The Android Site

One of the selling point of the Nexus One and features of Android 2.1 is the voice recognition software. Nearly every text field will accept voice input, and fairly accurately, transcribe your voice as text.
But an interesting feature, is that curse words are purposely filtered out, and replaced with a string of #’s. While we believe it should at least be an option to turn this feature on or off, Google’s explanation makes sense from their standpoint:

“We filter potentially offensive or inappropriate results because we want to avoid situations whereby we might misrecognize a spoken query and return profanity when, in fact, the user said something completely innocent,”

“Ultimately our goal is to return results that show exactly what you said, and we’re constantly working to improve the technology to better fit our users’ needs.”

What do you guys think? Good move on Google’s part, or just a censoring feature? Afterall, you still can type whatever vulgar words you want.

Ben Marvin Google censoring, curse words, Google, News, Nexus One

From the Android Developer’s Blog:

I am happy to announce that Android Developer Challenge 2’s first round of judging has begun!

As a reminder, user voting determines which apps will make it to the second round. Voting will occur through an application called Android Developer Challenge 2, which is now available for download from Android Market. Android Developer Challenge 2 presents apps for each user to download and score according to a set of criteria, such as originality and effective use of the Android platform, among others. The first round of judging will last at least two weeks from today. Judging will continue until we receive a sufficient number of votes to identify the top 20 applications in each of the 10 categories (200 apps total) that qualify for the second round.

During the second round, judging will occur through a combination of user voting and input from a panel of industry experts. User voting will continue to occur via Android Developer Challenge 2 and will account for 40% of the final score that each app receives in round two. The remaining 60% of the final score will be determined by the industry expert panel.

It has been a little less than a year since the first Android-powered phones became available. Today, there are more than 10,000 applications available in Android Market. We are pleased by the energy and commitment demonstrated by developers in such a short period of time. Our goal with Android Developer Challenge 2 is to inspire the developer community to produce even more innovative apps for Android. Now on to the voting!

Search for “Android Developer Challenge” in the market, or scan this QR code with your phone to download:

Ben Marvin Google, Software ADC2, Android Developer Challenge 2, Android Market, apps, developers, Software

The Android 1.6 (aka Donut) SDK was announced today on the Android Developers Blog.

I know the question you have all been asking is: When will I see Donut on my phone? Well here’s the answer, straight from Google: “You can expect to see devices running Android 1.6 as early as October.”

As far as the features of Android 1.6 itself, we have QVGA and WVGA screen resolutions, new telephony APIs to support CDMA (Like the upcoming Sprint Hero), gesture APIs, a text-to-speech engine, and the ability to integrate with Quick Search Box. A more in depth list of updates is outlined here on the Android Developer’s site. Or you can watch the video below:

Ben Marvin Google, News Android 1.6, developers, donut, News, SDK

While there’s already portions of the Android Donut code in various ROMs floating around, such as the Cyanogen Experimental ROM, it has yet to trickle down to carrier releases and general public consumption. But just to give you a *taste* of what’s right around the corner, a giant donut joins the Cupcake and the Android Robot outside the GooglePlex in California.

[via Phandroid]

Ben Marvin Google, News Android, donut, Google, Pictures

There are now new categories in the Android Market making it easier to browse applications. New categories include Comics, Health, Sports, and Themes. This is a small, but much needed update to the ever growing Android Market. Future updates include the ability for developers to upload screenshots, promo icons, and improved descriptions. As well as refreshed look, as shown in this video:

It would be nice to see more sorting options, ability to mark apps as favorite, and perhaps share an application with a friend via email. I guess that desktop version of the Market is still a long way out.

Ben Marvin Games, Google, News, Software Android Market, News

It’s not a stretch to say there are flaws in the Android Market. There are probably a thousand things that could be done differently. Personally, I would like to see a desktop version that’s linked to your Google Account to automatically load apps on your mobile. I would also like to see more specific categories, with the influx of home themes and e-books, the market is getting hard to navigate. Additional filtering options, such as price, ratings, etc would also be nice. Another addition I would like that I’ve seen mentioned several times is a direct link within free apps to donate to the developer. This eliminates having a separate app just for donations, or having to search for a link to send a donation.

So, question of the day is: How would you change the Android Market?

