[This post is by Dan Bornstein, virtual-machine wrangler. — Tim Bray]

As the tech lead for the Dalvik team within the Android project, I spend my time working on the virtual machine (VM) and core class libraries that sit beneath the Android application framework. This layer is mostly invisible to end users, but done right, it helps make Android devices run smoothly and improves developer productivity.

The 2.2 release is particularly pleasing to me, as it is the first release since before 1.0 in which we have been able to deliver significantly new VM technology. And unlike much of what my team and I do, it is something that can be experienced directly by end users.

“Dalvik” isn’t exactly a household word (at least in my country), and most people wouldn’t know a virtual machine if it hit them in the face, but when you tell them you were able to make their existing device work better — run faster, use less battery — they will actually take notice!

Today my friends asked me to disable 3G on his GPhone. He does not want to pay for a huge bill every month. Because some applications can access to internet automatically. I made a search on Google and found some answer “let’s use flight mode”, oh he only want to disable 3G, not phone network. Go to Settings/Wireless controls/Mobile networks and check to “Use only 2G networks”, this does not turn of your internet bill totally, we still see the icon E (edge) on the top right of the phone. I’m lazy to register a nick to reply on the forum, so I make a post here for people who has the same question.

I suggested him to change the parameters of 3G network, so applications cannot made a connection. Go to “Settings/Wireless controls/Mobile networks/Access Point Names/”. In my case (I’m using Orange network) there are 2 APNs here: “Orange MMS” and “Orange World”. Choose “Orange World” and rename some values of parameters (add a suffix), don’t delete them, because you may need to use 3G network at any time. “Click” on “Port”, change “8080” to “8080.myname”, click on “Server”, change the value by adding “.myname”. Ok, now, let’s see on the top right of your phone, can you see the icon 3G? I think that this way should work with all kind of phone, not limited to GPhone.
 

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Why don't the iPad and iPhone support multitasking? The answer isn't what you think.

There is a lot of misconception around support for multitasking in the iPhone and its giant cousin, the iPad. What follows is my analysis of the situation. I am not privy to any insider Apple information. Moreover, while my knowledge is certainly colored by my work on Android, I’m not drawing a comparison or using any Google-specific knowledge.

Uhohs! It appears that the Google Android Code has been deleted from the Linux Kernel. The change is explained in depth at Kroah.com but the folks at RegHardware sum it up nicely:

“No one cared about the code, so it was removed,” writes Kroah-Hartman. “As I’ve stated before, code in the staging tree needs to be worked on to be merged to the main kernel tree, or it will be deleted.”

But the larger problem, he continues, is that Android uses a new lock type, new hooks for its “sometimes bizarre” security model, and a revamped framebuffer driver infrastructure. All this, he says, prevents “a large chunk” of Android drivers and platform code from merging into the main kernel tree.

Google, he ultimately argues, has forked its mobile OS.

Android 2.1 has been officially available on the Google Nexus One for nearly a week now, but the SDK had not -- until now.