Google Nexus S For $0!

Google Nexus S http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

There are many great phones around but Google Nexus S is / was a breakthrough for Android phones. We have an unlocked Google Nexus S and it is an awesome phone.

So why are we bringing this up again? well I saw a tweet by @googlenexus telling us of a super deal for a Google Nexus S! $0 for a $530 phone! (After a two year contract with either Sprint, T-Mobile or AT&T.)

So if you still want to have and use a real phone follow the link below. Happy Android way!

http://t.co/vJeycpZ

Skype For Android Gets Video Calling!

Skype For Android http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Skype just announced that it has updated the Skype for Android App, adding video calling. Looks like there is a limit to the handsets that the app supports, for now according to Skype. I want to install and test on my Asus EEE Pad and check;

Make free Skype-to-Skype video calls, and call phones at Skype rates on the mov
Make free Skype-to-Skype calls and video calls or call phones and landlines at great Skype rates on the go.

- Free* Skype-to-Skype IM, calls and video calls over 3G or WiFi
- Cheap calls and texts to landlines or mobiles at great Skype rates
- Instant message friends at the same time

* Data plan or WiFi connection required

- Some handsets may not be supported
- You need Android v2.2 to run Skype on a Samsung Galaxy S
- Two way video calling is supported on the following handsets: Google Nexus S, HTC Desire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia neo, Sony Ericsson Xperia pro.

Android Market

iPhone5 Rumors Keep Adding, NFC, A5 Processor And So On

iPhone 5 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
I guess untill Apple comes out with a definitive answer regarding the iPhone 5, there will be more rumors.The latest comes fro China Times and according to them the device is in production state and has an improved antenna and a metal case or chassis and will be ready to launch in third quarter of 2011.
There is also information about NFC (Near Field Communication) chip to be coupled with an e-wallet service allowing users to leave their wallets behind. Like in Japan where most of the monitory transactions like buying a railway or bus ticket, a cup of coffee or many other stuff offered in vending machines are done with ones phone. The Google Nexus S and Google Nexus S 4G already has the NFC chips embedded so it is only natural that iPhone keeps up! :)
In addition to the antenna correction (remember the antennagate) the iPhone 5 screen will also have more real estate with an 4" screen instead of 3.5 inch that they have now.
Next improvement comes from the processor and will have tha same processor as the iPad 2, a dual core A5 processor.
The China Times als speaks of an Apple manufacturing plant in Brazil, dedicated to producing Apple product which plans to begin production in 2013.
China Times (Translated)

Apple Keeping Up With Androids, Adds NFC Chips To iPhone 5 And iPad.2

#NFC Chips On #iPhone5 And #iPad2 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Paying with the phone is very common in countries like Japan. You can pay for bus, train tickets or stuff from vending machines with the cell phone. In US the practice is very rare but merchants like Starbucks is finding a way to use phone to pay for coffee.
Android phones like Google Nexus S already carries NFC ( Near Field Communication) chip, which is the main ingredient needed for using the phone to pay for your daily needs, just like a credit or debit card, or becoming an e-wallet. NFC chips transmit and receive information, in short range, like four to five inches.
So the word on street is that Apple will have these chips on iPhone 5 and iPad 2, which people expect to see in the mid 2011. So the experts assume the NFC application will soon follow.
Be it Android or iPhone, the $6.2 trillion, Americans spend with their credit cards, has lot of companies showing interest on NFC enabled phones. From credit card companies like VISA, Master Card and e-payment companies like Paypal has a lot to gain and so are the advertising companies like Apple with iADs and Google with AdWords / AdSense. NFC chips will allows all sort of wonders with phones. But in the case of Paypal, you don't want your phone frozen by Paypal, at least not me! But in some shops in Palo Alto, CA, you can buy your lunch with your Android Phone, and Bling Nation's NFC-chipped BlingTag coupled with Paypal.

Credit CNet

Apple has already hired Benjamin Vigier, who worked on the technology at mobile-payment provider MFoundry and prepping a prototype payment terminal for merchants, ranging from hair dressers to mom and pop shops, where iPhone carrying crowd most like to linger.
Either way, e-wallets will be a feature we all will be using soon and Apple could be the one to promote the trend, unless Google jumps the bus.
Bloomberg

Google Might Benefit From Verizon iPhone Deal, Despite Pundits Predictions.

