Android Smartphones Nano, Satellites in Space, NASA

We all have been using smartphones for quite a while now using mobile OS such as iOS, Android, RIM etc.

And they have eased as well influenced our lives in many different ways but the one that has dominated the smartphone market is Android. Google has certainly provided the world with something amazing and now they are taking this amazing operating system to the next level. Android works pretty well on Earth but how will it work in outer space.

To answer that question, NASA is conducting some experiments; the team at NASAs Ames Research center in Moffet Field in California has recently been reported to conducting experiments regarding miniature satellites based on Nexus One Android handset.

Called the PhoneSat by NASA, the project is basically part of a larger program called the Small Spacecraft Technology Program. Basic idea behind this program is to transform small consumer electronics into nano satellites and send them into space. We still do not have any word as to when the PhoneSat project will be launched but we are told that by the end of the year three PhoneSat will be blasted off into the space.

According to the details provided by NASAs Space Technology Program, they have already created two prototypes and will be launched at different dates. The first one is called PhoneStat 1.0 which is more of a mini-model and provides little functionality.

It will work as a test dummy and if demonstrated the capabilities of sending back operational health and image data from space, it would certainly open doors for new possibilities.

The satellite is made up of almost four primary parts, two of which are the external radio and the external batteries and the third one is Nexus One itself. The fourth and the most important one is the watchdog circuit which will scrutinize the whole system and may reboot Nexus where necessary.

All of this will then be translated into a small shell, not bigger than a coffee cup, and to ensure the smooth working of the satellite three such cup are added with each weighing around 4 pounds.

Then there is PhoneSat 2.0 which is much advanced satellite, it performs same functions but its much advanced.

Instead of Nexus One, there is Samsung Nexus S in it along with two-way S band radio along with a GPS receiver and solar arrays. PhoneSat 2.0 will be able to dig further into the space with the help of solar array whereas radio will help command the satellite from Earth.

It is also integrated with magnetorquer coils, simply put they are electromagnets which help interact with Earths magnetic field and also with reaction wheels to steer the unit in outer space.

NASA has been pushing Nexus One to its limit just to ensure how it will perform. Back in July 2012 NASA launched 2 Nexus Ones into space, one set crashed landed while other survived, they have also put PhoneSat 1.0 to thermal vacuum test and vibration and shock tables test and it came out successful in all the tests.

Via: Android Smartphones Nano, Satellites in Space, NASA

A Look At Chinese Low Cost Android Tablet Market

The tablet has become a device that seems to be found in many homes these days, especially in the wealthy part of the world, where people can afford it in addition to their regular laptop.

Wherever you go in the west though, chances are that each coffee shop has its own share of tablet wielding people, which watch videos, tweet and update their Facebook, while sipping on their lattes. While millions of tablets are being sold, not everyone is able to afford the units sold by the best companies, so models from Apple, Motorola or Samsung are usually out of reach for many people.

The Chinese tablet market is dominated by this kind of customer, the one that cant afford to spend a lot of money on a device he will use for entertainment only. Some of the popular cheap chinese android tablets include Ainol, Onda and Cube. You probably wont recognize these brands if you live in the US or Europe as they are marketed almost exclusively in China and some parts of Asia.

Western citizens generally have a certain idea about Chinese made products, knowing that theyre cheap and in many cases lacking in quality. For many of their products, it seems to be true that you get the quality that you pay for, but that is not always true.

Since quality is often associated with high prices, companies are able to raise their prices and convince people to pay them, simply by getting their logo on a device. The truth is, Apples iPad, iPhone as well as Samsung line of Galaxy Tab tablets were all made in China, so products of quality do come out of this country. You just have to know where to look.

One big difference between the Chinese and the American tablet market is that the manufacturers from China also have to compete with the international companies with better brands. Chinese brands dont stand a chance in the US against giants like Apple or Samsung, and they have a bit of a battle with them on their own turf as well. They fight on price usually, being able to make their tablets locally and passing the savings to the consumers.

