FocuSoft Tech Blog

Remember back in the day when the West was still wild, the gold rush was still in full effect, you owned whatever land you could manage to fence off, and tycoons were being made and broken on a daily basis? No? Well, some of you whippersnappers might be too young to recall it, but trust us, it happened — and it seems like that’s the kind of frontier mentality we’re getting again today in the nascent Android landscape. Just a couple weeks after launching, mobile ad clearinghouse AdMob reports that the Motorola Droid is already accounting for a whopping 24 percent of all its Android-based traffic — no small feat, considering that the then-unreleased device didn’t even move the needle in their October report (pictured in the left graph). The HTC Dream — the world’s first retail Android device, you might remember — still reigns supreme at 36 percent, but it’s amazing that the entire Android space is still volatile enough to register nearly a 25 percent shift with the launch of a single new device on a single carrier. For comparison, the CLIQ clocks in with a lowly 6 percent — proof that Verizon’s aggressive advertising has been working some magic. Question is, what’ll be the next device to completely screw up this pie chart again?

Stats show Motorola Droid is the new elephant in the Android room originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is a big one, folks. The new installment of The Engadget Show is jam-packed with goodness. First up, Josh sits down with HTC’s director of user experience Drew Bamford to discuss Android, Sense, Windows Mobile and a whole lot more. Then we’ve got a charming little segment where Paul and Josh go hunting around NYC for KIRFs, and Chris Grant joins the gang on stage for a dissection of the holiday gaming situation… and some demos where the gang gets to show off their totally radical moves. Seriously, Josh and Nilay have a DJ Hero battle, and Paul Miller skates (but doesn’t die) in Tony Hawk: Ride. Don’t miss this one — it might just be the best yet!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel
Special guests: Drew Bamford, Chris Grant
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Executive Producer: Josh Fruhlinger
Edited by: Michael Slavens
Music by: Glomag
Visuals by: Dan Winckler
Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec

Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 003 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 003 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted)

Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

The Engadget Show – 003: Drew Bamford, Joystiq’s Chris Grant, Adamo XPS, and lots of game demos originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In 2009, iPhone multitasking is a bit like apps were in the early jailbreak days. That is to say painfully, clearly possible, but simply not allowed. These jailbreak apps show how it could—and should—be done.

What you’re seeing here is really the combination of two apps, standby jailbreak justifier and essential iPhone app Backgrounder, which lets your designate any app to run in the background, and new task switcher interface called Multifl0w. (There are other, more basic task switchers already, the most widespread being Kirikae) The new combo feels like magic: It’s a little bit Android, a lotta bit Pre, and more importantly, an obvious improvement, at least on the speedier 3GS.

Granted, anyone who’s used background knows that for the sake of your battery, you have to be careful how many apps you open, and how many you leave running. Honestly though? Every other smartphone manufacturer trusts their users to mind their own damn processes, which seems to work out pretty well. So, uh, when will we get this by default? OS 4.0? 5.0? Shut up, blogger?

You can give it a try now in jailbreak app manager Rock, and Cydia’s on its way. Sadly, it’s only free on a trial basis, after which it’ll cost your five dollars. Backgrounder and Kirikae, though? They’re still free, in all sense of the word. [MultiFl0w--Thanks, William!]

Original post:
This Is How Multitasking Should Work On the iPhone [Btw]

Tyme Machines‘ Star Wars sculpted USB drives might not have your favorite characters available yet, in its first series, but they do have Vader, Boba Fett, Yoda and a Storm Trooper, and they’re quite good.

The drives are available in 4, 8 and 16GB capacities for $30, $40 and $60, respectively. The head comes off and you plug the body into any USB port. The downside is that the bodies are decently sized, so if you have two USB ports adjacent to each other, you won’t be able to use the other one.

Click through the gallery to see our impressions. [Tyme Machines]

Here’s a lone Storm Trooper before he suffers a fate unimaginable for all but Storm Troopers. Decapitation.

With his head gone, his body is free to be plugged into any USB port.

Here’s the view from behind.

Boba Fett and Vader are still in mint condition.

The set includes Yoda, but we only have the evil characters.

All three with their heads off.

Vader, engaged.

What would it look like if they switched helmets? This.

Original post:
Star Wars USB Drives Hands On Gallery [Star Wars]

Mimo debuts 7-inch iMo Pivot Touch monitor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Maps Navigation, even if it’s not perfect, was one of the juiciest features of Android 2.0. Today, Google’s finally set it free: It’s now available for any phone with Android 1.6 Donut, including the G1 and MyTouch 3G.

