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HTc Pro1

Windows and Android developers over at XDA-Developers have taken the newest Cyanogen Mod and its still very capable to old phone from HTC like The touch Pro 1. Now All HTC Users can enjoy an Android-like User Interface even on old windows Mobile phones or New too. The Cyanogen builds usually come fully loaded, just as a fresh Android built phone would. This particular one carries with it Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, standard phone, messaging and Much More features.

 

Here are the screenshots of CM6-RC2 (Froyorider-Port):





The official "Google Phone" the kinda dead Nexus One, is still Google's official "dev phone." The phone, available unlocked for $529, is running the latest Android version and includes the "Google Experience" suite for Android development.

The Nexus One combines an up to the minute platform (Android 2.2), modern hardware, and the pure Google Experience software suite. It's a good choice both for people who want to build Android applications using either the SDK or the NDK, and those who want to experiment with modified versions of the Android platform. Note that the Nexus One still ships with Android 2.1 but will download 2.2 soon after you turn it on; make sure you're near a fast network.

 


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If you're an Android user, I'm pretty sure you've tried to use the official Facebook app. And then given up.

The functionality is lame, the notifications don't work, and — most annoying of all — most of the actions within the app require being bumped out onto the mobile site anyway. In short: it stinks.

But today, all that changes. Today sees version 1.3 hit the Android Market, and with it comes a butt-load of improvements. So many, in fact, that I may start using the app regularly. And that's saying something.

So, what's changed?

First up: don't expect complete liberation from the mobile site. Clicking on a notification still bumps you out to the (touch) Facebook page. This is still a bit of a bummer (as it makes you question why you even opened the app), but most features are now in-app. For instance, messages can be read and responded to from within the app. But wait, there's more…

FB

First and foremost is the timeline of pictures that sits down the bottom of the main screen. This shows the latest images from your News Feed. Handily, this includes the thumbnails for any links posted, so is a good place to see if any of your friends have found a new video of cats chasing laser beams.

Also, the notifications are no longer tucked away under a menu, but rather, appear as a notification “drawer” similar to Android's native notification system (only down the bottom of the screen). This is actually quite nice, as you now know how many notifications you have as soon as you open the app.

Photos are now also handled within the app, and you can comment from within the app, too.

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So, to round off, this updated is a must-have for every Android user (assuming you're also a Facebook user, that is), and one that has been much-needed for a long time now. The functionality divide between the iOS Facebook app and the Android app is now finally closing. Let's just hope that Monsieur Zuckerberg's switch to Android keeps this progress rolling. Hands up who wants Facebook chat enabled?


M6000

A new mobile phone has been especially designed for people with hearing impairment, and features extra-loud ringtones and loudspeaker. 

The simply designed handset is also ideal for older people and the sight impaired, as it comes with large, clear buttons and a generally uncluttered design that will please all those who eschew overly-sophisticated handsets. 

The screen on the handset also displays text messages in extra large type. For the elderly there is an SOS button at the back to allow the user to call a relative in an emergency. 

Although the extra-loud ringtone is a useful feature for those with poor hearing, its ability to reach 100 decibels (the same volume as a pneumatic drill) could prove to be a nuisance for anyone else in the vicinity. 

In fact, the Amplicon M6000 can reach even higher levels, up to 110dB - the equivalent of a South African vuvuzela horn being blown next to the unfortunate victim's head, according to the 
Daily Mail

Amplicon's product manager David Youngs, who himself has hearing difficulties, said that often people don't like to wear their hearing aids when making calls. The same goes for watching movies and listening to music, so soundbars for hard-of-hearing individuals have been developed by audio companies as well.


Mr Youngs said: "I can make a call and even if I haven't got my hearing aid on, I can just push the volume up and hear the conversation perfectly." 

He added that the ring tone is so loud that users would probably get themselves thrown out of a restaurant! However, he said the simple design would be welcomed by all those who "want simplicity", and for whom "talk of megapixel cameras, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and music files is extremely offputting." 


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Analyst firm Canalys has been going over the numbers released by the various players in the smartphone business for Q2 and has some interesting trends to report. Smartphone shipments surged ahead 64% year on year indicating the market segment is still enjoying healthy growth despite weak economic conditions in many parts of the world. There are a few notable mentions in the figures so we'll take a look at each in turn:

Apple saw shipments of iPhones grow a very healthy 61% compared with Q2 of 2009, but crucially slowler than the 64% growth for the smartphone segment overall. However, the increase it did see has put it in third place as the best selling platform, with RIM taking the second spot.

Nokia managed to hold onto their lead of the smartphone market and command a still impressive market share of 38%. Smartphone shipments were up 41%, much lower than Apple, but that figure actually represents a record number for Nokia in that 23.8 million units were shipped during Q2. It's still important to recognise though, that like Apple, they are growing slower than the market is overall.