The Chinese companies that make tablets usually do it just for the internal market, so they try to create products that are affordable and at the same time they dont have a huge difference in performance and quality from the models that are imported and more expensive.

Their challenge is to create products which have the same capabilities as the expensive devices sold by the giants, with good battery life and smooth gameplay experiences for games like Angry Birds.

While there will always be companies that try to sell knock-offs, the Chinese market has plenty of legitimate companies that are trying to sell to the local consumers quality products built locally.

The truth is that in many cases theyre succeeding and some of these tablets are good enough to be comparable with tablets offered by the big brands.

The design of these tablets is certainly quite slick in most cases, insuring that youre not going to attract attention by going with an ugly tablet at the coffee shop.

Via: A Look At Chinese Low Cost Android Tablet Market

Android Tablet Gaining Market Share From Apple

A piece of good news for android tablet fans. In a recent study done by Frank N. Magid Associates, android tablets are fast closing the gap in terms of market share with Apples iPad. Frank N. Magid Associates found that the iPad share went down to 50% from a record high of 72% during the previous survey.

The main reason for the huge market share is the introduction of cheaper android tablets such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus 7. If you take into consideration for example, the Google Nexus 7 which cost $199 verus the new iPad which starts at $400, its easy to see why.

Microsoft Surface is also expect to take some market share away from Apple when it launches so Apple is facing tremendous pressure to respond. An article here on iPad3-release suggest Apple might release the iPad Mini in September to regain its lead by offering the cheapest iPad ever offered. However, at this point, whether iPad Mini exist is purely rumor and the pricing is not known.

With that said, the survey conducted was only with around 4500 smartphone users so may not be a true indication of things. One of the main reasons consumers buy iPad in spite of its higher price tag has been brand loyalty and the size of its App store (around 500,000 apps). Simply put, it has apps available for just about everyone.

If Android ever wanted to be the dominant market leader in the tablet market, it is vital Google started to place more emphasis on getting better quality developers on Google Play.

Via: Android Tablet Gaining Market Share From Apple

Amazon is working on new tablets

Amazon has big plans for the tablets and is hopefully going to outperform Samsung as both the companies are rushing to capture the second position of the tablet market behind Apples iPad. Amazon is going to introduce five to six tablets as stated by the Demos Parneros, President of US retail for Staples to Reuters. Amazon has not commented on the report as of yet. Amazon started shipping the Kindle Fire, a 7 long-anticipated tablet following its e-reader success. It cost $199.

Though some speculated that the release in November might not help in boosting the sale but that point was proved wrong and the device was sold like a hot cake grabbing about 17% of the world market. Samsung also had the shipments of table in the fourth quarter raised to 5.8 percent from 5.5 percent in the previous quarter. Amazon had a loss on hardware with the Kindle Fire and it focused on the sales by offering MP3, movies, apps and games.

As per the reports in the next two-three months, Kindle Fire had 2.5 times more paid apps downloads as compared to Samsung Galaxy tab though the number of owners of the Samsung are almost twice than that of Kindle. Since the day of the Kindle launch in November 2011, Amazon has been working on the different Kindle Fire sizes. DigiTimes reported that 8.9 and 10.1 inch models are in development. New York Times reported recently that Amazon is working on new version of Kindle Fire with a larger display and it could compete with iPad directly.

Via: Amazon is working on new tablets

MIPS is porting Android 4.1 to low-cost tablets

To make a mark in low-cost tablets, MIPS is porting Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to its processors. As stated by Bernier-Santarini, director of corporation communications at MIPS in an email, the company is trying to bring Jelly Bean to MIPS and expect that they will have the licenses soon.

MIPS is a processing licensing company and is an arch rival of ARM, which has its dominant presence in the tablet and smartphone market. MIPS surprised the people w hen it announced that it is coming out with a tablet along with a manufacture Ainol , based on its processor and running Android 4.0. The processor will cost US$99.

