In what’s looking like a standard operating procedure, Google just released its free Gesture Search software for Android 1.6 devices  and expanded availability outside of the U.S. The application launched two weeks ago on Android 2.x devices. With it, you can simply draw letters on your handset — Android will interpret them and return search results for contacts, applications, bookmarks and music. It works fairly well, although I personally prefer the voice search functionality on my phone. But ...

My friend and colleague Harry McCracken recently bought a brand new Droid from Motorola. He says it's a "loaf of day old bread." He's right. The Droid and Android 2.0 were introduced with much fanfare in December, but have already been eclipsed by Android 2.1 running on Google's Nexus One, and there are some serious ramifications for being behind. For example, Google recently touted the latest mobile version of Google Earth, which is a cool app that you won't be able to use unless you're running...

A year after its release, Google’s open source Android operating system has become a sensation. After a slow start, it is now available on at least 12 phones, with more devices waiting in the wings. Good news for Android fans, right? Not really, say some developers. A slew of problems have made managing Android apps a “nightmare,” they say, including three versions of the OS (Android 1.5, 1.6 and 2.0), custom firmware on many phones, and hardware differences between different models.For users, i...