Androids

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:16:00 -0400

Samsung released its first Android phone on Monday. The i7500 is out on O2 Germany. It's the 1st of its kind since the HTC Dream/T-mobile G1 launched in October, 2008. It should be interesting to see how that sells. Normally I think Samsung phones are pretty cheap, but maybe that's just U.S. specs. It's also hard to tell since most Samsung rants are attacking Sprint, not the manufacturer. Regardless, this is exciting news for those of us following Android development with wild and crazy dreams of seeing the iPhone domination come to an end. The open-source framework makes for more powerful, more fully-featured, and more exciting technology that can enjoy much wider adoption. Isn't this why Mac's got their butt kicked in the PC war despite having a better product early on? Didn't they learn anything? Ten great minds can't compete with 10,000 great minds when it comes to innovation.

http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2009/04/29/confirmed-samsung-i7500-android-smartphone-on-o2/

On the other end of the quality spectrum, HTC Magic is set to launch in a week with Vodaphone. This will be on sale to customers in the UK, France, Germany and Italy. The phone then will roll out on China Mobile in June. The first link below confirms that two years ago China Mobile had already surpassed US population in number of subscribers. This is important because of its impact on adoption but mainly I think what analysts will view as a gauge of success and leadership is not purely the number of handsets sold, but the percent of global mobile web traffic coming from each smartphone browser (Android vs. iPhone vs. Windows Mobile vs. Palm)

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/23029.php
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/mobile-phones/5242852/Vodafones-HTC-Magic-Google-phone-launch-date-brought-forward.html

Recently I was told I've taken my geek factor to an all new level. This was mostly a result of me installing an HTC Magic ported ROM onto my G1 to enjoy the benefits of new features like the on screen soft-keyboard, advanced contact search, and updated UI. I am sure T-Mo plans to give their customers the latest software improvements in another month or two, but they are always going to push it out well after the code is available to a developer community, to make sure it has been pounded out and tested ad nauseum by at least a few thousand people, and that there are no remaining glitches.

Ever the psychologist, I thought it might be prudent and worthwhile to look at this latest foray into the depths of a new world from a scientific perspective and see what I come away with.

1. Android developers are insanely passionate. They work on coding through the night to release their best work, in some cases multiple times per day.

2. Developers hate to agree on a standard and unify. There are -at least- 3 different "brand name" ROMs available to users. They go by the names Haykuro, The Dude of Life, and Jesus Freke. The benefit of course is that people who like one component of one build, for example the look of the keyboard or dialer-pad, or color scheme of the text messaging application, can pull those pieces together and make it their own.

3. There are significant differences in versions. This haykuro guy has apparently 8 different builds out there. At first this confused me. Why not simplify? Well, the Chinese audience wants the HTC with Chinese letters in their dialer. They want a Chinese touch-pad. They want an Exchange Sync mail program. The English audience wants a more googlified version. One that has Gmail, synchs with Google calendar, Gmail contacts, etc.

4. You can make everyone happy. How? Well, if you don't want to get into this crap you stick with what your carrier gives you. If you want too test the water, you can read 1000's of pages of instructions on the bulletin boards and then try one. And then try a different one. Figure out what you like best.

5. Technologies converge. On twitter, you can follow "breaking" (why is everything "Breaking" news?), Android updates from Haykuro or Androidguys.com, Minnesota Twins play-by-play, "breaking" news from your five favorite media outlets, your best buddy's lunch plans, exercise habits, and a running A Capella commentary from a guy named Chad Bergeron. What more could anyone possibly want out of life?

Lake David Fanclub Blog - Android

Androids