The connected planet: Smartphones aren’t the only player

The number of connected devices is steadily on the rise, but it’s not smartphones or computers that will lead us to the 50 billion connected devices expected by the year 2020. Rather, the Internet of Things — numerous smart objects that speak to the web and one another — is the next wave of wireless and will power a wide range of devices as we want remote access to everything all the time.

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Android this week: $29 smartphones; Droid Bionic arrives; Netflix updated

This week saw both a $29 and a $299 Android phone launch, showing the extreme range of handsets that run Google’s mobile platform; something that’s helping it grow smartphone market share. Although there’s a wide variance in the price between the two, both are capable of connecting consumers to fast mobile broadband networks, a large app store, and social networks. The difference is in the experience.

Huawei’s Impulse 4G for AT&T is aimed at current feature phone users looking to step up to the smartphone world. At $29 with contract, you wouldn’t expect much in the way of hardware, but the device has some hardware features that were standard on more expensive phones last year: A 3.8-inch 800×480 touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with HD recording capability, and GPS to name a few. The 800 MHz processor won’t set any speed records, but should be good enough for most tasks on a first-time smartphone.

At the other end of the spectrum is Verizon’s new Droid Bionic, made by Motorola. For $299 with contract, the handset is generally considered to be cutting-edge; at least for a few months, given the fast paced mobile technology cycle, particularly with Android phones. The phone’s 4.3-inch display uses a 960×540 resolution display, is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core processor with a full gigabyte of memory, has 32 GB of storage out of the box and connects to Verizon’s LTE network.

I’ve only spent a short time using a review unit of the Bionic, so I can only share some initial impressions for now. Overall, the phone is fast and responsive. The camera may be the best yet in Motorola smartphone. And so far, the Bionic handles network transitions reasonably well: it has switched between 3G and 4G networks (due to coverage) faster than other LTE devices I’ve used in the past.

The Bionic has a number of docking accessories, including the one that looks like a laptop but is powered by the phone, offering expansion options. I’ll have more thoughts in a detailed review soon, but for now, I’m generally impressed with the Bionic.

I’m also impressed with Netflix for Android, but the problem for many has been one of device support. When Netflix finally launched in May of this year for Android phones, it was only available for a half-dozen handsets. At that time, the company said it would have to test the software on each individual phone model.

That seems to have changed this past week as Netflix updated the application, saying it can now run on any Android 2.2 or 2.3 device. At last check, 81.9 percent of Android devices hitting the Android Market ran those two versions, meaning around 4 of every 5 current Android phones and small tablets can enjoy Netflix on the go.

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Netflix now available on 4 out of 5 Android devices

It took several months, but Netflix for Android is now available to most Android smartphones and small tablets. The company updated its software in the Android Market and no longer limits the download to specific device models. Instead, any phone or tablet running Android 2.2 or 2.3 can now use the video streaming service.

I was tipped off on the update from Gotta Be Mobile and verified it in the Android Market. The timing was nearly perfect for me personally. I got tired of waiting for official Netflix support and just installed an unofficial build earlier this very week on my 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, which runs Android 2.3.

Now that there’s an official version direct from Netflix, I’ve installed it to ensure future updates, as the small slate with integrated 3G and Wi-Fi makes a great, portable Netflix machine.

When Netflix first launched for Android in May of this year, it only supported a few handsets while Netflix was testing its app on individual models. The company either sped up its testing efforts or at this point has simply tested enough on various Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices to be comfortable with a blanket launch. And for all of the valid talk on Android fragmentation, this means that Netflix is capable of running on roughly 81.9 percent of all Android devices now.

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Now playing on more Android devices: Netflix

Netflix has certified more Android devices for its mobile application today, adding support for a number of handsets and tablets powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor. This follows the May launch of Netflix for Android, which initially worked on just a handful of smartphones. Instead of rolling out its software for all Android phones, Netflix is testing the app on specific handset models and mobile processors to ensure secure and proper content playback.

Android owners can hit Google’s Android Market to see if their handset is now supported, but here’s the current list as of today:

One quick unofficial addition to the list: Lenovo introduced two new Android tablets today, the IdeaPad K1 and ThinkPad tablet. Although the Android Market only shows that one of the two tablets supports Netflix, Lenovo says that both do.
I understand Netflix’s requirement to test each device and I’m glad to see this isn’t taking too long to do, although there are hundreds of handsets to go yet. When it was announced in February that Netflix software would initially be supported on Qualcomm Snapdragon devices, I was concerned about chip fragmentation issues. Consumers don’t want to worry about which chip is powering their mobile device. Instead, they’re buying into a software platform with a smartphone or tablet, and they expect apps to run on the platform.

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