Nexus S, Nexus One receive SMS redirection bug fix builds

he users who have long suffered with a random SMS addressing bug that has gathered a lot of attention lately may soon see fixes. Both the recently introduced Samsung Nexus S on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and the HTC Nexus One on Android 2.2 (Froyo) have seen minor updates this weekend that reportedly fix the bug.

The Nexus One gets an update from Android 2.2.1 (FRG83D) to Android 2.2.2 (FRG83G). Meanwhile, the Nexus S receives an update to 2.3.2. Both updates are bug fix updates, and both fix the SMS redirection bug.

Of course, those on other devices will still be affected, until a similar patch rolls to their device. It's unclear if this patch will break the ability to root a patched device.

Google developing 'Google Offers' Groupon clone

If you can't buy 'em, clone 'em. Google, which earlier failed to buy Groupon despite a $6 billion bid, is preparing its own competitor, which will be called Google Offers.

While not as snazzy a name as Groupon, the idea is the same: a deal-of-the-day site that senda an email to daily to end users with a local deal. If enough users sign up within the trigger period (we would assume 24 hours), the Google Offer becomes valid.

The evidence it pretty clear: Mashable has received a fact sheet (embedded below) for Google Offers, one that the company is sending to businesses. More evidence has been found in the form of a Google Offers logo, hosted on a Google server, no less.

The capper is the following: Search Engine Land received an email that seems to confirm the project. Although the email does not confirm the name as Google Offers, and it uses the word "test," it seems pretty clear:

Google is communicating with small businesses to enlist their support and participation in a test of a pre-paid offers/vouchers program. This initiative is part of an ongoing effort at Google to make new products, such as the recent Offer Ads beta, that connect businesses with customers in new ways. We do not have more details to share at this time, but will keep you posted.

How is this going to affect Groupon, and Living Social? It's going to affect them, but both companies are well-established, and Google Offers won't kill them.

Living Social just had a huge Amazon.com gift card deal that ended with 1.3 million sold. Groupon is preparing a Spring IPO that could value it at $15 billion.

Some smaller players may fall by the wayside, but it's not as though deals such as these overlap. People will go to Groupon, Living Social, or Google Offers, or other sites, depending on whichever has the best deal. Not everyone wants an Amazon.com gift card or a deal at the Gap (to reference two huge Living Social and Groupon deals).

Although people used to fear that Google entering a market would kill off other products, it's not as though Google Checkout has dented PayPal's market share much, and Google Places hasn't killed Yelp.

What Google Offers will mean is more reason to check your inbox every morning, in hopes of a deal.





Offers Fact Sheet

Google Co-Founder Larry Page replacing Eric Schmidt as CEO

In addition to announcing their quarterly earnings on Thursday, Google dropped somewhat of a blockbuster. CEO Eric Schmidt is no longer CEO, instead being replaced by co-found Larry Page, while Schmidt becomes executive chairman.

Page will take charge of day-to-day operations on April 4, while Schmidt will focus on deals, partnerships, government outreach, and become a technology thought leader. Co-founder Sergey Brin will take the title of ... Co-Founder. His job is to lead the company’s “strategic projects.” Brin will be in charge of Google’s new and experimental technologies.

BusinessInsider has a pretty harsh look at the move. They believe that

Eric Schmidt was tossed from the company, because Sergey and Larry were frustrated with dealing with him. Note the quote from Schmidt that Google wanted to "speed up decision making." If things are working smoothly, you don't have those problems.

That was mentioned in Schmidt's blog post on the change, saying that partly, the move was made to simplify the management structure and speed up decision making.

In terms of the actual financials, Google said that in Q4 2010, revenue was $8.44 billion, an increase of 26 percent over the same period in 2009. Operating income was $2.98 billion compared to $2.48 billion from Q4 2009. Google reported a profit of $2.54 billion, or $7.81 a share, up from $1.97 billion, or $6.13 a share, a year earlier.

Markets reacted in after-hours trading by spiking on the earnings news, dropping as the news about Schmidt spread, and gaining again. At the current time, Google is up 8.74‎ (or 1.39 percent‎) in after hours trading.

Eric Schmidt first joined Google's board as chairman in 2001, then later that same year became the company's CEO. Ironically, he announces he is leaving the CEO post just days after his biggest rival, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, announced a medical leave of absence.

