Daily News Courier

Steve Ballmer Spills the Beans on Windows Phone 8 and Hardware Plans

Microsoft’s CEO thinks his company can find a niche in the mobile device market between Google and Apple.

Steve Ballmer said at a Silicon Valley event last night that his company plans to split the difference between the strategies of Google and Apple as it embarks on a crucial period of selling a new mobile operating system and mobile hardware. He also hinted at the company’s hardware plans, and denied that the departure of Steve Sinofsky will lead to a change in software strategy.

Jelly Bean’s new notifications take center stage at Google I/O

The above was pulled from the documentation for Android long past, but truer words were never spoken. Notifications can make or break a platform, and Google came up with a winning plan in their notification shade. After a few hours with Jelly Bean, I'm here to tell you things just got better. A lot better.

Notifications in Android 4.1 are now dynamic, feature more information displayed in a delightfully tactful way, are customizable for creative developers, and worth having a second look at. Phil and Alex will tell you, I've become enamored with the new notification system. The information I want need is there for me to see, and if I choose to interact I can take things a step further. To me, the new notifications are by far the best part of the update!

Miss a call? Google Voice can give you a notification to tell you who it was, and a quick way to get back in touch  – either via the telephone or with a message. Want to see more than a sender's name for a Gmail notification? The two-finger magic will expand it and you can preview the message, without marking it as read. Developers also have plenty of options, a quick look through the gallery after the break shows you what companies like Spotify or Pulse can do in the notification bar now. This is progress. 

Of course, eventually a developer will abuse this and get creative with the spam in your notification bar. Google has you covered. Long press on any notification and you'll see exactly which app posted it, and a simple tap takes you the app management screen where you can uninstall the offender. 

We said that Jelly Bean would probably prove to add a bit of polish and character to ICS versus be a new UI overhaul, and things like the new notifications are a wonderful example of how a mature operating system can be fleshed out and improved. We only hope OEM's don't take it all away. Hit the break to see a gallery of the presentation slides showing it all off.

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Do Androids dream of Jelly Beans? We do!

Do Android's dream of Jelly Beans? Maybe, maybe not. But, one thing we do know — we're dreaming of Jelly Beans right now! It's officially, officially official. The beans may have been spilled yesterday at Building 44, but when they were picked up they were transformed into what you see here. Check out the latest Google Jelly Bean video after the break.

The countdown to the Day 1 keynote at Google I/O is almost at an end, and we expect to see the first glimpses of Jelly Bean in the next few hours. Phil, Jerry and Alex are catching what sleep they can ahead of one of the biggest days in the Android calendar. We're triple teaming I/O this year, so you can bet your bottom dollar that the very best, of the best, Google I/O coverage will be right here on Android Central.

And, for all the Jelly Bean information you can shake a stick at, you might want to bookmark our new Jelly Bean landing page. So, join us, it's going to be some ride!

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Viewsonic reportedly spills the beans on Android 2.4

Android 2.4 will retain the "Gingerbread" codename and bridge compatibility with "dual-core" apps written for Android 3.0 Honeycomb, according to rumors attributed to a source at Viewsonic. The reports from Pocket-Lint also suggest that version 2.4 will debut in April on Viewsonic’s ViewPad 4.

"According to our source, the release date of version 2.4 has been brought forward to ensure that dual-core apps designed for Honeycomb (v3.0) will be able to work with single-core devices running v2.4. Currently, our man on the inside says that’s not possible with version 2.3 (Gingerbread) hence the need to push to the next iteration and version number, but not change the name. It’s most likely to be one of the main reasons we’ve yet to see any major manufacturer gunning to get Android 2.3 handsets out there."

There’ve been plenty of rumors involving Android 2.4 over the past couple of months. It was snapped on the Xperia Arc at CES, though Sony Ericsson later dismissed this as an error. Videos have also appeared of 2.4 apparently running on a German version of the Nexus S, though so far there’s been no official confirmation of Android 2.4′s existence.

As ever, though, rumors like this should be taken with a pinch of salt, and launch dates — especially unannounced and unconfirmed ones — are always subject to change. [Pocket-Lint]

Viewsonic reportedly spills the beans on Android 2.4 posted originally by Android Central

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