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A new Trojan horse aimed at Android devices has recently surfaced in China.

Named “Geinimi,” San Francisco firm Lookout Mobile Security says the Trojan is “the most sophisticated Android malware [the firm has] seen to date.”

“Geinimi is effectively being ‘grafted’ onto repackaged versions of legitimate applications,” most of which have been games, the firm says. The apps are then sold in Chinese third-party Android app markets. Affected apps will request permissions “over and above” those requested by the legitimate version of an app.

“Users should make sure that the program is asking for permissions appropriate to the app,” a spokesperson from Lookout told Wired. “If the program is asking for your IMEI or your location, and it has nothing to do with the app’s function, that’s a big red flag.”

IMEI is short for International Mobile Equipment Identity, the internationally-used, unique identity number used by many phones.

Lookout hasn’t yet established an intent for Geinimi, though the firm claims the Trojan is “the first Android malware in the wild that displays botnet-like capabilities.” The firm claims that it’s “botnet-like” because it hasn’t yet seen the command server communicate back to affected devices, a Lookout spokesperson told Wired.

The firm has evidence that Geinimi is being distributed only through third-party Chinese app markets. Lookout hasn’t seen any Geinimi-compromised apps in the official Google Android marketplace.

Lookout released an update to its own Android antivirus app, which it says will protect users against Geinimi.

Photo: alachia/Flickr

See Also:

• Android App No Malware, Says Google
• Malware Sneaks Into Android Market
• Trojan Malware Delivered by Sneakernet

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A teaser video released by Motorola hints at a new Android Honeycomb tablet, and calls the iPad a “big iPhone.”

The two minute spot, which can be found on Motorola’s YouTube channel, is called Tablet Evolution. Beginning with an Egyptian hieroglyphic tablet from 3,200 BC, (good graphics, but heavy) and running through the Ten Commandments and the Rosetta Stone (multi-lingual support), we get to the iPad and then the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Here the tease begins.

The Tab is described as having “Android OS, but Android OS… for a phone.” Ouch. The next item in the virtual museum hall is a plinth with a cloth-covered something on top. A poorly animated bee flies into the screen and we’re promised something at CES 2011.

A bee? Android, but not for a phone? This can only mean Honeycomb, the forthcoming tablet version of the Android smartphone OS. Add in the demo of Honeycomb running on a Motorola prototype by Googles Android boss Andy Rubin a couple weeks back and it’s pretty certain that this “Tablet Evolution” will be on show at CES in January, although I doubt it will be on sale so soon.

One thing is certain, though. Almost a year after the iPad was launched, the rest of the tablet market is finally heating up.

Tablet Evolution presented by Motorola [YouTube]

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Fast-and-furious media giant Google may be telling manufacturers to pump the brakes on the new Google TV operating system.

Google is telling manufacturers to delay launches of televisions and set-top boxes running Google TV, which would mean such products are unlikely to launch at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, according toNew York Times. Wired.com’s sources corroborate the report.

“LG is not commenting on Google TV, but LG is launching its own Smart TV platform at CES, and it’s not Google TV,” an LG spokesman told Wired.com. According to the Times, LG was one of the companies working on a Google TV product.

Google TV is a version of the Android smartphone OS modified for televisions. Google envisions that Google TV will create an all-in-one media experience that makes the television capable of delivering web-streamed video content and functionality through third-party apps, in addition to traditional TV programming offered by cable networks and satellite providers.

“Once you have Google television, youre going to be very busy,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, in a Berlin press conference introducing Google TV. “Its going to ruin your evening.”

A delay is unusual coming from Google, whose typical M.O. is to release new products rapidly (sometimes with the “beta” label still prominently displayed) and then iterate them on the fly with software updates. A delay could suggest that the search giant needs more time to rethink the OS, especially afterTV networks prevented their content from being accessed through Google TV apps on theLogitech Revue.

Googled declined to comment on rumors and speculation regarding Google TV delays, but a Google spokeswoman said the company was happy with its current progress in the TV space.

“We are very happy with the launch of Google TV with our initial partners Sony, Logitech and Intel,” the spokeswoman said. “Our long-term goal is to collaborate with a broad community of consumer electronics manufacturers to help drive the next generation, TV-watching experience, and we look forward to working with other partners to bring more devices to market in the coming years.

Some extra time could allow Google to work with third-party software developers on making apps for the Google TV to offer additional functionality and more content, said Ross Rubin, lead consumer electronics analyst at NPD Group.

“Right now [without TV network support], Google TV is basically a web browser on a TV,” said Rubin, explaining that third-party apps could differentiate Google TV from competing internet TV products.

