Motorola revealed what their bubble bath inspired Super Bowl Commercial was all about: Megan Fox… and Android. The commercial reveals a daytime bathing Fox talking about her new Motorola Devour with MotoBlur, as she snaps a picture and wonders what would happen should she post it… The gay couple slap fighting is priceless.

Google has kept a loose eye on their Android mascot, applying a creative commons license to the little guy, allowing artists and fans to go wild with their creations… I’ve seen little bits of schwag here and there, but nothing compares to the complete set of awesomeness that Andrew Bell cooked up…

One of the secret projects that has been keeping me busy lately. I teamed up with some friends at Android™ to bring their mascot to “life”. Head on over to the Dyzplastic production blog for details![Andrew Bell's Blog]

Created in collaboration with Google and Android Andrew Bell, and produced by Dyzplastic Production, this is the first official blind box series featuring everyone’s favorite open source mascot.  Series 1 features 12 different designs in a case of 16 and each vinyl figure stands just 3″ tall. There’s no word on pricing or exactly when these will drop, but a splash page on the Dead Zebra site shows “02:10:20:10″ which leads me to believe they go on sale at DZ on the tenth of February.

DKE Toys are the wholesale distributor for the series, one of Hero Design’s sources for vinyl crack; I should be able to sweet talk them into ordering a case or three.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vdvsx/ / CC BY 2.0

Android: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair. I still find it funny that all the major updates are named after deserts. I also find it awesome that a new foody statue is place on the Google Campus right before an update announcement. I do however, find it disturbing that the next update will probably be called “Flan.” Right now though, the desert on everyone’s lips is Eclair, also known as Android 2.0.

With the impending launch of the first Android 2.o device, the Motorola Droid, Google has let loose whats in the filling of Eclair. And boy is it rich.

Here are some of my favorite features:

• Upgraded contacts/email with Social skills - You can now add multiple email accounts and sync the contact lists together. A new API will allow developers to create add-ins for other networks (like Twitter and Facebook) that will sync to your main contact list (you can pick and choose who you want to merge, not an all or nothing feature like the Pre). A quick contact feature will provide easy access to all the communication methods of a contact by tapping the user’s picture. The Email app will fit all of your accounts’ email neatly into one inbox, a feature my boyfriend doesn’t like, but I do. He’s been betrayed by AT&T and the iPhone, it will take some time to convert him 100%.
• Supercharged camera app – The camera on my G1 is abysmal, but the camera app on 1.6 (Donut) made it a little better. Camera app  Eclair edition, adds support for hardware flash, color correction, white balance, scene mode, zoom control, and macro focus.
• Improved Virtual Keyboard – Another problem with Android is that the virtual keyboard sucks. For awhile I was using a keyboard replacement app called touchPal, which worked great, but it wasn’t native and hung up a lot. The reason the iPhone keyboard rules is that the screen is bigger, the keys are visually spaced better, and there is behind the scenes magic that makes the key press area bigger or smaller depending on what key it thinks you want to tap next. Eclair promises multi-touch support, better key press accuracy, and a better auto-learning dictionary. I’m already excited.
• A Better Browser – Included with a UI refresh are bookmarks with thumbnail views, double-tap zoom, and HTML5 with <video> tag support for fullscreen. That means when you come across an html 5 video element, you can tap on the element and it will play fullscreen just like any other video. Flash 10 is coming, so expect a full and rich browser experience on 2.0.
• Bluetooth Boost – Bluetooth is already enabled on Android, but there haven’t been any other profiles added besides Stereo headset support. Eclair adds OPP (Object Push Profile) letting you send files to and from, and P2p support, meaning you can play multiplayer games over a bluetooth connection. There is also phonebook access via bluetooth, good for those car sync apps that let you scroll through your contacts in the dashboard.
• Kick Ass Calendar – The calender app was always sweet before, but now it got even better with the ability to invite people to events, and to see the attending status of those invited.  It made no flippin sense why Android left that feature out so far, but I’m glad they had the sense to do it now.
• API’s API’s API’s - an API is a set of tools and functions developers use to add functionality. One of the notable additions to 2.0 is broad multitouch support, up to 3 fingers. That means that apps can include swipes, pinches, and rotations in their apps.

I’ve been playing with the Android 2.0 Emulator inside the SDK, and so far I really like the additions. While I haven’t had my hands on a Droid to give it a real work over (the SDK Emulator lacks some key Google apps like maps, Gmail, and the Market), Boy Genius and Engadget are pretty pleased with the turnout. Plus, the biggest thing to be announced today was Google’s own GPS turn-by-turn navigation app, which immediately caused stocks of Garmin and Tom Tom to plummet.

Verizon’s first Google android phone will drop November 6th, for $199 with a two year contract. check out the Verizon Droid Mini Site to get a good look at this sexy new phone.

Not that I’m too terribly interested about the iPhone, but seeing as Verizon is set to carry at least 3 unique Android phones by early 2010, this bit of information came with a beard scratch and a “hmmmmm.” I was recently told very nonchalantly by an unknown informer, who happens to be a Verizon reseller, that the iPhone would show up in his store in February 2010. That’s all, nothing more.  Chew on it, and now let me get back to the imminent Android takeover.

