If you enter the data centre at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, which designed atomic weapons if you remember, you may feel like entering a low-cost computer selling shop and yes, indeed you are mistaken. For, here is going on an experiment which can change the way we utilize the smartphones, in the near future. Using a cluster of 500 desktop computers the researchers are trying and have partially succeeded in emulating as many as 300,000 Android phones together in real life scenario. This ambitious yet achievable project is known as MegaDroid, obviously a fusion of the popular mobile OS and the volume of the project.

The computers are placed on racks and are connected by Ethernet cables. Each computer has quad-core Intel i7 processor and 12 GB RAM, no hard disk and of course gigabit connection. Generally when govt. labs deal in multi-million dollars, this set up was completed in only half a million. The placement and fastening have been done keeping in mind any possibility of natural calamities like earthquake. And a group of dedicated cybersecurity researchers is living with the computers, or so to say!

What can this conglomerate of PCs can emulate? Well, the list is unbelievably long. The network can send text messages and transmit wireless data including the behaviour of the phone’s radios or sensors. There is a visualization tool used in this project (and displayed on a large monitor, if you are interested!), which includes fake GPS data and looks like all the Android users of a city are tracked together in real life.

But why all these arrangements? we asked John Floren who is one of those researchers working on this project. “We wanted to create something that would approximate the many, many phones in a real network” came the answer. And what gain would that cause? This software, as explained by the researchers, will be used for military planning, disaster relief and the creation of social apps and it will be available for free download upon completion.

This is not a never-before project. We remember MegaTux when in 2009, 1 million Linux kernels were booted together and 1 year later MegaWin did the same for Bill Gates. According to Sandia researcher David Fritz, they would like to help Apple to run some kind of Mega-iOS too but Apple needs to take the first initiative.

The future of web is mobile, lets not deny this. To add sugar to this already sweet sorbet, the wireless devices are less vulnerable to malware than the present standard of desktop devices. But we should not forget that this project is more difficult than MegaTux and MegaWin due to the fact that modern wireless networks contain thousands of always-moving smartphones and to add to the complexity, each device emitting more than 1 signal. To accommodate all these in the simulation was a real big challenge.

Network resilience (veterans might remember the 1988 incident of “Killroy was here”) and privacy issue are two areas where the researchers have taken extreme care as, according to the team, “they are aware of the consequences” but nothing can undermine the success they will achieve if the projects finishes successfully.

This Megadroid project and its resulting data are kept unclassified means for the first time general developers and researchers can access these data and learn more about “attack vectors” to develop better protection. The dilemma which bugged me is, the black hat hackers can also access these data and improve the attack tactics, isn’t it?

Be it rescue teams working on the aftermath of an earthquake and want to sync their activities for a greater cumulative effort or any govt agency getting a forecast of any possible terror attack (interestingly enough, this has been approached very simply in Megadroid project and to me, it sounds credible), Megadroid is going to dictate terms in a future where our lives will almost completely be dependent on Smartphones we carry.

We, at Android Headlines, are joining the groups of hopefuls and expectants, wishing all success to MegaDroid. In all probability, this software will be released by the end on this year, under GPL v3. Lets move to a better, smarter and safer mobile future together.

Android is quickly becoming one of the most popular operating systems around and this is mostly because of its open nature. However, not all is as it seems. Many open-source advocates have criticized Google for keeping the operating system one of the most “closed” open platforms ever. Before you get confused, Google’s Chris DiBona says that’s all nonsense, pointing out the over 10 million lines of Android code that are under an open-source license.

However, with the recent purchase of Motorola Mobility by Google, this may soon change. It will be a big temptation for the search giant to close off Android, to gain more control of their OS.

With a hardware foothold via Motorola, Google can now pretty much force updates to the latest Android releases, reduce Android fragmentation, and also make sure hardware requirements for the OS are standardized. However, these advantages do come at a cost. With the mobile business shifting the way it is, Google needs to be part of the changes in the industry. This means that better integration of Android with Motorola Mobility hardware, which can shut out other developers from experimenting and tinkering with the OS.

It’s the inevitable result of the market getting more competitive. Google’s choice to buy Motorola Mobility and its hardware assets was a good decision in the long run for the company. However, the fact that it brings the temptation of closing down their popular software platform from outside interference is bad news for developers.

We’ll have to see what choice Google makes in the long run.

Source: The Register

There’s no denying that Google’s Android is a force to be reckoned with. Android recently hit an impressive 500 million globally activated devices and a whopping 1.3 million new devices being activated daily. If those numbers didn’t make your jaw drop, how about a commanding market share lead, four times more than their competitors?

According to the research firm IDC’s latest Q3 numbers, Android has a 68% market share dominance. Apple’s iOS comes in at second place globally with a mere 17%. After Google and Apple, RIM’s BlackBerry comes in at 4.8%, Symbian at 4.4%, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone is in last place at at 3.5%.

Do these numbers surprise you? 

The audiobook is genius way to get your reading fix, especially for those too busy or unable to pick up a paperback or e-reader. The stories are read in a way that is engaging and entertaining. Even though it’s not quite the same as reading it yourself, it’s pretty close.

Unfortunately, most articles and breaking information are presented in a text format without a similar audio option. For those that wish there was a way to hear the latest news pieces and articles, Pocket is here to grant that very wish.

The company has announced a brand new feature that they call “listen,” which is part of the Pocket for Android update version 4.2. The “listen” feature allows users to define the speed and style of the speaking voice, and then Pocket will read text to you accordingly.

What is Pocket for Android exactly? For those that don’t know, it’s an article-saving app that competes with similar programs like Instapaper.

The idea of being able to hear your favorite articles read to you is without a doubt the big draw in this update, but it’s not the only change. Other changes include improved full-screen animation in the reader and other minor UI changes.

Interestingly enough, the listen feature is an Android exclusive at the moment. Apple’s iOS doesn’t feature a text-to-speech API, which means that Pocket can’t successfully bring the feature to the iPhone and iPad. This is great news for Android fans, though.

The new update is available now through Google Play.

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