The Android Site

We Have Moved!

Ben Marvin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:50:14 +0000

This blog has moved to our own domain! Now at www.theandroidsite.com. Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds: The Android Site

Skype Available for G1 Before the iPhone

Ben Marvin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:53:05 +0000

Take that Apple. A mere hours after the announcement of Skype Lite at CES on Jan 8th, the Skype client is available for download in the Android Market. Sure, it’s a few features shy of a full-featured desktop client, but the basics are there:

Make Skype-to-Skype calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world
Send/receive instant messages to/from individuals or groups
Make Skype calls at low rates to people on landline or mobile phones
Receive calls to your online personal phone number on Skype
See when your Skype contacts are online/available to chat

When you start seeing big name applications deployed to Android before the iPhone, you have to wonder. Of course eBay, who owns Skype, is a member of the Open Handset Alliance, So you know they have love for Android.

A Skype Lite Client is also available for over 100 Java-enabled phones from top manufacturers.

[Read press release]

Application: aLastFM Player

Ben Marvin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:02:29 +0000

The first to appear of two available Last.fm applications for Android, aLastFM Player is very polished and featured for an app still early in it’s development. Currently at version 0.8.7, it features streaming radio via Artist, Tag, or four other options. The application itself is very snappy and looks decent. The standard, Love, Ban, and Send buttons are nice and big. It’s a little slow to switch tracks or tune a new station, but that could be attributed to network issues more than the app itself. Although it will stream without skipping over EDGE no problem, 3G or wifi is preferred. One of the nice features is that aLastFM will keep running in the background while you go about other tasks, without noticeably slowing down anything.

The application is free and there’s no indication there will be a price in the future. Until we see an official application from last.fm this is the best thing out there.

You can download the application from the Android Market. Or you can find more details at the developer’s site. To find out more about last.fm or sign up for an account you can visit their site here.