Google is fully expecting that mobile phones will generate over $1 billion in ad revenue by 2012, and that the Google Android OS will be the engine that drives that growth.

According to Forbes, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said last summer that Android could be a $10 billion business if there were 1 billion users each generating $10 a year.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster recently said that Google is well on it’s way to hitting the $10 per user level.  Google has said it is on a $1 billion annual run-rate in mobile advertising, and Munster estimates that the company had $850 million total mobile revenue in 2010, with Android generating about 16% of the total, or around $130 million, which would translate to $5.90 per Android user. (That implies about 22 million Android users for 2010.)

By 2012, Munster believe there could be 133 million Android users generating $9.85 a year, which would mean $1.3 billion in Android-related revenue.

Google’s Android business model has been simple, yet very aggressive – to organize and present data on any platform that your eyes may be looking.

That’s why Android is programmed to be compatible on computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and even TV’s.

And with this vision of “organizing data on every platform”, Google will essence be creating an advertising platform on every platform as well, which could cause the $1.3 billion in ad revenue by 2012 to be a very low-ball estimate.

Fight… fight… fight… fight… Looks like Apple is ready to step up, and beat down, any iPad competitor in the marketplace, both now and into the future.

Forget about those measly little Android tablets, and those heavy, clunky, worthless Windows based tablets.

Apple’s COO Tim Cook said today that all other competitors beware – you will get beat down by the iPad!

Ok… not exactly word for word, but pretty close.

Mr. Cook was present today to talk about Apple’s first quarter numbers – which were ridiculous to say the least.  Here’s what I mean:

First quarter results which showed a growth in revenue by 71 percent and an earnings growth of 78 percent.

And Apple ended up selling 7.33 million iPads just in the past quarter alone!

WHAT!!!!!!!!

Now here’s the best part, when Apple COO Tim Cook was asked about iPad competitors, here’s what he had to say – and this is word for word:

“There’s not much out there as you know. There are two kinds of groups today (in the market) — the ones using a Windows-based operating system. They’re big, heavy and expensive. Weak battery life. Need keyboard or stylus. From our point of view, customers aren’t interested in that. Then you have the Android tablets. The variety shipping today, the OS wasn’t designed for a tablet — but Google said this. So you wind up having the size of a tablet that’s less than reasonable. Or one that’s not even a real tablet experience. It’s a “scaled-up smartphone” – that’s a bizarre product in our view. Those are what is shipping today. If you do a side-by-side with an iPad, some enormous percentage are going to pick the iPad. We have no concern there. In terms of next generation. There’s nothing shipping yet. So I don’t know. “Today they’re vapor.” However, we’re not sitting still. We have a huge first-mover advantage. And a huge user advantage from iTunes to the App Store. Huge number of apps and an ecosystem. We’re very confident entering into a fight with anyone.”

via Slashgear

Google to pay hackers $1000 for successfully hacking the Android OS running on Google TV.

Google TV, and the Android OS running it, has been successfully hacked, and Google is actually excited about it.

According to Google developer Howard Harte, “this means we now have a complete Android development environment for the Google TV.”  And with a successful hack of the Android OS, Google TV now has the ability to run Android apps.

Harte actually put out a contest offering any hacker $1000 for the first successful jailbreak.

A group calling themselves GTVhacker dev team rose to the challenge, and released a 6-minute video of their process of hacking Google TV.

Here’s the video of the successful Google TV jailbreak hack:

via Switched

CNNMoney.com just posted a video that takes a look at the new Google Android OS. This video shows the OS as being fast, sleek, and obviously optimized for Android tablet devices.

This OS release, I’m assuming, the Gingerbread (Android 3.0) release.

Here it is – a test drive of the new Android OS:

The iPad has not only created a whole new paradigm in personal computing, it has also perhaps been the single best hope for saving the print publishing market.

Newspapers and printed magazines have been bleeding revenue and profits since the rise of the Internet, but the iPad and emerging tablet market seems to be turning the tide.

Now there’s a fight brewing between Apple (iTunes and iPad apps) and Google over who’ll dominate the distribution of these tablet publications.

Google is vying for the dominate position by making more profitable for publishers to sell their tablet ready publications through Android devices. This shouldn’t be too difficult a challenge since Apple is typically charging 30% of all publication subscription transactions that occur through iTunes.

Other companies that are entering the tablet publication and distribution market are Amazon with their Kindle and Barnes and Noble with their Nook.

via WSJ

Consider Android’s Gingerbread release “game on” for the developing community. The Google Android development team has released the source code for programmers and developers to come in and start customizing to fit their needs.