RIM managed to ship enough units to maintain its place as the second most popular purveyour of smartphones with an 18% share of the market. RIM's growth rate was the same as Nokia's, 41% for Q2, and like Nokia this represents a slower than market growth rate.

Android has emerged as the big winner here in terms of growth with an almost 900% increase in shipments. The overall market growth rate is 64% for Q2 and to say that Android exceeds that figure would be something of an understatement. The actual figure is 886%, but we have to remember the context of this figure, which is that Android is essentially building its base at the moment. Growth rates are always going to be spectacular when you are starting off near the bottom. Having said that if Android can maintain even a fraction of this growth rate they should be propelled straight to the top of the smartphone market in a matter of a few years.


nist

At dusk, a car stops at a checkpoint in Afghanistan. It is a tense moment for all. Because an interpreter is not available, U.S. Marines use hand gestures to ask the driver to step out of the car and open the trunk and hood for inspection. There's a lot of room for error.

This scene was re-enacted recently during an evaluation at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—but, this time, the Marine had a new smart phone-based device that translates his English into the driver’s native Pashto and the Pashto back into English.

For the past four years, scientists at NIST have been conducting detailed performance evaluations of speech translation systems for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Previous systems used microphones and portable computers. In the most recent tests, the NIST team evaluated three two-way, real-time, voice-translation devices designed to improve communications between the U.S. military and non-English speakers in foreign countries.

Traditionally, the military has relied on human translators for communicating with non-English speakers in foreign countries, but the job is dangerous and skilled translators often are in short supply. And, sometimes, translators may have ulterior motives, according to NIST’s Brian Weiss. The DARPA project, called TRANSTAC (spoken language communication and TRANSlation system for TACtical use), aims to provide a technology-based solution. Currently, the focus is on Pashto, a native Afghani tongue, but NIST has also assessed machine translation systems for Dari—also spoken in Afghanistan—and Iraqi Arabic.

A U.S. Marine and a native Pashto speaker

A U.S. Marine and a native Pashto speaker converse using a smart phone voice translation system as part of an evaluation of the technology recently conducted by NIST for the Defense Department.

All new TRANSTAC systems all work much the same way, says project manager Craig Schlenoff. An English speaker talks into the phone. Automatic speech recognition distinguishes what is said and generates a text file that software translates to the target language. Text-to-speech technology converts the resulting text file into an oral response in the foreign language. This process is reversed for the foreign language speaker.

NIST researchers held focus groups with U.S. military personnel who have served overseas to determine critical communication interactions to simulate and evaluate in tests. The research team then devised 25 scenarios for evaluating the performance of translation devices. These included vehicle checkpoints; communication of key information, such as how long electricity will be available each day; facility inspections; medical assessments; and Afghani-U.S. military training exercises. Marines experienced in these tasks and native Kandahari-dialect Pashto speakers acted out the scenarios without a script. Each scenario was performed using the three industry-developed translation devices.

For each test, on-site judges observed the scenarios, and the participating Marines and Pashto speakers were surveyed about the ease of interaction with the systems. Later, a separate panel of judges fluent in English and Pashto viewed videos of the exercise and evaluated each of the three systems in terms how accurately concepts were communicated in both languages, Schlenoff says.

“We are writing a detailed assessment of the evaluation for DARPA so they can make an informed decision to determine where to direct funds and efforts in the TRANSTAC project,” says Schlenoff.