Facebook profile info used to hack into women's email accounts

People who wonder if perhaps some people give out too much information via social networking sites such as Facebook can look to this story and see the answer is at least sometimes "yes." George Samuel Bronk, 23, used profile information from Facebook to hack into women's e-mail accounts, steal nude images of them, and even blackmail them.

Bronk used an obvious, but clever method to hack into the women's accounts: since Webmail accounts have password recovery schemes that could be bypassed using information from Facebook profiles, such as favorite foods, high-school mascots, favorite colors, and so on, once he obtained that information, he would try to hack into an account. If he did, he would then change the password, locking out the original user, and that was just the beginning.

Bronk would then scan each women's "Sent Message" folder, looking for any nude pictures or videos. If he found any, sometimes he'd pictures to the women's entire contact list, just for fun. On other times, he'd blackmail the woman directly, telling them he'd publish the pictures unless he received more nude pictures from them. One victim called it "virtual rape." He would sometimes even double-dip, emailing Facebook using the stolen account to get the password, then using that account for mischief.

Late last week, Bronk pleaded guilty in Sacramento Superior Court to seven felony charges, including computer intrusion, impersonation and possession of child pornography. He faces up to six years in prison, and will return in March for sentencing.

Reportedly, he hacked into hundreds of accounts, with the women spread across 17 states and even in England.

This is obviously a cautionary tale. While it's probably not going to stop women from sending nude photos to their beaus (which might be a good idea), many Webmail sites allow custom password recover questions. If a user created their own custom question, one which they don't post to their Facebook profile, they wouldn't see this problem happen.

It's also possible to use standard questions if you either don't post the answer to a social networking site, or muck with the answer with a faux response. At any rate, it's just another example of why you shouldn't share "everything" on the Internet.

Google Voice Numbers Seem to Come, As Google is Testing Settings

We know that Google was considering adding number portability for Google Voice, enabling people to move their currently number to their Google Voice account. That would be a huge plus for the service, and for a time, on Thursday, it seemed it was there, in Phone Setting. Ah, but it was a false alarm.

First noted by Engadget, it turns out the setting was simply a test by Google. It wasn't meant to roll out to end users, just yet. Still, the test means that it will most likely be coming, and possibly soon.

The cost of the service would (and probably will) be $20 to port the number. However, if you are currently on contract with a carrier, that move would cause a cancellation of your contract, and hence, an early termination fee of possibly hundreds of dollars.

The process made it quite clear what was going to happen, though, and users would have to check several checkboxes, and enter their account number, not just their phone number, to make it happen, so it would be hard to accidentally do it. And now that users know this feature is definitely coming, howver, they can start planning if they want to move their number.

Jason Kincaid at TechCrunch has had his number ported to his Google Voice account for over a year (via the Google team). He sees this feature as a major turning point, and we already know that Google has major plans for Voice.

It will be interesting to see how carriers react once this feature rolls out publicly.

Groupon IPO set for Spring, may value company at $15 billion

Groupon, which earlier turned down a $6 billion offer from Google, met with bankers on Thursday to discuss a possible Spring IPO. The company will meet with bankers again on Friday, further reports indicate.

Dealbook's anonymous sources indicate that banks are spinning Groupon's heads with possible values as high as $15 billion. The company just raised $950 million in additional investor funding.

Groupon is a deal-of-the-day website. It sends emails with deals (coupons) that are activated if enough people sign up for it (a group = a groupon). There are many clones, but Groupon is by far the largest. Prior to Google's rejected offer, Yahoo! also made a bid for the company last year.

Based on the proposed valuation of the company, it now appears that spurning Google's offer was a good idea. Many scratched their heads over it, when it first occurred.

New 'Find My Friends' feature uncovered in iOS 4.3 beta

With Apple's release of the iOS 4.3 beta comes digging into the build, and the latest finding appears to be a social aspect to the new version, something tied to MobileMe. It's called "Find My Friends."

It sounds like it will be akin to Google Latitude, Loopt, Facebook Place, and other services like that. One big problem is that those are all free: if this is tied to MobileMe, Apple will either have to drop the $99 subscription for the service (which has been suggested before) or see not that much adoption, since MobileMe isn't exactly s staggering hit.

Of course, there's the other issue: all those other apps are cross-platform, and its unlikely we will see any Apple developers writing for Android or WP7 anytime soon.

Of course, in March of 2010, it was noted that Apple had applied for a patent on an iPhone location-based social networking service (iGroups). Could this be related?

