New Firefox interface to speed up Firefox on Android

 

Mozilla has decided that when it comes to Android devices, performance is more important than the wealth of add-ons that can be used to customize Firefox. 

Yesterday, Mozilla's Director of Firefox Engineering Johnathan Nightingale announced on a mailing list that Firefox will move to Android's native user interface, ditching the XUL technology that has been in use by Mozilla since before there even was a Firefox. 

"Firefox on Android is a critical part of supporting the open Web, and this decision puts us in a position to build the best Firefox possible," Nightingale said. 

Firefox is widely used on personal computers but a rarity on mobile phones, where--unlike Apple's Safari or the unbranded browser Google builds for Android--it's not installed on any phones by default. Firefox is the chief way Mozilla tries to implement its vision of empowering users of the Web and keeping that Web an open technology. 

Firefox with a native Android interface should mean faster start-up, less memory usage, and smoother zooming and panning, Nightingale said. The native UI project page for mobile Firefox, aka Fennec, also listed better battery life as a benefit. 

It's not clear when the rebuilt version will arrive, but it won't be for either the beta or Aurora versions currently in testing, Nightingale said. 

Start-up time is a big deal when comparing Firefox to the built-in browser on Android, especially since Firefox often gets kicked out of memory when not in use, forcing another sluggish load when a person taps a link and needs the browser again. 

"After substantial discussion, we have decided to build future versions of Firefox on Android with a native UI [user interface] instead of the current XUL implementation," Nightingale said. 

Only the user interface will change; the browser will still use the underlying Gecko engine for processing Web page elements. But leaving XUL behind will be a big deal for anyone who built Firefox add-ons using the technology, and it complicates the process of translating Firefox into different languages, too. 

"It's still early days, so we have a lot of questions to answer," Nightingale said. "We're talking with the Add-on SDK team about the best way to support extensions. We're talking with l10n [localization] about how to ensure we support Firefox users wherever they live around the world." 

One possibility, according to Some meeting notes on native-UI Firefox is blunter: "Extensions are gone." The notes raise the possibility of using Mozilla's Add-On Software Developer Kit (SDK), an online tool for creating add-ons, but at present that works only for new-style "Jetpack" add-ons that aren't available on mobile right now

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For now, there's a lot of planning to do about the transition.

"By the end of next week, we will have a clearer outline of the work ahead," Nightingale said.

Android takes 48 percent market share in Q2

 

Google's Android easily dominated the worldwide smartphone OS market in the second quarter, research firm Canalys has found.

During the quarter, 107.7 million smartphones shipped worldwide, growing 73 percent year over year. According to the research firm, 39.8 million smartphone units shipped in the Asia-Pacific region, and 35 million units were released in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In the Americas, 32.9 million smartphone units were shipped.

Canalys, which analyzes shipments in 56 countries around the world, said that Android led the way in 35 of them, helping it to secure 48 percent market share during the quarter. Android shipments during the period hit 51.9 million, representing 379 percent growth compared with the second quarter of 2010. Android is especially popular in South Korea, where it captured 85 percent market share. In Taiwan, the platform snagged 71 percent share.

Android's growth has been nothing short of astounding. In January, Canalys announced Android's fourth-quarter performance, saying that it captured 32.9 percent market share, thanks to shipments of 33.3 million units. At the time, the research firm said that Android shipments were up 615.1 percent.

The end of 2010 also brought Symbian to the second spot in unit shipments, nabbing 30.6 percent share on 31 million unit shipments. But in just two short quarters, Symbian is no longer hanging on to that spot. Thanks to increasingly strong iPhone sales, Apple's iOS platform scored the second-place slot during the second quarter, earning 19 percent market share on 20.3 million iPhone sales. In addition, Canalys found that Samsung moved ahead of Nokia in vendor rankings to secure the spot behind Apple. Samsung shipped 17 million smartphone units during the quarter, Canalys said.

Although things went well for some companies in the mobile market last quarter, two companies--Research In Motion and Microsoft--struggled. According to Canalys, RIM's worldwide smartphone shipments were up 11 percent in the second quarter, but in North America, they were down 33 percent, leading it to secure just 12 percent market share.

Microsoft arguably had the worst quarter, though. According to Canalys, less than 1.5 million Windows Phone 7-based smartphones shipped during the period, earning the platform just 1 percent market share. Shipments were down 52 percent year over year.

For Microsoft, earning more market share will require the help of Nokia. Earlier this year, the companies signed a pact that will see Windows Phone become the "principal" operating system in Nokia handsets. Although the companies haven't said for sure when the first smartphone will launch, Canalys expects a "mid-to-late Q4" launch. Still, Canalys said, "it will be much longer before a portfolio of Nokia Windows Phone smartphones drives volumes."

Meanwhile, Canalys sees good times ahead for Apple. With the rumored iPhone 5 launching at some point in the third quarter, Canalys said, the iPhone maker's "position will grow even stronger in the second half of the year."

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20086769-17/study-android-takes-48-percent-market-share-in-q2/#ixzz1TzIT8qeF

Android users twice as likely to see malware than six months ago

This chart shows the growth of malware-infected apps from 80 at the beginning of the year to more than 400 six months later.

 
LAS VEGAS--If you've got an Android you are 2.5 times more likely to encounter malware on the device today than six months ago, while mobile users have a 30 percent likelihood of clicking on a malicious link, according to a report released today from mobile security firm Lookout.

