I am psyched for Android, as it appears to be the only grown up, thought out, Phone OS/UI/Thing I've seen, instead of a crufted desktop os or a crufted PDA os slapped about a bit.
Although saying that, Android is so obviously mature, that it will naturally seep into lightweight devices, or mini notebooks and so on. When you play around with the SDK and the emulator, and the decisions they've made, its cracking gromit.
We will see better physical handsets this year for the Android, but I am only interested in it regarding the actual phone'ness, so the email integration and the multitasking and all that jazz.
As for, y'know, games... the only thing its got going for it is that its open, and is based on the Java API or some fashion... and we know what quality have come out of the Java Games scene..... ... ... ..... .?
I read an interesting, yes, interesting, article that discussed that the next phone wars... will be about the OS and not the hardware. However, for me, I just want a phone that can make calls, and isn't the size of a NES and these "smart phones" are too large and tedious on battery life to be bothered with.
Once we get roll out OLED screens and all that jazz, it should get more interesting... I think there is alot of scope for use of the eInk technology and phones and maybe games, get some monochrome action going, back to basics dude.
Interesting thoughts Jib. I'm pumped for Android too and I had a go on a guys G1 when I was in Copenhagen a couple of weekends ago. The OS is a breath of fresh air. Not as retarded as the iPhone, but simple to use in the way Windows mobile isn't...
The hardware was really nice too. I hear the bitching about battery life, but it's no worse than the iPhone really. I use gmail and google docs (a bit) so the prospect of syncing everything up is what's selling it to me presently. It all seems to make perfect sense for serious usage.
Games wise though it will suffer. I'm sure we'll see some emulator ports though, so it will be good for some retro fun on the move without having to fork over another 3 to 4 quid for Pac Man.
Good. I'm married, the last thing I need is more sexual partners. Android all the way then
HTC G2 (or whatever it will be called over here) looks like my next handset, released in the States in a few weeks from now. Hardware keyboard is essential for emulators and the extra grunt should make the Megadrive and SNES stuff playable at full speed. Plus vanilla android FTW, Sense UI is nice and all, but I prefer the utility of the stock UI.
CM 6.0.0 came out over the weekend, installed it, seems about as stable as 5.0.8 but with a couple more features... wish I'd tried Titanium backup beforehand though, can backup application data/settings, and restore links to market downloads. Pretty good.
It is a hell of a lot of faffing around just to get the latest functionality, when we should all be receiving these updates as standard I reckon... makes the iPhone a much less offensive choice in terms of usability. Only a tiny minority of users are going to start cocking around with custom firmware installs just to get the latest fixes and features. Android still lacks a lot of polish that really should be there by now to make any kind of impact on iPhone users. Its like some kind of Linux curse.
Yeah, but you only need to spend a few minutes with my wife's HTC Legend to see how it should be. Sense UI overlaid on Android does present something which is iPhone like, albeit far more customisable. It's very pretty and intuitive.
The iPhone does suck balls in 2 main UI areas:
1. Lack of proper notifications; and
2. No widgets.
These are the 2 things which I use the most on my phone. Going without them would be like stepping back into the dark ages.
Official upgrades on the G1 took me through 1.0 to 1.5 and then 1.6. My rationale for rooting and flashing was to circumvent some of the limitations with the stock Rom, such as tethering support (which was poor back then) and the really small internal memory on the G1. Apps to SD in Cyanogen 4+
With the iPhone you're basically going to get 1 major update in the life of your handset and even then it could be a rocky ride. Some reports of very poor performance with IOS4 on 3GS handsets I believe. Jailbreaking an iPhone is, as far as I can make out, as faffy as rooting an Android.
On Android once you're rooted and installed a custom recovery, flashing new roms is as easy as falling off a log.
Blah blah blah this is all very boring. So yeah iPhone is fantastic, just works, looks nice and has the most impressive selection of apps, but stock unrooted android can give you an experience which is akin to a jailbroken iPhone without the hassel.
The Android problem is they, Google themselves, have confused the difference between OS updates and Application updates... the delineation between these is made ambiguous with things like the Market and Maps and Navigation where they must've behind the scenes been bending the guts of Android to make it snappier or something. JIT is an example.
The version numbering doesn't help... but behind the scenes I think we are on version 8... which is 2.2 the general flow of changes is quite iterative its just with the oligopoly of phone companies and the mad strangle hold (that Google failed to break with the Nexus One, in the states at least) the distribution of updates is just impossible. That and the phone manufacturers being a bit crap with releases... but the Froyo updates are coming thick and fast on the newer phones... I mean I have Froyo now officially on me Desire, that's what a few months? from showing to release to production hardware in our pockets....
But then what was the Froyo update in the end? JIT, functionality ambiguous, WiFi hotspot thing, which is just an extension of some pretty 'basic' linux functionality and enabling Flash which shouldn't really be tied to an OS release.
The iTool is a nice toy, but I can't sell my soul to Apple.
Incidentally Katamary Damashii on the iTool is pretty good.
I'm holding out for a decent Android handset. OK so Google are probably just as bad as Apple, but at least Android is mostly open.
Bloody mobile contract runs out in November
I think Jibber is keen on Android too. The more open development platform is more appealing.
