Car Home for Android Gets Personal

Car Home for Android turns your Android phone into a better driving companion by providing you with quick access to key applications on the go: GPS navigation, voice-activated commands, contacts, and more. Today, we’re releasing a new version of Car Home for Android (Update: currently for Nexus One and Motorola Droid, only) which makes it easier to customize Car Home to get the information you need faster.


Now, you can also quickly customize the shortcuts to personalize Car Home with one-touch access to apps and information on your phone. Just select one of the icons marked “Add shortcut” to start creating your own shortcuts. You can also drag-and-drop or remove shortcuts by long pressing any of them.


You can launch Car Home by opening the app directly from your phone or docking your phone in a car dock, and now you can automatically switch to Car Home when your phone pairs with any Bluetooth™ device. Simply select “Settings” from the Car Home screen and select which of your paired Bluetooth™ devices you want to automatically trigger Car Home.

Want to customize Car Home even more? You can now set your own wallpaper for Car Home. Just select “Settings” in Car Home and choose a wallpaper that fits your tastes. You can also customize the color of the shortcut icons to really make the Car Home experience your own.


We’ve also made it simpler for Android developers to modify their existing applications to be compatible with Car Mode. Apps which support Car Mode will show up in a “Car applications” category so they can easily be identified by you and added as a shortcut.

The new version of Car Home for Android is available for Android 2.2. You can get the update from Android Market by searching for “Car Home” in Android Market or tap here on your Android device.

Don’t forget, while your Android-powered companion can assist you while you drive, please keep your eyes on the road and drive safely at all times!

Update 10/1/10 10:28 PST: The new Car Home is available for Nexus One and Motorola Droid. Visit our Help Center to learn more or send us your feedback and questions in our Help Forum.

Posted by Markus Mühlbauer, Manager Engineering & Product, Google Automotive

Explore seven continents with Street View on your phone

Head over to the Official Google Blog to read more about Street View on seven continents.

Two years ago, we added Street View to Google Maps for mobile so you could explore the world at street level right from your phone. Today, we’re happy to announce that you can see Street View imagery on all seven continents, with the addition of Brazil, Ireland and Antarctica – specifically, an area called Half Moon Island. Now, you can really explore the world from the palm of your hand.

We encourage you to go ahead and check out the beaches of Brazil, visit the moors of Ireland or see penguins in Antarctica for yourself.


To use Street View on Google Maps for your supported phone, select a place on the map and then choose the Street View option if available. With an Android-powered phone, try hopping across each continent with the new Street View smart navigation.

Posted by Michael Siliski, Google Mobile Team

Explore seven continents with Street View on your phone

Head over to the Official Google Blog to read more about Street View on seven continents.

Two years ago, we added Street View to Google Maps for mobile so you could explore the world at street level right from your phone. Today, we’re happy to announce that you can see Street View imagery on all seven continents, with the addition of Brazil, Ireland and Antarctica – specifically, an area called Half Moon Island. Now, you can really explore the world from the palm of your hand.

We encourage you to go ahead and check out the beaches of Brazil, visit the moors of Ireland or see penguins in Antarctica for yourself.


To use Street View on Google Maps for your supported phone, select a place on the map and then choose the Street View option if available. With an Android-powered phone, try hopping across each continent with the new Street View smart navigation.

Posted by Michael Siliski, Google Mobile Team

Introducing the Google Phone Gallery

Here at Google, we’re thrilled with the global adoption of Android and with the high quality of devices that are coming to market around the world. Since there are so many great phones, we wanted to make the selection process a little easier for people who are in the market for a new one. Today we’re rolling out the Google Phone Gallery — a showcase of Android-powered devices that deliver the best Google experience today. Check it out at http://www.google.com/phone.

All the phones in the gallery include Android Market, Google Search, and other Google Mobile services such as Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. There are tools that make it easy to compare phones side by side: you can filter phones by country, manufacturer, and carrier; view and compare technical specifications and features; and find where each phone is available for sale.



We’ll continue adding phones and countries over time, both to round out the gallery and as new phones come to market.

Posted by Ben Serridge, Product Manager, Android

Introducing the Google Phone Gallery

Here at Google, we’re thrilled with the global adoption of Android and with the high quality of devices that are coming to market around the world. Since there are so many great phones, we wanted to make the selection process a little easier for people who are in the market for a new one. Today we’re rolling out the Google Phone Gallery — a showcase of Android-powered devices that deliver the best Google experience today. Check it out at http://www.google.com/phone.