Those figures are based on detection rates from Lookout users on Android, but not the iPhone, however the rates are presumed to be about the same, according to Lookout.

"This number is likely so high because users on mobile devices often encounter threats targeting PCs--people read email, Facebook messages, text messages, and tweets on their phones just as they do on their PCs," the company says in its report, released on the eve of the Black Hat security conference here. However, many Web-based threats such as phishing attacks do not discriminate based on platform, while others, such as Websites containing browser exploits, are targeted at a specific operating system.


An estimated 500,000 people were affected by Android malware in the first half of this year, a period when apps infected with malware rose from 80 in January to more than 400 in June, according to the report, which focuses on Android and Apple's iOS. Lookout collects data from more than 700,000 Android and iPhone apps and 10 million Android devices around the globe, and offers free and fee-based versions of a security service for the open source Android platform, but not for iOS. While Apple vets every app before allowing it to be sold on the Apple App Store, the Android Market allows any app to be published but provides detailed information about what permissions the app has on a device.

Two of the most prevalent Android threats were DroidDream, which prompted Google to remove malware-infected apps that drop a Trojan on devices from the Android market in March and again in July, and GGTracker, according to the Lookout Mobile Threat Report. Authors of DroidDream released more than 80 unique apps with different malware variations that were designed to take control of a device. Typically, the malware distributors take legitimate apps and repackage them in the hopes that people will confuse them with the legitimate apps.

GGTracker is believed to be the first threat designed to steal money from Android users in the U.S. It signs up for premium text message subscription services without the user's knowledge and they are charged $10 per service and as much as $50 for multiple services. GGTracker also used new techniques to distribute the malware, including "malvertising" in which mobile ads direct users to a malicious site that automatically downloads malware when visited.

The report warns of another new type of attack that can happen when a legitimate application is published and updated to include malware once there is a large user base. Everyone who downloaded the app, which initially was benign, is infected when the app gets updated.

To stay safe, mobile users should only download apps from trusted sources, pay attention to the address of URLs they click on, and be on alert for unusual phone behavior that could signal an infection.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20087265-245/android-users-twice-as-likely-to-see-malware-than-six-months-ago/#ixzz1Tyzuejl4

Google offers workshops to lure Android developers

 

Google is launching a series of workshops designed to grab developers who can create high-quality Android apps.

Set up by the folks at Google's Android Developer Relations, the Android Developer Labs (ADLs) will try to show developers how they can optimize their apps for Android tablets, according to an Android developers blog
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Dubbed "Optimizing Honeycomb Tablet Applications," the ADLs will cover how to develop apps for the screen size and user interface of Honeycomb tablets and how to migrate apps from mobile phones to tablets.
The sessions are for experienced developers only, specifically those who have already published apps to Google's Android Market.

"The goal is to bring your app to the ADL, and leave equipped to make it into one that makes Android tablet users smile," according to the blog.

The first workshop kicked off yesterday in Bangalore, India. The next two workshops will run in Seattle on August 15 and on August 16. Those will be followed by two workshops in New York City, one on August 23 and another on August 24. The series will wrap up with a final session in Los Angeles on September 2.
Anyone with the necessary qualifications can register, according to Google, but only a small number of people will be chosen to attend based on the quality of their existing Android apps.

Trying to drum up developer interest in Android is of course only one of many factors that could push more business toward Android tablet makers. But even that may be difficult. A recent study from mobile analytics firm Flurry found that mobile developers are inching back toward Apple, the iPad, and iOS following earlier excitement over Android.

Despite the flood of Android tablets that have hit the market this year, Apple's iPad still holds its dominant market share. CEOs at such companies as Dell and Nvidia said they believe Android tablets could eventually outsell the iPad. Some reports have pointed to the iPad already losing customers to the combined might of all the Android tablets on the market.

But most analysts agree that Google and its tablet partners face a tough time trying to take a huge enough bite out of Apple's sales. Speaking with CNET on Monday, IHS iSuppli analyst Wayne Lam said that Google is unlikely to catch up with the iPad and iOS anytime soon. Lam feels that Android's makers still can't match the design of the iPad since, among other reasons, Apple controls both the operating system and the hardware.

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20087468-251/google-offers-workshops-to-lure-android-developers/#ixzz1TyzLkgAz

ANDROID - Mobile Operating System

         Android is a mobile operating system initially developed by Android Inc., a firm purchased by Google in 2005. Android is based upon a modified version of the Linux kernel. It is a participant in the Open Handset Alliance. Unit sales for Android OS smartphones ranked first among all smartphone OS handsets sold in the U.S. in the second and third quarters of 2010,with a third quarter market share of 43.6%.

        Android has a large community of developers writing application programs ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently over 100,000 apps available for Android.Android Market is the online app store run by Google, though apps can be downloaded from third party sites (except on AT&T, which disallows this). Developers write in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.

        The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 78 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software and open source license.

        The Android operating system software stack consists of Java applications running on a Java based object oriented application framework on top of Java core libraries running on a Dalvik virtual machine featuring JIT compilation. Libraries written in C include the surface manager, OpenCore media framework, SQLitedatabase management system, OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API, WebKit layout engine, SGLSSL, and Bionic libc. The Android operating system consists of 12 million lines of code including 3 million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++.