I don't think either really make sense as a games platform though, but I guess that is why we have the DS and PSP.
I am psyched for Android, as it appears to be the only grown up, thought out, Phone OS/UI/Thing I've seen, instead of a crufted desktop os or a crufted PDA os slapped about a bit.
Although saying that, Android is so obviously mature, that it will naturally seep into lightweight devices, or mini notebooks and so on. When you play around with the SDK and the emulator, and the decisions they've made, its cracking gromit.
We will see better physical handsets this year for the Android, but I am only interested in it regarding the actual phone'ness, so the email integration and the multitasking and all that jazz.
As for, y'know, games... the only thing its got going for it is that its open, and is based on the Java API or some fashion... and we know what quality have come out of the Java Games scene..... ... ... ..... .?
I read an interesting, yes, interesting, article that discussed that the next phone wars... will be about the OS and not the hardware. However, for me, I just want a phone that can make calls, and isn't the size of a NES and these "smart phones" are too large and tedious on battery life to be bothered with.
Once we get roll out OLED screens and all that jazz, it should get more interesting... I think there is alot of scope for use of the eInk technology and phones and maybe games, get some monochrome action going, back to basics dude.
Interesting thoughts Jib. I'm pumped for Android too and I had a go on a guys G1 when I was in Copenhagen a couple of weekends ago. The OS is a breath of fresh air. Not as retarded as the iPhone, but simple to use in the way Windows mobile isn't...
The hardware was really nice too. I hear the bitching about battery life, but it's no worse than the iPhone really. I use gmail and google docs (a bit) so the prospect of syncing everything up is what's selling it to me presently. It all seems to make perfect sense for serious usage.
Games wise though it will suffer. I'm sure we'll see some emulator ports though, so it will be good for some retro fun on the move without having to fork over another 3 to 4 quid for Pac Man.
It's going to rawk hard isn't it.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/want-to-have-sex-with-more-people-buy-an-iphone-and-stay-away-from-android-2050327.html
Good. I'm married, the last thing I need is more sexual partners. Android all the way then
HTC G2 (or whatever it will be called over here) looks like my next handset, released in the States in a few weeks from now. Hardware keyboard is essential for emulators and the extra grunt should make the Megadrive and SNES stuff playable at full speed. Plus vanilla android FTW, Sense UI is nice and all, but I prefer the utility of the stock UI.
CM 6.0.0 came out over the weekend, installed it, seems about as stable as 5.0.8 but with a couple more features... wish I'd tried Titanium backup beforehand though, can backup application data/settings, and restore links to market downloads. Pretty good.
It is a hell of a lot of faffing around just to get the latest functionality, when we should all be receiving these updates as standard I reckon... makes the iPhone a much less offensive choice in terms of usability. Only a tiny minority of users are going to start cocking around with custom firmware installs just to get the latest fixes and features. Android still lacks a lot of polish that really should be there by now to make any kind of impact on iPhone users. Its like some kind of Linux curse.
Yeah, but you only need to spend a few minutes with my wife's HTC Legend to see how it should be. Sense UI overlaid on Android does present something which is iPhone like, albeit far more customisable. It's very pretty and intuitive.
The iPhone does suck balls in 2 main UI areas:
1. Lack of proper notifications; and
2. No widgets.
These are the 2 things which I use the most on my phone. Going without them would be like stepping back into the dark ages.
Official upgrades on the G1 took me through 1.0 to 1.5 and then 1.6. My rationale for rooting and flashing was to circumvent some of the limitations with the stock Rom, such as tethering support (which was poor back then) and the really small internal memory on the G1. Apps to SD in Cyanogen 4+
With the iPhone you're basically going to get 1 major update in the life of your handset and even then it could be a rocky ride. Some reports of very poor performance with IOS4 on 3GS handsets I believe. Jailbreaking an iPhone is, as far as I can make out, as faffy as rooting an Android.
On Android once you're rooted and installed a custom recovery, flashing new roms is as easy as falling off a log.
Blah blah blah this is all very boring. So yeah iPhone is fantastic, just works, looks nice and has the most impressive selection of apps, but stock unrooted android can give you an experience which is akin to a jailbroken iPhone without the hassel.
woo, this is sexy talk.
The Android problem is they, Google themselves, have confused the difference between OS updates and Application updates... the delineation between these is made ambiguous with things like the Market and Maps and Navigation where they must've behind the scenes been bending the guts of Android to make it snappier or something. JIT is an example.
The version numbering doesn't help... but behind the scenes I think we are on version 8... which is 2.2 the general flow of changes is quite iterative its just with the oligopoly of phone companies and the mad strangle hold (that Google failed to break with the Nexus One, in the states at least) the distribution of updates is just impossible. That and the phone manufacturers being a bit crap with releases... but the Froyo updates are coming thick and fast on the newer phones... I mean I have Froyo now officially on me Desire, that's what a few months? from showing to release to production hardware in our pockets....
But then what was the Froyo update in the end? JIT, functionality ambiguous, WiFi hotspot thing, which is just an extension of some pretty 'basic' linux functionality and enabling Flash which shouldn't really be tied to an OS release.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Stop it. You're turning me on.