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Google Nexus One Phone Not an iPhone Killer?

ChazUK said:
I love this statemen. Different resolutions have been supported in the SDK since Android 1.6:

http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html

There is no need for any app developed not to support multiple resolutions.

EDIT: Do you think that the iPhone will always have the same resolution screen out of interest?
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It was a poorly written sentence. What I meant was actually all the different types of hardware are going to be more difficult to code for whereas the iPhone and the iPod touch are basically the same device.

http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/25/androids-growth-worries-developers
 
Winni said:
I remember the time when people said that about IBM, then they said it about Microsoft. There has always been a dominating company on the market that seemed to make any competition a futile effort.

But strange as it seems, eventually that big name always sank into insignificance. And it usually happened with a technological shift - IBM's mainframe empire got crushed by the PCs, and Microsoft's empire is under the threat of becoming obsolete because of the Internet and Internet-centric companies like Google.

Throughout its existence, Apple has always been a niche player with a lot of hype and press coverage.

The biggest obstacle between Apple and their grand scale success is... Apple. They are a closed shop that does not play well with others and they seriously get the entire third party ecosystem wrong. Someone once said that Apple creates platforms only by accident - while Microsoft intentionally creates platforms and not just simple products. A platform is the foundation for ecosystems.

But Apple does not really like ecosystems around their products. They want to own and control it all by themselves. They don't want to (rule and) share.

And this is why in the phone market Android will eventually win. Just like Windows in the PC market, Android is an open platform and anyone can build a phone around that software.

Sure, we haven't yet seen the end of Windows for mobile devices. But the killer argument for Android are its strong Open Source roots. And ultimately, the developers make or break a platform. Which, by the way, is another area where Apple is currently losing sympathy ever day because of their ridiculous approval process.

Anyway. The iPhone was an important product for many reasons, and it certainly had its moment of glory. However, I don't think that its momentum will last. The competition is not sleeping and especially the Android platform has that element of openness that will attract all those developers that have been pissed off by Apple's closeness and their arbitrary AppStore policies.
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If you were around long enough to remember the IBM days you should also know that there were other factors at hand besides Windows being available on many computers. If that belief was true then how come MS's Plays for Sure was a complete failure against Apple. In fact MS even copied the Apple ecosystem with the Zune and Zune HD.

You keep talking about openness and that is why Android will succeed. Can you tell me any open source program that has taken the consumer world by storm? You're beliefs are not based in reality. While I may agree that some things should be open source, like web standards, it's inane to say it's beneficial in every aspect.

The idea that devs will leave Apple because of App Store policies are ridiculous. As of right now, most Android apps are free and their freetard customers have shown no interest in buying apps.

Android does have some advantages over the iPhone and have been updating their OS at a faster pace but there are also disadvantages:

-Even considering how both handles notifications, the iPhone OS is still more refined.

-You can only load 512MB of apps on Android. I have almost 3GB worth of apps on my iPhone.

-Because no one pays for Android apps, no dev is going to that platform unless they can live off of ads

-In the US T-Mobile's 3G coverage is far worse than AT&T

BTW, the iPhone platform hasn't suffered because of the tablet. It has actually been Mac OS X that has suffered because of the iPhone and probably the tablet.
 
ChazUK said:
No one is arguing that. With Android you can multi-task ALL apps. Try last.fm, spotify or any other streaming service whilst writing an SMS message or email.

The lack of full multitasking is a negative point with iPhone OS and what drove me away.
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Sorry, you are right, the lack of 3rd party multitasking just hasn't bothered me in the slightest.
 
CrackedButter said:
It was a poorly written sentence. What I meant was actually all the different types of hardware are going to be more difficult to code for whereas the iPhone and the iPod touch are basically the same device.

http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/25/androids-growth-worries-developers
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I fully agree that that is a pain in the arse. Does it have a trackball? d-pad? trackpad? No external button input at all (like my archos)?

