All About Android 61

All About Android Episode 61

All About Android 61: Nexus Class

China comes through for Motorola Mobility, a broader class of Nexus devices, we make your ears bleed, and more.

Guests

• Jason Appelbaum (@appelbaum)

News

• China Approves Google's Acquisition Of Motorola, Deal Expected To Be Finalized Next Week

• Google will keep Android free and open for at least five years

• Here's what Android fragmentation really looks like

• My G+ post

• OpenSignalMaps released data based on 6 months of Android usage cataloguing upwards of 681,900 total devices and 3,997 distinct devices. They included a nifty chart that illustrates the differentiation of hardware and of course, the "fragmentation of Android" argument rears its ugly head yet again.
  • 1. Samsung held the lead with most popular device (S II) and most devices overall (270,144) with HTC, Sony and Motorola following behind.
  • 2. 1,363 of those distinct devices can be attributed to custom ROM builds. That's 34% of the distinct devices based on something that doesn't really matter.
  • 3. Depending on where you fall on this argument, this is either a demonstration of all that is bad about Android (Fragmentation) OR all that is great about Android (number of options as consumers)
• Ina Fried of All Things D pointed out on TNT last week that developers are the ones that really struggle with fragmentation, citing the many types of camera hardware as one major headache.
  • Pete Daly of the shot Control app weighed in on this as well:
  • "I wanted to reinforce the thought raised by Ina that for camera apps, like Shot Control, fragmentation is REALLY REALLY bad. It's a non-stop game of black box whack-a-mole. Very frustrating, especially for small developers without a budget to acquire a dozen or more devices for testing. -Pete"

Email

"I've got an Android and I figured I should stop trying to google an answer and go straight to an expert. My girlfriend is hoping to record video on a Galaxy S2 for work at a convention and use an external microphone plugged into the 3.5mm jack at the top to capture cleaner audio rather than rely on the phone's hardware. From what I can tell, there isn't a way to do this. At all.

Am I missing something? It seems like this should be able to work. I figure if you don't know the answer or don't know anyone who would, then it must not be possible. I appreciate any help you can provide on this one. Hope all is well at TWiT land. I've noticed you've been more than busy since you last came on my podcast.

Christopher Snider

• justtalkingpodcast.com

• Check out this video. There is even a comment under the video from someone saying "Now I can make HD video of musical performances with good sound with my Galaxy SII." Not sure if they are saying that it WORKED or if they are saying that it WILL work (which could not be the case when they try it). But the first half of the video should let you know whether external micing the video recording is at all possible.

• 4 pole RCA

Hardware

• HTC EVO 4G LTE phones pass Customs; on way to Sprint customers
• HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE indefinitely delayed at US Customs for investigation of Apple patent infringement
• Customs slowly letting HTC handsets into the US, can't say which ones
• Related: Microsoft Wins Order To Ban Import Of (Some) Undisclosed Motorola Android Smartphones Into US

• WSJ: Five Nexus handsets to be available by Thanksgiving 2012—running Jelly Bean
  • Remember the discussion we had a month or two ago about the Nexus label being a potential type of device that ANY manufacturer could choose to release their phones under? Well, according to a Wall Street Journal source, that might in fact be happening. Five Nexus devices (ie phones AND tablets), according to the source, would be available by Turkey-day here in the States and sold through the Play Store. All of this in time for the next version of Android 5.0, Jelly Bean. Crossing my fingers for more details at Google I/O in a few weeks.

• Full Samsung Galaxy S III manual available for download
• Samsung update list
• Samsung Galaxy S III Manual
• Samsung fills out Android 4.0 ICS upgrade list with T-Mobile devices
• Samsung Galaxy S III gets permission to enter US, still only with HSPA+
• Samsung grabs 9 million pre-orders for Galaxy S III

Email

"I saw what happened with Eileen's demo and knew what the problem was. I have posted a YouTube video showing what the problem is. You guys are free to do whatever you'd like with the video. Thanks for all the great shows.

-Eric Weeks"

Apps

• Samsung Galaxy S III voice app leaked
• Samsung begins blocking unofficial S-Voice requests ahead of Galaxy S III launch
• App dev Smule finally releases an app on Android
• Songify for Android

Email

• Just through together a scoreboard site when I was bored, last night and watching the show! Keep up the awesome work!! - Kyle
  • whoswinningaaa.squarespace.com

Android Arena!

• Last Week's Poll
• This week's face-off: AWESOME
• Jason H - DoubleTwist Alarm ($.99 on sale from $1.99)
• Jason A - CamCard (free version that can scan 30 cards 11.99 for full verison)
• Eileen - Zombie Smash ($0.99)
• This Week's Poll

Sponsors

Ford

• ad times: :21-:33 and 18:25-20:51

Production Information

• Edited by: Jason
• Notes:

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