Android Category - Page 433 of 455 - CNX Software

November 18, 2011November 18, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MIPS Releases Kernel 3.0.8, plans for Android 4.0

MIPS has just released Linux Kernel 3.0.8 port for MIPS SoC, the kernel version used by Android 4.0.1. The latest kernel is available on MIPS developer website at http://developer.mips.com/linux/. You can use Git to get the latest kernel source code for MIPS Technologies cores (with hardware fixes and improvements) as follows:

git clone git://git.linux-mips.org/pub/scm/linux-mti.git -b linux-mti-3.0.8

1	git clone git://git.linux-mips.org/pub/scm/linux-mti.git -b linux-mti-3.0.8

Although git is recommended to ensure you have the latest commit, you can also download a snapshot version from linux-mips FTP site.:

ftp://ftp.linux-mips.org/pub/linux/mips/mti-stable/v3.x/linux-mti-3.0.8-1.tar.bz2

1	ftp://ftp.linux-mips.org/pub/linux/mips/mti-stable/v3.x/linux-mti-3.0.8-1.tar.bz2

Over the next several weeks, MIPS will be posting updates on the MIPS Developer website regarding Android 4.0 (ICS) with a release planned for mid-december 2011. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

November 17, 2011February 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Qualcomm Announced 8 New Snapdragon S4 Processors

During an investor conference, Qualcomm announced eight new Snapdragon S4 mobile processors: MSM8660A, MSM8260A, MSM8630, MSM8230, MSM8627, MSM8227, APQ8060A and APQ8030. All are using Qualcomm’s Krait CPU architecture. Here’s an excerpt of the press release: NEW YORK – November 16, 2011 – Qualcomm Incorporated announced today the expansion of its Snapdragon S4 class of next-generation mobile processors… The addition of new Snapdragon S4 processors, which are aimed at lowering design, engineering and inventory costs while bringing leading-edge 3G and 4G Internet connection speeds, will allow OEMs to introduce S4-based devices with next-generation mobile architecture throughout their respective device roadmaps-from basic smartphones to high-end smartphones and tablets. The enhanced S4 processors are also optimized for use with a suite of software solutions available from Qualcomm that help enable OEMs to deliver industry-leading feature sets for multimedia, connectivity, camera, display, security, power management, browsing and natural user interface design. The Krait CPU […]

November 17, 2011November 17, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Amazon Kindle Fire Source Code Available

After Android 4.0 source code release, it’s a good week for open source, as Amazon has also opened Kindle Fire source code as it had to comply with Android Open Source Project (AOSP) license has some point. Source code for other Kindle products is also available. The source code for the Kindle Fire is tarred in a file named Kindle_src_6.2_11185402.tar.gz which is quite a large download (809 MB). The file contains 4 directories with the source code for the Linux kernel (2.6.35), a modified version of Android 2.2, the bootloader (u-boot) and x-loader, first-level bootloader for OMAP SoC. I’m not sure many people will work on this version, as Android 4.0 source code for OMAP4 (The processor used in Kindle Fire) is available and has been ported to Galaxy Nexus and TI OMAP4 low cost development board (Pandaboard). So we could see Android 4.0 (ICS) running on Kindle Fire in […]

November 16, 2011November 16, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Beyond NFC Payment: Other NFC Use Cases

During CarteS event, NXP has uploaded a video on YouTube showing several NFC applications that are not directly used for payment. In the video below, you’ll see several such applications including: Smart Advertizement: shopping advice, movie promotion, travel info and game Smart Meter for meter reading and real-time power consumption monitoring via an Android device e-Passport with NFC Technology for faster immigration procedure. Secure Online Authentication NFC-Enable motorcycle to prevent theft NFC-enabled figurines to interact with video games. Authentication to unlock door, laptop and more. Gesture enabled smart card where you can use gesture to sign your own card and enable/disable it. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

November 15, 2011November 15, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Renesas Announces R-Mobile A1 Application Processors

Renesas has unveiled R-Mobile A1 series of application processor for personal navigation device (PND) and other portable devices. Here’s an excerpt of the press release: Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, and its subsidiary, Renesas Mobile Corporation, an innovative supplier of advanced cellular semiconductor solutions and platforms, today announced the R-Mobile A1 series of application processor for PND (personal navigation device) and other portable devices. The R-Mobile A1 series of devices integrate Renesas’ SH-Mobile R series and EMMA Mobile™ series, which have proven track records as application processors for PND and portable media players … Although equipment that includes ISDB-T one-segment broadcast reception functionality has become mainstream in portable equipment such as PNDs and portable media players, there are now increasing needs for higher image quality and higher functionality due to the widespread adoption of ISDB-T full-segment terrestrial digital TV broadcasting. Furthermore, there are increasing demands […]

November 15, 2011June 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Android 4.0 Source Code is Now Available

Google has just released Android 4.0.1 source code in AOSP. There are 3 main branches: android-4.0.1_r1: the release branch, ITL41D, that is expected to ship on Galaxy Nexus. That’s the one you want to be using to port to devices. ics-mr0: ICS development branch. It contains a few changes that aren’t in the release branch, so it might not be as stable. That’s the one you want to use if you plan to contribute to CTS. master: usual master branch, it contains all of ics-mr0 plus a few extra changes. That’s the branch that you should use if you want to contribute to the platform. The release and development branch require the “classic” host configurations (Ubuntu 10.04, or MacOS 10.6 with XCode 3). The master branch had a few tweaks to make it work better on newer systems (Ubuntu 11.10, Mac OS 10.7 with XCode 4.2) but it’s not 100% […]

November 12, 2011November 17, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Android NDK Revision 7 for Android 4.0 (ICS)

Google has just released Android Native Development Kit Revision 7, the Android SDK that allows developers to reuse C/C++ code. This version adds new native APIs available in Android 4.0. Here’s the changelog of the most important new features and bug fixes: NDK APIs for Android 4.0 (API level 14): Low-level streaming multimedia: A new API based on Khronos OpenMAX AL 1.0.1 provides a direct, efficient path for low-level streaming multimedia. The new path is ideal for applications that need to maintain complete control over media data before passing it to the platform for presentation. Audio decoding into PCM: Extensions to the existing native audio API based on Khronos OpenSL ES let native apps decode compressed audio assets to PCM format. CCache support to allow faster rebuilds. Added support for setting APP_ABI to all to indicate that you want to build your NDK modules for all the ABIs supported by […]

November 11, 2011November 12, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

11 Recommendations for Optimizing Mobile Apps Power Efficiency

Following an AT&T Labs Research and corresponding paper entitled “Profiling Resource Usage for Mobile Applications: A Cross-layer Approach“, AT&T found that a few simple design approaches could significantly improve mobile application responsiveness and reduce battery drain by lowering your application power consumption. They analyzed PANDORA internet radio and discovered that the streaming music was delivered efficiently, but periodic audience measurements were draining battery life. Here is an excerpt of the PANDORA Case Study: While the music itself was sent simply and efficiently as a single file, the periodic audience measurements—each constituting only 2KBs or so—were being transmitted at regular 62.5-second intervals. The constant cycle of ramping up to full power (2 seconds to ramp up, 1 second to download 2KB) and back to idle (17 seconds for the two tail times, the first down from full-power mode and the second down from half-power mode) was extremely wasteful. Of the total […]