Verizon iPhone http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
I was reading an article on Bloomberg on the Verizon iPhone that everyone is expecting to be announced today. It is sometimes laughable how narrow the thinking of pundits.
First line I noticed in article was "Google Inc. may lose business as Verizon Wireless starts selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone," well even I know that unlike Apple, Google does not sell Android phones per se. And all the software that makes money for Google, runs on iPhone too, even the Google Voice iPhone is now approved by Apple.
Yes if Android comes tot he market dominance, Google stand to gain but not by selling phones. Even a few of us who are Android fans, not planing on getting Google's own Android Phone, Nexus S, we are eying better faster ones to spend our money on. It is the mobile search and advertising that makes money for Google.
As I just said, I just registered my iPhone and other Apple stuff at Apple Support Profile site, and we also know that just by Verizon getting the iPhone, will not be a death ringer for AT&T. There are too many factors that riding on these companies and phones to make "iPhone wins and everything else fails" predictions like;

“A lot of people who bought Android phones were buying it in lieu of an iPhone because they couldn’t get one on the Verizon network,” said Charlie Wolf, a Needham & Co. analyst in New York.

AT&T will loose new customers and some customers at the end of the contract (most will think twice about giving up "Unlimited Data" in those contracts.

It is more likely that Sprint and T-Mobile stand to lose with Verizon iPhone than anyone because new potential smartphone customers will turn up at Verizon doorsteps, attracted by new iPhone.
Then again, we all know that Apple will always release a new iPhone in the mid year, perhaps iPhone 4G, if that is not what coming out of Verizon already. I think it will be good to see how Verizon Network do with iPhone customers, who are more data, video and MMS oriented than other customers.

One good thing that might come out of this deal, might be better and cheaper Android phones! Competition does wonderful things. It may turn out that Google stand to win, with this Verizon iPhone deal, in the long run.
Bloomberg

Vydio And VidyoConferencing Brings HD Multi Party Telepresence To Homes

#Vydio And #VidyoConferencing http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vidyo®, Inc., will demonstrate tonight, at CES Showstoppers, its HD multipoint video conferencing over the Internet, connecting consumer devices including laptops, an iPad, iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy Tab and the new Google Nexus S running “Gingerbread” with enterprise room systems, enabling users to visually connect with friends, families and business colleagues from home, the office or wherever life takes them. VidyoConferencing™ is an HD multi-point solution available today that extends work productivity tools into the home, leveraging popular consumer devices that users already own and use with their residential and wireless broadband connections, without requiring costly purpose-built devices or networks.

“Vidyo’s solution has been used for over two years to connect business colleagues and customers via HD video conferences over cable modems and DSL from homes, offices, airports and cafes,” said Ofer Shapiro, co-founder and CEO of Vidyo. “Today Vidyo’s users are also connecting their PCs and Macs to TVs in their living rooms and kitchens to gather the family and interact with multiple friends and relatives around the world in an HD, highly reliable personal telepresence experience. We’re at the beginning of an exciting new era of joining smart phones and tablets with these desktop and room system-based experiences, and Vidyo’s unique architecture makes this possible today. Vidyo’s solution on mobile devices is currently being piloted by a telecom carrier in Europe and we believe these services will be broadly available to consumers around the world in 2011.”

Vidyo’s patented architecture offers the highest quality video via less than perfect networks when connecting to remote areas, or internationally, into areas with limited bandwidth like India or China. Click here (link did not have a embeddable video one below is from Youtube) to see a demonstration of Vidyo versus a competitor over the Internet with packet loss.

Vidyo’s unique VidyoRouter architecture is the first in a new generation of software solutions that leverages H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and eliminates the Multipoint Control Unit (MCU), enabling natural, high quality video to work over the Internet, 3G, 4G and WiFi networks at a fraction of the cost of MCU-based solutions. The company’s solution is software-based, and adapts easily to virtually any hardware platform and operating system. This combination of performance, flexibility and price has led partners, including telecom carriers, conferencing service providers and OEMs to deliver new service offerings that weren’t previously possible. Vidyo spans a full range of applications, from the VidyoDesktop™ with personal telepresence capabilities on a PC or a Mac to the VidyoRoom™ that encodes and decodes HD-quality video at up to 1080p and 60 frames per second. Software Development Kits (SDKs) are available today for mobile devices running Android, iOS, and Meego operating systems.

Vidyo’s solution was recently the recipient of the Wall Street Journal’s 2010 Technology Innovation Award, nudging out other formidable nominees to win the top honor in the publication’s “Network/Internet Technologies/Broadband” category. Vidyo technology is licensed by HP, Hitachi, Teliris, ShoreTel and others and Vidyo is available today in a pilot mobile service from Elisa Corporation on the Samsung Galaxy Tablet.
More information from Vydio

Mobile Maps NG, Google Maps 5.0 for Android, Is Here Today.

