First Look at Google's Android Mobile Platform

MacRumors · Nov 12, 2007, 03:15 PM

Google has released the software development kit for Android - a mobile platform announced by Google last week.

Documentation and first look videos are offered through the Android Project page. Most interesting, perhaps, is the Android Demo video which walks through prototype Android devices. Both a smaller and more advanced prototypes of Android phones are shown. They demonstrate functionality as well as detail capabilities as shown here:

Android's web browser is based on Webkit which also powers Apple's Safari browser. This means that web pages will render the same on Android's browser and Safari. Zooming/Scrolling with a touch interface is also supported as shown in the demo.

3d OpenGL support, as shown by a demo of id software's Quake.

The demo video shows other capabilities, such as tight integration into Google Maps. The first commercial phones based on the Android platform are not expected until the second half of 2008. Unlike the iPhone, the Android platform appears to emphasize openness and is encouraging of 3rd party application development. Despite early plans to keep the iPhone closed to 3rd party development, Apple has announced that a 3rd party development kit will become available for the iPhone in February 2008, though what restrictions it may likely entail are not yet known.

Article Link

a1016neo · Nov 12, 2007, 03:16 PM

Looks similar to the iphone.

DiamondMac · Nov 12, 2007, 03:17 PM

I will be interested to see how it does at first

noodle654 · Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM

Tubular

Bonte · Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM

Ow man, i can see Apple offering a dual boot or something, this is cool.

Unspeaked · Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM

Looks like a good start...

kainjow · Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM

It's good news for Safari users since it uses WebKit, which means more developers working on improving it.

Drumjim85 · Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM

competition is a great thing ... and it will only make apple work harder to deliver better products

arn · 03:48 PM

I think this will be big competition to the iPhone. You can see what kind of developer community sprouted up for the iPhone... I think with encouragement, a more massive one will easily appear for Android.

arn

Nabooly · Nov 12, 2007, 03:21 PM

Wait....didn't google say a couple of days ago that its only going to be providing software, and not actual devices?

dr_lha · Nov 12, 2007, 03:23 PM

The biggest problem I've seen so far with this is on one of the screenshots not posted here which shows a menu. Plain and simple, pull down menus don't belong on mobile phones. Microsoft hasn't figured this out yet, I would have hoped that Google would. Maybe they're not very prevalent, overall this looks nice I'd say.

aLoC · Nov 12, 2007, 03:27 PM

Apple showed prototypes of the Mac to Microsoft and they stole it. Now Google is doing the same with the iPhone. Back stabbers.

plumbingandtech · Nov 12, 2007, 03:31 PM

the lack of a double tapping to zoom really held back the maps demo.

Looks like more competition to windows mobile then the iphone in the overall scheme of things, at least in the short term.

No elegance what so ever though, and when the phone companies switch out their dialers etc.. with their custom version we are looking at something that will prob. sell more units then the iphone (read cheaper) but will look like kitchen with too many cooks in it.

Yah. There will be the people here that will be smart enough to swamp out the bad stuff. (if allowed. i know google says they can but...) but most people will simply use the default sprint-verizon style retracted apps and interfaces... to make it look like a fancy razor.

queshy · Nov 12, 2007, 03:31 PM

Completely opposite attitude for the iPhone: Google is giving away $10 M to write the best apps, and it seems like Apple is trying to STOP us from unlocking, and in some cases, bricking iPhones.

I think this is great for Apple. It will force them to work harder with the future progression of the iPhone. Without Android, they might have just let the iPhone stay as is for a year or 2 before giving it some updates (why should it have to if it's so far ahead of the market?) - but now with android, I think we'll be seeing more incremental updates to stay in competition with android.

iPhoneHome · Nov 12, 2007, 03:32 PM

this is the first software/device that could actually give the iPhone some SERIOUS competition...I own a iPhone and i found myself really interested in purchasing this! Apple needs to re-market itself very soon, and give us some features that are very much wanted/needed.

dashiel · Nov 12, 2007, 03:32 PM

i really want to like this, open source, google, encouraging developers from the word go, but everything i've seen so far doesn't give me much hope. by the time hardware starts arriving the iphone will have close to 10 million installed units and had their SDK out for almost as long as android -- not to mention be up to 3g (you could tell that was their big "we're better than the iphone" plug).

more power to them, competition is great, but so far this isn't a patch on the iphone

fowler. · Nov 12, 2007, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aLoC

Apple showed prototypes of the Mac to Microsoft and they stole it. Now Google is doing the same with the iPhone. Back stabbers.

are you high? what exactly have they "stolen"?

