March 13, 2012 [This post is a group effort by Tony Chan, Fred Chung, Brian Carlstrom, and Kenny Root. — Tim Bray] Android 4.0 (ICS) comes with a number of enhancements that make it easier for people to bring their personal Android devices to work. In this post, we’re going to have a look at the key store functionality. Back in Android 1.6 (Donut), a system key store was added for use by VPN. Read more [...]

March 12, 2012 Sir Jonathan Ive may not be as well-known as former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, but the London-born designer is behind much of the company's trendsetting hardware. In late 2011, Ive received a knighthood for his part in creating iconic Apple products like the Mac, iPod, and iPad; he has also been honored with several other design awards. Read more [...]

March 6, 2012 [This post is by Kenneth Lui, Android Developer Ecosystem. —Dirk Dougherty] For more than a year we’ve been focused on expanding the reach, content, and monetization opportunities of Android Market. Read more [...]

March 6, 2012 Android applications have historically been limited to a maximum size of 50MB. This works for most apps, and smaller is usually better — every megabyte you add makes it harder for your users to download and get started. Read more [...]

March 1, 2012 We've seen some pretty impressive tricks from the University of Pennsylvania's swarm of quadrocopter drones , but nothing prepared us for this. In its time off from navigating obstacle courses, formation flying , building structures , and literally flying through hoops , the swarm managed to pick up some impressive musical chops, bringing us this flawless rendition of the James Bond theme. The tiny robots all play actual musical instruments, too — either by landing on organ keys, dragging a stick across a harp, or beating a drum with a mechanical arm. Read more [...]

February 29, 2012 [This post is by Android designer Alex Faaborg , on behalf of the entire User Experience team. —Tim Bray] When we initially released Android Design , by far the number one request we received was for us to release stencils as well. The fine folks on the Android User Experience team are pleased today to release some official Android Design stencils for your mockup-creating pleasure. With these stencils you can now drag and drop your way to beautifully designed Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) applications, with grace and ease. Read more [...]

February 29, 2012 Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system takes to the stage today at Mobile World Congress for its Consumer Preview grand unveil. Read more [...]

February 28, 2012 We've just received word that HP has laid off more than 270 employees from its webOS division as it "no longer needs many of the engineering and other related positions that it required before." We have a full statement from the company below: As webOS continues the transition from making mobile devices to open source software, it no longer needs many of the engineering and other related positions that it required before. This creates a smaller and more nimble team that is well-equipped to deliver an open source webOS and sustain HP’s commitment to the software over the long term. Read more [...]

February 28, 2012 Twitter's web interface has long been populated by innocent-looking tweets, trends, and accounts that pop up because they've been "promoted." Twitter's mobile clients have been mostly free of these ads to date, but that's about to change: the company has announced today that promoted tweets and accounts will soon make themselves at home in your timeline and searches, respectively, when you're using the official Twitter client for iPhone or Android. Twitter says that the changes will make their way onto your phone in the coming weeks, though some people that already follow promoted accounts might see promoted tweets in their timeline before then. Like in the web interface, Twitter promises that you'll be able to dismiss promoted tweets.. Read more [...]

February 28, 2012 When Samsung announced the Galaxy S WiFi 4.2 yesterday, one question immediately sprang to mind: why? Why would Samsung — which already makes a Galaxy S WiFi 3.6, 4.0, and 5.2, not to mention the virtually identical Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 — need yet another phone-without-the-phone media player device? Read more [...]