Official Google Buzz Widget Hits Android Market

Google Buzz hasn’t been buzzing much lately, but that might change as an Official Google Buzz Widget has just landed on the Android Market. Oddly enough, it was only visible to certain people – Talton and I both have Motorola Droids on Verizon Wireless but only he could see it on the market. Not sure exactly why that is but here is the info on the app directly from the market: Google Buzz widget allows you to easily post buzz from your home screen! Features: * Quickly post buzz publicly or privately * Add photos to your post from the camera or gallery * Share your location or place * Quickly access buzz.google.com Install and add to your homescreen by selecting Menu> Add> Widgets> Google Buzz . I’m guessing its just a matter of Android Market running on TONS of different servers and not perfectly aligned in terms of what is cached and updated. Some people who didn’t initially see it are now reporting it is popping up. Download it, test it out and tell us how you like it.

Original post:
Official Google Buzz Widget Hits Android Market

Move over, Zillow. ZipRealty releases its own Android real estate app

%image%

Today is a great day for house hunters with Android phones. Not only has Zillow.com released its Android app, real estate website ZipRealty has released its own app into the Android Market. ZipRealty maintains listings for homes in 4,800 U.S. cities, and those listings are now available on your Android phone. ZipRealty allows users to search

See original here:
Move over, Zillow. ZipRealty releases its own Android real estate app

Slingbox Mobile: Coming soon for Android

%image%

We have seen bits and pieces about Sling Media getting ready to release an Android app, and the good news here is that launch seems to be getting a little closer to reality. Well, closer to reality based on in the past we heard rumors and now we have a mention on the Sling Media

See original here: 
Slingbox Mobile: Coming soon for Android

MOG Announces Android App At SXSW

The music industry began a huge transformation in the Napster-age and that story continues to unfold with the proliferation of mobile technology. The profitability of streaming music services is still questionable, especially considering the stance of record companies and leverage of industry leaders like Apple’s iTunes. But one company determined to become a dominant player is MOG … and today they just took an important step with a pretty huge announcement. At SXSW, MOG announced the upcoming availability of its Android (and iPhone) application that will cost $10/month and allow unlimited streaming of 7-million songs, radio stations, and downloads. That’s right – although the service is streaming, it allows you to download songs to a “local cache” that allows for playback even when out of cell phone or Wi-Fi range. The MOG Blog today highlighted several of the top tech sources covering the news: “As for the radio offering, it impressed us too. Subscribers to MOG.com already enjoy artist radio with a slider that allows you to create an artist station consisting only of songs by that artist, mostly songs by related artists, or anywhere in between. The same feature will be available in the mobile apps, where subscribers can tap any song in a radio playlist to see the album and download songs from it.” — Wired.com “All of MOG’s on-demand streaming functionality looks great, but the killer feature is offline downloading. Using this, users can tap on a song or album they like and choose to download it to their iPhone or Android device, allowing you to seamlessly use the application when your phone doesn’t have connectivity.” – TechCrunch.com “For people who are used to free music options, they’re feeling like the value we provide for five dollars a month is better than free,” Hymen said. “When we built Mog, every day we said to ourselves for years, ‘Music’s already free. What could we give somebody for five dollars a month that just blows away free?” – CNET “We weren’t at SXSW, but if we were… we would have had an equally impressive quote for MOG to feature on their blog. Total sweetness!” – Phandroid Okay… okay… MOG didn’t have that quote from us on their site. And we didn’t say that anywhere besides this article. But we felt left out so I shoehorned myself in there. But in all honestly this IS a pretty huge announcement for music-lovers out there. And to be fair – Spotify already has a similar service churning over in Europe where they seem to be a bit more progressive in terms of digital content ownership/use.