Waiting a few extra months could also allow manufacturers to decrease pricing of Google TV products to make them more competitive. The Google TV-powered Logitech Revue, which launched October, cost $300 hefty compared to the $100 Roku and Apple TV set-top boxes.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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In this week’s episode of the Gadget Lab podcast, Dylan Tweney and I analyze Google’s Chrome OS notebook and the idea of a Windows 7 tablet while giving a sneak peek of an awesome new iPad game.

Dylan shows off Google’s stealthy blackCR-48 notebook. The Chrome OS operating system, which is based on a browser, is fast and pretty capable, but Dylan couldn’t get a full day’s work done thanks to his need for Firefox. On the hardware side, the keyboard’s pretty nice, but the trackpad is clunky. Keep in mind, however, that this is a pilot device, so it’s not like you’re going to buy one.

I talk smack about a rumor that Microsoft is planning to yet again announce a Windows 7 tablet at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show. Why am I so pessimistic? Because this has been done over and over again, and Windows tablet PCs have constantly failed. Microsoft would be better off scaling up the new Windows Phone 7 OS to run on a tablet, but it’s unlikely we’ll see that happening next year because the phone platform is just getting started.

On to more fun news, I show off the new iPad version of Pocket God, a game that was a huge hit on the iPhone. You play the role of God, messing around with little creatures called Pygmies by manipulating their environment with your fingers. The iPad version, called A Journey to Uranus, just came out today. It’s even better because you get an entire universe to screw around with the Pygmies on different planets.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #97

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Google’s new Nexus S smartphone went on sale Thursday at Best Buy stores for 200 bucks with a two-year contract, a move that comes at poor timing, says an analyst.

That’s because by this time of year, the holiday season, retailers and competing manufacturers have already slashed prices for relatively new Android smartphones to between $0 and $50. (The HTC Droid Incredible, for example, is free with a two-year plan at Best Buy.)

These holiday discounts will make the $200, T-Mobile-compatible Nexus S seem like an unattractive option for the average consumer, explained Tero Kuttinen, a telecom analyst at MKM Partners.

“I don’t know what Google is doing here,” he said. “They do software so well. I don’t understand why they do this hardware strategy in such a half-assed way.”

Google’s hardware strategy with its previous Nexus One smartphone was unsuccessful. The search giant failed to get major carriers such as AT&T and Verizon to subsidize the phone; only T-Mobile played ball. So the only way non-T-Mobile-subscribers could get the phone was by throwing down $500 for an unlocked version of the device.

Surprise, surprise: The only people willing to spend that much on Google’s Nexus One were nerds like us, and the phone didn’t sell well. Duly, the Nexus One was discontinued. (Wired.com’s Ryan Singel recently told a thorough version of that story.)

The Nexus S seems to have the same story. It’s currently available at Best Buy for $530 unlocked, and for $200 with a T-Mobile plan.

The fact it’s launching in December makes the Nexus S smartphone launch even worse, Kuittinen said, because more powerful Android smartphones will be announced at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, meaning the Nexus S will quickly be superseded. On top of that, there have been multiple rumors that a Verizon iPhone will be announced January.

“When we get to January, there will be multicore phones and the iPhone on Verizon,” Kuittinen said. “That’s the real competition here, not the phones you see right now. For those reasons,the Nexus S doesn’t really offer any sizzle.”

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Google’s Cr-48 netbook is a promising but incomplete step towards a life lived fully on the internet.

Its not a consumer laptop, its a test machine designed to showcase how Chrome OS netbooks will work. As a result, you cant buy one, but you can sign up to get in line for Google’s pilot program.

Here are our first impressions after a few hours using the machine. A full review will follow.

The all-black Cr-48 looks like a stealth fighter. It has rubberized black surfaces, no logos anywhere and has minimal accoutrements: a built-in camera, one USB port, one video-out port, a headphone jack and a power supply. Dual-band Wi-Fi and a world-mode 3G radio are built in, as are a microphone and speakers. It has a 12.1 screen and a full-sized keyboard. At 3 pounds 10 ounces, it weighs more than I expected it to.

Were still digging up specs about the guts, but some impressions: Its pretty zippy, but not that zippy. We know theres an Intel Pine Trail processor inside. Its certainly as fast and responsive as youd expect from a netbook, but its not nearly as fast as a MacBook Air or a reasonably equipped, sub-$1,000 laptop. While scrolling web pages, playing some web-based games and watching videos from YouTube and the Onion, I noticed some jerkiness and skipping.

Flash Player is pre-installed (and presumably sandboxed) but watching Flash videos is a bit of a sucky experience, especially in full-screen mode. But everything at least works as advertised, and its still totally usable.

