Google’s Pichai Discusses What is Next for Chrome for Android

Google’s Chrome has been a popular and innovative browser since its introduction in 2008. We finally got a taste of Chrome for Android with the beta version, which was released this February. In an interview with CNET, Sundar Pichai, the head of Chrome and Google’s Senior VP, spoke on the future of Chrome for Android. Even though Chrome for Android is only available for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which amounts to around 1 percent of Android users, the browser has been downloaded between 100,000-500,000 times. Pichai says this healthy start is just the beginning, and there will be huge improvements over the next year. He then outlines some of the areas that are already good about Chrome for Android, and what can be improved:

People generally find it fast. They generally love sync [in which Chrome on a personal computer works shares settings with the Android version]. The tab stack [which lets people switch among browser tabs] people call out and say is visually slick.
For areas for improvement, people want an ability to see the desktop version of sites. That’s a common request. Second is full screen. Both fully make sense. We just want to do them correctly and well.
Third, there have been some questions about Flash [Adobe Systems' browser plug-in]. Following their road map, they clearly said they’ll not support Flash for mobile in the future. They’re investing a lot in HTML5. I don’t expect that to be a major issue, but we will address full-screen and the ability to see desktop versions [of Web sites]. And we’ll definitely bring it to many countries.

From a business standpoint, Pichai plans to expand the Chrome Web Store, which currently has quite a bit of free content. This won’t always be the case, as the store will eventually have more paid apps. Pichai hopes to turn the million of installs the Chrome Web Store has every day into profit.

How do you feel about the expansion of the Chrome Web Store, the added functionality of full desktop versions on websites, and full screen browsing? Shout out in the comments.

source: CNET

Samsung's 2012 mobile line-up to be revealed on March 15

Come one, come all! Samsung may have bowed out of MWC, but all those who have been patient so far, will be rewarded. The Korean smartphone giant is busy sending out invites to their big event on March 15 where they’ll showcase their 2012 line-up of smartphones and possibly tablets. The invitation itself does not give away anything; in fact it’s just an abstract drawing, so we know the event will not be focused around just one phone.

What's in store for us?

As to what phones will be unveiled in Amsterdam? This is anybody’s guess. We sincerely hope that Samsung reveals the Galaxy S III, as the suspense is just too much to handle. We know, given the past experiences, that the new phone would be loosely based on the Galaxy Nexus or it could be something different, altogether. Rumour has it that there could possibly be up to twelve different variants of the S III, some being water proof, while the others having a 3D display. We’ll know for sure how much of this is true only at the event, so there’s nothing to do, but wait. What are your thoughts on this? What phones do you think will be unveiled or better still, what phones would you like to see from Samsung for 2012

Android 5 Jelly Bean Getting Webtop-like Dock Mode

When we last reported on speculative details of Google’s upcoming Android 5.0, it was rumored that Jelly Bean would be further optimized for tablets by adding some elements of Chrome OS. This sparked off the assumption that dual-booting with Windows 8 would be possible.

We are now learning that what actually might be included is a native docking mode, similar to Motorola’s Webtop, which launches a custom desktop-like interface when the device is connected to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. In his latest column for mobile-review, Eldar Murtazin writes that the dual-boot rumor from last week “remains a hypothesis from the realm of fantasy…” and that this may have been confused with a native docking mode similar to what Motorola was doing since the first Motorola Atrix.

He goes on to speculate that it would make more sense for Google to invest in providing expanded desktop apps when a device is docked, than to provide the ability to dual boot into a different OS. I tend to agree. I don’t see any manufacturers interested in creating dual OS devices out of the box, since it would raise the price significantly if Windows had to be included. That’s not to say it won’t be possible… I have faith in the Android development community… but for Google to bake that in natively does seem like a stretch.

With Google’s acquisition of Motorola finally approved, this rumor starts to hold a bit more water. Could Google be re-purposing Webtop itself, or will they build their own docking mode from scratch? Maybe we’ll hear something at this year’s Google I/O.

Retailers to halt iPad sales in China, post ruling

An update to the ongoing Apple - Proview dispute over the trademark "iPad" name, comes from the Intermediate People's Court, in the city of Huizhou, dealing a blow to Apple's ambitions in the country. The lower court has in its ruling ordered retailers across the country to halt the sales of the iPad tablet in the country. Although not being considered as the one to have far-reaching impacts, a CNET report confirms that Proview Technology has sought to cease the sales of the iPad tablet, across some 40 cities in China. Apple, in a parallel update has threatened Proview Technology with a defamation lawsuit, while Proview Technology has threatened Apple with a $2 billion lawsuit, which it plans to file in U.S courts, in a manner similar to the one currently filed at a court in China. 

