Vic Gundotra, VP of Engineering for Google, explained at Google I/O last May that Google intend to deliver a whole lot more than just applications on the Android Market by demonstrating a Android music download service. It seems Google don’t plan on stopping with just music downloads as a recent report in The Wall Street Journal explains that Google are trying to lure publishers into supporting a “digital newsstand inch service for Android.

Sources say that Google’s newsstand service will provide apps from publishers that allow Android users to view newspapers and magazines on phone and tablet devices. With Android now activating over 300,000 Google branded devices per day it seems only inevitable that publishers will eventually jump on-board.

Google are supposedly in contact with Timer Warner, Condé Nast and Hearst, three large publishers, regarding the service however “details of the newsstand venture and its timing remain vague inch. Apple already provide publishers with the ability to sell periodicals through their iTunes service so expect competition to intensify if Google can get their newsstand product off the ground.

Amazon also made a big announcement today with their Kindle service as they intend to launch Kindle applications for both Android and Windows tablets. Amazon previously announced that they have a Windows Phone 7 Kindle app in development and already have a Android app that is designed for smartphones but the applications announced today specifically target tablet devices.

Sources: WSJ, Downloadsquad

Days before CES officially kicks off Toshiba have announced their Honeycomb tablet offering, or at least demonstrated the hardware. Similar to Toshiba’s previous Android tablet, the Folio, it’s powered by the Tegra 2 platform however it has been given a much needed makeover with a higher resolution 1280 x 800 10.1” display, 5 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front facing camera which will be able to take advantage of the many Android video calling services and hopefully a Google GTalk video calling service by the time the tablet launches.

Like the Folio it also has full size HDMI and USB interfaces and a SD card slot. The tablet is also equipped with a mini-USB for all your charging needs however it’s a shame Toshiba didn’t opt to use a micro-USB connector to try and comply with the new European mobile charging standard.

The new Toshiba device also offers an interesting removable rubberized rear cover which will provide customers with the options of a replaceable battery and also the option to replace it with a different coloured rear panel. Android is well known to be a heavily customizable operating system, by both manufactures and users, therefore customers may see this sort of hardware customization as an attractive option.

Unfortunately Engadget were not given permission to turn on the device but were told that it will run “the next version of Android designed for tablets” when it launches in the first half of 2011. Hopefully after the firmware issues that Folio users were initially plagued with Toshiba will scrap their custom user interface and go for a stock Google Android Honeycomb experience.

If Toshiba can maintain the competitive pricing that was demonstrated with the Folio this new device could mark the start of a new wave of affordable and quality Android tablets that have access to all the Google goodies, including the Android Market and along with this a large influx of tablet compatible ‘HD’ applications and games which will start to come when Google officially announce their tablet friendly version of Android.

Source: Engadget

Days before CES officially kicks off Toshiba have announced their Honeycomb tablet offering, or at least demonstrated the hardware. Similar to Toshiba’s previous Android tablet, the Folio, it’s powered by the Tegra 2 platform however it has been given a much needed makeover with a higher resolution 1280 x 800 10.1 inch display, 5 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front facing camera which will be able to take advantage of the many Android video calling services and hopefully a Google GTalk video calling service by the time the tablet launches.

Like the Folio it also has full size HDMI and USB interfaces and a SD card slot. The tablet is also equipped with a mini-USB for all your charging needs however it’s a shame Toshiba didn’t opt to use a micro-USB connector to try and comply with the new European mobile charging standard.

The new Toshiba device also offers an interesting removable rubberized rear cover which will provide customers with the options of a replaceable battery and also the option to replace it with a different coloured rear panel. Android is well known to be a heavily customizable operating system, by both manufactures and users, therefore customers may see this sort of hardware customization as an attractive option.

Unfortunately Engadget were not given permission to turn on the device but were told that it will run “the next version of Android designed for tablets inch when it launches in the first half of 2011. Hopefully after the firmware issues that Folio users were initially plagued with Toshiba will scrap their custom user interface and go for a stock Google Android Honeycomb experience.

If Toshiba can maintain the competitive pricing that was demonstrated with the Folio this new device could mark the start of a new wave of affordable and quality Android tablets that have access to all the Google goodies, including the Android Market and along with this a large influx of tablet compatible ‘HD’ applications and games which will start to come when Google officially announce their tablet friendly version of Android.

Source: Engadget

You have to love this time of the year, CES is starting and companies are providing all sorts of sneak peaks into what they have been working on to keep our gadget appetites suitably moistened.

Opera haven’t disappointed with quick preview of a new version of their popular mobile browser designed specifically for tablets. Announced on the Opera blog, this new version appears to be tailored for the larger screens of tablets.

Opera used the Samsung Galaxy Tab to preview the browser meaning an Android version is certain although I also suspect an iOS version for the iPad will be announced, especially with the rumored iPad2 looming for sometime this year.

As you can see the browser uses Operas visual bookmarks layout called Speed Dial and appears to run smoothly on the Galaxy Tab although its hardly surprising given the hardware.

