A lot has been made of the future of Flash, with Steve Jobs denouncing the software as not having a future in the upcoming HTML5 world.  A criticism that, we’re sure, has nothing to do with the fact that Apple and Adobe have recently had a very public falling out, or the fact that Flash will probably never work on the iPhone or iPad.  Michael Chaize at TheManInBlue.com has ran some benchmarking tests which he devised himself, comparing Flash 10, HTML, Canvas and SVG as they rendered animated particles on …

Google are famous for their April Fool’s hoaxes, such as MentalPlex, PigeonRank and GoogleGulp which they have released over the years to trick the gullible.  This year is no exception.  Google have released Google Translate for Animals, which they claim can record specific animal sounds, upload them to a central server, then translate them for you.  It will even play back a translation of what the animal said in English for you.
Here’s the official description:-
“Making the world’s information universally accessible is a key goal for Google. Language is one of …

If you own an Android device, then you’ll already know that if you shut down your phone, it can take a little while to fully boot up, often a few minutes.  It seems Japanese tech company Ubiquitous Corp. clearly share our pain, as they recently announced the launch of their QuickBoot technology, which can boot Linux or Android in around 1 second.  QuickBoot is aimed at smartphones, netbooks, in-car computers, tablets and the like and supports Cortex-A, ARM9 and ARM11 processors and Ubiquitous Corp hope to add other CPU architectures …

CNet are reporting that the recent “bump” to pay feature which was added during the last update to PayPal’s iPhone app will be coming to Android and Blackberry too.  Bump allows two users to exchange PayPal funds by knocking their iPhones together.  It’s a pretty slick little gimmick that’s sure to be popular with users of the app.
There’s no word, as yet, as to whether the Bump feature will work between two different phone OS’es, but the technology is there (Knocking Live can be used between Android and iPhone for …

Way back at the tail end of last year, I reviewed a beta version of a great security app called WaveSecure.  At that time, despite a few niggly flaws, it was obvious that this was a special app.  Those niggly flaws have all been resolved and WaveSecure went on to become one of the overall winners of ADC2.
WaveSecure is a security app which allows you to remotely lock and/or wipe your mobile phone should it get lost or stolen.  You can also use it to backup and restore your messages, …

It’s been a few weeks now since Google launched it’s online social networking offering, Google Buzz.  Initially, it seemed like it would be a perfect fit for Android, but there was no native client.  That’s all changed now though as Google announced last night that they have released a Google Buzz widget for Android – but only for devices running Android 1.6 or higher I’m afraid.
Here’s an exerpt from the official announcement on the Google Mobile blog:-
Today, we’re excited to release a Google Buzz widget for Android phones that …

We here at This Android Life have, of late, been messing around with a free app called AppBrain.  AppBrain comes in two parts: a webpage (at http://www.appbrain.com) and a free Android Market app.  From the site, you can browse the Android Market, viewing the apps that others have been downloading, see screenshots and check out user comments.  But it’s the way the site ties in with the free app that sets the site apart.  You can choose the apps you’d like to install from the site and then sync the …

A post from last night on the Google Mobile blog announced the arrival of Google’s new Gesture Search app for devices running Android 1.6 and higher.  It can also now be downloaded from all countries that are currently serviced by the Android Market (although it still only recognizes the English alphabet).
Before now Google Gesture Search was only available on devices running Android 2.0 or above.  Gesture Search allows you to search your Android device for a contact, song file, bookmark or application simply by drawing letters of the alphabet on …

Motally have announced that they will be releasing an analytics package for Android, iPhone and Blackberry which is geared towards the mobile gaming market.  Game Analytics, as it has been imaginatively named,will allow games developers to track the in-game behaviour of their customers as they play, allowing them to see, among other things, where gamers are spending the most time and  where they’re dropping out, allowing them to adjust their game accordingly.
Motally Game Analytics includes:

Game Level – Find out what level your players are reaching. Use this info to optimize …

Opera have announced that a beta version of the Opera Mini 5 browser has now been released to the Android Market.  Opera Mini 5 uses Opera’s compression tech, which redirects webpage requests through the company’s servers where they are compressed to reduce their size, before they are sent back to your mobile.  The idea being that pages load quicker, although there are compromises in that images are also compressed.
Some of the features of Opera Mini 5 include- tabbed browsing, a download manager and “Speed Dial”, which is essentially just a …