The download is live in the App Market—just grab the newest version of Maps, and Nav is included—and Google’s free turn-by-turn navigation software is mostly identical to the version found on the Droid. Mostly:

Some features of Android 2.0 are not available on Android 1.6, for example, the ability to use the “navigate to” voice command as shown in our demo video. However, you can still create a shortcut that will allow you to launch Navigation and start getting directions to a specific place from your current location with just a single touch from your home screen. For example, you can create a “Home” shortcut to quickly navigate home, no matter where you are. Just use the “Add” menu item from the home screen, then choose “Shortcuts”, then “Directions.” Please visit our forum to give us feedback, or our Help Center to get help using Google Maps Navigation.

Still though, free turn-by-turn for all, unless you have a Hero or one of Samsung’s ditties, for which you are permitted to make one (1) extremely sad face. Let us know how it works in the comments. [Google]

See the original post here:
Google Maps Navigation Hits the G1, MyTouch, All Other 1.6 Handsets [Android]

You might’ve thought that Google was positioning its industry-changing Google Maps Navigation as a value proposition for Android 2.0 and beyond, but yeah, not so much — instead, they’ve gone ahead and backported it to 1.6 (alias “Donut”) which means that T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G and G1 plus other 1.6-equipped devices across the land can get in on the action. In the case of the memory-starved G1, that’s especially surprising, and a heartening sign that the world’s first retail Android device still has some fight left in it. It’s available from the Android Market now, so go ahead — try to get yourself lost. We dare you.

Google Maps Navigation officially comes to Android 1.6 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T is following Verizon’s lead today with the introduction of new prepaid broadband plans targeted directly at netbook and laptop users who find themselves out of WiFi range (and in desperate need of email) every once in a while. The so-called DataConnect Pass plans exactly mirror Verizon’s pricing, which means you can get 75MB as a “day pass” for $15, 250MB as a weekly deal for $30, or a half gig per month for $50. Like Verizon, you’re far better off getting the 5GB postpaid plan if you’re a heavy user here — but if you find yourself needing wireless once in a blue moon, this may very well be the way to go. The packages are available now; follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading AT&T’s new DataConnect Pass plans serve up data a la carte

AT&T’s new DataConnect Pass plans serve up data a la carte originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guess what, prospective Milestone owners, the Droid’s one major advantage over its Euro cousin has just been coded out of existence by those proactive, un-American XDA Developers. The free Google Maps Navigation service, whose US announcement was so shocking as to decimate the stock prices of satnav purveyors Garmin and TomTom, has now been ported to work outside the land of the free as well. Not only that, but you can use the app on other Android devices, meaning your old G1 can get a breath of fresh air for absolutely free. That is if you don’t count the time it takes you to learn how to insert all the code properly and the risk of bricking your device in the process. But we know our readers eat iron nails for breakfast and fashion elegantly optimized code before lunch, so we expect all of you to be using this by day’s end, you hear?

Google Maps Navigation hacked for extra-American use originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Given how often we hear about manufacturers using Android for their mobile devices, it’s a surprise dedicated sat-nav units don’t feature more highly.  Chinese firm ArcherMind Technology have been showing off what they’re saying is the world’s first embedded Android-based navigation system, complete with 7-inch touchscreen display and integrated 3G.

ArcherMind – who were mainly responsible for the software development, partnering with local hardware manufacturers who came up with the reference design – claim to have set fifty engineers to work over a four month period in order to come up with the unnamed head unit.  As well as PND functionality it’ll access the web and play back audio and video media, work as an ebook reader and send SMS messages; there’s both a hard-drive and SD card slot for storage.

Connectivity includes WiFi and Bluetooth together with the 3G, but ArcherMind claim the setup isn’t intended for high-price luxury vehicles.  While they’re not giving out pricing details, they do expect it to be fitted to reasonably affordable cars; in fact, at least one unnamed Chinese auto manufacturer is supposedly considering it, with the first vehicles using the setup to appear in Q1 2010.

[via Electricpig]

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

• LAN-9600R, A New In-Dash GPS and Multimedia System from LG
• Dash cuts GPS hardware development & jobs in new licencing plan
• Verizon Tour, T-Mobile Dash 3G or Sprint Snap?
• CES 2008: OpenMoko partnered with DASH to make their new GPS units
• Mitsubishi developed Linux-based Car in-dash Blu-ray player

Read the rest here: 
ArcherMind Android-based in-dash PND system unveiled