Google Translate for Android adds experimental real-time audio translation

Google's adding Conversation Mode to one of its products, but it's not the Conversation Mode in Gmail. Instead, Google has added Conversation Mode to Google Translate on Android.

If it was fully baked, you could think of Conversation Mode as the same as the Universal Translator on the original Star Trek. You speak a word or phrase, and Translate translates the words into an alternate language and reads it out loud. For now, Conversation Mode only works between English and Spanish, but the feature is only Alpha, after all.

As the feature is only alpha, Google adds that "factors like regional accents, background noise or rapid speech may make it difficult to understand what you’re saying." Even given that, this sounds pretty exciting, at least it will be when it reaches a release stage.

Google also made a few ease of use changes to the app. Meanwhile, it also noted that now, the majority of use of Google Translate occurs outside the U.S. Google said:

As Android devices have spread across the globe, we’ve seen Translate for Android used all over. The majority of our usage now comes from outside the United States, and we’ve seen daily usage from more than 150 countries, from Malaysia to Mexico to Mozambique. It’s really rewarding for us to see how this new platform is helping us break down language barriers the world over.

Translate supports 53 languages, from Afrikaans to Yiddish, and voice input for 15 languages.

You need Android 2.1 or later to install Google Translate, from the Android Market.

Google demo'ed the feature a few months ago, but now it's giving Android users a chance to try it out. You can see the earlier demo in a video below, at about the 26:24 mark.

Google to drop the H.264 coded from Chrome in pursuit of 'openness'

Google has announced it is dropping support for the H.264 video codec from its Chromium project, which will also mean from Google's Chrome browser. While stating the move is "to enable open innovation," it is clear its less about that and more about gaining adoption for its own initiative, WebM, although it did say it would support Theora, as well.

That's the first thing that should come to mind since WebM includes Google's own competing codec, VP8. The project was announced last May. A codec, for those unaware, is used to encode and decode video and audio to be played through a computer or other device.

It's also strange that Google would declare a move to openness when it's made no move to boot another proprietary standard, Adobe's Flash, which uses H.264 and other codecs internally. As pointed out, however, Adobe is one of Google's partners in WebM, so there's the obvious reason.

The H.264 standard has been around since 2003, and is indeed proprietary. Still, with so much video using it on the Web, this seems a move that will shaft users of Chrome. It is true, however that Google is a corporation. As such, the needs of shareholders outweigh the needs of the end users.

In fact, one commenter at the Google post, shidoshi, put it quite well:

Ugh. This is a move by Google where they care more about the open source "community" than they do actual users of their browser. Let's be real here: WebM has a LONG way to go before it will have any serious amount of traction, and Theora is a joke. Like it or now (sic), h264 IS becoming the standard, and dropping support for it for no good reason is ridiculous.

Current, in eyeshot, I have six devices that can all play digital video: a PS3, an Xbox 360, a laptop, an iMac, a PSP, and an iPhone. Guess what one codec each and every one of those devices is able to play? h264.

If I want the widest audience possible to be able to access my content, why in the world would I encode it in either WebM or Theora? I wouldn't.

As we said before, there is still Flash support, and somebody will likely write a plug-in to replace the built-in support. However, it appears the Web "video wars" are alive and well, HTML5 or not, because although the HTML 5 standard adds built-in support for video, it has not yet specified a codec.

Android 2.4 (Ice Cream) to be released in the summer: report

Google has just released Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), although only on one device so far (the Nexus S). Meanwhile, we know Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) is destined only for tablets. When will the next smartphone version of Android release, Ice Cream, be released?
Android 2.4, or Ice Cream, is set for a June / July release, according to Pocket-Lint's sources. An announcement on the new version will be at Google I/O at the beginning of May.  The summer, of course, is perfect for Ice Cream.

However, that timing should distract attention away from Android 2.4. After all, June / July is the normal time for an iPhone update, and this year, we're probably going to see both a CDMA version and GSM version of the iPhone 5, or whatever it ends up being called.

Although Honeycomb is meant for tablets only, that doesn't mean that future revisions of Android for smartphones won't incorporate some of the changes. In fact, that was implied in this interview with Matias Duarte, who heads up Google's user experience for Android.

Assuming Ice Cream maintains the 2.4 version, we may see the codelines and features merge post-3.0. It will be interesting to see how Duarte pulls that off.

