danramos | # 1511 | 2010-12-06, 21:45 | Report

So far, not a bad first effort. The only things I didn't like were that the app launched the browser to go off and look for books. Many of the books that I know to be public domain--and should be either free or very, very cheap--were still seeking high costs. There's only three font sizes, with the smallest still being pretty large on the Tab (but still alright). Lastly, the list of available fonts doesn't show you a sample of the listed font the way most other readers like Aldiko and Kindle do. One major thing this one does, that none of the others do, is to provide some samples from out of the books. Overall, as I mentioned earlier, it's still not a bad first try.

Capt'n Corrupt | # 1512 | 2010-12-06, 22:09 | Report

Lifehacker has a tour of the new Gingerbread features:
http://lifehacker.com/5707296/screen...t-new-features

Worth a look for end users.

Capt'n Corrupt | # 1513 | 2010-12-07, 11:16 | Report

It seems that Engadget's Josh Topalsky got his hands on a Nexus S with Gingerbread. Here are his remarks:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/07/g...xus-s-preview/

The bottom line? The UI is *fast*. Considering that the Nexus S runs the same hardware as the Galaxy S and the Galaxy Tab, this should be an indication of the performance upgrade we can expect with Gingerbread.

The video on the site showed apps opening as quickly as the icons were pressed, and stunning fluidity. Even the iPhone-biased Josh (yes, he's an admitted fanboy) remarked on how close the experience was the the iPhone 4, commenting that if froyo was a spit shine, gingerbread is a complete hot wax.

I'm excited for this to hit the Galaxy Tab, as it seems to tighten up a lot of corners that were complaints to many before. There are some really neat API innovations, UI tweaks, speed enhancements, etc, that should elevate the Android noticeably.

Onwards to Honeycomb, when Android get's more serious tablet support!

Capt'n Corrupt | # 1514 | 2010-12-07, 14:01 | Report

Here's a post on how to install the Android 2.3 keyboard on your rooted device!

http://www.droid-life.com/2010/12/06...ooted-devices/

Capt'n Corrupt | # 1515 | 2010-12-07, 15:23 | Report

Here's a video of Honeycomb running on an upcoming Motorola tablet prototype!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAqBPW3avYs

Things to note: it looks awesome!

Enjoy!

Capt'n Corrupt | # 1516 | 2010-12-07, 15:39 | Report

Ooooh! Here's the Galaxy Tab doing Metal Gear Solid -- one of the greatest games of all time (IMHO):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCrs2HsPjU

It runs very well, certainly well enough to play!

etuoyo | # 1517 | 2010-12-07, 16:30 | Report

Seems this is the official tablet being used by google engineers for honeycomb development. Sure to be of high quality given Google's involvement just llike the HTC Nexus (and presumably the new Samsung Nexus S). Wonder if it will be called Google Nexus [Tab/Pad/Book]. A bit on the huge side for me but I think there was a rumour that Motorola would have both 7 and 10 inch tabs launching together.

Interesting thing is that this has no buttons. I hope that is not a bad sign that the Tab will struggle to get Honeycomb. I know Samsung have said it would but that may just be talk not to cause people to look elsewhere.

lemmyslender | # 1518 | 2010-12-07, 17:23 | Report

The other thing to note. New Maps version on the way using VECTORS! This means 1) street names will always be right-side up when rotating. 2)Off-line use, download of the whole US should be around 1GB or so. No need for a data connection. 3) coming to android phones as well.

That is great news.

danramos | # 1519 | 2010-12-07, 19:15 | Report

New "Maps" version? Whose "Maps"? Do you mean that Google Maps will be going vector based in the future? That would be pretty cool--and a VERY welcome change, as far as I'm concerned.

Capt'n Corrupt | # 1520 | 2010-12-07, 19:17 | Report

This little tidbit of news is absolutely HUGE for Android: Chrome is being ported to ARM.


Chrome has just gotten a major overhaul on v8 making it even faster. Not only is it compiling javascript (an impressive feat considering that javascript is a dynamic language), but it's also optimizes 'hot traces' ala the dalvik jit runtime. The end result is performance that can be as high as 2x that of the previous v8 build.

But that's not all, the official blog post mentioned quickly at the bottom, that there's an ARM port in the works. With GPU acceleration already baked in, you can bet that the Android browser and the Chrome browser are going to be merged into the same project.

Why does this matter? Simply because there's a wave of online applications coming that will behave like native applications, including full 3D games, and chrome is at the epicenter of the imminent web-quake. It also means that Android will get the best part of Chrome OS.

http://blog.chromium.org/2010/12/new...ft-for-v8.html

You heard it here first!