This video of a dancing Android mascot was caught in China, where Sony Ericsson used it to promote the Xperia Arc. Yeah, it really isn’t that big of a deal if you think about the grand scheme of things, but it’s just one of those clips – among many available on YouTube – that you just have to see if only once, because… well, it’s pretty entertaining if not downright weird. Best dance performance by a mobile phone mascot we’ve ever seen, hand’s down. Last time we saw the Android mascot in live action was when he was being stitched up with human thumbs (presumably somewhere in Asia as well), which initially showed us that Android gets around. But this video? It shows that ‘Droid sure knows how to party.
Software company Blaze Software just put out the results of a test that tried to determine which smartphone browser was faster, using an iPhone 4 and Samsung’s Android 2.3-powered Nexus S. After 45,000 page loads, they found that “Android’s browser is faster. MUCH faster. On average, Android 2.3 was a 52% faster than iPhone 4.3,” and concluded that “Android was faster than iPhone in 84% of the tested websites, and iPhone beat Android in 16% of the races. This demonstrates Android wasn’t just faster overall, but rather provided a faster browsing experience 4 times out of 5.”
Apple disagrees with the test procedure though.
Android engineering director Dave Burke just revealed some things we should expect from the Android version to come after Honeycomb. First off, they referred to the upcoming version simply as the “I” version (after Honeycomb). They didn’t exactly roll off the “Ice Cream” name just yet, but we expect it to be called that anyway. Now for the new stuff: according to Burke, the new version will include some of Android 3.0’s UI elements and features, bringing some of the tablet operating system’s good stuff to smarphones.
The tablet market’s going to get a little bit more crowded again. TV maker Vizio just confirmed that they’re going to be joining the tablet fray soon with an eight-inch touchscreen tab called the Via Tablet and a four-inch Via Phone. What’s up with the new devices? The specifics weren’t given out, but after a teaser video that ran during the Rose Bowl, this much is known: the Via Tablet will feature a front camera, three speakers and a Wifi-only model, while the Via Phone will pack a 1GHz processor, 5MP cam and a lesser front cam for making video calls.Vizio’s video after the break.
It’s been out in Europe for a few weeks now, but if you’re in the US looking for an affordable Android 2.1-based tablet, here’s an interesting option. Creative’s 7-inch ZiiO tablet is now available both on Creative’s online store and on Amazon, ranging from an 8GB model that starts at $250 to a 16GB model that costs $270. Obviously, it should appeal to budget buyers, but here’s what makes it stand apart from the bunch of existing Android tablets in the same price range: Creative designed it with multimedia playback in mind, and fitted it with their X-Fi audio processing tech (for enhanced audio quality) with wireless speaker support via Bluetooth.