Stella · Nov 12, 2007, 03:33 PM

The initial screenshots / details are encouraging. The Google platform could offer a great platform, including more competition. This should help improve all existing cell phone platforms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aLoC

Apple showed prototypes of the Mac to Microsoft and they stole it. Now Google is doing the same with the iPhone. Back stabbers.

Its a fact of life - companies gain inspiration from each other, including Apple ( who have also copied others). Evolution of products - improving upon existing, seeing a potential opportunity where there is a gap in the market. Google think they have seen one. ( I don't consider Google to have stolen anything from Apple ).

psychofreak · Nov 12, 2007, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nabooyl

Wait....didn't google say a couple of days ago that its only going to be providing software, and not actual devices?

Yes, this is just for show...

siurpeeman · Nov 12, 2007, 03:35 PM

i like the text notifications on the top menu bar. very unobtrusive.

jeremy.king · Nov 12, 2007, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fowler.

are you high? what exactly have they "stolen"?

that web page history viewer seems like a little Cover Flow clone

AtHomeBoy_2000 · Nov 12, 2007, 03:36 PM

Looks like I'll be waiting until late next year to by a new cell phone. i want to see how this all pans out.

ParadigmABQ · Nov 12, 2007, 03:38 PM

But can it play Doom?

Novaoblivion · Nov 12, 2007, 03:38 PM

While some of this looks pretty cool being open source and all. The interface and the speed of the UI doesnt look nearly as fast as the iPhone. Hopefully it will encourage Apple to open up the iPhone a little more though

.

psychofreak · Nov 12, 2007, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingjr3

that web page history viewer seems like a little Cover Flow clone

Its just as much Cover Flow as Flip3D...

Nov 12, 2007, 03:15 PM	#1
MacRumors macrumors bot Join Date: Apr 2001	First Look at Google's Android Mobile Platform Google has released the software development kit for Android - a mobile platform announced by Google last week. Documentation and first look videos are offered through the Android Project page. Most interesting, perhaps, is the Android Demo video which walks through prototype Android devices. Both a smaller and more advanced prototypes of Android phones are shown. They demonstrate functionality as well as detail capabilities as shown here: Android's web browser is based on Webkit which also powers Apple's Safari browser. This means that web pages will render the same on Android's browser and Safari. Zooming/Scrolling with a touch interface is also supported as shown in the demo. 3d OpenGL support, as shown by a demo of id software's Quake. The demo video shows other capabilities, such as tight integration into Google Maps. The first commercial phones based on the Android platform are not expected until the second half of 2008. Unlike the iPhone, the Android platform appears to emphasize openness and is encouraging of 3rd party application development. Despite early plans to keep the iPhone closed to 3rd party development, Apple has announced that a 3rd party development kit will become available for the iPhone in February 2008, though what restrictions it may likely entail are not yet known. Article Link

Nov 12, 2007, 03:17 PM	#3
DiamondMac macrumors 68020 Join Date: Aug 2006	I will be interested to see how it does at first __________________ 16-Gig 3G-iPhone, 40-Gig IPod, 60-Gig MacBookPro, 2GHz Intel Core Duo, 2 GB - 667MHz RAM, 200-Gig iMac, 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB 667 MHz

Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM	#4
noodle654 macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Princeton, NJ	Tubular __________________ MacBook Pro 2.2GHz, 120GB HD, 4GB RAM\| Mac Mini C2D 1.83GHz, 80GB HD, 2GB RAM \| MacBook Air 1.86GHz, 128GB SSD \| iPhone 3G S⃣ 32GB

Nov 12, 2007, 03:21 PM	#9
arn macrumors god Join Date: Apr 2001	I think this will be big competition to the iPhone. You can see what kind of developer community sprouted up for the iPhone... I think with encouragement, a more massive one will easily appear for Android. arn Last edited by arn : Nov 12, 2007 at 03:48 PM.

Nov 12, 2007, 03:23 PM	#11
dr_lha macrumors 68000 Join Date: Oct 2003	The biggest problem I've seen so far with this is on one of the screenshots not posted here which shows a menu. Plain and simple, pull down menus don't belong on mobile phones. Microsoft hasn't figured this out yet, I would have hoped that Google would. Maybe they're not very prevalent, overall this looks nice I'd say. __________________ Me: 1Ghz 12" PB and Mac mini Intel Core Solo 1.5Ghz, The Wife: 1.86Ghz CD MacBook, Me@Work: 2.66Ghz Mac Pro and a 2.33Ghz C2D 15" Mac Book Pro

Nov 12, 2007, 03:16 PM	#2
a1016neo macrumors regular Join Date: Nov 2006	Looks similar to the iphone.

Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM	#5
Bonte macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Bruges, Belgium	Ow man, i can see Apple offering a dual boot or something, this is cool.

Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM	#6
Unspeaked macrumors 68020 Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: West Coast	Looks like a good start...

Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM	#7
kainjow Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Jun 2000	It's good news for Safari users since it uses WebKit, which means more developers working on improving it.

Nov 12, 2007, 03:18 PM	#8
Drumjim85 macrumors 68020 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: DFW, TX	competition is a great thing ... and it will only make apple work harder to deliver better products

Nov 12, 2007, 03:21 PM	#10
Nabooly macrumors 6502 Join Date: Aug 2007	Wait....didn't google say a couple of days ago that its only going to be providing software, and not actual devices?

Nov 12, 2007, 03:27 PM	#12
aLoC macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2006	Apple showed prototypes of the Mac to Microsoft and they stole it. Now Google is doing the same with the iPhone. Back stabbers.

Nov 12, 2007, 03:31 PM	#13
plumbingandtech macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jun 2007	the lack of a double tapping to zoom really held back the maps demo. Looks like more competition to windows mobile then the iphone in the overall scheme of things, at least in the short term. No elegance what so ever though, and when the phone companies switch out their dialers etc.. with their custom version we are looking at something that will prob. sell more units then the iphone (read cheaper) but will look like kitchen with too many cooks in it. Yah. There will be the people here that will be smart enough to swamp out the bad stuff. (if allowed. i know google says they can but...) but most people will simply use the default sprint-verizon style retracted apps and interfaces... to make it look like a fancy razor.

Nov 12, 2007, 03:31 PM	#14
queshy macrumors 68040 Join Date: Apr 2005	Completely opposite attitude for the iPhone: Google is giving away $10 M to write the best apps, and it seems like Apple is trying to STOP us from unlocking, and in some cases, bricking iPhones. I think this is great for Apple. It will force them to work harder with the future progression of the iPhone. Without Android, they might have just let the iPhone stay as is for a year or 2 before giving it some updates (why should it have to if it's so far ahead of the market?) - but now with android, I think we'll be seeing more incremental updates to stay in competition with android. __________________ "I always feel sorry for the guy in the iPhone commercials. He always gets a call right in the middle of trying to do something" (one1).

Nov 12, 2007, 03:32 PM	#15
iPhoneHome macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2007	this is the first software/device that could actually give the iPhone some SERIOUS competition...I own a iPhone and i found myself really interested in purchasing this! Apple needs to re-market itself very soon, and give us some features that are very much wanted/needed. __________________ iMightBeNEXT LLC PowerMac G5; 20" Cinema Screen; 80GB Video iPod; 8GB iPhone; 20" Aluminum iMac 2.4 Ghz, 4GB

Nov 12, 2007, 03:32 PM	#16
dashiel macrumors 6502 Join Date: Nov 2003	i really want to like this, open source, google, encouraging developers from the word go, but everything i've seen so far doesn't give me much hope. by the time hardware starts arriving the iphone will have close to 10 million installed units and had their SDK out for almost as long as android -- not to mention be up to 3g (you could tell that was their big "we're better than the iphone" plug). more power to them, competition is great, but so far this isn't a patch on the iphone

Nov 12, 2007, 03:35 PM	#20
siurpeeman macrumors 601 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: the OC	i like the text notifications on the top menu bar. very unobtrusive. __________________ grr...argh...

Nov 12, 2007, 03:36 PM	#22
AtHomeBoy_2000 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Schaumburg, IL	Looks like I'll be waiting until late next year to by a new cell phone. i want to see how this all pans out.

Nov 12, 2007, 03:38 PM	#23
ParadigmABQ macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Albuquerque, NM	But can it play Doom? __________________ Mac Pro 8-core 3.0ghz, 4gb RAM, ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512mb, 23" Apple LCD 13" White Macbook iPod Classic 80gb iPod Touch 16gb iPhone

Nov 12, 2007, 03:38 PM	#24
Novaoblivion macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2006	While some of this looks pretty cool being open source and all. The interface and the speed of the UI doesnt look nearly as fast as the iPhone. Hopefully it will encourage Apple to open up the iPhone a little more though .

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