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[Merged] Google Android Mobile Phone OS / Platform Project

DreamPod said:
The problem I have with Android, is the fact that it isn't a set hardware platform. Cellphone companies can make their hardware any way they want, so if I were to program a game for Android, I'd have to program it like a PC game, able to run at varying resolutions, processor speeds, graphic and sound capabilities...ugh. Android games will end up much like standard cellphone games, designed for the lowest-common-denominator, the weakest phones.
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I couldn't agree more with this statement. We've seen exactly this situation happen even in a single console which adds something like HD DVD after the fact. No developer touches it because those that will have it will only be a subset of that total market. This has been shown so many times.

What would need to happen is for one Android to become a front-runner within the group. And that one Android would have to have a huge user-base. If it is scattered as you suggest, then I couldn't agree more with you.

Alex Alexzander
 
I think it looks very nice. A lot of the features seem very useful. :) The interface is slightly messy at times, but I'm sure it's a work in progress, and in the past Google has favored clean interface designs. The drag down notification minder is very nice.

Also, whatever the demo device was, that was FAST! :eek:

I would seriously consider a phone using it, except for that nagging iTunes integration issue... even compared to phones I've had in the past with native iSync integration, the iPhone + iTunes experience is soooo much nicer.... :eek:
 
DreamPod said:
So most of those 750,000+ downloads were not developers at all, but people wanting to see and play with the Android simulator.
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Same goes for the iPhone SDK, only in spades since people downloaded it to non-compatible systems, and because they thought it was an phone upgrade. The numbers are a relative comparison, not absolutes.

The problem I have with Android, is the fact that it isn't a set hardware platform.
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Thank goodness. There are currently about 160 different WM phones available from 50 manufacturers. Android will probably end up with large numbers as well. All of these represent choice to the consumer. And yes, it means that programmers should handle multiple screen sizes.

The iPhone, on the other hand, is a set hardware standard
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When Apple decides to up the resolution of the iPhone screen, or to make it faster, iPhone programs will break, if they're programmed for a single standard.
 
To me this seems like a device that would appeal more to gadget geeks then it would to the general public like the iPhone. While some of the features seem neat for a tech demo I don't really see how they would benefit anyone in real world usage and really just end up over complicating the device for a majority of people.
 
kdarling said:
Same goes for the iPhone SDK, only in spades since people downloaded it to non-compatible systems, and because they thought it was an phone upgrade. The numbers are a relative comparison, not absolutes.


Thank goodness. There are currently about 160 different WM phones available from 50 manufacturers. Android will probably end up with large numbers as well. All of these represent choice to the consumer. And yes, it means that programmers should handle multiple screen sizes.


When Apple decides to up the resolution of the iPhone screen, or to make it faster, iPhone programs will break, if they're programmed for a single standard.
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It will be undoubtedly much easier to program for the 2 (?) models of iPhone in the wild compared to the hundreds of different Android phones. Also, the iPhone's lowest powered model (current iPhone) is still very powerful. Even if Apple upgraded the processor or anything else, it wouldn't be horrible. Programming for a free phone is horrible on anything else.

Also, do you have a link showing that people actually downloaded the iPhone SDK thinking it was an update (one which you have to sign up for at Apple developer's website)? That seems kind of hard to do on accident.
 
I personally think that the main competitor Android is going against is Windows Mobile. iPhone, Blackberry, and Palm are all hardware/software platforms. Windows Mobile and Android are both software platforms licensed to third-party hardware manufacturers.

IMHO, if Android succeeds, and with the growing popularity of the iPhone, it's only a matter of time before Windows Mobile becomes irrelevant.
 
This is the phone that will make or break the iPhone!

