How to add Chrome for Android bookmarks to your home screen Chrome for Android recently updated, adding some new features. Yesterday we took a look at ditching the mobile version of a Web site and forcing the desktop version to load. Today we are going to take a look at the ability to add a bookmark shortcut to your home screen To place a shortcut on your home screen, you simply need to view your bookmarks in Chrome for Android. Pick the bookmark you want to add, and then long-press on the icon. You will then see a menu pop up, with the last option being add to home screen. Select that option and then go back to your home screen. That's it. For a better visual walkthrough of the process, watch the video above. This small, but important feature was something that Android has been able to do for a while with the default browser, but it's nice to see it being added to Chrome for Android.

How to add Chrome for Android bookmarks to your home screen

Chrome for Android recently updated, adding some new features. Yesterday we took a look at ditching the mobile version of a Web site and forcing the desktop version to load. Today we are going to take a look at the ability to add a bookmark shortcut to your home screen
To place a shortcut on your home screen, you simply need to view your bookmarks in Chrome for Android. Pick the bookmark you want to add, and then long-press on the icon. You will then see a menu pop up, with the last option being add to home screen. Select that option and then go back to your home screen. That's it.
For a better visual walkthrough of the process, watch the video above. This small, but important feature was something that Android has been able to do for a while with the default browser, but it's nice to see it being added to Chrome for Android.

The main attraction of Android for mobile phone manufacturers has been that it is free, but as phone makers like Samsung and HTC have found out, Android’s encumbrance is that it is constantly pursued in courts all over the globe by Apple and Microsoft. Samsung has already agreed to pay millions to Microsoft (MSFT) for licensing patents related to Android. Some investors may be surprised to know that the biggest blow landed on Android may not be coming from the fist of iPhone maker Apple, but instead from the samurai sword of Larry Ellison at Oracle. Jury selection begins today in San Francisco in a trial that pits Google against Oracle. Oracle is suing Google over intellectual property related to Java that was previously owned by Sun Microsystems. Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. Google’s defense is that Java was free and that Sun was a supporter of Android. Obviously Oracle disagrees. Oracle’s arguments may include an email from a Google engineer concluding that Google should seek a license from Oracle to use Java. Barring a settlement, we will know the results soon as the trial is expected to last only eight weeks. If Oracle wins, it will be in a position to seek an injunction against the sale of Android devices. In all likelihood, Oracle is not after an injunction, because it is not in the mobile device business. Oracle is angling for licensing payments. If Oracle wins, it may seek $5.00 to $7.00 in royalties per handset. Over a period of time, royalty payments may add up. Such royalty payments may cripple Android as it will take away its advantage of being free. Even if Google wins, Android is facing a big challenge from Apple. (Please see Apple To Make Billions On Google’s Android and Apple Could Rake In Billions From Android Licensing Instead Of Enriching Lawyers.)

Android May Be Big Loser In Oracle-Google Trial

The main attraction of Android for mobile phone manufacturers has been that it is free, but as phone makers like Samsung and HTC have found out, Android’s encumbrance is that it is constantly pursued in courts all over the globe by Apple and Microsoft.

Samsung has already agreed to pay millions to Microsoft (MSFT) for licensing patents related to Android.

Some investors may be surprised to know that the biggest blow landed on Android may not be coming from the fist of iPhone maker Apple, but instead from the samurai sword of Larry Ellison at Oracle.

Jury selection begins today in San Francisco in a trial that pits Google against Oracle.   Oracle is suing Google over intellectual property related to Java that was previously owned by Sun Microsystems.  Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. Google’s defense is that Java was free and that Sun was a supporter of Android.

Obviously Oracle disagrees.  Oracle’s arguments may include an email from a Google engineer concluding that Google should seek a license from Oracle to use Java.

Barring a settlement, we will know the results soon as the trial is expected to last only eight weeks.

If Oracle wins, it will be in a position to seek an injunction against the sale of Android devices.  In all likelihood, Oracle is not after an injunction, because it is not in the mobile device business.  Oracle is angling for licensing payments.  If Oracle wins, it may seek $5.00 to $7.00 in royalties per handset.

Over a period of time, royalty payments may add up.  Such royalty payments may cripple Android as it will take away its advantage of being free.