Mobile Maps NG, Is Here Today. http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Google Mobile maps have been so useful that it feels as if it has been there for ages. But it is only five years old and have saved me from having to use GPS, making my life easier by helping to learn about my localities better. When Click2call was introduced it took away the need of having to flip through the likes of yellow or white books for day to day tasks like finding a new pizza parlor and placing an order.
But we all did that on a north up bound flat map, which misbehaved when the connection to internet was lost.
Well you can be happy now. The maps are not flat anymore also they are not fixed on north up mode anymore either. It is a great relief for me as now I can get my maps to show where the true right and left is! :). You can use compass mode to get yourself oriented.
Best of all is that it will continue to work, even if you lose the Internet connection. Great for those Xmas travels.

Google Mobile Maps 5.0 changes what you are used to with mobile mapping,
The new 3D assisted by vector graphics to draw the maps dynamically on your screen brings in a pleanty of new capabilities;

• Tilting: Drag down with two fingers to tilt the map. Tilt while zoomed in on one of the 100+ cities around the world with 3D buildings to see a skyline spring to life.
• Rotating: Twist with two fingers to rotate the map. After tilting to see 3D buildings, rotate around them to gain a new perspective from any direction.
• Smooth zooming: Slide two fingers together or apart, and see the map and labels continuously scale to any zoom level, stopping when your fingers stop.
• Compass mode: Center the map on your location, and then tap the compass button in the top right corner. The map will flip into 3D mode and start rotating to match your perspective, while still keeping all the labels upright and readable.

I think most will come to appreciate the Google Maps 5.0 for Android. The vector graphics based maps mentioned above allow to pack more area into a less data so Google will cache ahead based on where you use your maps most.
I used to trace my routes earlier, hoping it will cache data and makes drawing of maps faster. Now I know for sure, it will. It will help me to have a greater locality (My weekly drives to Mountain View from East Bay, like the author of the blog post linked below) right in my phone, which is going to be, a new Google Nexus S, as soon as my company approves a new Google Dev phone for me. But the best part is that Google mobile maps will help me to become truly mobile.
The offline routing feature will really help people like me who uses Google Maps Navigation to get around. I never really liked GPS devices until I came across Google Maps Mobile. The same dynamic vector graphics helps to cache more data so you will still be guided when the internet connection is interrupted while traveling. This makes Google Maps mobile have the true GPS capabilities plus live traffic, imagery, richer map details and all the other features from Google Maps.
So go get Google Maps for mobile 5.0 by searching for Google Maps in Android Market (or Clicking This link from your phone). All Android 1.6+ devices can get Maps 5.0, but 3D and offline features require Android 2.0+, and some features may not be supported for all devices or countries.
Happy traveling.

Official Google Blog: The next generation of mobile maps

Motorola Changes Logo And Color, It is Red And Makes You Want To Eat At McDonallds!

#Motorola Changes Logo And Color, It is Red And Makes You Want To Eat At McDonallds! http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Engadget people have uncovered the new logo of Motorola for the coming year. The Google Ally and Android phone maker will have a bright red logo from the start of the year, 2011 and some how the logo reminded me of the McDonald arches for some reason :). I know I am hungry for Droids but I think I will eat at Samsung, after reading and reading and waiting for Google Nexus S.

But it is not only the logo that is changing, as you may already know, Motorola will split into two entities;

Motorola, in November announced that its board of directors has approved the separation of Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. ("Motorola Mobility") from Motorola, Inc. through a tax-free dividend involving the distribution of all Motorola Mobility common stock held by Motorola to Motorola stockholders and has also approved a reverse stock split of shares of Motorola common stock following the distribution. As a result, the following will occur:
* Motorola Mobility distribution ratio will be 1 share for every 8 shares of Motorola common stock
* Motorola, Inc. reverse stock split ratio will be 1 share for every 7 shares of Motorola common stock
* Motorola, Inc. to change name to Motorola Solutions, Inc.

You can read more about that at http://www.motorola.com/investors
engadget

Google Nexus S Challenge #3 Create A Gingerbread Marvel.

#GoogleNexus S Challenge #3 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Google just published the Google Nexus Challenge #3 today and it is to send in the best Gingerbread creation on December 16th.
The team also mentioned that the criteria to win a Google Nexus S, is the originality, creativity and humor. So why not a picture of a Gingerbread man eating an apple for lunch!

Via Google Nexus on Twitter