Google hasreleased Android 2.3.3to enable more near-field communication (NFC) functionality for future phones. As we mentioned back in December, Android is not only the first major mobile OS to roll out NFC capabilities, but with a combination of theNexus S and Google’s NFC-enabled Places stickers(on a trial run in Portland, OR now), Google is stepping to the forefront of what could be a central piece of mobile payments, and other in-person transactions involving the phone....

According toPocket-lint, Google has been working on an update to its Gingerbread Android operating system which will include support for a new wave of dual-core capable applications and be released as the version Android 2.4. We have seen a few images of unreleased handsets sporting the update, but until now it was unknown what the update would actually be. Smartphone manufacturer Viewsonic confirmed to the popular mobile blog that its new ViewPad 4 smartphone would be running the new Android 2....

Google’s bi-monthlyAndroid platform versions reportis out, visualising the different firmwares running on Android smartphones worldwide. Using data collected in the two weeks leading up to March 15, the Eclair (2.1), Froyo (2.2) and Gingerbread (2.3.x) firmware releases now comprise 92% of the total Android handsets accessing the Android Market during that period. Honeycomb-powered tablets make up just 0.2% of the market with it likely that the Motorola Xoom constitutes a large number of devices in that category, An increase in Android 2....

Google has announced Android 3.1, Ice Cream Sandwich at the Google I/O conference. The new version of Android will be a unified OS, available across all Google devices. Key features of the new OS are that it will be available across all platforms that Google is on, a new Virtual Camera Operator and all of the features that Google introduced in Honeycomb. This includes multitasking, UI and the new resizable widgets just announced....

Android Auto 6.0 is coming — here’s what to expect Android Auto 6.0 is on its way, and it brings a bunch of cool, but minor, features An aesthetic lift The first feature we can expect is support for wallpapers. This will allow Android Auto users to set a background image on their vehicle’s screen. Going by code in the app’s current build, it looks like Google will offer preloaded wallpaper options that can be enabled in the app....