Google Android 2.3 – Launching with Nexus S

Google has announced that with the release of their latest phone, the Nexus S (a Samsung device), they are also launching Android 2.3. Obviously Android 2.3 won’t be available immediately for everybody, depending on the hardware and carrier, but it’s still a big deal.

Some of the highlights of Android 2.3
* UI (User Interface) refinements – simplified, plus enhanced performance.
* Better/faster text input and editing, including reshaped keys to increase accuracy
* One-touch word selection and copy/paste.
* Improved power management
* Improved control over applications
* A New and updated set of standard applications
* Support for multiple cameras
* See the link below for more details

Read:
* Google.com/Nexus (Nexus S)
* Android 2.3 Platform Highlights

HP webOS 2.0 plus Palm Pre 2 Formally Announced

Palm and webOS are officially back from the dead as of today. HP has formally announced both HP webOS 2.0 and the Palm Pre 2 smartphone. The Palm Pre 2 will be a Verizon CDMA phone.

There are a few interesting things. It looks like you can use it as a mobile hotspot if you have the right data plan from Verizon, which would be great if you bring a laptop along and don’t have an independent Wifi source – you can use the Pre 2′s CDMA connection and wirelessly tether up to five devices and connect to the internet through Verizon. One of the most interesting things is that you can have conversations that span multiple protocols and software – you can have a conversation with a person that starts in AOL’s AIM instant messenger, continue it in GoogleTalk, and finish it with normal text messaging. It looks like it can backup your data wirelessly every day. The web browser has Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta support, but to be honest, in all the years I’ve had a smartphone, Flash has never been a deal breaker to me. I’ve never needed it on my iPhone, nor did I need it on my Windows Mobile phones before that. The sites I’ve come across that didn’t have an HTML alternative to their Flash support were not worth bothering with.

What does it offer genealogists?
There’s no indication of any genealogy software coming to webOS 2.0 just yet. It’s not backwards compatible with the older Palm OS genealogy software. If you just need something to check email and maybe browse the web and stay up on a few social networks (Facebook, etc.), it probably do just fine for you. It even has a hardware keyboard which some people like. One nice thing is that hardware keyboards don’t take up space on the screen. If you are looking for dedicated genealogy apps, you’re probably going to have to wait a while. It took a while before they started to appear on Google’s Android, and we are just now seeing discussion of genealogy apps on Windows Phone 7. My guess would be that developers are going to wait and see some hard numbers on the sales side of things. It looks like it has a decent camera which is a requirement for genealogists these days, and it’s got Skype Mobile. If Evernote comes out with a webOS 2.0 app, that would make it really interesting for some. It does support Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents which is very important for a lot of us.

Palm Pre 2 Specifications Read more

The Appeal of the Apple TV to Me

Earlier today, I wrote a bit about the Apple September Event and it’s affect or appeal to genealogists on the go. With the iPod touches once again mirroring the current iPhones for the most part, and becoming incredibly powerful and rounding things out with the iPad, I mentioned that I think genealogy apps on the iOS platform will continue to increase.

I also mentioned the use of the new Apple TV for doing presentations or acting as a backdrop of sorts at family reunions, for streaming video or slideshows to an HDTV.

A few hours ago, a friend asked why I didn’t just hook up my laptop to an HDTV and do the same thing and save $99. There are two answers to that.

One reason: At a large gathering with a lot of people, especially where there will probably be a lot of kids, I really don’t feel like leaving my laptop out in the open and hooked up to a TV. Too much potential for something to happen to it, whether it’s getting knocked to the floor, or somebody deciding they want to try and play games on it or do who knows what else. I don’t want to spend my time babysitting my laptop. Having it off elsewhere, where it can be secured, frees me up from wasting my time. It can also be used with a desktop PC, which means not having a tower sitting there hooked up to the TV.