Google developing NFC-based mobile payment service: report

Is Google prepping a payment service that would utilize the company's new near-field communication (NFC) feature added to the Samsung Nexus S and future Android handsets? It's possible, and Google's Eric Schmidt actually mentioned the future of NFC when the Web 2.0 conference, although he did not mention Google in the same breath as mobile payments.

Instead, Schmidt did say this much:

"You'll be able to walk in a store and do commerce. You'd bump for everything and eventually replace credit cards."

Business Week says that Google is not just considering a service, but is already building a payment and advertising service that would allow users to pay by tapping or swiping their smartphones at checkout, according to "two people familiar with the plans."

As BW notes, Google Ventures, the company's VC arm, has invested in Corduro, a developer of mobile-payment solutions based in Texas. Meanwhile, in 2010, Google acquired Zetawire, a Canadian startup that has a patent on a method for combining a phone-based "wallet" with a reward-and-loyalty program.

Google doesn't have a monopoly on such technology. There are plenty looking into NFC payment services, and in fact, Japan is ahead of most. A 2009 report showed that already, at that time, 15 percent of Japanese mobile phone users were using their phones to purchase products in stores.

Honeycomb confirmed to be tablet-only, via Google promotional video

Honeycomb, or Android 3.0, is to be the first tablet-optimized Android version, and not that much is known about it, although rumors of higher hardware requirements are rumbling. However, Google has gone and posted a teaser video on Honeycomb, pre-CES, so come one, come all, and take a look.

The fact that they use the phrase "Built Entirely For Tablet" means, as some have surmised, that you won't see Honeycomb on a smartphone. The video shows that Honeycomb has a revised UI, which carries over many of the changes from Gingerbread, meaning a more polished, professional, and darker look.

YouTube gets a major upgrade, and Google Talk includes built-in video calling. Everything looks smooth, and yes, tablet-optimized. Video embedded in the sidebar; take a look, and when is that first Honeycomb tablet coming? Motorola Xoom? Anyone?

OEM reports Honeycomb to require more beeswax: dual-core CPU, 1280 x 720 screen

Not too much is known about the first tablet-optimized version of Android, Honeycomb, although we know some OEMs are waiting for it before releasing a tablet. One rumor that's being spread around, however, is that Honeycomb (Android 3.) will require a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor to run properly, and a 1280 x 720 screen.

That information comes from Bobby Cha, managing director of Korean consumer electronics firm Enspert, which is working on Android 2.2 / 2.3 / 3.0 devices. Right now, NVIDIA's Tegra 2 is the only chipset in products on the market to include a Cortex-A9 processor.

Although Cha mentioned a 1280 x 720, a 10-inch screen is not required. Android 3.0 will work just fine on 7-inch screens, he noted. However, if this is true, most of the existing Android tablets won't be upgradeable to Honeycomb. It would mean the Samsung's Galaxy Tabs, for example, could be upgraded to Gingerbread (Android 2.3), but not Honeycomb.

A number of manufacturers are expected to unveil Android tablets at CES. Among them will be Motorola, which has already teased its upcoming tablet, expected to be named Xoom, as running Honeycomb.

Despite the higher-end requirements, we should expect Honeycomb to eventually land on lower-cost products as parts costs come down.

"You're going to see price erosion on many of the components in tablets right now. Folks like Samsung, the industry heavyweights, are going to add pressure to the component guys to lower their costs. A tablet is still kind of an expensive toy."

It is true that most people who have a tablet also need a smartphone to carry with them. For most, it's not a replacement device (at least for a smartphone, but perhaps for a netbook), but rather an additional device, requiring more disposable income.

Cha said Honeycomb will probably be ready for manufacturers to install "towards the end of January," although Motorola, based on its teasing, might have its Xoom with Honeycomb installed. Toshiba earlier announced its unnamed 10.1-inch tablet, but as yet, it does not have operable software on it.

Toshiba announces 10.1" tablet, awaits Honeycomb

Ahead of CES, Toshiba has announced an Android-powered tablet. The device heads up what is expected to be a wave of Android tablets at CES, including the Motorola Xoom and the Vizio Via Tab.

Toshiba's 10.1-inch Android tablet, exceeding the 10-inch requirement set down by Steve Jobs, so it cannot be called DOA (strangely, as we've pointed out, the iPad actually has a 9.7-inch display), is still unnamed. It will weight 1.7-pound and be 0.6-inches thick.

