Droid -O- Dream

No Android tablet has eclipsed 5% market share

While the iPad's share in the tablet market has steadily declined, there's been no one Android tablet to take the majority of the credit.

Amazon's Kindle Fire, which was released during the 2011 holiday season, has ignited a lot of interest in the Android tablet environment.

Nevertheless, it hasn't managed to break through to a level of sales that puts significant pressure on the iPad. A new research report from Forrester Research finds that Apple's device now has a 73% stranglehold on the tablet market.

That's pretty impressive, but keep in mind that the iPad invented the market so it effectively had a 100% market share just a couple years ago.

So where's the other 27%? That's a good question. Forrester found that Samsung was the leader in non-iPad tablet manufacturing, but even if you combine all of its Android tablets, it still only commands a 5% market share.

Below that, Motorola clocks in with 4% and Acer is clinging to 3%. According to estimates, the Kindle Fire sold fewer units than Samsung did in 2011, but of course the Kindle Fire was only around for the last month of the year.

These numbers are sure to change, especially as the Kindle Fire and other low-cost Android tablets make a real punch. But today is a vital day to measure the market, as Apple will be introducing the next iPad tomorrow.

With all the hype that has been built up surrounding the new Apple device, the market is sure to start leaning back in that company's direction.

After Android 5.0 Jelly Bean Comes Android 6.0 Key Lime Pie?

We just got confirmation from Asus that the next version of Android, Android 5.0, will be called Jelly Bean. This comes roughly six months after we first heard the Jelly Bean name. Now, we've got wind of what could be the next version of Android to follow Jelly Bean. According to the Verge, the next serving of Android will be Key Lime Pie.

By now we all know Google's tradition of naming each new build of the Android mobile operating system after a sweet dessert, progressing through a delectable world of treats in alphabetical order. With Ice Cream Sandwich already out and Jelly Bean on the way, the Verge's sources (anonymous, of course) say that the 'K' that follows Jelly Bean's 'J' will be Key Lime Pie.

The Verge cites the same source that revealed the Jelly Bean moniker way back in September. As we already mentioned, this was confirmed just this past weekend by Asus, so it seems to be a reliable source. There's also not many desserts starting with the letter 'K.' No word on a release date (or even time frame) or version number for Key Lime Pie, but we're assuming it will be at least 2013 and either Android 5.5 or 6.0.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade for Asus Transformer TF101 brings problems

Asus has confirmed that the recently released update for its Transformer TF101 tablet to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) has brought various problems.

The firm released the over-the-air upgrade last month but is now working on a fix because of a number of different problems experienced by its users. Users have experienced graphics problems, random reboots, crashing and battery issues.

Asus said on Facebook , "Thank you to everyone who has given us feedback regarding the ICS TF101 update. We apologise for the issues some users have been experiencing and we'd like to assure you all that we are working on a fix. We don't have an exact date for release yet but we're aiming for early next week."

To try and help users out it responded to one users saying, "The issues experienced are down to such a wide variety of reasons that there isn't one interim solution. We've heard of users finding successful solutions through factory resets, wiping rogue apps and deleting/updating widgets though."

We contacted Asus which simply told us, "We have not found any issues on any of the TF101s we have updated internally."

Previous to this Asus admitted that not all its users were even able to get the troublesome upgrade. It told customers to download in manually from its support page.

"We see some of you are not receiving your ICS TF101 update over the air. If this is the case please go to our support pages on the link below and manually download the update. Open the zip file and transfer (via SD card or other) the second zip file to your Transformer. Your unit should recognise the file and start updating automatically." said Asus .

Asus has been leading the pack when it comes to Android upgraded but this one doesn’t appear to have been quite ready to roll out. If you have a Transformer TF101 and haven’t upgraded then we suggest waiting for the issues to be resolved.

Judge orders Google, Motorola to hand over Android data to Apple

The companies must turn over information about the development of Android , as well as information on their merger.

Apple will soon have far more information about Android and Google's Motorola Mobility acquisition than the search giant would like.

U.S. Circuit Court Judge Richard A. Posner yesterday ordered Motorola Mobility and its soon-to-be parent company Google to hand over development information about Android to Apple , according to Bloomberg, which obtained court documents. In addition, the judge said that Google must provide Apple with information about the company's $12.5 billion deal to acquire Motorola Mobility.

Apple has been asking for the data for quite some time in its battle against Motorola Mobility, which sells smartphones that use the Android OS.

And as one might expect, Google and Motorola Mobility have attempted to stop the sharing of any information with the iPhone maker. However, according to Bloomberg, the judge believed it was a key component in the "discovery" phase of the trial.

Apple and Motorola are locked in a bitter patent dispute in Posner's court over several patents. The first jury trial, which will examine whether Motorola violated six Apple patents, will commence on June 11. After that's completed, Posner will hold a second trial over whether Apple violates three Motorola patents.

That Google has found its way into the trial is notable. After announcing plans to acquire Motorola Mobility last year, Google made it clear that it wanted the mobile company's patents. What it might not have expected, however, was the possibility of getting tossed into existing cases by virtue of that acquisition. Motorola has argued in this case that Google should not be a party to the lawsuit because the mobile firm has no "possession, custody, or control" over Google.