The reason for the beard scratch is this: Android and iPhone are pretty much platform enemies.. and with the recent advertising campaign launched by Verizon, it almost seems like they are snubbing the iPhone completely. Rumors of Verizon carrying the iPhone have been out longer than the now true rumors of VZW getting Android; will VZW be the first step of the mass exodus for iPhone lovers fleeing the constantly overloaded AT&T Network? And if so, is that just a ploy to get them to eventually realize the iPhone isn’t right for them, and move to one of Verizon’s “Droids?”  The Carrier Wars are getting ramped up once again: VZW and “Droid,” T-Mobile and “Project Dark,” AT&T and “We’re still the best, despite when we aren’t,” and then Sprint with “Shit the Pre bombed, um hows that Android contract going?” 2010 will be the year of Android pushing its way into every carriers catalog, and I’m thinking that Windows Mobile will never be able to catch up, and the iPhone will become the Razr of Decade Two.

This is admittedly  biased, but give it a though, eh?

The second thing I woke up to, besides my Google Wave invite, was a pop up on my phone that said there was a new update available for Android. I was still groggy and more excited about Wave, so I clicked “update” and hopped in the shower.

Showered, caffeinated, and at work waitng for people to add me on Wave, I finally sat down and looked at all the new things in the DRC83, which I take to be Donut Release Candidate 83, AKA the first update to Android 1.6.

Donut adds all the features they said it would: updated quick search box, multiple screen-size support, CDMA support, text-to-speech API, and a totally refreshed Android Market.

Updating the phone was quick, but the initial reboot took about 2 minutes for me. A few widgets crashed (calendar, unread SMS count), I was prompted to turn on Location sharing for Google, and the G1 went a little wonky. After a few more minutes, everything seemed to run fine. Overall speed seems to have improved, and the new Power Control widget is nice, letting me turn on/off wifi,bluetooth,GPS, sync, and brightness right from the home screen.

Android 1.6 also fixes a little pet peeve of mine. Previously, when you updated an app, the Market only told you what version you were upgrading to. Now it also tells you what version you are upgrading from. Trivial information for some, but for people who keep track of revisions and changelogs, this will be much loved.

I wasn’t expecting the upgrade so soon, but TMoNews  sheds a little light on the subject:

Select G1 handsets at 12AM Eastern Daylight Time tonight will receive the Donut update. Next, after a 24-hour waiting period, T-Mobile will extend its deliciousness to MyTouch3G handsets–that is, if there are no hiccups (meaning no bricked phones). Then, if all goes well, the rest of the users will start seeing the trickle down effect, regardless of handset.

Has anyone else gotten the update?

It was no surprise to Android fans that the HTC Hero was coming to Sprint, but what we didn’t expect was the makeover.  The version of the HTC Hero coming Stateside this October will lack a chin, making it look closer to the MyTouch than the European GSM edition. I’ll say, it doesn’t look horrible, but I was really hoping we’d get some GSM 3G action with teflon coating so I can fondle it softly… erm..

HTC Hero is a full-featured smartphone with Wi-Fi capability, a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with pinch-to-zoom capability and a fingerprint resistant coating, integrated GPS navigation, and trackball navigation. Additional features include:

• Stereo Bluetooth^® 2.0 Wireless technology
• accelerometer, light sensor and home screen widgets for improved usability
• multimedia capable with microSD slot (32GB capable, 2GB included)
• Sprint TV^® with live and on-demand programming
• NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile^SM
• easy access to social networking sites, including Facebook^®, Flickr^® and Twitter
• visual voice mail for quick and easy access to specific voice mail messages

Notably absent from the specs are any mention of Flash, something the EU edition boasts. I’d assume the Hero would have it, seeing as it runs the HTC Sense UI, but we’ll just have to see. Pick yours up on October 11th, for as little as $179 with a two-year service agreement. Hit up Phandroid, who has a bit more enthusiasm then me for more details

When Google Voice dropped for Android I was stoked, excited, thrilled. To celebrate, I purchased a new number to use, and downloaded the app from the Android Market. I had toyed around with GV, a well written 3rd-party app, but something like Google Voice I’d really like to be fully supported from Google. Imagine my dismay and disgust when I found out that Google Voice app only supports gmail.com accounts and nothing else. unable to even test the service, I moped, complained, and bitched. I had a Google Voice account for my nate at buffawhat.com account for almost a year, but managed to get another invite to test it on my gmail.com acct. The app worked, but if I couldn’t use it on my Apps account, I didn’t want to use it.

Low and Behold, this week Google updated the Google Voice app on the Market, finally allowing all Google accts to use the app.  Besides this new feature, you can also set the refresh intervals in your inbox, and SMS messages now auto-capitalize.

Google Voice is free, but you still need to have a Google Voice acct to use this app. If you signed up for an invite, but never got one, keep waiting. Google is going down the list, and its a pretty big list (even though I signed up for my second invite and got a response within a couple months).

