Google says it’s produced a smartphone with a 5-inch screen, movement sensors and custom Android-based software that can track 3D motion of the device. Data from the phone can then be used to produce a 3D map of the surrounding environment
Potential uses could be for indoor location-based services, virtual reality gaming or simply measuring internal spaces.
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Both Visa and MasterCard have made separate announcements about taking advantage of Host Card Emulation (HCE) within the Android operating system to offer more mobile payment options.
HCE allows an NFC application on an Android device to emulate a ‘smart’ payment card, which avoids the need for payment details to be uploaded to a SIM card.
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Download for Android smartphones due later this year
Finnish smartphone developer Jolla says its Sailfish mobile operating system has reached release 1.0 and will ready for global distribution from next month.
There’ll also be a downloadable version of the software for handsets that currently run Android, plus a separate user interface app that’ll simulate the Sailfish OS experience on Android devices.
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Figures from the GlobalWebIndex market research study into digital consumers have provided a fascinating snapshot of mobile device usage.
Globally, Android was the most-used mobile operating system, climbing from 27% market share in 2011 to 65% by the end of 2013.
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Acer has announced two new Android-powered smartphones ahead of next week’s Mobile World Congress: the Liquid E3 and the Liquid Z4.
Both are expected to be available in the UK from April.
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