The keyboard is full-sized, but it has some quirks. Much has been made of the Cr-48s lack of a caps lock key, but its totally fine by us since the caps lock key is now a search key — press it and a new browser tab opens with the cursor in the URL/search bar, or the “omnibox” as Chrome terms it. Just start typing and you get instant search results from Google (the default engine, though Yahoo and Bing are also options). If you miss the caps lock key, it can be remapped by clicking on the wrench icon in the top-right. Thats where all the system settings live. You can also re-map the Alt and Ctrl keys (helpful if youre a Mactard like me) and you can set the keyboard to swap between Dvorak and normal-person mode.

Also gone are the function keys. Theyve been replaced by browser controls (including a dedicated “refresh” button that will doubtless get a lot of use) and your standard brightness and volume controls. The trackpad is a little bigger than a credit card, and its the tap-to-click variety without a button. You use two fingers to right-click. Finally — and Ive never seen this before — the letter keys are all lowercase.

Its important to note that almost nothing is stored on this laptop. Chrome OS is just a very thin system OS with Chrome browser running on top. The desktop is gone, all you see is the browser. You log in with your Google account when you first turn it on, and it syncs up all of your settings, bookmarks and personal data through the cloud.

When I first started it up, it had a few problems connecting to the Get Started pages on Googles servers. Also, we tried to connect to the Chrome Web Store and got a security alert for a certificate violation. Oops. But after logging out and logging back in as a different user, everything went smoothly.

Its remarkably easy to log in and get started. You feed it your Google credentials and within seconds, youre looking at a Chrome browser window. Youve been here a million times before, and you know exactly what to do. Most of the familiar browser keyboard shortcuts are there. Ctrl-T and Ctrl-W open and close tabs. Ctrl-N launches a new workspace, and you can swap between workspaces using the key formerly known as F5.

From the time you press the power button, it takes about 15 seconds to get to the desktop. All your Chrome bookmarks appear at the top of the screen, and you can start searching and browsing right away. Some biggies — Gmail, Google Talk, Google Maps, YouTube — come pre-installed. There are also two pre-installed games, Poppit and Entanglement. When I say installed, I basically mean there are shortcuts displayed in a grid on the default Chrome new tab screen. Click on a candy-flavored icon and a web page launches in that tab.

As a cloud-dependent netbook, the Cr-48 does not fare so well without a net connection. I disconnected from the office Wi-Fi and, after about a 30 second pause, I was able to keep using some apps in offline mode.

However, Google Docs doesnt have offline mode, so you can’t edit documents without a connection. (Google Docs’ offline mode being reworked and will be back in early 2011, says Google, and presumably this wont be an issue by the time Chrome OS laptops are generally available.) When I switched tabs to write a few e-mails, I found that Gmail was unresponsive, too. Instead, I played a few games of Entanglement and read a news story I had previously loaded. When I reconnected, everything turned back on in a few seconds and my Gmail inbox refreshed.

I also kicked on the 3G radio. One click connects you to Verizons network and brings you to a screen where you can easily configure your machine. Every Chrome OS laptop will come with free Verizon data service providing 100MB of data per month for two years.

Back on Wi-Fi, I visited the store and installed some Chrome apps, including The New York Times, The Onion, and Tweetdeck. All of these are basically just web pages, but theyre specially tailored for Chrome users. For example, when you browse the NYT app, you dont see the Times website. You get a customized layout that looks and feels more like an iPad app than a traditional website. It doesn’t have iPad-like smoothness, but it is tablet-esque in design.

When using apps, there are some cases when the machine definitely feels underpowered. Most websites and things like Gmail and Google Docs work with no problems and very little latency. But the Times app isnt so smooth. The Onions app, which puts a big video player front and center, lags. Tweetdeck, which is a mix of Flash and HTML5, is clunky.

But this is, after all, a test machine. The Atom processor inside will probably need a boost before Chrome OS hardware hits the shelves. Otherwise, people who would otherwise be excited about a fast, web-connected portable powerhouse will be dismayed by the relative lack of muscle.

However, anyone who needs something stable, simple and fully synced thats instantly familiar out of the box will be delighted.

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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Google dominates this week’s Gadget Lab podcast with a new computer operating system, a smartphone, an Android upgrade and big sales number for the Android-powered Galaxy Tab.

The search giant on Tuesday shared details on Chrome OS, its browser-based OS that runs web apps. Gadget Lab just got its hands on a test unit of the Cr-48, a pilot notebook running Chrome OS, and we’ll post impressions soon.

Monday launched the Nexus S smartphone, made in collaboration with Samsung. It’s basically the sequel to the failed Nexus One. It comes with a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, a 1-GHz Hummingbird processor, 16 GB of storage and a battery rated for 6.7 hours of talk time.

