May 11, 2011
Google announces Android Ice Cream Sandwich will merge phone and tablet OSes
Ars Technica
Casey Johnston writes about Google’s new Android operating system.
“The next version of Google’s Android operating system, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich, will converge the formerly disparate phone and tablet versions of the OS, Google announced at its I/O keynote yesterday. Ice Cream Sandwich will maintain a single UI across all form factors and will allow developers to create applications for both kinds of devices in one motion. It will follow the rollout of Android 3.1 to the Motorola Xoom tablet and Google TV. Google says the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android will ‘all be open source,’ including APIs for face-tracking and other new features.”
Skype Acquired by Microsoft: 3 Fears & 3 Hopes
Read Write Web
Marshall Kirkpatrick shares a hope he has about Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype.
“Disruption of the telephony landscape is something people have been waiting for years to see from consumer VOIP services, especially Skype. The service has no doubt upturned the international fixed line economy, but how about shaking things up with mobile carriers? It would be great to see Microsoft, Google and Facebook all make strong mobile VOIP plays and take some power away from the big carriers of the world. Heck, more competition could even make the carriers change their ways and earn some love from their customers, instead of simply holding us all hostage.”
New LG Smartphone Features 3D Augmented Reality Browser [VIDEO]year
Mashable
Stan Schroeder shares details about LG’s Optimus 3D smartphone.
“The LG Optimus 3D, LG’s flagship smartphone hitting stores this summer, will come packed with the world’s first augmented reality browser. LG has partnered up with Wikitude to create the Wikitude 3D Browser, which was possible because of LG Optimus’s 3D capabilities. Wikitude has been offering a 2D AR browser for Android and BlackBerry devices since 2008, but the new 3D version will let you use the phone’s camera to see info about places, landmarks and objects in three dimensions, which should make them easier to distinguish.”