It will be powered by NVIDIA's dual-core Tegra 2, sport a 1280 x 800 capacitive display, and carry an accelerometer and ambient light sensor to use with Toshiba's Adaptive Display technology.

The device will also ship with a 5MP rear-facing camera and a 2MP front-facing camera. It will also have the requisite SD and mini-USB slots, but in addition, HDMI and full-sized USB, as well.

The hold-up to the tablet is that it awaits Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). Toshiba states that the tablet will be released in the first half of 2011, and that is probably doable with Motorola also chomping at the bit for the breakfast cereal-named Android release.

Engadget has a gallery of shots, in addition to the one above, at their site.

Samsung reaches target, sells 10 million Galaxy S smartphones

Samsung has met its goal of selling 10 million Galaxy S smartphones in 2010. Samsung confirmed that the popular Android phone, launched seven months ago, has reached the target the company had set for 2010.

The numbers are small in comparison to iPhone 4 numbers, but Android phones can never reach the peak of an iPhone because, unlike the iPhone which sells at most two variations annually, Android phones come from a number of manufacturers and in a myriad of varieties and form factors.

That has proven to be both a strength and a weakness, particularly with regards to the much-criticized fragmentation of the OS.  At the same time, however, Android phones, by some research firms' estimates have overtaken iPhones globally, as well as in the U.S.

Following the successful launch of the Galaxy S, Samsung played off the name with the Galaxy Tab tablets which, although running a non-tablet-optimized version of Android, have also seen success.

Samsung has been public in its desire to become the number one mobile manufacturer globally.

URL SNAFU tarnishes Google Chrome billboard ad

It's funny when Google, masters (or at least, wanna-be masters) of all things Internet make an obvious mistake like this. A billboard, or hoarding, as they call them in India, isn't going to get many adopters of Chrome, since the URL provided is wrong.

The problem, of course, is case-sensitivity. The billboard gives the URL http://www.google.co.in/Chrome, when it needs to give the URL http://www.google.co.in/chrome. It's such a small mistake, right? In terms of results, it's like a GPS pointing you to Sacramento instead of Los Angeles.

Of course, as one commenter points out snarkily, if the first attempt lands you on a 404 error page, you might have to search for the actual URL, using Google search, which is, after all, it's primary business.

Months-old SMS bug still plaguing Android users

This bug should really hurt sales of Android phones to teens now that it's being publicized. It appears that Google has been unable to fix a months-old SMS bug, that randomly sends SMS messages to the wrong contact in your Address Book.

Tiger Woods should probably stay away from Android phones too. Can you imagine if the bug sent an SMS meant for Rachel Uchitel to Elin Nordegren instead (although in the long run, she found out anyway).

At any rate, ZDNet notes that the bug was first noted in June of this year. The bug is only given a priority of Medium, which would seem to be too low, considering how people use SMS messages nowadays.

It seems to be more prevalent if users have Facebook and/or Twitter SMS notifications enabled. The bug even exists on custom ROMs from Cyanogen and other unofficial sources, meaning it's a core Android bug.

One commenter in the bug thread said:

To list this issue as “medium” is a gross understatement. This is much worse than iphone’s drop call problem.

It's much worse than the iPhone's dropped call problem, to many, because SMS has become more used than voice calling to communicate between mobile phone users.

Another comment:

I have always been a big fan of Google Android phones. Sure the user interface may not be as polished as the iPhone. I admit the Exchange support might not be as tightly integrated as it is on the Blackberry. But, I’m a geek and I’m willing to put up with some annoyances as a trade-off for speed and flexibility and customization. And I’m not alone. Market researchers Canalys and NPD Group both recently published reports stating Android was running on > 40% of all smart phones in the United States. It would seem Android is destined for dominance.

Except somewhere along the way, Google seems to have forgotten first and foremost Android phones need to be phones. And that is why I’m seriously considering making the move to Blackberry or Windows Phone 7.

We have not experienced the issue ourselves, but the only 100 percent sure workaround for those who are seeing the issue would be to use some IM client, and one that works across multiple IM platforms. Some have changed their usage away from SMS and to IM, anyway, as there's no extra charge for IM.

However, although Google has been trying to fix this since June, it still persists, even with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). According to a ZDNet poll, only 10 percent of respondents have been affected by the bug, but that's at least 10 percent too many.