Alongside introducing the Nexus S, Google announced its latest upgrade for the Android OS codenamed “Gingerbread.” It’s an incremental upgrade that improves copy-and-paste and cleans up the UI, among other changes we summarized in an earlier post.

In more Android-related news, Samsung recently reported it sold 1 million Galaxy Tab tablets. That’s quite impressive, and it shows that Google and other manufacturers aren’t too far behind Apple in the new tablet market after all.

We wrap up the show with a quick look at the Boxee, a $200 set-top box that plays web-streamed video. Dylan wasn’t a fan of it.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast on iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast No. 96

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Google is aiming to put the “net” in netbook with Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system that focuses on web apps and online storage.

Due for release in mid-2011, the first batch of Chrome OS netbooks come with Intel processors and Verizon data plans. They’ll download apps through a Google app store hosted on the web. Google detailed plans of Chrome OS in a press event Tuesday.

“We finally have a viable third choice for an operating system on the desktop, said Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO.

Chrome OS is Google’s vision of the future of computers: always-connected devices that ditch the traditional hard drive and instead rely on web-coded applications and “cloud” storage. It’s also yet another area where Google comes head-to-head with its biggest rival, Apple, who recently introduced a flash-based MacBook Air and a Mac App Store for downloading apps.

Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know about Chrome OS.

Hardware players

Google has partnered with Samsung and Acer, whose Chrome OS laptops will go on sale in mid-2011. More manufacturers will follow.

Notebook specifications

Though exact specifications for future devices are unknown, Google is handing out an unbranded pilot device running Chrome OS called the Cr-48.

The Cr-48 features a 12.1-inch screen, an Intel Atom processor, a flash memory drive, Wi-Fi, a “world-mode” 3G chip that works with international cellular networks and a built-in “jailbreaking” mode so you can hack it.

Pricing

Official price tags for Chrome OS netbooks have not been revealed, but Google’s Schmidt has claimed they will be priced between $300 to $400.

Data plans

The 3-G plan for Chrome OS netbooks is nothing like a cellphone’s. When you buy a Chrome OS netbook, Verizon will give you 100 MB of free 3-G data per month for two years. There are no overage fees.

If you regularly need more than 100MB, there are a few long-term plans starting at $10 per month for additional data.

And if you need more data only occasionally, you can buy a day pass to get unlimited 3-G access for one day. The price for the day pass has not yet been disclosed.

Keep in mind that if you’re mostly using a Chrome OS netbook at home, you can just connect to your Wi-Fi network for free.

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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When Amazon launched Kindle for the Web earlier this year, we all cried “what?!” The service let you preview small snippets of Kindle ebooks in your browser, and that was about it. It kind of proved itself as a way to promote books on other sites, thanks to embedding features, but it remained a curiosity.

Now Amazon has announced an update, bringing the full Kindle experience to the browser, and also to Google’s new Chrome Web Store, meaning any notebook running Google’s Chrome OS. You’ll be able to read entire books on any web-connected device, and if you embed books on your site and people read them there, you’ll earn affiliate fees.

Kindle seems to be the default option for reading ebooks: There’s a Kindle app for pretty much everything, and Amazon has the biggest catalog, too, especially if you live outside the US where things like Apple’s iBooks Store are crippled. I spend almost as much time in the Kindle app on my iPad as I do in Safari.

Putting the Kindle on the web is smart, and shows that Amazon is way more interested in selling Kindle books than selling Kindle hardware. Hell, even the Barnes & Noble Nook has a browser. Maybe you could even read Kindle books on that?

Kindle for the Web [Amazon]

Every Website Can Now Be a Bookstore [Amazon press release]

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Google’s Android boss Andy Rubin showed of a prototype Motorola tablet running the forthcoming tablet-friendly version of the Android OS, version 3.0 Honeycomb at the All Things Digital “D: Dive Into Mobile” event.

The tablet runs on an NVIDIA dual-core 3D processor (unspecified by Rubin) and looks to be around seven-inches in size, or maybe a little bigger. Rubin starts off showing a new super-fast vector-based version of Google Maps which not only allows a quick two-finger swipe to enter a 3D building-view, but also loads way faster thanks to those vectors. Currently, Google Maps uses image tiles, which is why you do so much waiting on a slow connection. Vectors are way smaller in file-size and are infinitely zoomable, staying crisp all the way.

Google has warned tablet-makers off the current version of Android because it’s not designed for their larger screens, leading to tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which comes on like a giant cellphone. Android 3.0 Honeycomb will be the first tablet-ready Android OS, and it sounds like Google is taking the same approach as Apple, making “universal” apps that run on both phone sand tablets.

These apps will pack two different views. On a phone, you’ll see one screen at a time, much like you do now. On a tablet, these views will be shown together. From the video, it looks like the tablet view will be somewhere between the iPad’s one-screen view and a desktop like approach, with several windows (from the same app) on-screen together. The actual layout will be up to the app’s designer.