All the phones in the gallery include Android Market, Google Search, and other Google Mobile services such as Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. There are tools that make it easy to compare phones side by side: you can filter phones by country, manufacturer, and carrier; view and compare technical specifications and features; and find where each phone is available for sale.



We’ll continue adding phones and countries over time, both to round out the gallery and as new phones come to market.

Posted by Ben Serridge, Product Manager, Android

New hyperlocal ad feature helps you find nearby businesses

Imagine driving to work and your Check Engine light comes on. After pulling over and calling a tow truck, you realize you’ll need another car to get to work while yours is getting repaired. You pull out your phone and search for “car rental,” hoping that you can find one nearby. From a Google search ad result you discover there’s an Enterprise Rent-A-Car location just half-a-mile away! You click on the phone number listed in the ad and are instantly connected with the car rental service. Soon, an Enterprise representative is on his way to pick you up.


Visit the Google Mobile Ads blog to read more about how a new hyperlocal ad feature provides distance information to help you know a business is nearby and helps businesses better connect with mobile users on the go.

Posted by Surojit Chatterjee, Google Mobile Ads Product Manager

Updated Gmail app in Android Market

We just released a new version of the Gmail app in Android Market, so Gmail updates aren’t tied to Android version releases anymore. Now you can get new Gmail stuff faster without having to wait for system updates. To start you off, we’ve improved message replies, access to quoted text, and more.

As you scroll through a conversation, your most important message actions will now stick to the top of the screen, one click away, no matter how long the email is.


Don’t remember what prompted the most recent email in a thread? Now you can view previous message content more easily, just like in the desktop version of Gmail. Tap “Show quoted text” to reveal the previous message.


Finally, this updated version of the Gmail app has limited support for Priority Inbox. If you’ve enabled Priority Inbox via the desktop version of Gmail, you’ll see an “Important” label that shows all messages flagged as important. You can even add a shortcut to “Important” to your home screen.


The Gmail update requires Froyo (Android version 2.2), so it’s available if you have a Nexus One, HTC EVO, Motorola Droid 2 or Motorola Droid. (Not sure if your device is running Android version 2.2? Check here.)

Get the update from Android Market (just scan the QR code below, or click here if you’re on a phone) and check out the new Gmail. We’d love to hear what you think at android-apps-support@google.com.
Update 9/21/10 12:13pm Pacific time: There is a known issue with important actions not sticking to the top of the screen on HTC phones running Anrdoid 2.2, like the EVO 4G and
the Droid Incredible. We are working to address this.
Posted by Simon Arscott and Paul Westbrook, Gmail for Android team

Advent Vega Won’t Launch With Android Market

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VegaThe folks over at Engadget have divulged, via Electricpig, that the Advent Vega shan’t launch with the Android Market. Instead its app fix will have to come from from the Archos AppsLib store, and it’s 5,000 apps, for the time being. Advent product manager was quoted as saying “The plan is that when you get to January time, there’s a new release of Android and you’ll be able to get the marketplace on this product.” This hints strongly that the fragmentation issue that is beginning to plague Android is at the forefront of Google’s train of thought with new Android releases.

Side comment: Totally digging Engadget’s Vega image.

[via Engadget]

Motorola FlipOut Now Available at AT&T

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fllipoutWe told you on Friday that the Motorola FlipOut would be available on Sunday, October 17th. Time to check your calendars little boys and girls, so you can start Flipping Out if you were waiting impatiently for the Motorola FlipOut to arrive on AT&T.

We provided our own hands-on first impressions at CTIA:

Summarizing – if you want a cool, quarky phone with a decent keyboard then the FlipOut might be for you – especially if you’re between the ages of 13 and 19. This just seems like a QWERTY built for the teen market.

Time to whip out your wallet… or ask mom and dad to whip out theres: $79.99 for those keeping score at home.

[Via AT&T]

Sony Internet TV Arriving At Best Buy Today, Selling Soon

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We’re not sure when Best Buy will begin selling Sony’s four Google TVs along with the Blu-Ray player and super sweet remote, but they’re already arriving at Best Buy stores so it can’t be long. Gizmodo’s tipster is saying they COULD start selling them almost immediately.

Here are some pictures they snapped on location:





I’m watching a little Baltimore Ravens football at the moment, but when the game is over, I might just head over to the Yellow Tag store and see if I can’t snag me a set. I’m not optimistic but if you don’t ask you can’t receive!