Android News for Costa Rica

When I was an engineering student, the standard joke about "what is the difference between and engineer and a mathematician?" The question was "if could only approach a girl by half the distance between them, would the boy ever reach the girl?" A mathematician would say no, and engineer would say close enough for all practical purposes. This same difference applies to understanding all the variables that impact on Internet speed. It starts with all the hardware and software interactions on the client machine, the server machine, and all connections between the two. It would be easier to describe all the variables that impact on driving time between Nicoya, Costa Rica and Limon, Costa Rica, or San Jose, Costa Rica and Jueanu, Alaska. Would you believe an estimated travel time based on traveling the maximum speed limit for the entire trip, in a vehicle that could never exceed the posted limit?

There are numerous software keyboard applications available for Android, but what about a hardware keyboard. It is possible to connect either a USB or Bluetooth keyboard to an Android device. For most Android devices, the answer is yes to both USB and Bluetooth keyboards. For reasons to be revealed later in the article, I went with a Bluetooth keyboard. In particular, a keyboard made for Android mobile devices. While they work, the standard Bluetooth keyboards lack the Android specific function keys. I tested the keyboard with my Samsung Galaxy S III, my B&N Nook Color (running CM 10), and my HP mini netbook (tested with both OpenSuse Linux, and Linux Mint).

In the past, I downloaded and installed various medical reference apps for Android, but never really used them. A trip to the emergency room, followed by five days in the hospital, changed my usage medical apps. Moreover, my prior use of Dropbox, and Sugar Sync provided me access to all the critical files on my netbook. For five days, the my Samsung Galaxy SIII was my mobile computer, with occasional use as a phone. It has been just over two months since I left the hospital and became confined to six months of bed rest, which I interpreted as minimal activity. I did ask the Doctor about climbing Mt. Everest, and he said no. He didn't explicitly state any other limitations.

Most Android apps are written in Java, as Java is the foundation for the Android desktop. Does this mean that Android is vulnerable to the security threat announced by the US Department of Homeland Security? Several blogs point out that Android is not effected, because the Android browsers do not include the Java plug-in found on desktops and laptops. While the statement is true, it does not answer the question. After all, Android browsers do not require the Java plug-in, as Java is an integral part of the Android platform. To understand the real reason, we need to dig a bit deeper.

Android keeps getting a larger, and larger, share of the mobile device market. The November 2012 report from Gartner shows that Android mobile devices are growing at the rate of 1.3 million activations per day. A whopping 72% of the mobile devices sold in the 3rd quarter were Android devices. This brings Android total global market share to 52%. In comparison, iOS has a total market share of 15% and Microsoft mobile is just 1% of the total devices. Samsung's Bada OS actually uses the Linux kernel, so the Linux market share is closer to 55%. Without question, Linux dominates the global mobile device market.