While the Android SDK may be a stellar tool for developers, its also holds a very useful tool for bloggers: the screen shot utility found in DDMS. If you recently upgraded your Mac to Snow Leopard, you may have noticed that DDMS no longer works , instead terminal outputs something like this:

11:17 E/ddms: shutting down due to uncaught exception
11:17 E/ddms: java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /tools/lib/
libswt-pi-carbon-3236.jnilib:  no suitable image found.  Did find:
/tools/lib/libswt-pi-carbon-3236.jnilib: no matching
architecture in universal wrapper
        at java.lang.ClassLoader$NativeLibrary.load(Native Method)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary0(ClassLoader.java:1878)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(ClassLoader.java:1771)
        at java.lang.Runtime.loadLibrary0(Runtime.java:823)
        at java.lang.System.loadLibrary(System.java:1045)
        at org.eclipse.swt.internal.Library.loadLibrary(Library.java:123)
        at org.eclipse.swt.internal.carbon.OS.(OS.java:20)
        at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.createDisplay(Display.java:943)
        at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.create(Display.java:923)
        at org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Device.(Device.java:118)
        at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.(Display.java:754)
        at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.(Display.java:745)
        at com.android.ddms.UIThread.runUI(UIThread.java:330)
        at com.android.ddms.Main.main(Main.java:97)

I’m no java expert, but a quick Google search exposes the problem and reveals a solution:

The SWT library uses a native component that must be loaded by the VM.
At this time we only provide the 32bit version.
I’m guessing that in Snow Leopard the default VM is now 64 bit instead
of 32 bit.

To change this go in Applications folder, then Utilities, and launch
the “Java Preferences” app. You’ll be able to set a 32 bit VM as the
default one.

Eclipse 3.5 added support for 64bit SWT on MacOS, so we’ll migrate to
this to support 32/64 bit on MacOS.

Xav

If that still doesn’t do it, you’ll need to open up DDMS in textEdit and head to this line:

# Mac OS X needs an additional arg, or you get an "illegal thread"
complaint.
if [ `uname` = "Darwin" ]; then
    os_opts="-XstartOnFirstThread"

And add “-d32″ where shown:

# Mac OS X needs an additional arg, or you get an "illegal thread"
complaint.
if [ `uname` = "Darwin" ]; then
    os_opts="-XstartOnFirstThread -d32"

Done. you should be able to run DDMS and take screenshots to your blogging heart’s content.

Thanks to Foo and Xav for their help in that thread.

While I’m all for celebrity appearances to help boost Android’s appeal, I’m not so sure that Whoopi Goldberg, Jesse James, and Phil Jackson were the right choice. Then again, if one wanted to emphasize Android’s unique ability to be customized from one extreme to the other, then I guess picking polar opposites for spokespeople was a good choice. T-Mobile’s pitch for their 2nd Android device (but 1st fully consumer friendly Android offering) is that the myTouch can be 100% you. With pre-installed home screen customization, and enough accessories to rival the Razr, it looks like the myTouch could be a popular device. I’ve been sincerely tempted to purchase one to replace the G1, but I’m clinging to the last shreds of common sense that tell me to wait for Christmas.

*and for those of you clueless like I am, Phil Jackson is the coach for the Lakers.

check out the mini site for the myTouch.

I’ll always love the G1 for its physical keyboard, despite the fact that now its a dinosaur compared to its siblings the HTC Hero and Magic. However, I’m getting used to the fact that my next android device (the Sony Ericsson X3, or maybe a Hero) won’t have a hard keyboard. Because of that, I’ve been shopping around for a soft keyboard substitute that I can be comfortable with. Yes it’s true, the stock Android keyboard is a bit rough to use, not so smooth with error correction, and the keys are too close together. However, the beauty of Android is that you don’t have to live with software you don’t like, even the onscreen keyboard.

Enter TouchPal, the latest addition to the world of alternate Android soft keyboards, and it types like a winner. Just released on the 9th of August, TouchPal was developed by CooTek, who originally developed TouchPal for Windows Mobile. The features are immense:

1. Mistype Correction: TouchPal senses where you press your finger and guesses the key you meant to press. The claim to be able to predict the right word with 98% accuracy. I say it works pretty damn well.
2. Smart Prediction: TouchPal tries to guess the word you want to say next. For example, type “this” and TouchPal will offer “is” as a suggestion for your next word (the phrase “This is about us” can be typed just from the predictive choices).
3. Quick Symbols and Uppercase swipes:  Swiping a letter upwards will input the caps version of that character, and a downward swipe will input the corresponding symbol. Hold the key a little longer and more character choices will appear.
4. Multiple languages: I’ve only tested English, but TouchPal supports 20 (four available right now) different languages packs that you can install from the market.
5. Multiple keyboards at a finger swipe: slide the keyboard to the left or right to switch between numbered, t9, or qwerty layouts with a smooth animation.

TouchPal is free in the Android Market until September 30th, but will eventually go for sale for $9.75USD. I think that’s a good buy for the amount of features you get and how flawless the keyboard operates. It’s quick, smooth, and accurate, and the t9 keyboard is perfect if that’s what you are used to.