Android Developers are being reminded by Google to shift their attention away from the Menu button and focus instead on the Action Bar.

The Menu button function is commonplace in pre-3.0 versions of Google’s Android operating system. It allows users to view options for a particular application by pressing the Menu button on their device.

With the introduction of Honeycomb (version 3.0) and now Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0) the function has become redundant as these operating systems remove the need for physical buttons.

All change please

This year we expect to see a new wave of devices running Ice Cream Sandwich, so developers need to make sure they update their apps to use the Action Bar.

Developers need to follow the new Android user experience as many Android devices are expected in 2012 to feature button free designs.

Apps will continue to work on the new software, with Google building an action overflow button which acts as the menu button.

The action overflow button will display on all applications which have not been updated to Android 3.0+, even if they do not require it.

Are you all for button free devices, or will you be pining for your menu, home and back buttons?

A developer collective is hoping to build a version of Android that will run on the HP TouchPad.

HP may have lost all hope in the WebOS running slate, but stock-clearing price cuts have seen it leap up the tablet charts and the newly christened Touchdroid team has a plan to Android it up.

The RootzWiki-based collective will build with Gingerbread (Android 2.3) and aim to keep the project “as open as possible”.

Gingerbread house

Once they’ve created a stable Gingerbread beta for the TouchPad, the team will begin working on a Honeycomb (Android 3.0) port, the version of Android that is optimised for tablet use.

“We’re planning on having a screen based button system similar to Honeycomb within Gingerbread,” explains Thomas Sohmers, one of the developers behind the project.

The developer group will report back on its progress over at RootzWiki, and is also open to donations via PayPal in case it ends up bricking its TouchPad or needs to take one of the tablets apart to tinker with its innards.

After an overwhelming response of users just during the field trial period, Google is now
onboard with iPhone for the release of its first Google+ iPhone app. This recently released
application is now available for iPhone (4.1 iOS or newer), featuring all the vital functions for
your ease with the commitment to thrive in the future as well.

The best and most promising thing about this application is that it’s totally free, which makes
it a lot easier for everyone to get it directly from the iTunes. It is also reported that this iPhone
app for Google+ has now become the no. 1 free application in the Apple app store. You
can use many of the Google+ features on this app like access or manage your circles, get
streaming updates from your friends and other contacts, upload photos, check in from different
places, or use Huddles which is the instant group messaging service you can enjoy within a
circle. ‘Huddles’ is a great feature that is available in Google+ for mobile only.

The main interface of the Google+ iPhone app is very neat and simple, giving it a classy
Googlized touch. It has a black bar above and below the app with Settings and Notifications
icons on it. In the middle, there are only five icons namely Stream, Huddle, Photos, Profile,
and Circles arranged in a simple grid mode. In terms of appearance, this iPhone app looks
exactly like the Android app for Google+.

The application is not available for iPads or iPhones with older versions yet, so we can only
hope to see these other versions sometime really soon. Since Google+ is one of the fastest
growing projects ever presented, the developers must definitely be working really hard to
spread it on all the devices as soon as possible. Makes sense, right?

For all those who’re still not aware about The Google+, let me tell you, it’s a newly released
social networking project by Google, which is still in the field trial period, and like the
previous project Orkut, is accessible through invitations only. It will be open to public once
it gets over its trial mode, explained the developers. The project already received such an
amazing response from all around the world that people now expect it to oust Facebook in
the future. According to Google’s CEO Larry Page, “There are more than 10 million users on
the social network already, and more than 1 billion items are shared every day”.

The global market for mobile apps is set to be worth over £23 billion in 2015, according to the latest research from Forrester.

And following this earlier news that the global market for mobile apps is set to explode over the next five years, one leading UK iPhone app developer has revealed the secrets of app development success.

So read on to find out the key aspects of app development you need to keep in mind, if you want to become an app millionaire.

The four key elements to app success

On hearing the news about Forrester’s predictions, Chetan Damani, a leading UK developer of both commercial and cutting-edge augmented reality (AR) iPhone apps at London-based acrossair told TechRadar:

“We are currently seeing a huge uptake from the apps we launching for ourselves and for our clients and I see no sign of a downturn. There are 350,000-plus apps at the moment [on the iTunes App Store] so only a few are achieving the good downloads.

“We have noticed that you need to have four key elements in the apps to make them successful,” the acrossair rep revealed.

“They need to be perfectly executed, provide a uniquely mobile experience, have an element of social and be convenient.”

As for the longer-term view of the app development industry, Damani agrees that “2015 is a long time from now, but so far Apple are the only ones with a successful platform and I don¹t see that changing in the near future.

“What is changing are the types of apps. As consumers evolve and start expecting more from apps, the developers are rising to the challenge and creating more complex experiences.”

Ajay Chada, one of the co-founders of Ignition Entertainment (Arc Rise Fantasia, Muramusa: The Demon Blade) is no longer with the company – and hasn’t been for a few months. According to his LinkedIn profile/a>, Chada – who helped form the company in 2002 which was later bought out by UTV Software Communications in 2007 – left Ignition in September of this year.

There’s no direct reason as to why the leave, though from Sep 2010 – Oct 2010 he is listed as working as a “Consultant in Computer/Social/Digital Games” where he leaves this comment: “In 2010, I have made the decision to offer my successful experience, my connections and relationships, and my knowledge of the gaming industry available to other developers and publishers, via my consulting service.”

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