Currently, the only Android smartphone on the market running the Android 2.3 release is Google’s own Nexus S smartphone.

Here’s the detail post from the Android Developers page:

For developers, the Android 2.3 platform is available as a downloadable component for the Android SDK. The downloadable platform includes an Android library and system image, as well as a set of emulator skins and more. The downloadable platform includes no external libraries.

To get started developing or testing against Android 2.3, use the Android SDK Manager to download the platform into your SDK. For more information, see Adding SDK Components. If you are new to Android, download the SDK Starter Package first.

For a high-level introduction to Android 2.3, see the Platform Highlights.

Dead Zebra has found a way to profit from all of the Google Android craze that is happening, and it’s not from building Android apps for the marketplace.

These guys are actually building collectibles the Android figure.

The latest one coming up is the Android Snowman.

There isn’t any pricing information as of yet. But if things go anything like Dead Zebra’s Power Vampire Android figure, it will crazy record sales.

The Android Power Vampire figures sold out instantly as soon as they were released.

And the Android Snowman will probably follow suit.

via AndroidGuys

Henrik Larsson writes, Henrik is the owner of Chit Chat – a Facebook chat app. Chit Chat is a Facebook messenger that enables one to chat online with Facebook from your desktop.

Feeling the weight of the recession? Never fear: there are plenty of free games on the Android market, and while there is a fair amount of murk to wade your way through, there are some real gems if you look hard enough. Here are 10 of the best, so you can nuke your battery in style.

10. Speed Skater

A simple enough, yet nevertheless fun side-scroller. You skate along from left to right, jumping over obstacles that range from crowds of people to hazardous drops. It’s one of those games that you can just pick up and play, and will probably come back to if you’ve got time to kill.

9. Finger Jump

The premise is simple: touch the screen to jump. The faster you press it, the higher you jump. The higher you get, the more points you score. It’s not the most unique game in the world, but it’s smooth, slick, and entertaining.

8. PapiJump

PapiJump is about as simple as it gets. You don’t even need to press anything to play it – you just tilt your phone left and right, helping the little bouncing ball get higher and higher. Sometimes simplicity is a beautiful thing, though, and PapiJump proves a fun way to pass the time.

7. Replica Island

This 2D side-scrolling platformer is one of the best on the market, and features Android’s very own robot as the star of the show. Built for Android from the ground up, it’s remarkably polished and actually quite deep, as mobile phone games go, with 40 levels to work your way through. Perhaps the best aspect is it’s effective control scheme, utilizing the trackball to great effect as you float, fly and bounce along.

6. Spider Man

In Spider Man, you start the game at the top of a skyscraper and have to make your way down a series of smaller buildings without falling to your doom. Although not to be confused with Spidey himself, the game’s inspiration is obvious, and does let you test out your web-slinging skills in a bid to head towards the ground with as many points in your pocket as possible.

5. Gem Miner

An addictive little game that sees you take on the role of a grey-bearded miner digging deeper and deeper for treasure. Ever-changing maps and a clever upgrade system that lets you manage the materials you unearth and boost your abilities and tools will keep you coming back for more.

4. Hyper Jump

A frantic and fast-paced coin-collecting game, Hyper Jump gets you tilting your phone left and right in a bid to help a bright-eyed monster shoot higher and higher. The more coins you collect, the more you’re propelled upwards, but if you react too slowly you’ll quickly plummet to your death.

3. Super Boom Boom

Here you must launch a cannonball into the air, and use your reflexes to help guide it upwards, landing it in odd little winged pots to stop it from falling. Keep your wits about you, because there is a myriad of sly twists and tricky traps to keep you from reaching your goal.

2. Abduction! 2

Cartoon cows and parachuting penguins are the order of the day in the latest version of the quirky jumping game. This time around a host of new characters and levels are on offer, along with some cute new sound effects and six original music tracks composed by Chris Hodges.

1. Dynamo Kid

One of the most distinctive and creative games on the market, Dynamo Kid is a genius offering from OrangePixel that looks like it’s been sketched in the back of a note pad. The world is drawn into life before your eyes as you run along, and you interact with the game rather than reacting to it. It’s wonderful stuff.

Perhaps we all thought that Google TV would come rushing onto the scene, everyone would have a web enabled TV in their living rooms, and then all would be hunky dory…. screeeeeetch…. and slam on the brakes. There’s one question none of us thought to ask when talking about the new Google TV – what about the major TV networks?

Well – apparently the major TV networks are not quite to enthusiastic about Google TV as the rest of us.

