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Google's Android Arriving Tomorrow

Google's Android

Checked out the Google Android Demo video. A couple of good things but most of it nearly made me spew, especially the physical keypad to navigate the web. I've got to go I'm gonna throw up.....
 
Competition's good but shouldn't the handset look better to begin with? :rolleyes: I mean, this looks like an evolution of one of those T-Mobile swivel phones just with a better operating system.
 
OS X Dude said:
But people don't have to download it. Diligent users would only download apps from reputable sources and only to fill a purpose they want. You could say the same about Windows software that is made to purposely kill your system.

That said, I can see Android viruses becoming widespread, especially if the platform takes off.
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A lot of users are careful and only will download from trusted sources, but there are a lot of uninformed users that may not know and download it anyway. Apple may have some issues with the App Store, but it's nice to know that I can download any application offered and not have to worry about it doing damage to my phone.
 
Although this phone looks terrible, and it will probably will not be a success. I still encourage it, as it will drive Apple to be better again, so it's all better for the customer in the end.

But god it's ugly...:eek:
 
Fidgetyrat said:
I'm not dead set on apple products, but what really makes them stand out is the fact they don't have 100 different models to support.

How could a developer successfully write a game for android for some models having keyboards, some not.. some having touch, some not.. some with this or that.. you get the point.
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Because the game developer calls a function like with a name like "get text" that gets a string of text from the user using whatever hardware is available. The game developer does not need to know if there is a physical keyboard, a virtual keyboard or if a PC k/b is plugged into a USB connection. Either way the OS handles the hardware, the developer gets his text. Same with touch. The developer just gets a notice that some screen object is "clicked" on and does not need to know if it was a totch screen or a mouse. Whoever builds the hardware has to provide the bits of software that directly access the hardware, developers don't have to do this
 
jmadlena said:
Exactly. Look at Java apps on mobile devices of today. Do I want the apps of today for the next couple of years on my mobile device? Nope.
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Congratulations for (1) misunderstanding my post (2) taking my post waaay out of context! :-D

The screen size issue really isn't that a bit deal as you may think.

andiwm2003 said:
"any developer can upload any application" sounds like a big mess.
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So your saying OSX, windows et al third party apps are a bit mess because devs can upload any application they develop?
 
Insulin Junkie said:
That thing looks positively retro.
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Maybe it does, but the neat thing about Adroid is that you, me or anyopne else can make a better looking phone. The cost of entry is low. Once you make a phone it will run any Adroid app and work on any of several networks.

I bet some one will have Adroid ported to an unlocked iPhone before long.
 
Not up to par

A friend of mine works for Google and has been beta testing it. I took it for a spin a couple weeks ago and it is just not up to par. The interface isn't intuitive , and it is fricking huge. The iPhone is far superior in usability, design, everything. I had to ask how to go back in the browser, that is how un-intuitive it is. This will be very under-whelming for Google and T-Mobile
 
Not particularly impressed so far - I don't think that's a great choice of handset for the launch.

But that aside, I await developments with interest. I hope it is half decent as that will make sure Apple stay on top of the iPhone.
 
Phil A. said:
I've been pretty excited about Android because I felt it could offer some real competition to the iPhone. However, that is possibly the ugliest, clunkiest phone I have ever seen in my life. On top of its inherent ugliness, it also appears to have terrible ergonomics (a slide up phone should all slide up otherwise you have an edge getting in the way of the keyboard, just as they have there)
What they should have done was to get HTC to release an Android version of the Touch Pro, then we could have had a fairer fight...
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Nah, Touch Pro is last year's news. Bring Android to HTC Touch HD, then we are talking. WM 6.1 is a disgrace to that gorgeous phone. :D 3.8 inch screen with 800x480!! The same size as iPhone 3G!
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_hd-2525.php



 
Google ads

Am I mistaken is saying that Android is in part advertising driven (with Google ads)?

Will I see Google adverts scrolling on my screen all day if I'm running the Android OS?

