As you’ve probably heard by now, Google Chrome (beta) has finally come to Android. The wait is over! At least it is if you’re one of the lucky ones already running ICS. For the rest of our devices that haven’t made the leap to Android 4.0 or never will, we’re stuck on the outside looking in. And the Honeycombers and Gingerbread men and women are jealous.

When I first switched to Android I was very surprised to find that Chrome wasn’t already the default browser. As a dedicated Chrome user in spirit from the day they posted their famous pre-launch comic, it has been my primary browser ever since. Well, until I switched to Android. Now with my tablet (soon to be ICS), and handset (sadly among the relics that will forever be confined to Gingerbread-land) the main ways that I interact with the internet, I miss my Chrome. I miss it for my bookmarks, the nice Google integration, better speed and stability.  But the wait continues.

Why did it take so long for integration-mad Google to bring the official Google browser to Android?

Were they waiting for specific breakthroughs to the OS itself that ICS made possible? If that’s the case, then the outsiders may be permanently fragmented, at least in their available browser choices. With enough chatter out there about the fragmentation between the different manufacturers and their own takes on Android, do we really want Google to be making their own flagship products a part of that fragmentation?

Did they want to wait for more powerful devices so that the mobile version could be a full representation of everything Chrome instead of a pale imitation? Many of the people who soured on the early versions of Firefox for Android and never went back might actually agree with this part of the plan, not to mention some serious refining of the browser before the actual release. Does that mean that some of the older devices just wouldn’t be able to handle Chrome? Is this a plot to force us to upgrade our devices even sooner?

Was it that Chrome has really only been making serious headway in the desktop browser market more recently, previously being the preferred option for only the seriously tech savvy? Except that the tech savvy Chrome users were also the hardcore of early Android adopters and have been irritated by this disconnect ever since. Ironically, I know a lot of Apple users who have been turning to Chrome as their primary browser, which would make for an interesting marketing tactic for ICS devices. On the other hand, if Chrome moves to the iPad and we’re all left out, there will be some angry Android users. Is a browser ever worth switching phones for? It was a major black mark on my pre-Android BlackBerry, so for some it might. Chalk that up as another reason why Google should make this more widely available as soon as possible.

Whatever the reason for the long wait in the first place, hopefully Chrome will be finding its way to other flavors of Android soon. We know that the modding community is already sinking its teeth into getting this to work on more devices. It requires an ARMv7 processor and Hardware Acceleration to be able to handle it, so that does rule out some older devices that can’t use the Android version of Firefox either.

So while you’re lamenting being left behind, do you want to make yourself feel a little bit better by taking a look at some of the early complaints?

• No Flash – with Adobe deciding to slow down on Flash Mobile, Chrome won’t be winning over the people who saw this as an advantage over the iPad.

• No Desktop – at this point even though you’re using the mobile version of a desktop browser, its forcing you to view the mobile version. If that’s important to you (like it is for certain sites I use), then Chrome isn’t the full solution for you yet.

• Doesn’t Replace the Stock Browser – it may never fully displace it, but for now as a Beta you can understand that Google might not feel comfortable completely removing the backup option.

Of course Google will likely rapidly remove the issues they can control, so by the time you are able to get it on your device you may be working with the browser you really want. With the overall trend for Google being massive integration, I expect Chrome to be a major part of this push. This release is only the very beginning, with a lot more to come.

While you continue to swim with Dolphins, go to the Opera, hunt with Firefoxes, keep things stock, and choose mini,  mobile or HD, your ICS-wielding friends will count my favorite browser among the features that they get to show off, and I don’t. At least until my Transformer upgrades. That wait continues as well.

Are you a happy first day adopter of Chrome? Or are you unhappy out in the cold? Or happily sticking to your browser of choice? Let us know!

In light of the many reports of alleged malware scares on Android, users might get the misconception that Google doesn’t care about Android security. The fact that so few of those scare ever involve the Android Market proves that’s clearly not the case. Google cares very much about security, and it’s taken a step to make the Android Market even safer with a service known as “Bouncer.”

Android VP of Engineering Hiroshi Lockheimer announced today that Google scans all new apps uploaded to the Android Market. Immediately following upload, the service analyzes apps for spyware or trojans, then simulates how the app will run on an Android device. A scan might reveal potential red flags on an app or the developer account of repeat offenders, allowing Google to know what and who to kick out. In effect, Bouncer keeps the riff raff out of Club Android.