In fact, major TV networks ABC, NBC, and CBS have all blocked Google TV from streaming full episodes of shows such as NBC’s The Office, CBS’ $h*! My Dad Says and ABC’s Modern Family.

And these major TV networks are not the only ones who are blocking content from Google TV. Hulu has also decided to block content from streaming on Google TV’s.

Google TV, powered by the Android operating system, is designed to allow users to search the major TV networks to find what shows are playing. And if major networks are blocking Google TV, then what?

Well, the problem for the major TV networks is that even though they block their stations directly, there is no shortage of pirated content on the web that will allow users to pretty much watch whatever show they want, whenever they want.

I would think that major networks would be able to strike some sort of business deal with Google so that the content is readily accessible, and revenue is shared somehow – but what do I know… I’m just a blogger!

via PCWorld, image via Techpp

Here it is folks – the Droid R2-D2 from Verizon – and here’s the tweet that announced it from the Verizon Twitter profile:

Droid R2-D2 is here! Get it for $249.99. $349.99 2yr price -$100 mail-in rebate debit card, data pkg $29.99 or > req’d http://bit.ly/ahPljE

The Droid R2-D2 is a rendering of the Verizon Droid phone, but packed with Star Wars themes, sounds, and more…

You’ve got to check out the Verizon Droid R2-D2 page to get a full understanding of what this phone offers.

via Verizon tweet

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is set to release in the UK on November 1st. However, what is still up in the air is when the Galaxy Tab will hit the US market. However, new rumors are out today speculating that Verizon may be releasing a Galaxy Tab Android tablet on November 1st, right along with their UK counterparts. Along with that rumors comes another stating that Sprint will release the Galaxy Tab on November 14th in the US. So regardless of who releases the Galaxy Tab Android tablet when, suffice it to say that we will more than likely see that it here in the US sometime next month (November).

via Droid-Life

An interesting chart was released by Business Insider that shows a graphical representation of interest (consumer interest) in various mobile phones over time. The shocking element to me was the iPhone results that showed the interest in the iPhone is decreasing from June 2010 to September 2010. This would indicate in part that the aggressive expansion of Google Android phones is working – at least in the area of stealing Apple’s market share of attention on the iPhone. I believe that Apple needs to start opening up iPhone markets by expanding to other carriers – and this should happen sooner rather later.

Thoughts?

via BusinessInsider

Google has launched a mobile platform for your Droid phone called “Car Home” which in fact is a travel companion for you in your car, while you’re driving. I mean, people are driving and texting anyway right, mine as well embrace it and help people get the information they want, faster, while behind the wheel. Car Home allows you to turn your Nexus One Android phone or your Motorola Droid Android phone into your own personalized dashboard of apps for your car. Some of the features that would work great in Car Home are the GPS navigation, voice activated commands, talk to text, and contacts. Read more about Car Home at the break.

via Google Mobile

T-Mobile announced Wednesday their first ever 4G Android phone called the T-Mobile G2. It is T-Mobile’s first ever 4G enabled phone that will run on their HSPA+ network. The T-Mobile G2 is replacing the  T-Mobile G1 which was the first ever Android mobile phone to hit the market nearly 2 years ago. On July 27th, T-Mobile said good-bye to the G1, obviously making room for the G2.

You can sign up to receive more information and updates from T-Mobile regarding the G2. T-Mobile has officially announced a G2 release date.

via T-Mobile

Samsung Galaxy Tab may have sub-par screen resolution.

If the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet releases with a screen resolution that is equivalent Samsung Galaxy S smart phone (480 x 800), it could mean “fail” literally from day one for Samsung. Nobody wants a tablet device that has the same screen resolution as the much smaller mobile phone.

These are just rumors at the moment, but the message is picking up some steam on the web here and here.

CrunchGear states that, “There’s a talk over at xdadevelopers that the tablet’s resolution is more like 600 x 1024. Those specs were found within the tablet’s firmware and seem a bit more likely. Considering the Tab is supposed to be a 7-inch screen, this resolution would put it on par with the 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 iPad.”

via Gizmodo, CrunchGear

You will be hard pressed to find a cheaper gadget anywhere in the world, and one that has potentially so much to offer.

The “$35 Indian Android Tablet” – as it’s so aptly being coined – is being designed specifically for students in India.

A couple of interesting points about the $35 Indian made tablet.

• It has a “solar power” option
• It will run Android 2.1 (or higher)
• It can run Linux Ubuntu
• And did I mention it will cost students in India a max of $35?