If so, then no thank you.
 
paja said:
Am I mistaken is saying that Android is in part advertising driven (with Google ads)?

Will I see Google adverts scrolling on my screen all day if I'm running the Android OS?

If so, then no thank you.
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You are mistaken - there was some talk when Android was first announced that it would be an Ad supported free service, but that idea was quickly dropped for the more conventional phone and tariff method
 
Small White Car said:
Not the same at all. Windows game programers know that their user has a mouse, a keyboard, and a monitor that is probably more than 1000 pixels wide. These are all assumed to be true for any Windows game you may write.

Cell phones are DRASTICALLY different from one another. Some feature a pointer controlled by a button or knob. Some feature touch screens that may or may not allow multiple touch points. Some have keyboard and buttons. Others barely have any. Some have EDGE connections only. Others have wi-fi.

Screen size is also a problem. With Windows, the screen may be bigger or smaller, but you can count on a minimum size. Anything larger than that, you just spread stuff out. With a small screen, every little pixel counts when it comes to good design. With so many choices, they'll have to optimize for one size, and wish good luck to people running different sized screens.

The point is not that these programs will run poorly on other phones. The point is that you'll start to see Android apps that only support CERTAIN phones.

And that's where the true mess will arrise. With the Apple App Store, you can buy anything for the iPhone. With Android you'll be sifting through thousands of apps, of which probably 50% work on your phone, and 50% don't.

Now, this is Google, so hopefully they'll feature really nice ways to browse and sort the store items. Maybe filter it down to just your phone model. I do think it will work well for the user. Google is good at that.

But that's the user. It does not sound easy for the developers, so it may take some time for them to build up a good store since it's going to be challenging for anyone trying to build Android apps.
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i think your points may be valid but there might be a possibility that the OS itself might adjust the app runtime or something like that which would make it adjust t the different input methods and screen sizes.

nokia has their s60 on so many different phones. i myself have owned a few. and one fav passtime was to put in as many themes as possible. so with the same software (a .sis file) it would behave the way it should on the particular device. even the games adjusted themselves. if you don't have a joystick, use 2,4,6,8 etc.

so they might be able to make it work. not as good as the iphone ofcourse, but they might be able to fashion something.

:)
 
Steve's right

Steve Demeter's right...

I used to work for a company that designed video games for cellphones and it was such a pain in the butt creating a game for multiple devices. We'd finish programming the game and then spend the next few months porting and testing it to everything else.

In the end - unless you know you have a hit application that absolutely everyone must have, building for multiple devices just kills your profit margin
 
ow comeon..

spidermitch said:
I second this sentiment. How much personal information on your phone do you want someone's application to have access to? I can see the headline already for an app that steals your contacts and shares them to unsavory companies.

There needs to be some controls in place, otherwise you get a large community of people with malware ridden devices that need constant care. (Oh wait, that sounds like another OS)
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we have been putting apps in our devices much before the app store came into the picture.
so this system puts the responsibility back into the users hands. sure we aren't worried about installing anything on the iphone from the app store, but there may be a lot better apps in this 'android market'. just because of the freedom. and some of the things devs are able to do when given freedom is amazing. just look at the jailbroken apps. some real gems out there. if there was a financial draw, we would have been able to see a lot better apps in the community.
 
chr1s60 said:
No approval process? So if someone wants to write and application that will purposely crash your phone they can just go ahead and do it? This sounds like it will be a mess and a headache for developers and users.
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maybe there's no approval process but you have to be a registered developer to upload. so when you submit the app, they would know who you are but would not subject your app to "approval". so if the app turns out to be devilish, they could track you!
 
i think apple still leads number one... there is no way this phone is going to beat the iphone. everyone said that about the instinct from sprint but that ended up getting thrown aside when the 3G came out.:D
 
Cdma

Hopefully somebody makes an Andriod phone using CDMA. Rogers is too high a price to pay for an iPhone.

Right now it's the only thing keeping me from getting one rather than a Blackberry or something similar.
 
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