The tablet from MIPS was the cheapest and the first one to have Android at that time but this year Google came out with its first Android 4.1 device with Nexus 7 which runs on a quad-core ARM processor. Tablets with MIPS processor are cheaply priced and have buyers mostly in the developing countries.

MIPS is going to launch a new tablet called Miumiu W1 from a Chinese company Ramos and that will be available in India, Latin America and Europe in a few months. The tablet will have models with 4 GB and 8 GB storage but prices are not available.

Via: MIPS is porting Android 4.1 to low-cost tablets

The Google Nexus 7: A look

After Nexus 7 from Google got released, the big question is if it is as good as the New iPad? It may not be as good as the New iPad, but again the price is also half of it. By paying $200 for the Nexus 7, the users are getting enough specifications which is sufficient to make them forget the iPad.

It is the first pure Google tablet. It is fast and has good response with its quad-core Tegra 3 processor. This is the first tablet running on Android 4.1 Jelly bean and it is the smoothest and slickest Android made as of now. Some of the early reviews made by CNet, Engadget, and Verge had also praised Nexus 7 features a lot.

There is a rumor that Apple might come out with a 7.85-inches iPad mini and the most important reason behind pushing Apple for the release is the Google Nexus 7 tablet. The consumers do appreciate a tablet smaller than 10-inches as is evident from the popularity of the Amazon Kindle Fire.

The size is an appealing factor for the ladies and the kids and it is easy to handle it and it can fit easily in the pocket. The users can get 16 GB Nexus at half the price of the entry level 16GB new iPad. There is no need to say that Apple is observing the market response of Nexus 7 very closely.

Via: The Google Nexus 7: A look

Top 5 Fresh Android Games

With Android now the dominant force in smartphones and even in tablets, we are seeing more and more developers creating games for the Google-based operating system. This is great news for us and for you, because who doesnt love playing games on their smartphone or slate? Now, weve all probably played Angry Birds to death, drawn more pictures on Draw Something than we would ever care to remember and sliced way more that our five-a-day on Fruit Ninja, so what other games are out there?

Well, downloading this list of the top 5 fresh Android games, so keep you satisfied for a little while.

1) Monster Ate My Condo

Adult Swim is renowned for general producing bizarre games and there is nothing stranger than Monster Ate My Condo. Basically (as you might have already guessed), this game is about monsters, ghastly looking creatures that love to tear apart cities. Your job is to keep them from doing this by ensuring they are well fed. This game might well be one of the strangest that you play this year, but it will also be one of the funniest.

2) Frisbee Rush

Because of the expense of your smartphone, using it as a Frisbee is something you have probably never considered you best use an old Nokia 3310 for that. However, just because you cant physically throw your phone doesnt mean you cant enjoy playing Frisbee with it. Frisbee Rush allows you to use your handset in conjunction with your desktop to bring the game to life. Old school fun for the smartphone generation!

3) Call of Cthulhu: Wasted land

For all you RPG and strategy gaming fans out there, Call of Cthulhu could be your new found obsession. There is the clichd story line of ancient enemy carries out dastardly plan and must be stopped by a team of investigators (you) before things get out of hand, but it really is a classy, smooth gaming experience. Its pretty scary in parts too! But still, the game looks great, and youll be able to enjoy its graphics on big and powerful smartphones like Samsungs new Galaxy S3 with quad-core CPUs or tablets/phablets like the Galaxy Note.

4) Quiet, Please!

Interacting with your environment and solving puzzles both key elements of the old-school adventure game. Thats what Quiet, Please! offers. 16-bit graphics and simple gameplay equal hours of fun! This game will run on any smartphone, even on old ones, which is also a big plus.

5) Movie Star Planet

Ever wanted to see what its like to be famous? Well, Movie Star Planet offers you the perfect opportunity. This social game allows you to make yourself into a star and rise through the ranks toward A-list celeb, updating your status and signing autographs for fun. Probably not one for the boys, but great social gaming nonetheless.

Via: Top 5 Fresh Android Games