Google Launches 'Android Wear' Project for Wearable Devices

[kdarling]

You are too naive about the FCC secrecy.

I've done an FCC submission. Have you?

As I pointed out, Apple has used the methods I talked about, in order to totally hide a new iPhone model until the day it was debuted.

This notion there all these demos of smartphones in 2006 doesn't ring right. I don't think Android etc would have been caught off guard so much if these other phones were out there.

They weren't caught off guard about future products with capacitive finger friendly screens. They were caught off guard by Apple's jump to production a year of everyone else.

And I don't think Apple is that concerned about being first to market.

You're right, which is why I didn't say they were concerned about first to market.

Jobs wanted to be seen as first to invent, which is why he broke with all his usual secrecy, and revealed an unfinished product six months ahead of going to market.

Isn't some fragmentation inevitable? The point is to keep it to a minimum. Could you produce a fragmentation infographic for Android as easily? No, it would be huge with 1000's of incompatible devices.

Not really. There's only a handful of basic screen resolutions and device feature sets. And, unlike the way iOS development was done for years, Android developers avoided hardcoding screen positions to the point of being dependent on exactly how many pixels a display had.

How do Android developers chose a version to support?

The same way that good iOS developers "choose": by supporting as many versions as you can.

Heck, most apps don't need anything beyond the most basic APIs, so they can easily work on even the oldest devices.

If/when you need a more recent feature, a good developer either uses an addon replacement library (Google often supplies those for older devices), and/or checks and uses a different option (common with both Android and iOS).

Here's a good article on supporting multiple versions under iOS. The same techniques are used with Android:

http://www.raywenderlich.com/42591/supporting-multiple-ios-versions-and-devices

 

[SmileyBlast!]

Thats moving the goal posts though.

Apple fans used to take great glory in that ios wasnt fragmented, now it seems its acceptable as long as its kept to a minimum.

Heres an interesting article you might like to read.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/New-...rts-are-just-as-flawed-as-the-term_id50332#2-

That is a well thought out article.
Zero fragmentation is unrealistic. It's like saying we can't ship software or other products unless they have zero bugs/flaws.
Some is to be expected. Fewer is preferred. What those charts show is that iOS7 gained momentum quickly as users moved from iOS6 quickly. The same thing will happen with iOS8.

More smartphones run the latest version of iOS than phones running the latest version of Android.

iOS a better platform for developers to target.

 

[samcraig]

That is a well thought out article.
Zero fragmentation is unrealistic. It's like saying we can't ship software or other products unless they have zero bugs/flaws.
Some is to be expected. Fewer is preferred. What those charts show is that iOS7 gained momentum quickly as users moved from iOS6 quickly. The same thing will happen with iOS8.

More smartphones run the latest version of iOS than phones running the latest version of Android.

iOS a better platform for developers to target.

Apples and Oranges. "OS" version isn't as important in Android given that Google Play Services is integrated into the OS and is always being updated + you don't need a full OS update since many Android core apps are updated on a very regular basis.

 

[LordVic]

T

iOS a better platform for developers to target.

Read KDarling's post above

iOS is the more profitable platform to develop for. But for actual ability to do more things with, and lack fo constraint from the OS level, Android is probably the better choice.

But, as said, iOS app revenue seems to be much higher than that of Android, pushing most of the first line development to iOS.

 

[SmileyBlast!]

Apples and Oranges. "OS" version isn't as important in Android given that Google Play Services is integrated into the OS and is always being updated + you don't need a full OS update since many Android core apps are updated on a very regular basis.

I wonder if that forces developers to do more testing every time one of these mini Android OS updates occurs? Enterprises usually want to nail down particular versions of software. You make it sound like Android is in a constant state of flux and uncertainty.

 

[samcraig]

I wonder if that forces developers to do more testing every time one of these mini Android OS updates occurs? Enterprises usually want to nail down particular versions of software. You make it sound like Android is in a constant state of flux and uncertainty.

No. My point was that you can't just look at OS versions and state that iOS is less fragmented just because X% of Android is on one OS and Y% is on the newer OS. Because both versions could be running very similar or the same Google Play Services + core apps.

 

[trip1ex]

I've done an FCC submission. Have you?

As I pointed out, Apple has used the methods I talked about, in order to totally hide a new iPhone model until the day it was debuted.



They weren't caught off guard about future products with capacitive finger friendly screens. They were caught off guard by Apple's jump to production a year of everyone else.



You're right, which is why I didn't say they were concerned about first to market.

Jobs wanted to be seen as first to invent, which is why he broke with all his usual secrecy, and revealed an unfinished product six months ahead of going to market.

Your story is basically don't believe the execs believe a random internet poster because I said so. It's a good story. But it's speculation.

I haven't seen a reason not to believe what the execs said when they said they wanted to control the information flow concerning the iPhone and that's why they talked about as early as they did.

I'm sure it wasn't only about the FCC. Another good reason to talk about it ahead of time is because, as we now routinely see, leaks come from suppliers and manufacturers overseas.

You didn't answer the question about why you keep painting the ipHone as unfinished but didn't attach that label to all these capacitive phones being demo'd in 2006.

And I've never read anything that says Android was working on touchscreen phones at the same time Apple was but Apple just got it to market a year earlier than they did. Everything I have read, which is all fairly common reading material, has said they were blindsided by the touchscreen. They didn't believe in it until Apple proved the market.

 

[trip1ex]

No, what you said was "More BS...". Well that's how your post read after you edited it.

Maybe you need to stop using "BS" and use more precise wording? People might understand you better?

Oh yeah, and resist the urge to edit your posts. I notice someone mentioned that earlier. I'm sure it's all done innocently, but it undermines your credibility on an online forum, especially when you respond to posts months later.

Dude I did say "more bs." The problem for you is you only quoted that part of my post. And didn't quote the rest of it which explains why. If had read it then you wouldn't have posted a reply that had nothing to do with what I was saying.

You need to work on your reading comprehension skills and on your reasoning ability and actually reading an entire post and digesting the meaning instead of just looking at a sound bite or whether a post was edited or not. The lack of that is what truly undermines credibility.

 

[Arran]

Dude I did say "more bs." The problem for you is you only quoted that part of my post. And didn't quote the rest of it which explains why. If had read it then you wouldn't have posted a reply that had nothing to do with what I was saying.

You need to work on your reading comprehension skills and on your reasoning ability and actually reading an entire post and digesting the meaning instead of just looking at a sound bite or whether a post was edited or not. The lack of that is what truly undermines credibility.

When a post starts "More BS", I stop reading.

Your choice. If you want eyeballs, improve your opening lines.

(and I see you're still editing your posts)