YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Android UI boss: Android only ‘a third of the way’ to where it should be

    Google’s (GOOG) Android platform has made great strides since it launched four years ago. It has grown to become the most widely used smartphone OS in the world by a staggering margin, and the look and feel of the platform have shifted dramatically in recent years. While Android 2.3 Gingerbread is still the most popular version of Android by a landslide, the most recent build — Android 4.1 Jelly Bean — is heralded as the most refined version of Google’s mobile OS to date. Even still, however, Android isn’t yet where Google wants it to be.

    “It’s true, we still have a lot of work to do,” Google’s Senior Director of Android User Experience wrote on his Google+ page in response to a critical comment. “Personally I feel like I’ve gotten only about a third of the way to where I want to be with regards to consistency, responsiveness, and polish. Better get back to work!”

    Android 4.1 was first unveiled in June, and it brought with it a number of great enhancements including enhanced voice recognition and search capabilities, Google Now and a number of tweaks aimed at making Android more fluid and responsive. While the newest version of Android has been well received by users, it is currently only found on 1.2% of Android devices worldwide.

    Get more from BGR.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook

    Loading...
    • Lobbying in American-US Airways deal focuses on small cities

      By Karen Jacobs (Reuters) - US Airways Group and American Airlines , seeking approval for a merger that would create the world's largest airline, are warning lawmakers that a requirement to divest certain airport slots would lead to less service for small and medium-sized cities, sources close to the effort told Reuters. The airlines may be required to shed slots Washington's Reagan National Airport to prevent market domination. There is concern that those slots could go to rivals, such as JetBlue Airways , which would likely use them for flights to major cities. ...

    • No Wonder Republican Criticism of Obama Isn’t Working

      Henny Youngman, the late borscht belt comedian, told hundreds of politically incorrect jokes. One of them was his response when asked, “How’s your wife?” “Compared to what?” he’d say.

    • Woman feared Iowa kidnapping suspect's release

      IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The ex-girlfriend of a man suspected of kidnapping two Iowa girls this week worried that he would harm her and her family before his impending release from prison in 2011, citing prior sexual and physical abuse and threats, according to court records released Friday.

    • Woman accused of contaminating daughter's IV tubes

      TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A prosecutor says a woman on trial in Tucson contaminated her hospitalized infant daughter's intravenous lines in an attempt to get attention from the girl's father.

    • California reveals prices for health insurance under Obamacare

      By Sharon Bernstein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California unveiled prices on Thursday that consumers will pay for a selection of health plans offered through the state under the Affordable Care Act, providing a glimpse into how health care reform may look as it is rolled out across the nation. Under the federal health care reform law, Californians who do not get or cannot afford health insurance through their jobs can buy coverage through an exchange, at a group rate negotiated by state regulators. ...

    • Another patent suit bites the dust: Motorola can’t ban Xbox

      The good news with patent suits is that even when they’re successful they very rarely result in outright sales bans of popular products. And now Ars Technica reports that yet another attempt to enforce a sales ban has fallen flat on its face, this time Motorola’s attempt to stop sales of Microsoft’s Xbox. According to Ars, Motorola filed suit against Microsoft back in 2010 because its Xbox allegedly infringed upon Motorola patents that detailed technologies for “video transmission and compression as well as Wi-Fi.” Motorola’s quest against the Xbox ended this week, however, when a six-person panel at the International Trade Commission decided to toss out the company’s complaint. A Microsoft spokesperson described the ITC’s decision as “a win for

    • Sweden's Inexplicable Riots, Explained

      For the fifth straight night, rioters have broken windows and set fire to cars in neighborhoods around Stockholm, Sweden. The violence fits the pattern, if not the scale, of other recent incidents in European cities, drawing renewed attention to the interplay of immigration, economics, and government.

    • Why is AT&T milking subscribers for an extra $500 million? ‘Because they can’

      AT&T said earlier this week that it will add a new administrative fee to each of its wireless subscribers’ monthly bills. The fee is only $0.61, which doesn’t sound like much, and an AT&T spokesperson was quick to point out to several news sites that this new fee is lower than similar fees charged by rival carriers. Subscribers were still outraged. Now that the shouting has died down a bit, however, people are looking for a batter explanation for the new charge they’ll see each month. According to one industry watcher, that explanation couldn’t be simpler: “Because they can.” “Why would AT&T do this? Because they can, and it is all in the pricing strategy,” Joe Hoffman, principal analyst at ABI Research

    Loading...

    Follow Yahoo! News