From everyone here at Android Life, we'd like to wish you a very safe and happy holidays.

I was recently trying to get some text to have a glowing effect around it while working on an Android app, but was struggling with how to accomplish it.  After some quick searches, I stumbled across this article, which explains exactly how to accomplish the following:

And yes, the image was shamelessly stolen from the original post from StackOverflow.  <grin />

The issue of Android fragmentation has been debated vehemently in recent months.  Most of these discussions and debates have centered around device fragmentation and the difficulty (or not) that developers are having as they develop for these various devices.  However, the debates often focus on device hardware fragmentation: screen sizes, processing power and memory limits, for example.

As a recent Samsung Captivate purchaser, the issue of OS fragmentation and lack of updates is especially personal.  Although Samsung has begun rolling out updates to their Galaxy S series phones — arguably one of the best selling family of Android phones to-date — almost all of their phones in the US are still running Eclair (2.1).  Samsung has promised — and failed to deliver — updates for months now.

Yes.  You heard me right.  We’re still waiting for a Froyo (2.2) update.  While Gingerbread (2.3) is already out and included on the shipping Nexus S, many of us are still waiting for an even older OS update.

Contrast this with Apple’s iOS.  As of iOS 4.2, all of Apple’s iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches were able to be upgraded the day it was released.  No waiting.  No hassles and no dragging of feet.

Smartly, Microsoft also recognized the problems plaguing Android phones and decided to follow Apple’s example regarding updates.  When the first update is available (any day now), it will be available on all Windows Mobile 7 phones.

Why is this a problem, you ask?  It’s a problem because new OS updates include new features that some of Google’s own apps require — Gmail, Maps, etc. all have features that now require Froyo.  Maybe more importantly, the OS updates also include important security updates.

As things stand today, if a security exploit is discovered — and it’s happened already — users on older phones are left vulnerable for weeks, months or more.  Phone manufacturers and their carrier partners have no financial incentives to continue providing updates to phones they’ve already sold — especially when newer models are available.  In fact, accusations (likely unfounded) have been flying that some phone manufacturers actually withhold updates to their older models as an incentive for customers to upgrade.

I will certainly never, ever, ever buy another Samsung device.  HTC and Motorola have done a much better job of providing updates on their phones but updates have still lagged by weeks and months.  Google seriously needs to manage their updates far better than they have.  Well, that’s because to-date they haven’t. Even their original flagship phone, the Nexus One, is waiting for a Gingerbread update.

C’mon, Google.  Get it together already.  Your devoted followers are counting on you.

I just came across a post on the site Ali Waqas talking about how to install Flash 10.1 on your brand new Android device (compliments of the folks at XDA)… assuming you have a Motorola Xoom, LG Optimus 2X, Atrix 4G or Dell Streak 7 (Tegra 2 Compatible), of course.

If you have one of these slick new Android devices and want to use Flash 10.1 — at least, until Flash 10.2 is officially available — then go check it out.

If you’ve ever done any Android development, you’ve surely asked yourself, “How do I rotate the screen orientation in the emulator?”

On a Windows machine, use Crtl + F11.

On a Mac, use Ctrl + Fn + F11.

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And again, thanks everyone for your support!