Below is possibly the first video demo of the $35 Indian tablet:

via CrunchGear

The growing influence of the Android OS (Google Android mobile operation system) cannot be ignored any longer. Devices powered by Android seem to be hitting the market daily. HTC has two new devices coming out, the HTC Bee and HTC Lexikon. Both mobile phones are set to be released with Android 2.2 Froyo release. Below are the specs that have leaked for the HTC Bee and the HTC Lexikon:

The HTC Bee is suppose to come to Verizon and Cellular South with Froyo (Android 2.2), Sense UI, and a small (3.2-inch) screen and a 528 MHz processor.

The HTC Lexikon is rumored to be heading to T-Mobile with a larger 3.8-inch display, QWERTY keyboard, and a factory-underclocked MSM7630 Snapdragon processor.

Thoughts?

via Android Central

Some people say the iPad has already sold over 4 million units. Yeah, that’s a lot of volume, no wonder Apple is struggling with supply side economics, or at least was. I haven’t heard of too many supply problems so far since the iPad went global.

No doubt, the iPad has defined an entirely new market of computing. And now every other computer manufacturer is trying to play catch up, which can actually work in their favor. For now anyway…

The advantage iPad competitors have right now

One advantage that all iPad competitors have right now is that there are no iPad competitors on the market… YET! That is about to change however, because an onslaught of Android tablets are on their way.

The iPad competitors that are first to the market are the ones that are going to get all of the attention, all the write ups, all the blogger content, and thus all the sales.

Look at the Augen Android tablet that K-Mart launched. That was only last month, and it priced at $149. It got a ton of publicity simply because it was one of the first iPad competitors. But now it fell away from the market because of Android pirating issues.

It’s not going to take too long before the iPad competitor’s market is saturated with “another Android tablet.”

So the iPad competitor that shows up first, more than like will win. Not against the iPad so to speak, but against all of the other iPad competitors.

Thoughts?

sources: PC World, Brisbane Times

Here’s the side by side comparison of the Apple iPad vs Adam Tablet:

via Gizmodo

The Notion Ink Adam Tablet has been generating a lot of buzz since around the beginning of the year. On Thursday, Notion Ink founder Rohan Shravan wrote a blog post that talked about everything from the Adam Tablet release date, to pricing.

One of the main points I took away from his post was this:

The product will shoot for FCC certifications in the second week of November. And then it depends on them. Add few more logistics issues to that and it can swing either way. (Don’t get surprised it we hit for certification in October, cos there is some tight buffer, though that will be extremely good news).

This sounds like we could see the Notion Ink Adam Tablet here by Christmas, which I’m sure is what would be preferred by Notion Ink.

The Adam Tablet sports a 10 inch touch screen and will run the Android OS, Chromium OS, and Ubuntu OS.

Below is video from Gizmodo on the Notion Ink Adam Tablet:

The JR.com site, during the time that the Archos 32 tablet was listed, had it priced just below $150.

Here are some of the images that were put up the FCC of the Archos 32 ‘mini Droid’ tablet:.

via: Engadget, WirelessGoodness, Liliputing

There are 2 websites right now that have reported the Dell Streak’s release date of being August 13th. The problem, however, is that the two sites (here and here) do not mention references to their sources from which they got the release date.

And I’ve checked the other authoritative mobile phone sites, and there is yet no mention of the Dell Streak release date.

So can anyone confirm, or deny, the Dell Streak release date of August 13th?

The Dell Streak will be available on AT&T and would cost $299.99 with a new two-year AT&T contract. Without contract, the tablet would cost $549.99 and it would be unlocked.

Verizon Droid Pro Leak, Release Date

So here it is > Motorola DROID Pro. It is supposed to have a 1.3GHz CPU, 4″ screen and global roaming capabilities. Estimated launch of November 2010.

Not sure how pleased Verizon is with this leak, but it doesn’t matter now, the Droid Pro leak is out and spreading across the web like wildfire.

BGR has just leaked info from an inside source at Verizon that basically dumped the next year or two of Android releases, mobile phones, and even the Motorola Android tablet.

One of the more interesting leaks was the Droid Pro.

Verizon first launched the Motorola Droid, then came the Droid X, and now we have an upcoming Droid Pro.

Droid Pro specs:

• 1.3GHZ
• 4-inch screen
• global roaming with GSM support
• at least Android 2.2 (Froyo), probably Android 3.0 (Gingerbread)

So what do you think about the possibilities of the Droid Pro?

John Biggs from Mobile Crunch is excited about the Droid Pro saying that he “would totally rock a Droid Pro, though, when it comes out. Worldwide service along with a nice Android install are just what I’ve been looking for.”

via Boy Genius Report

To get right to it, the upcoming Motorola Droid X10 Android tablet is expected to be released in early 2011, powered by Android 3.0 Gingerbread.