In the line of fire..!

There, however seems to be some ambiguity on the matter. Cupertino-based, Apple Inc. is of the opinion that they've had a deal with Proview Technology, earlier, wherein the specifics of the iPad trademark were sorted. Proview Technology, however, according to Apple is refusing to accept this. Quoting an Apple representative, the report stated, "We bought Proview's worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago. Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China and a Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in this matter." Proview, on their part have, according to this report, "...claimed that one of its subsidiaries sold the name to Apple years ago but didn't have the authority to do so. Proview has reportedly been looking to settle out of court over the issue but says that Apple has so far failed to respond to its requests."

China-based, Proview Technology and Cupertino-based, Apple Inc. have been embroiled in a bitter tangle over the ownership of the iPad trademark in China. While Apple claims to be the rightful owner of the global trademark name, iPad, including in China; Proview claims that when Apple had gone about securing the rights to the trademark name, globally, Proview had retained ownership to theirs and it has remained so, ever since. Now, having expressed displeasure over Apple carrying out the sales of the tablet in the country, the battle has been escalating. The China-based company had, on the grounds of temporary impoundment had asked authorities to seize several units of the iPad tablet, which retailers had put up for sales. Proview, however have admitted that Apple's burgeoning fan base in the country is making the task a little difficult for them.

Android phones to capture 80 percent of Indian market by 2015

The news that Android phones are the dominant force in the phone market today comes as no surprise, and this is only going to get better, as Android smartphones are going to dominate the phone market in India, China and Africa, says In-Stat, a market research company. It’s a different situation in the U.S. as those service providers who didn’t tie up with Apple for their iPhone, chose Android as the alternative. The success of Android in the American market is by the high-end, expensive smartphones. The low-end, more affordable devices are more popular in emerging economies, such as ours. In-Stat claims that by 2015, Android will take up close to 80 percent of the phone market in these countries. 

Low-priced devices to be king

Most of these Android devices would be ones running on the slightly older builds - 2.2, 2.3, and so on. They would have a single-core 600MHz processor and the typical price would be $150 or lower - roughly Rs.7,500 or lower. The ‘gray market’ would be a popular place to buy these phones and manufacturers, such as Huawei, Micromax, Motorola, Samsung, Spice and ZTE are likely to take centrestage. It’s not just going to be Android - companies such as Nokia and Samsung will compete for this price bracket as well. The Samsung Bada operating system and Nokia’s upcoming Meltemi operating system should replace the outdated Symbian S40 operating system. Phone manufacturers look to gain by selling hardware, whereas Google hopes to gain by making money off advertising. 

Microsoft also hopes to reduce prices of their Windows Phone platform to try and approach a similar price that can woo prospective customers. Some 340 million low-cost Android smartphones are expected to ship in 2015. These large numbers will force the Android platform as a whole to be scattered even more. The new ICS platform requires more processing power and memory requirements, thus making it difficult to port back to older devices, which means the older 2.2 (FroYo) and 2.3 (Gingerbread) Android operating systems will be king for some more time.

Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy Mini 2 make a debut

Samsung’s manufacturing them like the rabbits do! Week after week they’re launching new devices with seemingly similar names. Now, we’ve got the Galaxy Ace 2 (not to be mistaken for the S 2, too bad if you have that accent!) and the Galaxy Mini 2. Let’s have a look at what the spec sheet for these ‘2’ looks like!

The Galaxy Ace 2

The Galaxy Ace 2 comes with the following specs:

• 3.8-inch WVGA PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution
• 800 MHz dual core processor, 768 MB of RAM
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread 
• 4GB internal storage
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct
• GPS with A-GPS support and GLONASS
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• NFC (only in select countries/ optional)
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, 720p video recording
• VGA front camera
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket
• 1500 mAh Lithuim - ion battery

The Galaxy Mini 2

The other device, the Galaxy Mini 2 has the following specifications:

• 3.27-inch HVGA TFT capacitive touchscreen with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 800 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread 
• 4GB internal storage
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• NFC (only in select countries/ optional)
• 3 megapixel fixed focus camera, VGA recording @25fps
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket
• 1300 mAh Lithuim - ion battery

To be honest, we’ve lost count of the number of smartphones that Samsung has announced in the recent past and we might just have to include new categories for these phones besides the usual mid and low budget, with mid-low budget, low-mid budget, mid-high budget and so on. The Galaxy Ace 2 seems like the higher end phone with a dual core processor, et al. The Mini 2 seems like a budget Android.