Looking ahead, there's no telling what either Apple or Motorola is hoping to achieve with their lawsuits. In earlier rulings, neither side has been able to win a decisive victory, and in most cases, simple workarounds ensure products stay on store shelves. The chances of that changing this time around seem slim right now.

Android Market raises maximum app size to 4GB

Google has implemented a new file limit system that would be beneficial for both developers and users alike. The change comes in the form of the Android app size being increased to 4GB (2 expansion files of 2GB each) that can be attached to the APK file, which must still adhere to the 50MB limit.
For the newer devices, the expansion packs will be downloaded along with the APK itself, while on older devices, the packs will be downloaded on first run using a built in download library.
This comes as great news for the end-user. When we downloaded a popular game for our Android tablet, we had to spend additional time waiting for the game to download add-on files to make the game playable. With the new file-size policy, Google has streamlined the process of refunds. In the past, many had reported that by the time they got around to downloading the add-on files for a said game, their refund period had expired. This new policy will ensure that all files are downloaded right then and there, so that the user can still avail the refund period, if needed.
This move on Google's part also benefits the developers. They now enjoy the freedom to create high quality content without having to cut corners in order to meet the previous file size limitation. Not only that, but Google has also offered to host the expansion packs on its own servers, so as to save the app developer the cost of hosting. Google's servers will also enable faster downloads for files as against any third party servers an app developer might use.

A $200, quad-core Android tablet may be arriving this summer

Here's an interesting rumor I haven't seen a lot of coverage on, but given Apple's event tomorrow there probably won't be room to talk Android for a few days. So let's go with this one even though I've only seen a single source.

The rumor comes from Android & Me and the story is that ASUS will be manufacturing a Nexus Tablet for Google. That alone is kind of interesting since Samsung has always been Google's go-to manufacturer for Android "reference devices," but what's really interesting to me are the specs. Android & Me's sources say it's going to be a Tegra 3 quad-core device with a 7" 1280×800 screen running pure Android 4. The price? $199. In other words, the same price as the dual-core Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet.

That sounds like a pretty aggressive price to me, but before you dismiss it as unlikely consider that ASUS was showing off a similarly spec'd device – the MeMo 370T – at CES that it said was going to sell for $249. The Nexus Tablet sounds like it could be the same hardware, so perhaps Google is subsidizing the tablet to get that price down.

As for a release date, no one knows for sure but typically Google gives out Nexus hardware at it's I/O conference, which is in June. Assuming their pattern holds, that means Android developers will got a Nexus Tablet at the conference (June 27-29) and then it'll be available to the public a month or so later.

So the big question is, can a Nexus Tablet compete with the Kindle Fire? Can it compete with the next iPad? Regular readers know one of my biggest beefs with Android is consumer confusion around all the variety of Android hardware and software versions and another tablet certainly isn't going to help there. Does ASUS have the consumer name recognition to break away from the pack? I doubt it.

But a quality $200 tablet might attract developers, which I suppose is part of Google's long game. Get the developers on board and they build your ecosystem. Of course that's been the plan for a while now and while the number of apps in the Android Market has certainly been growing, that doesn't seem to be translating to bigger Android tablet sales yet.

I have to admit, a $200 quad-core tablet would be mighty tempting for me, but then when it comes to Android I'm an easy sell. What about you? If you were going to drop $200 on a tablet would you prefer the rich ecosystem of Amazon or the increased power of a quad-core processor?

Verizon roadmap to include LG Cayman, Droid Fighter

Summary: Two new smartphones have surfaced for Verizon's spring lineup, but which models will they be?

The Droid Fighter and LG Cayman land on our Verizon radar.

(Credit: Droid Life)

A pair of upcoming handsets have appeared in a Verizon Wireless document, offering clues of two new Android handsets that could debut in the coming months.

Droid Life has obtained a screenshot of the document, which shows a Droid Fighter and LG Cayman listed for release later this spring. Which particular handsets we'll actually get, however, remains to be seen.

LG has been on a tear these last few days, announcing an entire lineup of Android devices ahead of next week's Mobile World Congress. It stands to reason that the Cayman could be any one of these newly revealed models. While enthusiasts will be eyeing the Optimus 4X HD and hoping for a Verizon iteration, I suspect it will ultimately end up at T-Mobile as a G2Xsuccessor.

An Optimus Vu, on the other hand, could make for a decent alternative to AT&T's Samsung Galaxy Note. There's also the Optimus 3D Max, though AT&T seems a better fit for a Thrill 4G successor.

With so many Droid models belonging to Motorola, the company is the likely source for the Droid Fighter. Then again, there have been Droid products from Samsung, LG, and HTC over the past few years so it's tough to be absolutely certain.

Some readers may recall a rumored HTC Fireball handset set to arrive at Verizon in the coming weeks. Expected to offer 4G LTE connectivity, it's possible that it is the recently leaked Incredible-esque device. On the contrary, it makes more sense to name it a Droid Incredible 3 than to introduce a new product name. Things may get even muddier with Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, approaching in a matter of days. We could be in for a host of new smartphone announcements that have yet to be leaked online. Any one of these new superphones would sound good with a Droid Fighter moniker.