Cool Video of Android Growth

I just found this awesome video of Android growth that Google just uploaded. It shows the growth of Android from the beginning up to it's current state of 350 000 activations per day! 

New Motorola Xoom Commercial

The Motorola Xoom is being released this Thursday by Verizon, to build up some hype they released this kicka$$ commercial. I want one but I don't have $800 and I don't live in the US :(

Netflix Coming To Future Android Snapdragon Devices

Netfflix, the great paid streaming service will be finally coming to Android devices with Snapdragon processors. Apparently there are DRM issues that must be worked around, these can be solved (somehow?) with the Snapdragon processor. Since my phone does not have a Snapdragon, I will have to wait for the HTML5 app....when and if it ever comes out. 

Will Your Canadian Android Device Receive An OS Upgrade?

I just came across this excellent spreadsheet for us Canadian Android users. It provides all of the carriers (13 of them) and their phones (57!), the OS they are currently running, and very importantly, if they will offer an upgrade. The good news is that 79% of phones are running 2.1 or higher, but only 30% are running 2.2 and 0% have 2.3. My LG Shine Plus will be receiving the 2.2 upgrade sometime this winter, but will not receive 2.3. Maybe rooting is in my future? Fragmentation is a PAIN!

Samsung Seine Is A Beast!

Whoa, check out the new specs on the latest-greatest Android phone from Samsung-the Seine:

• 1 GHz Dual Core Orion Processor
• NFC chip
• 8 MP camera with 1080 HD video recording
• Android 2.3
• 1 GB of RAM!
• 9 mm thickness (physically not a beast)
• 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display with 800 x 480 pixels

The release date is not known yet, hopefully we see it soon!

Still Waiting For Android 2.2

As you may know, I love my Android LG Shine Plus! Back in November, one of my favorite blogs, MobileSyrup (Canadian mobile news) wrote that the LG Shine Plus would be getting Android 2.2 "shortly." Well I am still waiting, and haven't heard anything about the update. Although I miss some of the features of 2.2 (browser speed, mobile hotspot, SD storage of apps), I would pick 2.1 over any version of iOS.

Android 2.3: Gingerbread

Today Google announced a new phone, the Samsung Nexus S, and a new version of Android: Gingerbread. The Nexus S is a typical high-end Android phone coming equipped with a 1GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, 16 GB internal memory, and front and rear cameras. Gingerbread ties in nicely with the Nexus S since it supports Near Field Communication (NFC), which uses a chip in the phone to communicate with various sensors (i.e., using the phone as a credit card). Android 2.3 also brings some improvements to the keypad, UI tweaks, and various enhancements for multimedia. Not a huge step forward for Android, but Honeycomb is just around the corner.