This looks like it will be Google’s reference design. Rubin says that his team partners with a hardware maker and a chip maker to build the reference device, whether it’s a Nexus phone or a tablet. He gave away no details about availability, but when pushed by D’s Kara Swisher on the subject of price, told her that the tablet in his hand had cost around $10,000. Snap!

Googles Andy Rubin Shows Off Prototype Motorola Tablet [All Things D]

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Google on Monday announced its new Nexus S phone, which runs an upgraded version of the Android operating system dubbed Gingerbread.

Gingerbread (Android 2.3) mostly adds refinements to older features, such as faster text input and an improved copy-and-paste tool. However, there are also some brand-new additions to the OS, such as internet telephony and near-field communications.

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new in the OS, courtesy of Google’s Android developer center.

Near-field communications

The OS ships with an NFC-reader application, which can read NFC tags. (For a full explainer on NFC, read Wired’s 2004 article.) This addition has bigger long-term implications: If a bunch of smartphones ship with NFC chips, then merchants could potentially use Gingerbread-powered devices to read their chips as a substitute for the credit card. So the idea is you’d be able to pay for everything with your phone.

Support for front-facing camera

The built-in camera app will now support a front-facing camera, if the Android device has one. (That’s cool, but Google probably should’ve added this before HTC shipped the Evo 4G smartphone with a front-facing camera.)

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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By Ryan Paul

Google has revealed Android 2.3, codenamed Gingerbread, a new version of its popular mobile platform. It introduces a handful of modest user interface enhancementssuch as a more refined touchscreen keyboardand brings some noteworthy performance improvements that are largely intended to boost Android gaming.

Alongside the release of Android 2.3, Google has also announced plans to launch the Nexus S, a new smartphone that was developed in collaboration with Samsung. Much like Google’s Nexus One, the new phone in the Nexus series will be available unlocked with a pure Google experience. The unlocked version will be sold at Best Buy for $529 without subsidy, and T-Mobile will be selling it on contract for $199.

The aptly named Nexus S looks like the love child of the Nexus One and the Samsung Galaxy S. The touchscreen-only device has a four-inch curved “contour” Super AMOLED display, 1Ghz Hummingbird processor, 1GB of internal storage, and a 1500 mAH battery rated for 6.7 hours of talk time. The handset showcases some of the new hardware features of Android 2.3, such as support for near-field communication (NFC), which can be used for close-range contactless data exchange.

Sales of the original Nexus One fell far below Google’s expectations, leading the company to characterize the device as a failure and withdraw it from the general consumer market. Although it never achieved mainstream popularity, it attracted a loyal following among third-party developers and Android enthusiasts who valued its relative openness compared to other Android-powered handsets.

As a Nexus One owner myself, I think there is a very clear need for Google to continue offering its own handset that isn’t encumbered by carrier lockdown, crapware, and tacky user interface customizations. The latest addition to the Nexus line handily fulfills that need.

Android 2.3 features

Google has polished the Android user interface and developed a new visual theme with a simpler palette. The keys on the onscreen keyboard have been spaced out a bit in order to enable faster typing and better accuracy. Taking advantage of multitouch input, Google has made it possible to use the shift or number toggle keys as modifiers that can be pressed concurrently with other keys. The platform has gained native support for draggable text selection, similar to the implementations we have seen on certain Motorola and Samsung Android devices.

Google has finally conceded the need for manually quitting applications. In Android 2.3, the application manager tool has a “Running” tab that lets the user terminate individual applications and see how much system resources each running program is consuming. This feature will be conveniently accessible from a menu item on the home screen, largely obviating the need for users to install third-party task management tools.

Other significant new features include SIP support (which allows users to make voice calls to SIP addresses over WiFi), better support for devices with multiple cameras, support for more media formats (including WebM), and a built-in download manager. There are also a lot of improvements on the performance front. A new concurrent garbage collector in Android’s Dalvik virtual machine will be less invasive and help avoid stuttering, accelerated event handling will make input processing more responsive, and updated graphics drivers will improve 3D performance.

The new version of the Android SDK brings a lot of improvements for game developers. Google has exposed more sensors and input controls to native code, allowing games to receive and process input events more efficiently. Google has also introduced much-needed native audio APIs and has added support for managing the application lifecycle from native code. For games that run closer to the bare metal, all of these new native APIs are a major win. We will be looking more closely at these APIs in a follow-up article.

Although it’s an incremental upgrade rather than a full overhaul, the changes in Android 2.3 are compelling and bring some much-needed polish to the platform. For additional details, you can refer to Google’s official announcement.