The service has actually been around for a while now and lead to a 40 percent decrease in the number of  “potentially-malicious downloads” says Lockheimer. This flies in the face of companies alleging that malware is increasing, but there’s an important distinction to be made:

“While it’s not possible to prevent bad people from building malware, the most important measurement is whether those bad applications are being installed from Android Market – and we know the rate is declining significantly.” – Hiroshi Lockenheimer.

Head to the Google Mobile Blog to learn more about Bouncer and how Android, by design, is less susceptible to malware than the PC model. Malware will still be around, but Google contends that the Android Market will not be a distribution point for it thanks to the added layer of security.

Willkommen, ich bin Andrew und ich sprechen nicht die Sprache, dass dieser Satz geschrieben wurde in.

Don’t understand that first paragraph? Well, that might not be the first time that you’ve been unexpectedly greeted to text from a language that you do not know.

A strange occurrence at market.android.com is causing some users to suddenly see instructions and prompts in a language other than their native tongue. I experienced this early Saturday morning when the Market suddenly decided that I speak Portuguese. Surprisingly, a Portuguese native speaker reported on our Google+ page that his market is suddenly in English instead for some reason. I’ve since seen cases of lingual mismatches in German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish on reddit and Twitter.

Before I get to why I think this is happening, know that there’s a fix that might work for you. Some people report it working but then reverting to another language upon their next visit:

1. Go to market.android.com
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page
3. Click the “Choose a language” drop down menu and select your native tongue

As for why this is happening, I’m not sure. I’m guessing that it might have something to do with the Android developer console offering the ability to filter reviews according to language. I’m not sure when this issue first appeared, but this tweet from @ruxeg on January 12 is the first tweet I’ve seen. Maybe this is coming to end users and someone crossed a few wires to cause things to go awry.

Either way, you know how to fix the problem, temporarily at least, should it happen to you.

The menu button has lost its space among the elite conventions of Android UI design. What once was Menu, Back, Home, Search has become Back, Home, App Tray, and Google wants Android developers to get used to it. But should they?

Following Scott Main’s blog post on the Android Developer blog yesterday, Android fans are wondering if Google made the right decision to encourage developers to downplay the Menu button and embrace the Action Bar. In a reply to someone’s Google+ post, one disappointed user called it the “worst idea ever,” saying that “Android should have stuck with the menu button just because it’s always been there and apps are developed around that.”

Not anymore they aren’t. Google urges developers to stop relying on the menu button because the Action Bar is the new home for navigation. The Menu button was previously seen as a “catch-all for various user options” says Main, but the action bar puts a focus on specific actions. Take for example Dropbox. The pre-Ice Cream Sandwich version requires pressing the Menu button in order to search for a flee, but the Honeycomb/ICS version has a dedicated search button on the access bar. It’s quick, convenient, and neater. And in the event that I need to access more features – like settings, for instance – that aren’t on the action bar, there’s still the Action Overflow button.

It’s not that the Menu button is “dead” – it’s just been reincarnated. The Action Overflow contains the items once housed in the Menu section, and developers can still support Menu on legacy devices with one line of code. So what’s the problem? Who would have thought that a simple change to UI conventions, which arguably makes more sense, could upset people?

So I ask you, great reader of Androinica, who’s right here? Should Google have downplayed the Menu button in favor of the Action Bar/Overflow, or should the company have kept doing things the old and familiar way?

Google is taking more steps to make Android have a more consistent look and feel. Following recent announcements that all manufacturers Google-certified devices must have the Holo theme present in their devices, the Android team has launched a new website full of style guidelines and best practices to make apps travel down a similar path.

Android Design guides users from the “Creative Vision” phase and all the way down to the implementation phase of building a user interface. The site is a comprehensive style guide that touches on areas like designing for a range of devices, using themes, fonts, colors, icons, and patterns. The site also includes assets to download and tweak to improve performance.

The new site is part of Google’s mission to enhance the look of Android apps, making them “simpler and more beautiful than ever before” in the process. We all know that there are some fugly apps out there, but that’s often because those particular apps are ported from iOS, by programmers without a sense for UI, or by designers with bad taste. AndroidDesign aims wants to help those developers make Android look and function better with design tips.

These are tips, however. Users are not required to use these conventions, Matias Duarte said during a Q&A session with The Verge. More information will be released soon, but developers can head to Android Design and begin learning the best ways to design their apps.

Note: These guidelines are for building for Ice Cream Sandwich. A few guides are about bringing similar conventions to previous phones, but this guide is meant to create a new standard for Android 4.0 and the OS going forward.

