobile is calling the myTouch its premier Android smartphone, said Andrew Sherrard, vice president at T-Mobile. The carrier will announce a few more Android devices later this year, but it will be focusing much of its marketing efforts promoting the myTouch. And while Sherrard said the G1 isn't going away anytime soon, he believes the myTouch will have an even better chance to pick up new customers who are looking for an easy to use smartphone.

T-Mobile plans to sell the myTouch for $199 with a two-year service contract, and it will be available to current T-Mobile customers starting July 8. Non-T-Mobile customers will be able to get the new phone in early August.

The myTouch is entering the market just as every major smartphone maker is also introducing its latest and greatest device. Three other smartphones makers have already started selling phones this summer. Palm's much anticipated Pre was introduced on Sprint Nextel's network two weeks ago. Nokia followed with its U.S. debut of the N97, touch-screen smartphone. And Apple started selling its faster and memory-enhanced iPhone 3G S on Friday.

Like the Palm Pre and Apple iPhone 3G S, the myTouch will be sold exclusively through a single wireless operator in the U.S. And as a result the $199 price tag is subsidized and requires consumers sign a two-year service contract with the carriers. By contrast, Nokia's N97 is not subsidized and is sold at full retail price without a service contract.

So how does T-Mobile expect the myTouch to stand out among all these other cool new phones? The key, Sherrard said, is personalization. While the basic hardware design of the myTouch is the same as the HTC Magic, T-Mobile has made enhancements to the device both in terms of hardware and software.

"No two myTouch devices will be alike," Sherrard said. "They will be as unique as the users that own them."

From a software perspective, consumers will have the opportunity to completely customize their myTouch device with various Android applications. In retail stores, T-Mobile sales representatives will help customers set up their own personalized device before they leave the store.

The location-based application Sherpa was designed specially for the myTouch.

One example of an application that will make the phone more unique to a particular individual is called Sherpa, created by Geodelic. This application is a location-based service that uses GPS to help users find restaurants, movie theaters, and other businesses or points of interest that are nearby.

What differentiates this service from other location based services is that Sherpa learns where users have been and what they have searched for in the past, and the application is able to make recommendations. It might show some local businesses that it thinks a user might be interested in, such as the nearest dry cleaner. Or the application might highlight special events going on in that area. It also will tell users how far they are from whichever location they are trying to find.

The application, which is one of 5,000 applications available on the Android Marketplace, will be exclusive to T-Mobile, Sherrard said. The myTouch will also have special Google features baked in, such as easy picture uploading to Picasa and easy video loading to YouTube, both Web properties owned by Google.

Some other ways users will be able to customize their phones includes the ability to add widgets, music, a personal calendar, photos, and Web link shortcuts that can all be accessed with a single click.

"What we have found is that once consumers know how to customize a device and they add everything they want on it, they respond very well to having a phone that is specially designed for them," Sherrard said.

Still, the battle for the smartphone customer could get bloody. Even though Apple's iPhone 3G S offered only a modest hardware upgrade, it still flew off the shelves the first weekend it was on the market. Analysts said earlier they had expected Apple to sell 500,000 iPhone 3G S devices during the weekend, and it's likely that the company easily exceeded these expectations.

The Palm Pre also got off to a good start with devices selling out the first weekend it was on sale. And Research In Motion, one of the biggest smartphone makers on the market, expects to introduce the BlackBerry Tour and the next generation of its touch-screen BlackBerry phone, the Storm, later this year.

Google Maps acquires Android voice search

This past weekend, Google introduced a new version of its glossy Maps application for Android phones. Version 3.1.0 brings with it several new features, including voice search to go with its text search field and transit and walking directions to go with step-by-step driving directions.

In tests, Google's voice search on Android was fairly consistent with other voice search apps we've tested. That is to say, a skosh inconsistent. Most searches for banal items of daily life like "shoe repair shop" and "coffee" plotted the sought-for neighborhood responses on the map. Once or twice, even in a quiet house at a quiet hour, did a phrase like "sushi" yield "nc," with the map racing off to North Carolina.

The trip planner in particular worked extremely well for San Francisco. As with the online version, Google's Transit works in 250 cities. Indeed, Google Maps quickly and accurately planned and timed my commute, providing options for other routes in the near past and future. To get directions with public transit, tap "Directions'" from the menu, select the middle icon, of a bus, and enter the end point, which can be an address or a business name. You're also able to set a specific departure time or arrival time and day. For city-dwellers, accurate walking and transportation directions are a necessity.

Rolled into the release is an experimental feature. Updates, which is connected to Google Latitude, lets you actively change your Latitude status for friends to see--so long as they're also using the latest version of Maps.

The erasure of Street View as its own map mode is another change you'll see. Instead, it has been integrated into any search result where the view is applicable. Pressing a point on the map will also bring up a Street View thumbnail if there's an available image.

For a change, Google Maps 3.1.0 isn't being automatically pushed to new users. To get it, download it fresh through the Android Market on your phone. The application is compatible with Android platform 1.0 and 1.5, so G1 and HTC Magic users can fire it up alike.

Last December we showed you how Google refined its search results for iPhone and Android. The change loaded pages faster and fit the results to the screen width for searches generated from Google.com (plus for the specialized Google widget on Android and the search box on Safari.)

On Wednesday, Google began supporting these optimized results for feature phones--essentially handsets that are not smartphones or PDAs--in 38 languages and in more than 60 countries. The project to revamp search results builds on a March 2009 initiative that included iPhone and Android phones in about 20 countries. After that, it expanded to feature phones in the US and Japan.

The optimized result is a listings page very similar to what you would see on your desktop, that is populated with image, blog, video, news, and product entries that are relevant to your search, often as the first result. An image showing the local weather forecast is one common example; a thumbnail of a Google map or movie showtimes are two others.

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