Six months after its release, Google’s Android 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich) only accounts for 2.9% of the devices that access the Google Play store. Toss in the popular Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Color, which do not touch Play at all, and ICS probably accounts for only 1% of all Android devices. And, yet, Time Warner’s anxiously awaited TWC TV update that adds live TV streaming to the Android app only provides that streaming on ICS devices – the 1%. What’s up with that?
I ran into the Kindle app registration limit the other day. This is the result of using it on a number of devices over the years. Some of those devices are no longer in use or were test devices loaned to me. So, it was time to clean house and deregister Kindle apps on those devices. Amazon provides a landing page to do this and more Kindle devices and apps. You can find it at:
The recently released Instagram for Android got an update that adds support for tablets and the ability to install the app on SD cards. The app worked on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. However, it seemed to me that it did not provide a cursor to indicate text positioning in some situations (caption box to enter text). The app posted fine to Facebook in my test.
I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet and needed a way to stand it up when using it with a Bluetooth keyboard. Instead of looking for something like the iPad’s folding smartcover or buying an expensive stand, I found that the simple business card holder seen in the photos here does a good job as a stand when the tablet is in a landscape orientation. I don’t remember what I paid for it. But, I would be surprised if I paid more than $3 for it. It was originally purchased to hold a smartphone while charging.
One of my all-time favorite computer games is Sid Meier’s Civilization for MS-DOS released in 1991. It is a turn-based strategy game whose goal is to advance your civilization enough to either conquer the other computer-controlled civilizations or to build a space ship to reach Alpha Centuri first.
Publisher 2K just released a version of this classic game for Windows Phone 7.5. Civilization Revolution is priced at $2.99.
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I don’t see (or am not aware of) many third party electronic accessories for non-iOS devices. It looks like the Kindle Fire has sold in enough numbers that at least one company plans to launch a $129.99 speaker and charging dock for it: The Grace FireDock. The downside is that the FireDock is not scheduled to be available until July. That’s a long ways off and I would not be too surprised if it never sees the light of day.