Writing an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch must be easier in that respect! :)
 
Has Microsoft given a timeframe or date for Windows Mobile 7? WOW I mean is it even possible for them to be more behind and less relevant? Lol, will there even be a single phone still running WM by the time they get that out! BEYOND PATHETIC! :rolleyes:

I am not worried about the iPhone, and although Google is making MANY of the same mistakes Microsoft did with WM, I am glad to see them screwing Microsoft over even more! :p
 
lex750 said:
Maybe because other players in the market are supplying customers with much better specs in hardware and you want to stay in business? Now, ain't that funny?
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...and yet iPhone still outsells those suppliers despite it's 'inferior' hardware
 
CrackedButter said:
Do you have an iPhone? The iPhone has multitasking, just not with 3rd party Apps, yet. I can retrieve my mail while surfing the internet and listening to music. If I'm loading a page on Safari, I can exit Safari for a moment and come back to it with it having loaded the page. Better check your facts.
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Once you "EXIT" it's closed, even if it's just for a moment. The iPhone does not multi-task unless you jailbreak it. I know I had one and know many people who do. A smartphone should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. The iPhone does not.
 
lately i've read that people who jailbroke say that performance sucks using backgrounder to multi-task. the theory is that since apple's apps always run in the background there is little memory left for other apps to run
 
lewchenko said:
Poor reporting MacRumors...

So one place decides it's not an iphone killer ? So what ? Thankfully we are all able to make up our own minds.

For some people, this phone may well be an iphone killer... if thy buy it over an iphone, then consider it an iphone killer.

It really is as simple as that.

People may choose this phone as it offers a more open, customisable platform with a better screen (amongst other things) than the iphone. Others may choose to stay with the rock solid locked down iphone platform and cherish the massive app store that comes with it.


But in summary, every time someone considers an iphone but purchases something else... they bought their own iphone killer.

Its nothing personal... but there have been iPhone killers out there for quite a while now....
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I agree. Strange article for Arn to have put on the frontpage.
 
CrackedButter said:
Sorry, you are right, the lack of 3rd party multitasking just hasn't bothered me in the slightest.
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Different strokes for different folks! I'm sure the majority of iPhone owners couldn't care less for multitasking 3rd party apps and are extremely pleased with their smartphones.

For the rest of us that do, there is Android. (That's the way I see it!)
 
Sometimes, when I read these forums I just wonder if people understand the reality they've created for themselves. Why do people have this undying loyalty for their "team" whether it's Apple or Google or Microsoft. Don't you get that the people who make these decisions at all these companies that you just "cannot fathom" are all more rich than you and everyone you know put together? They are not trying to define some perfect device or experience. Some may believe there is some intrinsic value to their lives by creating something (artists), but they are ALL trying to make a living so they can go home and live the rest of their lives. They might even use a device or two that helps them reach their goals. Their goals are not to have the coolest, most revlutionary phone!

Buy the phone that lets you do what you do better. Be a real person and not some fan on the sidelines of a make-believe contest.
 
ChazUK said:
Different strokes for different folks! I'm sure the majority of iPhone owners couldn't care less for multitasking 3rd party apps and are extremely pleased with their smartphones.

For the rest of us that do, there is Android. (That's the way I see it!)
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The iPhone has become like the iPod, everybody has to have one, even if it's crap. Apple is riding on the market success of it's iPod to sell the "desire" for the iPhone. It's the American way, "gotta have it just because everyone else has it".
 
4np said:
Well, it definitely looks like an improvement over earlier iterations, but I still feel Android looks too Linux-like and therefore too geeky for many users. Don't get me wrong, I use Linux a lot and I think it is a very capable operating system, but I mainly use it as a server operating system and I still do not like Gnome/Kde/Compiz environments which often require hacking to get things working, and it looks too geeky for my taste. I still think Apple produces the best GUI (design, user experience and underlying API's) on a *nix environment, nothing can beat them on that front. Same goes for the iPhone vs the Android GUI.