Excerpt from:
MOG Announces Android App At SXSW

Verizon & Sprint Battle On Sports: NFL & ESPN

For quite awhile, Sprint has been the exclusive partner of the NFL will their NFL Mobile application available on Sprint handsets. In conjunction with their Mobile TV services, fans and subscribers could tune into exclusive content, live updates, video highlights and a whole lot more directly through their phones. With the continually growing popularity of the NFL, Verizon wanted in – and they got it. In a $720 million, 4-year deal, Verizon will allow its customers to watch live games on Thursdays and Sunday nights in addition to getting coverage from around the league all day every day. That’s huge news – here is a quick part of the press release : Among the programming that will be available for the first time during the regular season will be the wildly popular NFL RedZone channel from the NFL Network, which airs live look-ins of every key play and touchdown from Sunday afternoon games. Fans also will be able to watch live streaming of NBC’s Sunday Night Football and NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football. In addition, fans will receive the NFL Network channel, which airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis, and is the only network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. “This is an agreement that has, at its core a mutual desire by both the NFL and Verizon Wireless to provide consumers with what they want on and off the field,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “For Verizon Wireless, it is NFL content delivered over our 3G network so football fans can extend the excitement of the sport long after the last touchdown of a season. And the NFL content is customizable in that consumers have options from video to ringtones to alerts; the choice is theirs.” Sprint likely new this agreement was brewing and were simultaneously wheeling and dealing on their own – announcing they’ve just signed an agreement with ESPN to bring a ridiculous amount of sports programming to their own customers. So while it isn’t NFL overload, they’re now able to cover a broad range of sports for their customers: Fans Can Watch Live Professional and College Games on Their Sprint Mobile Devices OVERLAND PARK, Kan. & BRISTOL, Conn., Mar 12, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — ESPN and Sprint (NYSE: S) are teaming up to give Sprint customers the ultimate sports experience – in the palm of their hands – with ESPN Mobile TV available on Sprint TV(R). Beginning today, ESPN Mobile TV will offer Sprint consumers unparalleled live sports programming and entertainment from ESPN via Sprint handheld devices. ESPN Mobile TV coverage during March and April will feature more than 100 live events and over 250 hours of coverage for Sprint customers with this new agreement beginning just in time for fans to watch the Big 12 and Big East Conference Championship basketball games on Sprint mobile devices. Programming and live events through April include: Take a look what Sprint is promising… and this is just through APRIL: * 23 Live Men’s NCAA Basketball Games (including Conference Championship games) * 19 Live Women’s NCAA Basketball Championship Games * 9 NBA Playoff Games * 15 Regular Season NBA Games * 30 Live NBA Fastbreak Shows * 10 Regular Season MLB Games * 50 Live Baseball Tonight Studio Shows * 3 College Football Spring games * 3 Live Friday Night Fights * 3 Live NCAA Hockey Championship Games * 5 Live MLS Matches So if the carrier didn’t matter… which would you prefer to have? View Poll

Read more from the original source: 
Verizon & Sprint Battle On Sports: NFL & ESPN

Sprint users say goodbye to NFL Live, Verizon users welcome live game video and audio streams

%image%

When I reviewed the Sprint Hero last year, I praised Sprint TV, Navigator, and NFL Live as great bonus features that attracted me to the phone. Well, only 2 out of 3 of those features will work by the end of the month. Sprint has lost out on its deal to provide exclusive NFL content

Read the original:
Sprint users say goodbye to NFL Live, Verizon users welcome live game video and audio streams

Android Apps For Web Developers

Are you a web developing Android lover? Then chances are you’ve scoured the market for some apps that can increase your productivity or provide tools for managing your websites on the go. Mashable made a quick list of 5 Free Android Apps for Web Developers that is pretty handy – thought I’d pass it along: HTMLeditor AndFTP View Web Source Magic Color Picker HTML Test I’d definitely like to try out AndFTP (screenie below) and I know there are a bunch of apps out there that alert you when your sites are down. Any web developers out there want to share their favorites?