The second reason: At a presentation, if I’m presenting photos or video, I really don’t want to have my laptop tethered directly to the TV, because it will be a distraction as people will be paying attention to me and not the TV. There would be times where I’d want to be out front of course, but a lot of times, if I’m going through something, I want the focus to be on what’s being displayed, and not me. I might lose the advantage of not being able to do a live demonstration of software, but I can still easily hook up my laptop for that if needed. I can also do screenshots of software or content and have those displayed through the Apple TV device as well. It would be really nice if I could tell the Apple TV device to switch from displaying photos or streaming a video to streaming my desktop, and maybe that’s a future update, but I’m not counting on it.

Of course, a genealogist using an Apple TV device is still reliant upon having a decent-sized HDTV available. If that’s not the case, you’ll still have to pull out the trusty old projector.

Apple’s September 2010 Event and Mobile Genealogy

Well, what did we learn today from Apple’s September Event, and what impact, if any, will it have on mobile genealogists? First off, there is a new iPod nano and iPod shuffle, but neither of those interest me since they can’t run genealogy apps. They are really awesome and very well designed, but I already have an iPhone and don’t need a second music player.

General news:
* iOS 4.1 is coming out next week, with some bug fixes and minor updates.
* iOS 4.2 will be out in November and it adds Multi-tasking and folders for iPads. It also brings wireless printing. That is big for some of us.

New 2010 iPod touch and notes about the iPod touch
* iPod touch is currently the most popular iPod
* 1.5 billion titles download to it
* 2010 design is thinner than pevious iPod touch
* Inherits the “Retina” display that the iPhone 4 has, which means a higher resolution and better-looking screen. Big deal for genealogists using iOS apps.
* A lot faster than previous model (good for big genealogy databases)
* Comes with a front-facing camera to work with Apple’s Facetime – two-way video chatting
* Rear-facing camera capable of HD-level video. It doesn’t do much in the way of still photos – very low resolution. Not surprising – Apple wants you to get into the iPhone 4.
* 8GB model – $229, 32GB – $299, 64GB – $399
* All three start shipping next week

iPad News
* iOS 4.2 updates really focus on the iPad, including wireless printing
Read more

Samsung Galaxy S, 32GB microSDHC, Android Development

Samsung has decided to make a Google Android-based phone it’s high-end mobile device/phone. It’s a victory for Android fans and adds another really powerful mobile phone into the mix of those looking to get into smartphones.

It offers a 1GHz processor, 3D graphics (mapping, etc.), Assisted GPS, a 5MP camera capable of HD video recording, Bluetooth 3.0, and 8GB or 16GB versions with support for a 32GB memory card (see below). It’s focused on a 4-inch 800×480 Super AMOLED touchscreen display. It’ll be available sometime later this year.
Link: Samsung Unpacked

Speaking of Android, AdMob, a mobile advertising network, took a survey concerning development on various mobile platforms. While the survey was limited in number (just over 100 responses), it was interesting since these are actual developers. Some notes of interest:
- 31% of developers are developing for more than one mobile platform
- More than 70% of iPhone developers who responded said they would develop for Android over the next six months, while around half of the Android developers were planning on developing for the iPhone.
- Nearly half are new to mobile platforms.
Link: Metrics.Admob.com

It’s interesting since over the last few years, we’ve seen an explosion in development for platforms that are not Windows Mobile or Palm-based. Whether it’s going to carry over into genealogy software development, I don’t know. If you look at the iPhone-related genealogy applications, the highest-profile apps are from existing third party developers for Apple’s Mac OS X who already have genealogy applications available for the desktop/laptop. Even Ancestry.com’s Tree to Go is from a company already involved with genealogy software (Family Tree Maker, among other things). Still, the iPhone opened up the door and we have developers new to the genealogy scene, and the same can be said of the Android platform. Even if we don’t see a lot of new genealogy-specific software, we’ll still see plenty of software that any genealogist can use – navigation, photo storage and management, etc.

Finally, If you have $199 to spare, a phone or other mobile devices that supports microSDHC (possibly including the above Samsung Galaxy S), and a need to carry around a lot of photos, video, music, and data, your ship has arrived. SanDisk announced a 32GB microSDHC card today. Right now it’s available in the United States (and probably Canada) as well as Europe. By the end of next month, it should be available worldwide. Link: SanDisk

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