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If it seems like a lot more than a year that Google Voice has been languishing in the limbo between Google’s labs and the iTunes App Store, that’s because it is. Google’s one-phone-number-everywhere service served as the best example of Apple’s byzantine and opaque app “approval” process.

Now, Google Voice is back, and available as a free download for U.S iPhone owners. With it, you can all but replace the iPhone’s phone app, receiving push notifications for incoming texts and voicemails, read (often hilariously inaccurate) transcripts of those voicemails and make calls to contacts in the iPhone’s built-in address book. Your caller Google Voice caller ID is even shown to people you call.

This is really the last step in Google-fying your iPhone – Gmail has long been a first-class iPhone citizen, and the maps app is powered by Google.

Why use Google Voice? The service lets you assign all your phones to one number, be they mobile, home or office. Callers call this number but you choose where you answer, and you have fine-grained control over how incoming calls and texts are handled.

Calls are still routed over the regular cell network. As our own Brian Chen pointed out back in January, Google Voice isn’t VoIP: it uses the iPhone’s telephone app to place calls. Tell this to the metric-ton of commenters on the App Store who are complaining that the app won’t work on the iPod Touch.

So there we have it. Apple is finally “open”. Or at least those who like to complain that Apple is “closed” (by not supporting proprietary, inefficient and badly-coded browser plugins, say) have now lost their best weapon.

For more coverage, and a history of the Google Voice app, see this great post from our sister blog, Epicenter.

Google Voice [App Store]

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Whats that smell? According to a recent Twitpic post from Google Mobiles official Twitter account, its the aroma of freshly baked gingerbread cookies, a scent which could signal the impending release of Androids latest OS is coming sooner than we thought.

The picture shows a tray filled with the Android-logo shaped cookies, which are conspicuously decorated with holiday-themed frosting colors: green bow ties and red dot buttons. Is it merely a benign color palette choice to go with the seasonal dessert, or a clue to an OS release timed to launch during the biggest shopping days of the entire year?

Rumors of the new OS have been circulating for months, and have only escalated since Googles late October confirmation of Gingerbread as the release title with the addition of a giant Gingerbread man to the statuary located near the Android development building on the Google campus. Its in line with past releases; version 2.0 brought an oversize eclair, while 2.2 included an ample helping of froyo.

With Best Buy pulling ads from its mobile page that show Samsungs new Nexus S appearing to run Gingerbread, and Engadgets Thursday post showing an actual Nexus S in their hands, WIRED.coms Tim Carmody speculates on an appearance as early as next week.

He may be right. Googles secretive, guerrilla marketing campaign for Gingerbread is ramping up the hype, and judging from the amount of coverage its received, the tactics are working. Well see what the coming week brings with it.

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Windows Phone 7 lets you make Google searches, but only through a back door.

Google’s free Search app for WP7 is available today, according to the Google Mobile team. “Just search the Marketplace for ‘Google Search,’ download, pin to Start, and the power of Google Search is only a click away.”

“Search, download, pin to Start” — doesn’t that seem a little complicated just to load a search engine on your phone?

A distinguishing feature of Windows Phone 7 handsets is their three dedicated hardware buttons. The Windows logo goes home; the left-arrow button goes back; and the magnifying-glass “search” button opens up Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.

That button is permanently tied to Bing. There appears to be no way to change it.

On the iPhone or Blackberry, or nearly every web browser on the desktop (with Google’s Chrome a notable exception), you can pick your default search engine. You can’t do that with Windows Phone 7. On the Microsoft smartphone, you get Microsoft search.

Now, Bing has a lot going for it; it works very well on WP7, and I think Microsoft is onto something by putting search front-and-center on smartphones. The hardware button is usefully contextual, too: if you’re in the Marketplace, it searches the Marketplace; if you’re in Outlook, it searches your inbox, etc. That’s handy, and exactly the kind of behavior you’d hope for.

But that doesn’t change the fact that hardwiring Bing makes Windows Phone 7 much more closed than most other smartphone platforms.

Considering the close ties between internet search, ad revenue and content-sharing with partners like Facebook, the fact that Microsoft is driving nearly all of its mobile search through Bing is no accident.

It’s a feature, but it’s also a problem.

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Google Instant on a PC browser has always been a clever idea in search of a use case. With the new mobile beta for Android and iOS, the search giant has found its first.

“Wouldnt it be great to have Google Instant on mobile devices, where each keystroke and page load is much slower and you frequently have just a moment to find the information you need?” writes Google engineer Steve Kanefsky.

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Google’s browser-based operating system, Chrome OS, will begin shipping with notebooks sometime in November, according to Asian suppliers who claim to be making parts for the devices.