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  • Hardware: Just like some of the early videos indicated, the tablet is made entirely of black plastic. For $150 we can't really knock the build quality of this thing, but we do have to say the $199 Archos 7 Home Tablet feels a lot sturdier and is also a bit thinner. Still, the Augen tablet is satisfactorily light and it's easy to hold up to read a website or e-book. As we've said before, 7-inch tablets are an ideal size for holding in one hand. Oh, and as you will see in the gallery, Augen throws in a faux leather case -- probably to hide the 78's cheap aesthetic. Surrounding the tablet is a micro-USB port, a 2.5mm headphone jack (yeah, it's a bummer!) and a microSD card slot. As for that headphone jack, Augen has told us that if you email them atsupport@augenus.com, they'll send you a pair of 2.5mm headphones or some sort of adapter -- cheers to that!
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  • Screen: Come on, you're not really shocked that the display is resistive and only has an 800 x 480 resolution, are you? For the price, we expected nothing more really, though in use it wasn't as bad as we'd imagined. Obviously, you have to press pretty hard on the 7-inch display to make selections, but there's also a stylus that pops out on the top of the tablet. We've actually defaulted to using the stylus, but a fingernail certainly gets the job done as well. Either way, resistive is, well, resistive. Also, you may notice in the pictures that there's a slight gap between the glass of the screen and the actual display. There's also no accelerometer or software for adjusting the screen orientation. No beating around the bush on this one: this screen is cheap, but then again so is the tablet.
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  • Performance / Android experience: We actually have to give Augen some credit for shipping the Gentouch 78 with Android 2.1. It's not 2.2 -- though Augen says it may be upgradeable sometime -- but at first boot we were greeted by a live wallpaper and shortcuts to the browser, YouTube, the Market, iReader, Skype and others. Basically, if you're an Android user, you'll feel quite at home. However, we cannot tell you how badly we wish there was a home and back button on the front of the device -- there are a few cheap, very clicky buttons on the back, but it's incredibly annoying to guess what each one does when you're looking at the screen. The good news is that the GenTouch tablet is nowhere near as slow as the GenBook, but its 800MHz processor and 256MB of RAM makes Android smartphones, like the Droid X, Incredible and Evo 4G, look like Usain Bolt. As you see in the video, the application panel jiggers across the screen, scrolling is quite delayed and launching applications takes a noticeable few seconds. Still the tablet is capable of doing things like loading and watching YouTube videos as well as surfing the web, albeit on Hawaiian time. There's 2GB of onboard memory, but the microSD slot should support up to 16GB cards.
  • Apps / Market access: So, yes, the Gentouch does come preloaded with the Google Market, but just as we experienced with the smartbook, applications won't install. When we chatted with Augen, we were told that an update should restore access, though they also mentioned they'd be chatting with Google soon about the access. (We can't imagine Google is all that happy that this company is shipping tablets with the Market preloaded.) However, Gmail and YouTube are both pre-installed on the device, and we have had no issues with either one. Skype, on the other hand, doesn't work at all. We'll be burning through our weekend trying to sideload some .apks, so stay tuned on how that all turns out. Augen tells us the updates for the store will appear on its support site.

FBpalm

 

Regardless or not we'll end up seeing some kind of new hardware from Palm this year, it's not stopping developers from fine tuning and enhancing apps created for the platform. It's evident in the most recent release of the Facebook app for webOS version 1.2.30 beta which continues to emulate the desktop experience on a mobile level. Although this isn't a groundbreaking update, it does add some new features such as the support for selectable news feeds, toggling feed comments on/off, and the ability to clear multiple notifications at the same time. In addition, you'll find the customary amount of enhancements and bug fixes to better the overall experience. Since it's not yet available to download through the App Catalog, you can basically just click the source link to get yourself a copy of the update.


Android continues to proliferate as the smartphone market grows. The smartphone market grew 64% in Q2 compared to last year and all indications point to sustained growth. All major companies are experiencing growths in the numbers of shipped smartphones.

But it's Android that takes the cake - year-on-year basis it grew an astonishing 886% in the second quarter. Smartphone market grew 41% in the US with 14.7 million units shipped. Android devices accounted for 34% of those shipments. Almost a quarter of smartphones shipped worldwide are in the US, which retains its position as the biggest market for those devices.


Android is also doing well in China (which is the world's second largest smartphone market). From almost no shipments an year ago, in Q2 2010 Android grabbed a 7% market share in China - 475 thousand units shipped. China's home-brewed OMS platform (Open Mobile System) a.k.a. OPhone, which is based on Android, managed 174 thousand units too and should continue to grow.

Nokia remains the world leader in smartphone shipments with a record 23.8 million units shipped for a 41% growth year-on-year. It's currently enjoying a 38% market share thanks to affordable smartphones like the Nokia 5230.

Estimates put RIM in second place with 18% market share and strong positions in North and South America with the BlackBerry Curve 8520 pointed out as a strong seller. Apple slots in third position with a 13% market share for Q2. Their shipments were unaffected by all launch issues with the iPhone 4 and grew up to 61%.


acer


The hotly anticipated Acer smartphone is right around the corner. The Acer Stream, running Android 2.1 as its operating system, offers a host of high-end functions for consumers. 

Available in early August, the Stream packs high capability into a relatively small handset. With 512MB of RAM next to a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the phone's actual performance will be slick and fast. The interface is controlled via a 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive multi-touch screen, boasting a 2000:1 contrast ratio. 

For those who enjoy mobile browsing, the internet can be activated at high speeds with inclusive HSDPA and Wi-Fi. Navigation is covered by the inbuilt GPS, while Bluetooth takes care of file sharing between phones. 

Media fanatics will enjoy a high-spec 5MP camera, which also has the capability for high definition video recording. Those with a HD TV can also connect the handset through the HDMI slot. 

The high-quality shots taken by the camera will be easily managed by the internal memory, totalling 2GB with the option for more via the microSD card slot. Acer's official site states that the phone can hold up to 32GB of extra storage. Facebook and Twitter apps are pre-installed on the phone, along with Acer's own music streaming service known as Spinlets. Imported multimedia content is viewable with the nemo Player, another Acer freebie. 

Mobile Choice UK has divulged some pricing information for the device from a certain retailer. The handset itself comes to under £400 from Expansys in an (initially) exclusive deal, although customers should be warned that this price does not include a sim card. 

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