Ben Marvin Google, QOTD Android Market, QOTD

Without an official blog post or even a peep from Google (yet), they quietly rolled out Google Maps version 3.1.0 for Android phones, now available on the Android Market. And unlike other normal application updates, you will not be notified of it, just search the Market for Google Maps. New features include voice search, transit and walking directions, business details and reviews, and Latitude updates including fixing that issue of not updating your location. And of course, all the same great features you’ve come to rely on, including traffic and street view. Also a few minor tweaks to the user interface, such as moving the zoom buttons to the corner, and a “shout out” feature in Latitude.

It took me a bit of trying to get it to download at first. At 1.76MB it’s a hefty download, but worth it in the end. Voice Search is quick and snappy and had no trouble deciphering my early morning voice for a few tests. And switching between car, transit and walking directions is a one-button operation. And of course, you can long-press anywhere on the map to get the address, start directions, or view Street View, if available. Although at the time of this writing, I could not get any address to pull up a Street View, even though it’s available all over my city.

So readers, have you tried it out yet? Excited about Voice Search? Are you a heavy user of transit or walking directions?

Here’s some screenshots of the new features:

If you can’t find it in the market, just scan the QR Code below on your phone with Barcode Scanner:

Ben Marvin Google, Software Android Market, business details, Google Latitude, Google Maps, Software, street view, traffic, transit directions, Update, Upgrade, voice search, walking directions

What started as an employee’s 20% project at Google is now a fantastic companion to using Google Maps to find places on your Android phone. From the Official Google Mobile Blog:

As the name implies, Places Directory allows you to browse nearby places in categories like Restaurants, Movie Theaters, Hotels and Banks. You’ll see distance and directions to the destination, and if you tap on the listing, we’ll show ratings and photos. You can also call the business or view its location on Google Maps.

Similar to the Where or Restaurant Guide applications, Places Directory is more of a category-based system than a regular search. By using your GPS to locate your position, you can view places around you easily and see how far they are, then one-touch call or view them on Google Maps. The photos and ratings are also a nice touch if you’re contemplating a restaurant you’ve never heard of, although less consesequential with places like banks or gas stations. You can also save places to Favorites or share a place via SMS or Gmail.

I, for one, am really happy to see such high-quality applications coming from the good people at Google. From Google Finance to Sky Map to this, and of course all the other Android optimized apps and mobile sites. Keep up the good work, Google.

The application is available in the Android Market now. Just search for “Places Directory.”

[via Google Mobile Blog]

Ben Marvin Google, Software Google, Google Maps, GPS, location-based services, Places Directory, Software

Fresh from a post over at xda-developers, someone got the link to the US version of Cupcake. Get it now, while it’s hot. You can download it here. No more waiting for the T-Mobile OTA update, this is the real thing.

As always, here’s how to apply the update:

1. Download the image.

2. Rename it to update.zip, and place it at the root (the very top directory) of your Micro SD card. (If you added the file to your microSD card by connecting the handset to your computer via USB [rather than using a dedicated microSD card reader], make sure to unmount it and disconnect the USB cable now.

3. Turn off your G1, then turn it back on by holding the Home+End keys until you see an icon popup after the T-Mobile G1 logo.

4. From the icon screen, open the keyboard and hit Alt+L. This allows you to see what’s going on during the update.

5. Press Alt+S to begin the update. Remember, the update needs to be in the root of the Micro SD card and needs to be named update.zip.

6. Once it finishes, follow the onscreen instructions and press Home+Back to finish.

7. The G1 will reboot a few times to flash different parts of the firmware.

And while you’re waiting for it to update, you can read through the official feature list.

Thanks to everyone that that sent this in.

Update: Those of you running rooted ROMs like JF1.5 check this link: http://code.google.com/p/android-roms/wiki/Unroot Thanks BenderUnit9000

Ben Marvin Google, News, Software, T-Mobile Android 1.5, Cupcake, Google, Tmobile USA, Update, Upgrade

Google has added a cool feature to Google Product search that allows you to scan a barcode with Barcode Scanner and it will automatically search for the product on Google Product Search. Similar to the apps ShopSavvy and Compare Everywhere, but a different interface, and presumably different results.

To get started, you will need to install Barcode Scanner from the Android Market, then just open Google Product Search and click on Scan Barcode:

This will not completely render the other applications useless. I still prefer the interface of ShopSavvy and the local results using GPS. Although it’s quite possible Google can integrate those features into Product Search.

[via Google Mobile Blog]

Ben Marvin Google, Software Barcode Scanner, Compare Everywhere, Google Product Search, shopping, ShopSavvy