Taiwanese publication DigiTimes cites “sources from component players” who claim Acer and Hewlett-Packard will soon offer Chrome OS notebooks, and Google will also be selling its own branded Chrome OS notebook made by manufacturer Inventec.

Google introduced Chrome OS in November, 2009. The operating system is built around a special version of the Google Chrome browser, modified to run web apps, and with its own underlying file and storage system. Google said that devices shipping with Chrome OS will rely on flash memory and internet storage rather than traditional hard drives. This setup will ensure extremely fast boot-up times of about 7 seconds, Google said.

“We want Google Chrome OS to be blazingly fast to boot up like a TV, said Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management for Google, during the November 2009 press conference.

A release this month would also pit Google against Apple, which recently released new MacBook Airs touting flash memory and instant-on capability.

Photo illustration by Charlie Sorrel/Wired.com

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A new report reveals that Apple’s iPhone has become the most popular handset in the United States, while Google’s Android platform dominates as the most popular phone operating system.

Technology research firm Canalys on Monday published its report on Q3/2010 U.S. smartphone market share. The data positions Android as the leading operating system, with 9.1 million Android-powered smartphones shipped during the quarter 43.6 percent of the market.

Meanwhile, Apple shipped 9.1 million iPhones, which gives it a 26.2 percent share of the market, making iOS the No. 2 phone operating system. However, because iPhones are the only handsets running iOS, this figure also makes the iPhone the most popular piece of hardware in the phone market.

Before you Android and iPhone cheerleaders go off on each other in the comments, consider that these numbers are exactly what Apple and Google were shooting for, given their different mobile strategies. Apple, a hardware company, has achieved its goal of using an exclusive operating system to sell a lot of phones. And Google has achieved platform dominance with its more “open” strategy of offering Android to any manufacturer to use on any phone.

So while these numbers are huge, they’re not that surprising. I’m more curious about how market share numbers will look next year after new Windows Phone 7 handsets have been on shelves for a while. As I mentioned in a previous post, Microsoft’s mobile approach (i.e., sharing the OS only with manufacturers who meet quality standards) is combining the strengths of both Apple’s and Google’s mobile strategies, so it should be interesting to see how consumers react.

Photo: Dylan Tweney/Wired.com

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In this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, the crew fiddles around with a mildly useless iPad stylus (made by Hard Candy) before diving into more serious news about innovation-blocking cable networks, a phone you can’t have, and some upcoming tablets.

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We discuss the Logitech Revue, one of the first set-top boxes running the Google TV operating system. It’s a sweet device, but the problem is the TV networks have neutered it by blocking access to their internet TV channels. Jerks!

Also in the bad-news department, Apple has delayed the white iPhone 4 once again this time until spring 2011 and we’re fairly sure that phone is never going to ship.

Topping off the podcast with some tablet-ey goodness, Wired.com’s Priya Ganapati touches on Barnes & Noble’s next Nook e-book reader, which is basically a tablet that can only be used for reading.

Speaking of do-overs, the makers of the failed JooJoo say they’ll be back next year with a family of tablets running the Android OS.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #93

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If you didn’t get your fill of the Google Nexus phone, there may be a second chance. Google may have tapped Samsung to create the Nexus Two, a new smartphone that could debut early next month, according to a report on an Android news site.

Samsung will announce the Nexus Two on November 8, claims Androidandme.com. The phone is likely to ship with the upcoming Android ‘Gingerbread’ version of the operating system, and would be the first device to do so, says the site.

Whether the rumors around Nexus Two are true or not, one thing is clear. There is a press event for that date and Samsung does plan to introduce a new Android device then. “We’re not commenting on the rumors and speculation,” says a Google spokesperson.

Despite the problems with its Nexus One experiment, Google has said in the past it isn’t averse to introducing more Nexus brand devices.

Google launched the Nexus One, a phone designed by HTC, in January. The Nexus One was initially available only on T-Mobiles network. But instead of being sold through T-Mobile stores, the search giant said it would sell Nexus Ones through its web site and handle customer support itself.

That strategy didnt resonate with consumers. Nexus Ones online store failed to catch on. Potential customers couldn’t get their hands on a device to try before they buy and Google was flooded with complaints related to customer support. Finally, in July, Google decided to stop selling Nexus Ones.

If the latest rumors pan out, then it seems that Google is ready to dive into the smartphone market. And this time it would have, hopefully, learnt from its mistakes.

It will be interesting to see what Google and Samsung do differently. Already, Google’s choice of Samsung stands out because the search giant has had a very close relationship with HTC -one of the biggest cheerleaders and manufacturers of Android phones.

The launch of the Nexus Two phone may also mean more information about the Gingerbread version of the Android OS, which is reported to have made significant improvements in the user interface and multimedia capability. A software developer’s kit or SDK for the OS could also be out around the same time.

