fidzu : android

Samsung has already had to cut expectations for their latest flagship, the Galaxy S 4, and although it's still selling extremely well, it looks like Sammy is going to have to lower estimates for device shipments once again. Originally, Samsung had predicted a lofty 10 million units for the April and 12.2 million units for [...]

Come comment on this article: Samsung cuts Galaxy S 4 sales predictions by 50% for May, down to 6.5 million units

20 Jun 2013 4:45am GMT

The team over at Humble Bundle has been working hard to put together packages of games for users to enjoy, for whatever price the user wishes to pay. Every game works on Android, as well as Windows, Linux and iOS. The cool part about it is that you can allocate the money you spend to [...]

Come comment on this article: Humble Bundle with Android 6 released, includes 7 game titles

20 Jun 2013 4:08am GMT

The times they are a changing, or so the saying goes. We've been hearing a lot about LG lately, and although the LG high end line of phones will no[...]

20 Jun 2013 3:48am GMT

It's always nice when you can get out there, take some cool photos, and print them off on the go. Or that feeling when you need to scan in that[...]

20 Jun 2013 3:19am GMT

With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That's why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day's hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!! Apps New App: 'Rockmelt' news reader released to Google [...]

Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for June 19, 2013

20 Jun 2013 3:13am GMT

With all the hype of the HTC One Mini, and its capability (being an absolute miniature of the One in almost every way outside of display size), AT&T seemingly couldn't[...]

20 Jun 2013 1:51am GMT

Posted by Ellie Powers, Google Play team

Google Play gives you tons of options on publishing your apps and connecting with users. But as you get started with new features like beta testing and staged rollouts, it's a good idea to do a checkup and make sure you've covered the basics.

1. Boost your developer account security

• If you take just one step today to protect your Google Play apps, enable two-step authentication for your Google account, and encourage the rest of your team to do the same.
• Next, many developers first set up their Google Play account with their personal gmail account, but it's actually a good idea to transfer your apps to a separate account. All of your installations and reviews remain intact. If you haven't done this already, transfer your apps to a new account today.
• Don't share passwords. Instead, add each individual who needs access and only grant the minimum level of access they need - and encourage them to enable two-step authentication.
• Review the list of people with access regularly, and when people leave your project, make it a standard practice to remove their access. Learn more about developer account security.

2. Protect your keystore

In order to publish an update to an existing app, you'll need to sign it with the same keystore every time. If you lose your keystore, you'll lose your history and reviews, so you'll need to start over with new apps with new package name and a new key, so you'll want to make sure you protect it. First, choose a secure password, and don't use the same password that you use for your Google account. Next, back up your keystore somewhere, but don't upload it to Google Drive with an account you use to publish on Google Play.

3. Check your email addresses

As a developer, you are responsible for checking two important email addresses:

• Account owner email address: Google uses the address used to register your Developer Console to contact you about your apps and account, so it is extremely important that someone is responsible for checking it regularly. If necessary, you can forward messages from this account via Gmail, or transfer your apps to another account.
• Customer support email address: For each individual application, you can specify the best way for users to contact you for customer support. Ensure that a valid support email address for your product is specified. As a best practice, this should probably be a designated support account that is checked regularly and not the same email as the address used to login to the Developer Console.

4. Familiarize yourself with the policies

We recently launched some new guides and examples for Google Play's Developer Program Policies and Developer Distribution Agreement. Note that once you publish an app as free, you can't change it to a paid app later, though you can add in-app products.

5. Set up team processes

You may have many people involved with your Google Play apps. Make sure roles are clear in terms of whose job it is to publish updates, check statistics and optimization tips, read and reply to user reviews, and track revenue. Make sure all of these people have the right access to the Developer Console. Many developers who are part of larger organizations also report to their larger teams about their apps' performance. Designate someone to make sure your app description, graphics (including localized and tablet screenshots), and pricing are up to date.

6. Configure your Developer Console UI languages

To change the language you want to see the Developer Console in, set your primary language. If you speak additional languages, configure those, too - user reviews in those languages won't be translated automatically in the Developer Console. That was a popular request from developers.

7. Refresh your app's marketing materials

• Optimize your Google Play image assets. Include a well designed feature graphic in your Google Play listing. Localize your feature graphic, screenshots and description to improve conversions globally. Create a great looking icon with the Launcher Icon Generator.
• Provide screenshots specifically for phones and tablets showing both portrait and landscape layouts.
• Improve your app's marketing. Users are 47% more likely to trust & download content when you use the official Google Play Badge. Also, make sure you are linking to your apps properly. Use the Device Art Generator to create beautiful marketing material.

