The very first laptop computer powered by Google Android has been unveiled. It was long rumored that Google was going to push Android beyond mobile phones to power laptop computers.
The first Android powered laptop the world has firstly seen comes from Acer. The OS still seems to need a lot of more work to fully run on a laptop, but judging from the first video below, it seems Google is off to a good start. The computer takes about 15-seconds to load up, and seems to not lag at all after it is done initially booting up. The browser also seems to load pages swiftly with correct formatting over HSDPA.
Update: To launch June 2nd 2009 on the Rogers network.
Rogers Communications, the cable and telecom giant, has announced it will finally release a Google Android powered phone in Canada. The company confirmed today it will be launching both the HTC Magic and HTC Dream powered by the open-source Google Android OS.
Rogers senior vice president John Boynton said in a statement, “Both devices [the HTC Dream and HTC Magic] offer outstanding wireless Internet search capabilities and a full suite of applications,”
Bell Canada, also announced earlier in the week the company would be the exclusive carrier to offer the new Palm Pre in Canada.
Both companies failed to disclose details on pricing and availability, but we are working on our source.
Google has publicly criticized Rogers Communications in the past for not offering unlimited mobile Internet data. Google has also voiced concern over Rogers Wireless complete GSM monopoly in Canada.
In related Rogers news, according to an internal source, the company in June will start to charge customers for incoming text messages, unless subscribed to a basic SMS plan. The source familiar with the matter spoke on condition of anonymity citing details have yet to be made public. Telus already has been doing this for months. The moves highlight that few control the oligopolistic telecom market in Canada, and in this case, a monopoly over the GSM networks.
HTC has just announced the Magic, the first all touch-screen Google Android powered handset. The handset also includes the Android Cupcake update, which now includes a virtual on-screen keyboard, among other UI changes. Unfortunately, one major inconvenience from the phone is that it does not offer a standard headphone jack and will therefore require an adapter. Additionally, 3G will not be supported in North America. The HTC Magic also features a 3.2-inch HVGA display, a trackball for navigation and a 3.2MP autofocus camera. HTC President and CEO Peter Chou said, “The HTC Magic embodies the compact style and sophistication for which HTC has come to be known, with the powerful and intuitive internet experience for which the Android platform was designed,” HTC confirmed Vodafone will be the exclusive provider in Germany, France, the UK, and Spain. The HTC Magic will also be available in Italy non-exclusively from a carrier. Exact pricing and availability was not disclosed.
Today at the Mobile World Congress Adobe has made announcements pertaining to when Flash will be available on certain handsets. We can now confirm Windows Mobile, Google’s Android phones, Nokia Symbian S60 handsets, and the new Palm Pre will have Flash probably by the end of the year. There was no announcements made concerning the iPhone, but from a recent interview with Adobe CEO, there were many indications flash is coming to the iPhone. No information was released concerning the BlackBerry.
If you are a developer in the U.S. or UK, this is good news for you. Google is now taking submissions for Android apps that will be available for users to purchase. It is expected the Google Android app store will go live by the end of the month.
Google My Tracks is a new application from Google that will surely get cyclists and runners excited. It currently only supports Android powered devices. The application uses GPS to track your outdoor activities and in the process records your tracks, which you can easily share with your friends. Google My Tracks also displays other statistics including elevation, speed, and distance statistics, though will prove a lot more useful if it can measure more statistics such as calories burnt. You can also export your tracks as a GPX file and easily import it into Excel or Twitter your tracks directly from the phone with Twidroid.
VentureBeat is reporting a Google Android team member told them Apple requested specifically to Google not to use multi-touch in its Google Android phone, which remains a current complaint. With the iPhone having multi-touch, it remains a strong competitive advantage today. I’m still expecting Google to release a touch-based Android handset in the near future. VentureBeat is also reporting Google is working on Android powered netbooks among other mobile devices.
Opera Mini 4.2 for Android has moved out of beta and into Alpha. If you have a Google Android powered phone, you should get this new version as it features many new updates. New features include the ability to access local memory to upload files, video playback, among other improvements.
Gizmodo appears to have the first live pictures of the Google GPhone G2. The upgraded G2 features an improved Android OS, a 3.2 MP camera, and appears to no longer have the slide out QWERTY keypad. It is rumored the device will be available sometime late May 2009.
The guys over at TmoNews have gotten shots of a possible new HTC device, the ‘Sapphire’. It is believed this device could in fact turn out to be the new Google GPhone G2. It also features a slide-out QWERTY. No other information is known about the phone.
The very first laptop computer powered by Google Android has been unveiled. It was long rumored that Google was going to push Android beyond mobile phones to power laptop computers.
