2010 is shaping up to be a very interesting year! The very limited information about the Android 2.0 OS should change at this end of the month. Multiple carriers, open developer's environment, background apps, exchange support, etc., nice. Question is how good will the phones be and how good will the app store be?
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2010 Revenge of the Droids
- Thread starter TapHappy
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the software is ready, as far as i am concerned, and has been for about a year.
they just keep shipping these phones with ridiculous problems like that silly trackball, or that nasty headphone jack adapter...
i prefer an iphone largely because it has the fewest moving parts of any mobile phone in the market. anyone else who wants to lure me away has to at least come close -- no slidey crap, no foldy junk, no hardware keyboard or trackball or any of that.
they just keep shipping these phones with ridiculous problems like that silly trackball, or that nasty headphone jack adapter...
i prefer an iphone largely because it has the fewest moving parts of any mobile phone in the market. anyone else who wants to lure me away has to at least come close -- no slidey crap, no foldy junk, no hardware keyboard or trackball or any of that.
Like the non-removable battery??
A device that expensive should be able to have replaceable $17 battery.
Boy genius has some good info on 2.0, it looks pretty nice.
Should be good for us, all this competition raises the bar all around. Maybe Apple will get multitasking into the OS sooner than June, who knows.
Should be good for us, all this competition raises the bar all around. Maybe Apple will get multitasking into the OS sooner than June, who knows.
Over the 11 years that I've owned cell phones, I have never need to have a replacement battery.Like the non-removable battery??
A device that expensive should be able to have replaceable $17 battery.
I think we'll see a huge move of developers over to Android. They have to.
Only a tiny few are making a living off the iPhone App Store, due to the ridiculous competition and free/99-cent market.
Of course, that scenario could repeat on Android. Therefore developers will need to support multiple platforms to stay alive (and that's where it would've been perfect if the iPhone supported Java or Flash, as all other smartphones do or will).
Huh? The Android marketplace has been around for a long time already (I own and currently use an Android G1), and it isn't limited. There are a lot of applications and games, and very high quality ones at that.
However for those of you thinking Android is the saving grace for developers: you are wrong. Some of the BEST Android apps and games (tower defense, ChompSMS (SMS replacement), Handcent SMS (SMS replacement), SEVEN (email client), Pandora, eBuddy IM (multi-protocol chat), etc, etc) are free. Yeah, completely free. Most high quality apps in the Android marketplace are free.
So if you think developers will flock to Android as the new market to milk for mass profits, you are crazy. Android isn't new. The Android market isn't new. It has been around, and just because people are starting to notice it doesn't mean it is just starting to exist.
Android needs good DEVICES to make it flourish. The OS is fine, but the hardware sucks big time.
Teflon > cheap plastic
You clearly have no idea what teflon actually is. The underlying phone is plastic, it's just got a teflon coating - and in fact it might be that only the white one has that. Anyway, what use is it coating it in teflon? Making it easier to slide off tables when you knock it?
It's not just about replacing a battery at the end of its life. Smartphones are used more and use more battery.
Being able to easily swap batteries gives two benefits:
1) You can easily buy aftermarket batteries that are the same physical size (or larger sometimes, with a custom back) but with more power.
2) You can easily swap batteries if you don't have time to charge up the current one.
I very often will Sling all day and come home with a near dead battery. Swap it for a freshly charged one, and boom I'm ready to go out all evening as well. That capability is extremely convenient.
People without swappable batteries tend to change their usage to fit the battery life instead. That's the tail wagging the dog. I prefer that my phone's usage capabilities be on my terms instead.
For $10-20 you can get a 3rd party rechargeable battery that plugs into the docking port and charges your phone until that battery is dead. Seems like a fine solution (hell, I have one) and it doesn't require you to pop the back off your phone and swap batteries.
Uh, you'd rather carry around a batttery tethered to your phone all evening instead of taking 5 seconds and swapping out batteries? Ok.
By the way, that HTC Hero is gorgeous; better looking than the iPhone. Unfortunately, the version introduced in America is not nearly as awesome looking.
Cant be so sure of developers migrating to Android so soon.
As of today, a developer writing an iPhone application gets an instant market of over 50 million iPhone + Touch devices. It remains to be seen whether Android will see that kind of uptake soon.
Fragmentation is another real threat for Android. Developers have to adapt their applications to different screen sizes, "UI layers" and eventually basic platform tweaks each manufacturer brings in.
As of today, a developer writing an iPhone application gets an instant market of over 50 million iPhone + Touch devices. It remains to be seen whether Android will see that kind of uptake soon.
Fragmentation is another real threat for Android. Developers have to adapt their applications to different screen sizes, "UI layers" and eventually basic platform tweaks each manufacturer brings in.
Sure I do.
It's the teflon that gives it a nice matte finish and feels soft when you hold the phone in your hands. What I know is it's a lot better feeling and looking than that cheap glossy finish on the iPhone.
I agree about the Hero's soft-touch finish. Anyone who has a soft-touch Incase Slider case, will know how great that finish is.
I prefer the iPhone's form factor, but the Hero's texture and the brushed metal is better, IMO.
I prefer the iPhone's form factor, but the Hero's texture and the brushed metal is better, IMO.
True but the iphone/touch market is segmented as well. You have 2g, 3g, 3gs, touch has a faster processor than some iphones, touch could have different OS than iphone, etc The droids seem to all have big screens, not sure the dimensions/resolutions are all the same. With so much support from multiple cell services, droid should be popular. Will it catch apple? Only time will tell...
I was hoping for a brushed aluminum casing on the 3GS. Other than that I think the comparison is a joke. Android hardware is garbage
I dont care for the software much either
Same here. Never replaced a mobile battery. I have had over 15 different phones. You switch phones so much, by the time your phone needs a battery, you have had 2 new phones by then.
Not sure why people are stuck on the whole battery thing.
I understand this is a mac fan site... But how is android "garbage"? Have you tried all the droid phones? The G1 was not good.