8. Stay on top of developer news

To make sure you're aware of the latest Google Play updates for developers, make sure you check the Android Developers blog regularly, follow +Android Developers, and check the Developer Console regularly for announcements.

06 Jun 2013 9:21pm GMT

Posted by Brad Abrams, Product Manager, Google Cloud Platform

Many of the best mobile app experiences are powered by services in the cloud. Top Android developers such as Pulse and SongPop have long taken advantage of the convenience and scalability of Google's cloud platform in their businesses. Now with the Mobile Backend Starter, it's even easier to add cloud services to your apps.

Mobile Backend Starter

Mobile Backend Starter is a one-click deployable, complete mobile backend that allows you to reap the benefits of a cloud backend with none of the headaches. It provides a ready-to-deploy, general purpose cloud backend and a general purpose client-side framework for Android.

Mobile Backend Starter gives you everything you need to rapidly set up a backend for your app, without needing to write any backend code. It includes a server that stores your data with App Engine and a client library and sample app for Android that make it easy to access that data. You can also add support for Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) and continuous queries that notify your app of events you are interested in. To keep user data secure, Mobile Backend Starter also includes built-in support for Google Authentication.

Features of Mobile Backend Starter include:

• Cloud data storage: Users change devices and increasingly use multiple devices. Store any amount of data per user in the cloud to be accessed from anywhere.
• Pub/Sub messaging: Send messages from one device, to any or all other devices. You can easily use 1:1 and 1:many messaging as well as broadcasting. This feature is useful for various applications including social apps, forums, chat, gaming, and group collaborations.
• Push notifications: Data updated on one device is automatically available on all devices with GCM for Android.
• Continuous queries: Create queries that run continuously on the server, automatically feeding updates to the client. These queries are powered by Prospective Search.
• Google authentication and authorization: Keep data isolated per user or shared among users.
• Free to get started, scales with your needs: You can start by handling hundreds of users for free, then grow to any scale.

Quick setup and integration

You can set up and run the Mobile Backend Starter in just few steps:

1. First, go to the Google Cloud Console, and create a project. Then click Deploy.
2. Click on Settings to go to the admin control panel for your new backend. Under Authentication / Authorization, select "Open (for development use only)" and save the changes.
   
3. Next, download the Android client project and open it up in your Android IDE. Locate the Consts.java file and set the PROJECT_ID to the Project ID of the project you created in the Google Cloud Console.
4. Now just build and run the Android application and you have a cloud enabled Android application.

Check out the complete docs for details on setup as well as information on how to enable authentication, send push notifications, and use standing queries.

The best part is you can download the complete source code of the backend on GitHub and customize it however you want to meet your needs.

See Mobile Backend Starter in action at Google I/O

To see Mobile Backend Starter in action, check out our talk at Google I/O 2013 (embedded below) called "From Nothing to Nirvana in Minutes: Cloud Backend for Your Android Application". The talk shows how to use Mobile Backend Starter to create a new backend server and integrate it with an Android app via Google Cloud Endpoints and the Google Plugin for Eclipse.

We look forward to hearing your questions and learning about the amazing applications you have built. You can find us lurking on the Cloud Endpoints StackOverflow forum.

03 Jun 2013 5:14pm GMT

Posted by Reto Meier, Android Developer Relations Tech Lead

We had a lot to talk about this year at I/O. We launched Google Play services 3.1 with Google Play games services, improved Location APIs, and Google Cloud Messaging enhancements; Android Studio: A new IDE for Android development based on IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition; and Google Play Developer Console improvements such as app translation service, revenue graphs, beta testing & staged rollouts, and optimization tips.

With the excitement of these announcements behind us, it's time to sit back, relax, and watch all the sessions we missed during the event. To make that easier, we've collected all the Android sessions together in the Android @ Google I/O 13 page on the developer site.

We've also created the Google I/O 13 - The Android Sessions playlist (embedded below), as well as playlists for each developer category: design, develop, and distribute.


For those of you who prefer listening to your I/O talks without the distraction of watching speakers and slides, we're also making the sessions available as part of the Android Developers Live Podcast.

Google I/O is always a highlight on the Android Developer Relations team's calendar, so we'll be keeping the magic alive with our Android Developers Live broadcasts.

This week we resumed our regular broadcasts with Android Design in Action offering a review of Android Design sessions at I/O. Next week will see the return of This Week in Android Development and The App Clinic, and stay tuned for more episodes of Table Flip, GDG App Clinics, and more!

We'll also continue to add new DevBytes and BizDevBytes to offer tips and tricks for improving your apps and making them more successful.

As always you can talk to us and keep track of our upcoming broadcasts, Android Studio news, and other Android developer news on the +Android Developers Google+ page.

30 May 2013 6:22pm GMT