I don't know how many of you have been digging around, but I'm gonna go ahead and say it...this is the phone that will either make or break the iphone. While I don't think you can fairly say the iPhone is THE BEST phone out there right now, it's def the most stable, however Apple also runs it with a more restrictive policy than a prison inmate's daily schedule. Once this phone is released, I honestly think that Apple will be forced to lower these crazy restrictions and finally step up to the plate or risk loosing a large part of their marketshare. Grant it, there will always be Apple lovers who will priase anything and everything they make, but for the for the rest of us it finally looks like Apple might start to bead their first drop of competition sweat. I'm def EAGERLY awaiting it's arrival - and supposedly they're also supposed to have a completely restrictive free policy. Hear that Apple? No handcuffs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PRfVKzuUJ4
 
Evev12 said:
I don't know how many of you have been digging around, but I'm gonna go ahead and say it...this is the phone that will either make or break the iphone. While I don't think you can fairly say the iPhone is THE BEST phone out there right now, it's def the most stable, however Apple also runs it with a more restrictive policy than a prison inmate's daily schedule. Once this phone is released, I honestly think that Apple will be forced to lower these crazy restrictions and finally step up to the plate or risk loosing a large part of their marketshare. Grant it, there will always be Apple lovers who will priase anything and everything they make, but for the for the rest of us it finally looks like Apple might start to bead their first drop of competition sweat. I'm def EAGERLY awaiting it's arrival - and supposedly they're also supposed to have a completely restrictive free policy. Hear that Apple? No handcuffs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PRfVKzuUJ4
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seriously dude, stop trying to make your every post the hyperbolic be-all-end-all.
 
Everything I've seen of Android so far tells me it's going to be much more like WinMo than iPhone. There are many people who will like the freedom to choose hardware and tweak all sorts of aspects of the phone's functionality, but there are also folks like me who just want it to work without having to wonder if some app is going to sing nicely on my particular flavor of phone. I had three WinMo phones before getting the iPhone and all of those three had their own quirks and limitations that drove me nuts. The iPhone is certainly not perfect and there are some confounding quirks about some of the lack of customization, but it's still a tremendous net-positive for me compared to those old phones.

The best thing Android might do for the market is upset the current business models in a way that is beneficial to us consumers.
 
mcdj said:
seriously dude, stop trying to make your every post the hyperbolic be-all-end-all.
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I'm sorry DUDE, I've posted all of about 10 posts on this forum so either you're scarily following my every post or you read this particular post and it so enraged that Apple, Steve Jobs loving loyalty inside you that you felt the need to reply like a 12 year old - either way, it's a bit scary...and childish, yet I'm still honered that my simple 10 posts have left such a strong impression on you!

To the other poster, I don't know if you've been following this at all, and obviously you're right, Android is just an OS (and a SEEMINGLY very powerfull one at that) but they do have some phones (or projected phones) in the works. The most notable and first which is to be released is the HTC Dream - youtube or google it, you'll find some great stuff and an already pretty big community which is only growing.

Regardless of what everyone here might think (and it's only taken with a grain of salt being on an Apple forum) but I strongly think this phone will either make Apple step up to the plate or will make them suffer a bit. Grant it, I hate the "iphone killer" phrase as much as everyone else, and I know it's a long shot to say that anyone will ever actually kill the iphone, but Android will make them break a good sweat. And at the end of the day if anyone ever does "kill" the iphone (as unlikely as it is) it will be Apple and Apple alone.
 
I agree with the above post.

I remember all those products which claimed to be "iPod killers", so far, after 8 years, none have succeeded. I think Android and the iPhone are obviously aiming at different parts of the market, and they will both serve their markets well.
 
First look at Google Android

Here's something from the Silicon Alley Insider on the new Gphone.


So now we know that the first GPhone is indeed coming this fall.

Will it be a hit? It's hard to tell much from the supposed spy photos we've seen floating around on the Web, like the one to the right.

But someone who's actually seen the gadget -- similar, if not identical to the one in the photo -- tells us that both the hardware (from handset-maker HTC) and Google's Android software suffer from a similar problem: They're technically powerful but not as elegant as Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and OS X.

Specifically, the phone -- apparently a hot item to show off in Google's cafeterias these days -- is big and bulky, and not as sleek as the iPhone. And Android, while extremely powerful, has a less-elegant, less-user-friendly interface than the iPhone.
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I wish people would stop referring to Android as "the Gphone", its is an OS for many phones, not a single "Gphone"!

Anyway, Android, I cant really judge it as its not out yet, but I think it will suit me better than the iPhone because of the level of customisation of offers, but only time will tell... Lets see if an iPhone nano comes out, too, coz that will complicate things a bit.
 
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