Even if Google wins, Android is facing a big challenge from Apple.  (Please see Apple To Make Billions On Google’s Android and Apple Could Rake In Billions From Android Licensing Instead Of Enriching Lawyers.)

Chrome for Android Doesn’t Need No Stinking Mobile Websites

Chrome for Android Doesn’t Need No Stinking Mobile Websites

Google has released an upgrade for its new Chrome for Android web browser. Chrome for Android — which was released earlier this year — is still a beta release, but the latest version adds several nice new features, including a way to circumvent websites that try to force a mobile version on you.

The latest version of Chrome for Android can be downloaded from the Google Play store. Note that Chrome for Android requires Android 4.0 or better.

This release fixes a number of bugs and adds some new features, like the ability to reload a site that has redirected you to a mobile page. Despite Jakob Nielsen’s recent pronouncement that users want to be auto-redirected to simplified mobile sites, Google’s Chrome for Android developers think otherwise.

Chrome for Android’s new feature subverts websites that automatically redirect you to a mobile version by spoofing Chrome for Android’s user agent string, in this case sending the string for the desktop version of Chrome instead of the mobile (which developers should note has been updated as well).

The new feature means that if a site offers a sub-par mobile experience by default, you can always reload the desktop version with the press of a button.

Also new in this release is the ability to add bookmarks to your home screen for fast access to your favorite sites and web apps.

In addition to the new features, Chrome for Android is now available in 31 more languages and in all countries where Google Play is supported. Chrome for Android is still a beta release and there are plenty of known issues, but the browser is getting closer to a finished product.

Android Tops 50% Market Share in the U.S.

Android's share of the U.S. smartphone market topped 50% for the first time in February, according to comScore's MobiLens.

The figures were a 17-point increase over February 2011. Apple's share for iOS for the month was 30.2%, which was up five points over the same time period. RIM's BlackBerry platform claimed 13.4% vs. 28.9% in February 2011 while Microsoft had 3.9% of the market compared to the previous 7.7%. (The report didn't specify which version or versions of Microsoft's mobile operating systems were being measured.)
[More from Mashable: Instagram for Android Downloaded More Than 1 Million Times in 24 Hours]
Overall, in February, 234 million Americans aged 13 and up used mobile devices. Some 69.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during that time.
Google's success with seeding the market with Android-based phones comes a day after Horace Dediu, an analyst with Asymco, ran the numbers and discovered that Google only makes $1.70 per Android device compared to the $576.30 that Apple makes per iPhone sale.
[More from Mashable: Instagram for Android: Advanced Camera, But No Tilt Shift [HANDS ON]]
Meanwhile, the U.S. market appears to lag the rest of the world for Android adoption. Global market share for the platform approached 50% last August.

Time Warner Cable Live TV Streaming Coming to Android in Next Few Weeks

Time Warner Cable will bring streaming television to Android devices running the most recent version of Google's mobile operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), before the end of May, the company announced on Thursday.
Time Warner Cable in December released a TWC TV app for Android phones and tablets, though it did not include live TV. At the time, the cable provider promised live TV access with the expanded rollout of Android 4.0 ICS.
"Well, that time is here," Jeff Simmermon, director of digital communication for Time Warner Cable, wrote in a blog post Thursday. "In a few weeks — definitely by Memorial Day — Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich will be able to stream our live video product in the home."
But, there's just one problem — only 3 percent of Android-based devices are now running ICS. Android 4.0 ICS made its debut in the U.S. on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon in mid-December. Since then, only a handful of devices have debuted with the updated OS, while handset manufacturers have been hustling to upgrade existing smartphones to ICS.
ICS is the only version of the Android OS that provides the "security and stability necessary to distribute video over our private network," Simmermon wrote. In contrast, adding live video to its iOS app is much easier, since it only involves one operating system made by one company that also manufactures its own devices, he said.
"Developing our video product for Android is not unlike tweezing one's eyebrows while using a disco ball for a mirror," Simmermon wrote. "We're going to get there, but it's going to happen one facet at a time."
Meanwhile, TWC previously launched a live TV iPad app in March 2011. Its release, however, prompted concern from content holders, who argued that Time Warner wasn't licensed to stream their content. Time Warner argued that the iPad app was simply like having another TV in the house and, since the content did not stream over the Internet, it was not a violation of the companies' content deals. Viacom however, ended up taking Time Warner Cable to court over the issue, though that case was resolved in August.