[Android Developers]

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is mentioned in the news a lot these days, and rightfully so.  It is a powerful Android tablet with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and a unique docking station.  However, it is important to remember where this concept for an Android tablet began with the original Asus Eee Pad Transformer.

Fortunately for early adopters of the Eee Pad Transformer, Asus wants you to know that an upgrade to Android 4.0 is right around the corner.  While the Taiwanese based electronics company has yet to confirm a specific roll out date for Android Ice Cream Sandwich, it did mention the upgrade would come after the Transformer Primer received its own upgrade on January 12th.

The Facebook post by Asus UK is filled with many likes and positive comments.  I’m sure Asus will come forward in the coming days with an official date for the widescale Android 4.0 roll out for the Asus Eee Pad Transformer.

[Asus UK Facebook]

Coming out of the gate, the HTC Rezound had a tough battle. The Motorla Droid RAZR had already been released, and rumors of the Verizon Galaxy Nexus release date were in full swing. To make the Rezound stand out in this crowd, HTC partnered with Beats by Dre and added a few more of its trademark wine-red accents to make a sexy phone with a mass-marketable feature. I’ll breakdown whether the Rezound can stand up against the thin onslaught from the RAZR and Nexus, and if you should give it serious consideration.

Hardware

After handling the RAZR and buying the Nexus, the Rezound felt like brick. It’s almost double the size of the RAZR, and although I know HTC devices are generally bigger devices, I don’t know exactly why the Rezound had to be so big. With a device like the Thunderbolt, you could give HTC the benefit of the doubt. But if the RAZR can stick a dual-core processor, 8MP camera, and a 4G LTE radio inside its thin frame, you have to believe HTC fumbled with the Rezound’s design a bit.

Aside from the thickness, the Rezound is, of course, well-made. HTC added a rubber back cover with grip to the phone so it wouldn’t scrape and slide on a hard surface like almost every HTC phone has before it. Around the phone the Rezound comes almost bare with a headphone jack, volume rocker, power button, and, very fortunately, a look-a-like proprietary USB port (it tricked me when I first looked at the cable). My only real gripe about the physical hardware is I would like the volume rocker and power button to stick out of the phone more. It’s hard to find these buttons if you’re fumbling around with the phone and even harder to press them once you do find them. The buttons are a rubbery black which makes them hard to see unlike other HTC phones that have a gunmetal or shiny black finish to make them easier to see.

Screen/Camera

Beautiful. I wanted a 4.5″ screen, but HTC finally made a rock-solid display. The brightness, even when set to its highest, is more muted than my Nexus and blacks won’t blend into the background, but the pure 720p resolution of the screen makes apps and details look great without the pixelation of a Pentile display. I know a lot of people dislike anything above a 4.3″ screen, and I believe HTC lucked out somewhat in that the RAZR and Nexus are both big phones. A lot of people will be able to look at all three phones simultaneously and decide whether or not they can handle the bigger phones or opt for the only similarly-spec’d phone, the Rezound. I’ll also say that smudges are much more noticeable on the Rezound’s screen than either the Nexus or the RAZR.

Wow. The camera application on the Rezound is far and away the best I’ve used on a phone. With tons of features (panorama, action burst) and even more effects (dots may be the coolest effect ever), the Rezound has all these features conveniently located. The camera itself takes very quick pictures, and the pictures are gorgeous.

Software Performance

In a word – stale. HTC’s Sense UI overlay has gone through several iterations, all bringing improvements, but with the same look and style. If we look at Samsung’s Touchwiz, we see a marked improvement in speed, style, and enhancements. But Sense, aside from the lockscreen which is great, has the same look, feel, and flow that it has always had. While it does have speed improvements, it’s still the same curved dock at the bottom, the same personalization settings, and the same jerky app drawer. With the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) upgrade due the Rezound, I’ll be very intrigued to see how HTC will change the look and feel of Sense. I hope they freshen it up because it is the best of all the manufacturer overlays, but ICS looks beautiful on its own too.

I’m also pleased to report that the Verizon bloatware has been diminished a good bit. Instead of City ID or Tetris, you’re upgraded to Hot Pursuit and a barcode scanner. I genuinely enjoy HTC’s widgets, and I don’t really consider them bloatware, but with 3 e-mail apps bundled with the phone, it becomes a little extraneous. However, all of this didn’t seem to bog the phone down in the slightest as the Rezound is just as zippy as the RAZR when flying through screens or getting in and out of menus and apps. The battery life didn’t take much of a hit either. Without the LTE radio, I could see getting over a day of medium usage (but who wants to turn off LTE when you’re getting 20MB/s download?!).