The delay from earlier rumors that the Motorola Droid tablet would come at the end of 2010 is apparently due to Motorola wanting the tablet to launch with Android 3.0 (Gingerbread).

The Motorola Droid tablet is reported to sport a 10 inch screen.

via BGR

In the shadows of the Netflix Android app buzz, Blockbuster has announced that their own mobile app is coming to the Android market soon. The big difference between the Blockbuster Android app and Netflix is that the Blockbuster app isn’t going to be instantly streaming movies over mobile devices. Netflix is looking to stream movies instantly over Android devices, iPhone, iPads, etc…

The Blockbuster app currently comes pre-installed on the Droid X device and integrates with the Blockbuster On Demand service.  The application is being optimized for OEM devices and carriers, and Blockbuster is working on optimizing the application for other devices – perhaps the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices.

Here’s a video of the Blockbuster app:

via Android Central

According to a Netflix job board posting, a future Nexflix Android app is in the making. According to the job posting, “Netflix is looking for a great engineer to help us build Instant Streaming client implementations on Android devices.” Netflix already has an iPhone app but it is less than desirable in the marketplace. The primary complaint right now is the Netflix app drains the battery too quickly.

According to Mashable, the Netflix job posting also mentions “experience with digital rights management (DRM) and “Experience with other mobile application platforms (e.g. iPhone/iPad).”

I think the iPad is primed for a highly efficient Netflix app that streams movies instantly. The iPhone, and any other Android type phone, may be challenged to pick up wide spread use because the screens are too small. But with the iPads 9.7 inch display, and potentially even HD, viewing will be much more pleasurable.

So what do you think about Netflix looking to build high end apps to stream movies over Android and iPhone / iPad devices?

Will you be watching Netflix movies on these devices?

Just leaked photos of a new possible Verizon / HTC Android phone is hitting the web via AndroidGuys.com.

The Verizon branded Droid phone comes with a 4 inch display and full 4-row slide out keyboard.

So think HTC EVO 4G with a slide out keyboard – sounds pretty strong indeed.

The rumored Verizon / HTC phone is being called The World Phone due to its Vodaphone SIM card, which indicates it will run on both CDMA and GSM networks.

The Verizon / HTC Android World Phone is also rumored to have a 1.2 Ghz processor.

You can check out some more photos of the World Phone at AndroidGuys.com.

How about this for your fine Saturday afternoon!

You know the Augen GenTouch 78 Android tablet I wrote about last week? The one that was catching all the media attention because of it’s price point of $149? Yeah, that one.

Come to find out, Augen is selling their Droid tablet with a pirated version of the Android OS.

So basically you have K-Mart selling pirated copies of an Android tablet!

According to LaptopMag who reached out to Google for comment about the Augen situation, a spokesperson from Google said:

“Augen included proprietary Google software in their product via n unauthorized vendor. Google only licenses its software to partners and OHA (Open Handset Alliance) members directly”

As it is, even though Android is an open source platform, you still need licensing and authorization from Google to distribute the OS on any device – something Augen overlooked (and KMart too).

Not sure if K-Mart still has the Augen Android tablet on the shelves still, but this is sure to put a damper on their Android tablet initiatives.

And that puts us back to square one on waiting for a killer Android tablet to hit the market.

via IntoMobile

Viewsonic, who is much better known for their monitors and other computer accessories, is said to be launching a 7″ tablet device by this fall.

The Viewsonic tablet will feature Android 2.2 (Froyo) and wide range of connectivity options including voice calls via GSM, and either a 3MP or 5MP camera on the back.

The rumored Viewsonic tablet device is expected to land in the UK within eight weeks for between £300-400 then roll out across Europe.

This adds to the fast growing list of other Android powered tablet devices that are coming online in response to the successful iPad.

The leverage new Android powered device can have over the iPad is price. Some Android tablets are going to cost a little as $35.

So how do you think these Android devices measure up the iPad?

Will these inexpensive (comparable) tablet devices force Apple to drop their iPad price?

However, last week Dell made the mistake by updating their website with the new Dell Streak along with some previously unknown information.

The Dell Streak is a data phone and tablet device hybrid. It will have a 5 inch display touch screen, will be running exclusively on AT&T’s 3G network – as opposed to previous rumors of running on T-Mobile’s network – and has a retail price of $549.

However, just like AT&T did – and continues to do – with Apple’s iPhone, they will do likewise with the Dell Streak.

The subsidized price of the Dell Streak will be $299 if you sign a new service agreement with AT&T.

Dell Streak Video

via DriversHQ