See the rest here:
Android Apps For Web Developers

Speed Test: Opera Mini 5 vs. Stock Android Browser

Earlier today Opera announced the launch of Mini 5 Beta for Android that brought new features and an improved experiece to your mobile browsing. What I felt and said was the best characteristic of Opera Mini 5 was the way it handles page rendering – it compresses them on their own servers and sends that optimized version to your phone, greatly reducing load times. Engadget did a quick test comparing the typical Android browser to Opera Mini 5 when loading Engadget on the Motorola Droid. Unfortunately they didn’t allow embedding so you’ll have to watch here if you’re so inclined. Spoiler alert: Opera Mini 5 CRUSHED the native Android browser in load time. Android Browser: 42-seconds Opera Mini 5 Beta: 27-seconds Not only that but Opera Mini 5 loads the full page of content immediately, then taking additional time to fill in the cached pictures. It isn’t ONLY about speed but speed is of huge importance and Opera does that very well in the latest version of their Mini browser for Android. [Via Engadget ]

Go here to read the rest:
Speed Test: Opera Mini 5 vs. Stock Android Browser

Waze Launches Traffic App In Germany and France

Our friends at Waze have come a long way since we first helped promote their alpha application back in May 2009 . The app now has more than 50,000 downloads and has been helping commuters and road warriors dodge traffic, avoid speed traps, and navigate in real-time for almost a year. The app was formerly only available in the United States but today they announced its availability in both Germany and France. Much like when it first launched in the United States, the German and French apps have some brushing up to do before they’re fully functional. Up until now Waze was using their app and user input to completely identify roads in these countries but have since merged their own findings with a complete database of roads from a 3rd party source. Users will still be able to contribute but this should greatly improve the accuracy and ability of the app for German and French users. Starting today, French and German users will find that most roads will be marked with plenty of ‘road munching’ dots – GPS points that, when driven over, set the road’s direction, helping to increase map quality and navigability, while providing them with tons of extra points. The process of validation is incredibly quick – within just a couple of weeks, these maps will be fully navigable and highly accurate. We’ll also be adding candy and cupcake ‘road goodies’ – small icons worth 3 and 5 bonus points, respectively – to the map in areas where the system needs validation. …And don’t forget the best part: waze’ll be distributing VIRTUAL TREASURE CHESTS (!) on the roads that, when driven over, have the potential to reward users with an Amazon gift card – so French and German wazers, get out there and find ‘em! The treasure chest integration is great, but I’m hoping Waze doesn’t show the same treasure chests to every user – if Waze gains mass popularity it could cause some serious accidents itself! But hey, at least you would have Waze and know to avoid those accidents. There have been some pretty cool Waze success stories that make we want to give it another whirl – do you use Waze? [Via Waze ]

View post:
Waze Launches Traffic App In Germany and France

MySpace Out-Androids Facebook: Most Downloaded Social App

Make fun of MySpace all you want for getting up and on their way to becoming the next Friendster – they have a much different view of their direction. And that view is supported by a pretty startling statistic: “ MySpace Mobile has become the number one social application on the Android platform, and the third most popular downloaded application on Android.” I found that news to be quite outrageous, but checked each app in Android Market under the “Social” category, and sure enough MySpace is listed above Facebook. I believe those listings are based on a number of qualities – not just download count – but while both apps have “> 250,000″ downloads, MySpace has nearly 20,000 more ratings which suggests their facts are accurate. They attribute their success to their “deep integration with the Android platform” and note such unqiue features as homescreen widgets, voice-enabled status updates, setting photos as wallpaper, integration with camera and more. These are mostly features that Facebook has as well, but MySpace DOES enjoy a better rating on Android Market. So is my view about MySpace greatly lagging behind Facebook a figment of my imagination, skewed by my own use and preference? I realize the Phandroid readership isn’t exactly a cross-section of the average Android-using public (You and I are much more cool) – but just for Giggles let’s find out who has what installed: View Poll [Via MySpace Pressroom ]

View post: 
MySpace Out-Androids Facebook: Most Downloaded Social App

Next Page »