Sunday, February 13, 2011

"Webby": Android-Powered Mini Computer

webby

 

Webby is a "suite of widgets and little apps" including internet radio, email, RSS, and an alarm.

For hardware? 600mhz ARM CPU, 256mb ram, 2gb internal falsh, SD and USB expansion, 3.5" touchscreen, 320x240 resolution, wifi 802.11b/g/n with Android 2.1.

The down side? No social network ability.

(via Engadget)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Sheldon Lurves Android: the Big Bang Theory

Check out this screenshot from the Big Bang Theory showing one of the adorable DYZ Plastics Android collectible:

Sheldon Big Bang Theory Android Collectible

(Noticed by an AndroidCentral reader.)

Adorable Mini Android Collectibles (Series 2 Coming Soon)

Check out these awesome and cute Android collectibles.

There is currently only 1 series (check out the link) at the moment. Series 2, however is coming soon.

Hopefully these are exceptionally popular so that they make a series 3!

(via DYZPlastic Series  2DYZPlastic Series 1)

Android s2 cupcake pre

Android s1 3aAndroid vampire 1a

 

Google is the New Microsoft?

Check out the reasons and explanations why at PCWorld.

Highlights from PCWorld:

1. Core Dominance

The most obvious similarity between Microsoft and Google involves each company's ability to dominate its core industry. Microsoft has had well over 90 percent of the desktop operating system market since the days of Windows 95 and Windows XP. There are signs that Microsoft's dominance may drop significantly in the next few years due to the proliferation of devices running mobile operating systems, but Windows is still the king of the desktop.

 

2. Monopoly Mania

The downside of dominating an industry is that you're an immediate target for antitrust allegations. Microsoft experienced this during the late 90s and early 2000s, with accusations of unfair business practices against competitors such as IBM, Real Networks, Gateway, Netscape, and Apple.

 

3. It's the Platform, Stupid

The core strategy for both Microsoft and Google has been to create a platform that keeps the user in each company's ecosystem. Microsoft led the way in the 1990s by distributing the most popular desktop operating system ever and offering tools that played nice with Windows, such as Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and early online "cloud-based" services like Hotmail.

PC vs. Mac

4. Apple Rivalry

Microsoft is the new IBM, Google is the new Microsoft, and Apple is the new...Apple?


After the release of Windows 95, Microsoft ate away at Apple's business, driving the Macintosh maker into a niche market. Microsoft's strategy of distributing Windows on as many platforms as possible was a huge success, a contrast to Apple's distributing of the Mac OS only on its own computers.

 

5. From Rebel to Lumbering Giant

Microsoft started out as the plucky disruptor that popularized the PC graphical user interface through wide distribution and lower pricing compared with Apple's Macintosh OS. In a similar vein, Google was able to dominate search thanks to its amazingly relevant search results and its bare-bones homepage that featured the search box and nothing else.

 

6. Trust Us

Believe it or not, Microsoft, not Google, was once seen as the big, scary technology company trying to steal your data. In 1999, Microsoft had to address suspicions that the National Security Agency had a backdoor into Windows that allowed the NSA to peek at users' encrypted data. Then, in 2001, Microsoft revealed a big plan for its Passport universal sign-in feature, which would store each user's name, password, address, e-mail address, and credit card credentials online to encourage people to shop on the Web. The Passport plan was met with fierce opposition, however, because no one wanted to trust Microsoft with their data.

 

7. Hooked on Googlesoft

GooglesoftWant to get people to use your stuff and forget about going with the competition? Just pile some basic tools into your platform that are handy and free. Microsoft first bundled Internet Explorer with Windows to battle Netscape. Other tools packed into Windows include MSN Messenger, WordPad, and integration with Hotmail--and who can forget MSN Explorer for that AOL-like experience? Google has taken Microsoft's free-software strategy to the extreme with Google Docs, Gmail, Google Translate, Google Voice, Calendar, and Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation in Android. Google has also been accused of favoring its own products--such as Google Maps and YouTube--in its search results.

 

8. Competition Crusher


A tweak in Google's algorithm can send online businesses reeling from a significant drop in Web traffic. This is part of the reason the European Commission is looking into Google's search practices following antitrust complaints from sites such as price-comparison service Foundem and French law-related search tool eJustice. Microsoft's tactics, in its heyday, were far more aggressive: For example, the software giant was accused by RealNetworks of pressuring PC makers not to install RealNetworks software on Windows PCs by default. And IBM said Microsoft pressured manufacturers not to offer computers running IBM's OS/2 system.

 

 

9. Me-Too Products

NewImage

 

Despite each company's dominance, both Microsoft and Google have tried to insert themselves into business areas that have never quite worked out for them. After TiVo was introduced, Microsoft attempted to break into the DVR market with its own version called Ultimate TV. Microsoft's Virtual Earth mapping program followed Google Earth, and the Zune MP3 player followed Apple's iPod.

 

10. Brain Drain

Google headquartersInside Google's headquartersOnce upon a time, every software engineer wanted a job at Microsoft. It was the "it" place to work, thanks to the company's healthy compensation packages and exciting projects. Google eventually overtook Microsoft as a desirable place to work, offering perks such as free laundry rooms, dry cleaning, snacks galore, recreation rooms, bouncy balls for work stations instead of chairs, and the much-ballyhooed 20 percent time for working on experimental projects.