As far as I am aware this will be the first browser customised specifically for tablets so it should be interesting to see what other features Opera can pack into this new edition to differentiate it from the vanilla mobile version.

Via jkOnTheRun

If you thought waiting for the latest Android update was the only issue your phone has, think again. A bug that was reported to Google last June that makes Android send SMS messages to the wrong recipient still appears to be impacting a vast number of users.

When sending SMS the Android messaging client will appear to have sent the message to the intended recipient however the bug will cause the message to actually be sent to another contact. It seems that the bug may not directly be related to the sending of the message but instead the Android messaging client loads the incorrect messaging thread. So, before hitting that send button on any message, make sure it’s destined to arrive at the correct recipient.

It remains unclear if this bug has been fixed in the recent Gingerbread release but even after Google fix this bug and provide manufactures with the corrected source code, users will still be relying on manufactures and carriers to promptly push the update out to devices.

If you have been suffering from this problem, let us know in the comments below and share your SMS horror stories.

Motorola recently posted a rather humorous video teaser for an upcoming tablet product on YouTube. Their video isn’t too original with its play on the tablet pun as it runs through various “tablets”, from the Rosetta Stone to the 10 Commandments. There’s a brief and humorous sentence about each tablet, including the iPad “It’s like a giant iPhone but… it’s like a giant iPhone” and the Galaxy Tab “Android OS, but Android OS… for a phone”, then the video pans over to a veiled product with a Motorola logo beneath it. A bee flies out as the video comes to an end, complimenting the video’s description, “we’re buzzing with excitement to be the next chapter in tablet evolution”.

I’m going to say, with a decent amount of confidence, that this device is going to use Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb).

I suppose I can’t actually claim to be guessing, as I’ve already seen the tablet shown off on video, thanks to Notebook.com’s heads up. During Andy Rubin’s interview at the 2010 D: All Things Digital conference, he whips the device out and takes it for a spin. We’ve got a larger version posted inline for your convenience.

The video is the first time I’ve seen some quality Android 3.0 action, and I’m very surprised how similar to Windows parts of the interface are. Have a look and let me know if you also think you could ask better questions than the moderators in your sleep.

Motorola recently posted a rather humorous video teaser for an upcoming tablet product on YouTube. Their video isn’t too original with its play on the tablet pun as it runs through various “tablets inch, from the Rosetta Stone to the 10 Commandments. There’s a brief and humorous sentence about each tablet, including the iPad “It’s like a giant iPhone but… it’s like a giant iPhone inch and the Galaxy Tab “Android OS, but Android OS… for a phone inch, then the video pans over to a veiled product with a Motorola logo beneath it. A bee flies out as the video comes to an end, complimenting the video’s description, “we’re buzzing with excitement to be the next chapter in tablet evolution inch.

I’m going to say, with a decent amount of confidence, that this device is going to use Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb).

I suppose I can’t actually claim to be guessing, as I’ve already seen the tablet shown off on video, thanks to Notebook.com’s heads up. During Andy Rubin’s interview at the 2010 D: All Things Digital conference, he whips the device out and takes it for a spin. We’ve got a larger version posted inline for your convenience.

The video is the first time I’ve seen some quality Android 3.0 action, and I’m very surprised how similar to Windows parts of the interface are. Have a look and let me know if you also think you could ask better questions than the moderators in your sleep.

.NET, Adobe AIR (Flex, action script), C++ and C are already supported as development platforms for Intel’s AppUp and we’ve already seen people porting their existing air apps over. I’m sure that we’re going to see similar activity, along with fresh development work following the new announcement that a Java SDK has now been added to AppUp. That should please the 9 million Java developers! [ref]

Remember, AppUp is the application ecosystem (develop, monetize, storefront) for Intel netbooks and future MeeGo products on the Intel platforms so in terms of potential it’s building quickly. It’s also key in a significant, possibly critical, part of Intel’s strategy to move into handheld devices, cars and TVs along with MeeGo. It’s no surprise that a lot of work is going into it.

From the announcement:

Continuing the port of choice approach for AppUp, the AppUp developer program has now added a Java SDK, extending the value of the program to millions of Java developers. With the addition of this SDK the program now supports Java, .NET, Adobe AIR, C++ & C development environments. Java developers can download the SDK and start submitting applications to AppUp today. Adding Java as development language for AppUp provides more choice for developers and allows for the benefits of Java to be used to get apps distributed and monetized to consumers.

So are there any developers feeling left out now?

More importantly, are there any developers itching to get involved when Android, Chrome, Symbian and iOS offer a rather significant advantage in terms of installed user base and monetization opportunities?

I spoke to Java consultant Niall Lynch [Agent: Version1] about the opportunity…

This is good news, and will leverage the skills of the large Java developer community who would be keen to develop on any new platform available. It opens up huge opportunities for developers to consider new types of devices when developing applications. Obviously Android application developers should jump at this development. It’s also good news to see that companies as large as Intel believe in Java as there appears to be a lack of direction from various quarters about the future of Java.

Android devs, is there an easy porting opportunity here?