Android Open Source

Here you can find the information and source code you need to build an Android-compatible device.

Android is an open-source software stack for mobile devices, and a corresponding open-source project led by Google. We created Android in response to our own experiences launching mobile apps. We wanted to make sure that there was no central point of failure, so that no industry player can restrict or control the innovations of any other. That’s why we created Android, and made its source code open.

via Welcome to Android | Android Open Source.

Linaro: open source software for ARM SoCs

Linaro is a not-for-profit engineering organization consolidating and optimizing open source Linux software and tools for the ARM architecture. Find out more…

via Linaro: open source software for ARM SoCs.

From:Android is about to get a lot faster thanks to Linaro

The folks behind the Linaro open source software project have put a little time into tweaking Google Android to use the gcc 4.7 toolchain. The result is a version of Android that can perform many tasks between 30 and 100 percent faster than the version of Android Google 4.0 Google currently offers through the AOSP (Android Open Source Project).

Android Management | MobileIron

THE SOLUTION: MobileIron enables companies to deploy Android devices at scale by bridging the gap between the security IT needs and the experience end users demand. The MobileIron platform includes a server that is up and running in your corporate network in less than a day, plus a MobileIron Android app that is available for download on the Android Market.

via Android Management | MobileIron.

APC

$49 Android PC System

APC was not built like an ordinary PC. For openers, we started with an awareness that the purpose of a computer is to connect to the Internet. It is the Internet that now defines computing. When you begin here, magic happens.

Expensive, overpowered CPUs and bloated software are no longer relevant. With this awareness, we were able to drop power consumption to the point of making an energy-saving light-bulb jealous.

via APC.

Google Changes Tack on Android

Google plans to give multiple mobile-device makers early access to new releases of Android and to sell those devices directly to consumers, said people familiar with the matter. That is a shift from Google’s previous practice, when it joined with with only one hardware maker at a time to produce “lead devices,” before releasing the software to other device makers. …

via Google Changes Tack on Android – WSJ.com.

Android fragmentation: one developer encounters 3,997 devices

The developers logged 3,997 distinct devices, the most popular of which was the Samsung Galaxy S II. This figure was inflated quite a bit by custom ROMs, which overwrite the android.build.MODEL variable and cause those phones to be logged as separate devices. 1,363 types were logged only once, and while some were custom ROMs bucking the numbers, a good few were just massively unpopular devices—for example, the Hungarian 10.1-inch Concorde Tab.

via Android fragmentation: one developer encounters 3,997 devices | Ars Technica.

New $74 Android mini computer is slightly larger than a thumb drive

The small computer has an AllWinner A10 single-core 1.5GHz ARM CPU, a Mali 400 GPU, and 512MB of RAM. An HDMI port on the exterior allows users to plug the computer into a television. It outputs at 1080p and is said to be capable of playing high-definition video.

The device also has a full-sized USB port with host support for input devices, a conventional micro-USB port, a microSD slot, and an internal 802.11 b/g WiFi antenna. The computer can boot from a microSD card and is capable of running Android 4.0 and other ARM-compatible Linux platforms.

via New $74 Android mini computer is slightly larger than a thumb drive | Ars Technica.

Why Verizon Doesn’t Want You to Buy an iPhone

Here’s the problem: Verizon has spent millions of dollars rolling out its massive LTE network to cover 200 million people so far. You could call it billions, if you include the $5 billion spent on the C Block 700-Mhz spectrum licenses. But according to its first-quarter earnings presentation it’s only been able to convert 9.1 percent of its 93 million users to LTE.

via Why Verizon Doesn’t Want You to Buy an iPhone | News & Opinion | PCMag.com.

You Can’t Move an iPhone Customer to 4G
From Verizon’s position, the solution looks simple: move heavy data users in crowded urban areas from 3G to 4G as fast as possible. That would help everyone. The new 4G users get much faster connections, and the 3G users would see better speeds and network quality, too, as that network becomes less crowded.

Replicant project

Replicant is a fully free Android distribution running on several devices. It is a free software project.

via About | Replicant project.

On this release, here is a quick summary of which major components are working and which are not:

  • Telephony is stable enough, there is working in-call volume change and audio routing, though we miss some features like conferencing
  • SMS are working nicely, including multi-part messages, both on sending and receiving
  • Data has a minimal implementation that is far from being ready (but can be set up manually), so this will be for next time
  • Some other minimal features are there (SIM I/O, DTMF, SIM unlock, etc)
  • Some are missing (USSD, working airplane mode for instance)