Photo: Nexus One

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7-inch tablets may have drawn Steve Jobs’ contempt, but they could be a very good thing for consumers.

During Apple’s earnings call yesterday, Apple’s CEO argued forcefully that a 7-inch Android tablet could never compete with Apple’s nearly 10-inch iPad.

7-inch tablets are tweeners: too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with the iPad, Jobs said, in an extended thrashing of Apple’s competitors. These are among the reasons that the current crop of 7-inch tablets are going to be DOA dead on arrival.

What I don’t understand is why that’s necessarily a bad thing for Android or tablet-makers.

If Jobs is right that the 7-inch tablets won’t be able to beat Apple’s iPad on price, that could indeed be a deal-breaker. But the pricing we have seen on smaller Android tablets suggests that they’ll be at least $100 cheaper than the current entry-level iPad, even without a data plan. If they’re sold with data plans and carrier subsidies like smartphones, they could be even cheaper than that.

Lower cost isn’t the only appeal of going small. 7-inch tablets are lighter than 10-inch devices. They’re infinitely easier to hold in one hand. They’re easier to type on with two hands (particularly if you have small hands). They fit into smaller bags. And you use them to do different things.

Really, a 7-inch tablet is closer to an e-reader, a personal media player or a handheld gaming device than the iPad is. It’s no coincidence that most e-readers, such as the Kindle and Sony Reader Daily Edition, have 6- or 7-inch screens: That’s about the size of a paperback book.

More…

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Amazon seems ready to get into the app store business with plans to launch a new Android app store.

The company has reportedly sent welcome kits to some developers to entice them to start signing on to the store, according to report in The Wall Street Journal and Engadget.

With its plans to offer an Android app store, Amazon may be hoping to take on the Google Market, currently the app store of choice on most Android devices. Exploding sales of Android smartphones and the introduction of new Android-based tablets hungry for apps may have caught Amazon’s attention and had it clamoring for a piece of the action.

Amazon has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Smartphones running Android OS were more popular than iPhones among new buyers in the U.S. during August, according to a report from The Nielsen Company.

Currently, Google’s Android market has about 90,000 apps, compared to Apple’s App Store has 250,000 apps.

Already upstart, independent challengers such as AndSpot and SlideMe are trying to create their own Android app stores. It’s all kosher because, unlike Apple, Google allows for multiple app stores to exist on the Android operating system. These independent app stores hope to lure users with the the promise of better search and user interface, greater availability internationally and increased revenue.

Amazon may be betting on something similar and it certainly has the clout and the brand to be more popular than these upstarts. But winning over developers may not be easy.

“From the developer perspective, its trial and error to see how effective they really are. A lot of these app stores, whether from Verizon now or Amazon in the future–are yet to prove themselves,” says Paul Chen, director of business development at Papaya Mobile, an Android games developer.

Still Chen says his company is open and willing to embrace any distribution channel that could increase the visibility of its apps.

Though Amazon has been extremely tight-lipped, based on the leaks, here’s everything we know so far about Amazon’s plans:

What will the app store be like?

Amazon’s app store is likely to be a lot like Apple’s–carefully curated and targeted at consumers who are tired of the chaos in the Google Android Market. Spam, poor quality of apps and the inability to easily find apps are major problems in the Android Market. But what Amazon’s app store will be called, look like or the kind of features it will have is still under wraps.

For consumers, it will be exciting if Amazon can bring features such as recommendations, wish lists and deals to its app store.

Cost, control and availability

Developers will reportedly have to pay $100 to sign up–just as they do with the Apple app store.

Unlike the current Google Android Market where any developers can publish apps as long as it follows the company’s guidelines, Amazon will decide what will get into its store, according to a report in TechCrunch.

Apps can either be free or paid. Paid apps will have to be competitively priced–that means developers can’t charge more for the same app on the Amazon app store compared to other markets.

Amazon’s app store will likely be available only in the U.S. though it won’t be long before Amazon extends it to other countries. After all, Amazon has all the necessary payment systems in place to make this happen, even as Google Checkout remains limited.

Support and distribution

This is where things get confusing. It is not clear which Android devices Amazon’s app store will support or how it will be distributed. Google’s Android Market comes pre-loaded on all Android smartphones. But Amazon will have to ink deals with device makers to get its app store in there. We will also have to see if Amazon’s Android app store and Google Market will co-exist on a device. If they do so, it could cause consumer confusion and give rise to app store fragmentation.

Also, with the availability of tablets and hardware boxes running Google TV, which is based on the Android platform, it will be interesting to watch if Amazon limits its app store to just smartphones or if it is willing to go where Google fears to tread.

Photo: (astanush/Flickr)

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