App Performance

HTC makes really nice apps (the camera) and widgets (Friendstream), and I would recommend these almost as highly as third-party apps. For games and such, I put the Rezound up against my Nexus in speed and multi-tasking tests, and it fared pretty well. Like I said, neither Sense nor Verizon’s apps really slowed this phone down, and the Rezound was able to come away with a few wins against the Nexus.

My LTE speedtest showed consistently that the Rezound’s radio is better than the Nexus. I got at least a few MBs faster downloads than the Nexus almost every time. In multiple tests opening Angry Birds and Jelly Defense, both phones were neck and neck, but the Nexus edged the Rezound out 7/10 times. Finally, I wouldn’t worry about those intense games like Shadowgun or Heavy Gunner either. They work without lag or stutter, but I did miss the bigger screen for these types of games.

Final Thoughts

So what exactly makes the Rezound stand out? Sure, there’s Beats by Dre and the smallest notification light possible, but with the overbearing natures of the RAZR and Nexus, does the Rezound do anything they can’t? It’s thick body stands out, but aside from that, there are more compelling reasons to buy either the RAZR or Nexus. Maybe you want a smaller screen, HTC’s durable contruction or you even want Sense; but if a consumer is asked if they want a paper thin phone or ICS or neither, the consumer will usually choose either of the flashy features of the RAZR or Nexus, and I don’t have any compelling arguments against them.

However, the Rezound is another solid phone in HTC’s lineup, and you won’t regret this phone in the slightest (it will get ICS in the coming months). It has similar hardware as its competitors, and you know exactly what you’re getting with the hardware construction and Sense. Beats by Dre does sound great, much clearer than the competition, but it’s not as much of a game-changer as ICS or unimaginable thinness. For audiophiles or even Beats by Dre lovers, this is definitely the phone for you. With Verizon’s LTE and a shockingly fast 1.5 dual core processor, the Rezound is no slouch, and may be the best phone out, if you can stay away from the flash and style of the RAZR and Nexus.

You can get the Rezound at Verizon for $300 on contract, at Amazon for $150 on contract or at Wirefly for $150 on contract.

At CES 2012, AT&T is expected to introduce an affordable and unique Android tablet running on its 4G LTE network.  According to BGR, the Pantech Element features 4G LTE, Android 3.2, a 8 inch touch screen display, and waterproof casing.

In terms of being waterproof, I would say it’s more of a novelty feature than something you can actually use on a daily basis.  The device has a rating of IP57 meaning it is only protected against immersion of 15 cm to a meter deep.  AT&T maintains that that the tablet is “splash resistant” and probably should not be chucked into the pool.  While the protection against the occasional splash of water is nice, I imagine that will not be key feature in determining whether it should be purchased or not.

However, the other feature found in the Pantech Element aren’t too shabby.  In terms of processor, it boasts a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 16GB of onboard storage, Android 3.2, a 5MP rear facing camera with 1080p video capture, and a 2MP front facing camera.  No word on whether it will be upgraded to Android 4.0, but given its high-end hardware, an upgrade should be in order.

Lastly, AT&T is going to price the Pantech Element at $299 on a two year contract and $449 off contract, which is an appropriate price tag for a 4G LTE Android tablet.

[BGR]

The same amount of people running the latest version of Android is identical to number of users on one of the oldest versions. The Android Platform Version chart has been updated, and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) has a 0.6 percent share of Android Market visitors, which is the same amount for Android 1.5 (Cupcake).

Android 4.0′s share is predictably low considering that this is its first appearance on the chart. The number of Android 4.0+ devices is sure to rise once more tablet makers begin rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich updates to their tablets. ASUS announced yesterday it will begin updating the Transformer Prime next week. HTC, LG, Motorola, and Sony have all released their plans for ICS updates to phones, but those devices are not expected to be upgraded as soon. For now, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the sole official representation of Android 4.0.

The largest branch of the Android tree remains Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), which now represents 55.5 percent of Android devices accessing the Android Market. That’s the highest Gingerbread has ever reached since it first became the dominant platform version. Froyo accounts for 30.4 percent, and Honeycomb has its highest peak at 3.3 percent.

We’re still not seeing much fruit from the Android Update Alliance, but a rash of angry users in recent times has pushed manufacturers and carriers to do more in their update plans. Perhaps 2012 will yield more progress in getting devices trending towards the newer firmware.

Click here to view the full chart

[Google]