Another thing is that Apple's App Store is better that the Android Marketplace, from a commercial perspective. Several newsreports mention Apple's App Store as a marketplace to make profit, while in contrast the Android marketplace does not seem as profitable for commercial developers. In order to boost interest for commercial parties the Android Martketplace should be redesigned to make it commercially interesting, if Google wants to gain marketshare.

One thing I really like about Android and that is the openness of the platform. I would really like to be able to do everything with my phone and be in control. As the iPhone is closed this is limiting me in my freedom to do so. I like the sandboxed approach for running application of the iPhone, even though this has it's limitations. Even though I like the openness of the Android platform I'm not sure if a viable app-store would be possible in an 'open world'...

So overal, I think the iPhone is still going strong while Android could have potential in the future, but it is not good enough yet. The main issues Google has to tackle is to improve user experience, make sure the Android marketplace is a profitable environment for commercial parties, and innovate...
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...Nicely put. I totally agree!

I mainly think the UX is the hardest thing they face to compete with iPhone. The app store is nonetheless just as big of a factor, but I do believe android will have many developers jumping on board as the months/years go by. Even though Apple has there app store well in place, and is by far superior, there is room for developers to reach towards android.

Apple's app store may always be #1 for years to come, but there is a more urgent need.

UX is what Google needs to chime in on. The followers will come later...
 
saturniphone said:
Sometimes, when I read these forums I just wonder if people understand the reality they've created for themselves. Why do people have this undying loyalty for their "team" whether it's Apple or Google or Microsoft. Don't you get that the people who make these decisions at all these companies that you just "cannot fathom" are all more rich than you and everyone you know put together? They are not trying to define some perfect device or experience. Some may believe there is some intrinsic value to their lives by creating something (artists), but they are ALL trying to make a living so they can go home and live the rest of their lives. They might even use a device or two that helps them reach their goals. Their goals are not to have the coolest, most revlutionary phone!
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You clearly don't understand the culture at Apple.

And this is an Apple fansite, in case you didn't notice. if you necessarily have a problem with that you'll need to forward it to the site's owners.
 
For the love of God, there will not be an iPhone killer. Just as there will not be a Windows killer, OS X killer, etc. All you are going to have are alternatives, some of which offer better features, some that won't. The iPhone has carved out a nice space for itself, and as great as it is, Blackberry still dominates the mobile scene. So it's possible to have a great product (iPhone) that pleases many people and still not kill off the competition (Blackberry). All this "killer" talk over the last few years is tiresome.
 
lex750 said:
The average consumer is stupid, and brand orientated (fanboy). Lucky for Apple.
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Nope. If that were true...90% of silicon valley wouldn't be carrying iPhones and consequently crashing carrier networks at tech conferences/event
 
str1f3 said:
Can you tell me any open source program that has taken the consumer world by storm?
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Firefox?


daneoni said:
If that were true...90% of silicon valley wouldn't be carrying iPhones...
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See http://www.tfd.com/?osearch&word=hyperbole


daneoni said:
.. and consequently crashing carrier networks at tech conferences/event
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Did you mean "carrier network", not "networks"? This is as much an indication of how fragile that carrier's network seems to be. (When I'm at a tech conference, I see all the laptops with VZW EVDO-A dongles humming along without problems....)
 
And while I like what I've seen so far from Android, to me, it still has too much of that Linux-y look to its UI. By that I mean icons and layouts that lack the polish of Apple and Microsoft products. It's no big deal in the grand scheme of things, but things like that matter to some folks.
 
ChazUK said:
Different strokes for different folks! I'm sure the majority of iPhone owners couldn't care less for multitasking 3rd party apps and are extremely pleased with their smartphones.

For the rest of us that do, there is Android. (That's the way I see it!)
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I'm not singling you out personally but your statement got me thinking so I'll ask you.

To me multi-tasking on any device that is 3-4" in size is useless. I do multi-tasking on my computer because there is real estate to use.

Can you please name three applications you use simultaneously on the Droid ?

And how do you fit all three apps on the screen.
 
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