TAG | Android
Android pushes forward and competitors push back. For many months now, it’s been known that Android will be making a huge push in 2010. Manufacturers have been promising 20+ new Android phones this year, as well as a number of other Android devices including eReaders, Tablets and PMPs. It seems that all this Android buzz is really starting to catch the attention of the competition and the competition doesn’t like it one bit. Continue Reading…
25
Choosing a Smartphone, Part 1: Android vs. Windows Phone 7
5 Comments | Posted by Ryan Trevisol at 9:27 am
The last few weeks have brought us a flurry of information about different smartphone OS’s. At this blog, we prefer Android, and the past weeks’ news has only made us more proud of our favorite OS. However, there has been a lot of talk about Windows Phone 7, and Palm is trying to expand by bringing its devices to Verizon. Of course, there’s the ever-present iPhone OS, and its next update is looming. Blackberry . . . also still makes phones. In this series of articles, we’ll take an honest look at how Android stacks up to the competition. I think you’ll find that whatever your needs, there’s a Droid for that!
To get started, let’s talk about Microsoft’s big play in the mobile space: Windows Phone 7 Series.
Continue Reading…
Any user of a current smart phone can tell you that one big gap in the mobile internet experiences on said devices is the lack of Flash support. For years now, Adobe has been stating that they are working on a mobile Flash version to help fill that gap, and even a few companies have taken the initiative of including Flash Lite in their phones, such as the HTC Hero with Sense UI. Flash Lite was a step in the correct direction, but doesn’t quite make that leap required to bridge the gap. However, recently Adobe has been demonstrating and touting the beta version of Flash 10.1. Adobe has stated they will release 10.1 for Android, Windows and RIM smart phones already and are working to do so before the end of the first half of 2010. Continue Reading…
The Droids would like introduce a new page; Android Beginners Guide and Tips. This page will be a collection of guides, tips and hints that should make getting starting with your new Droid as easy as possible. We’ll try and make comparison’s so that those who are transitioning from other smart phones to a better, faster, stronger Droid can do so with minimal effort. Since so many Androids are different from one another, we’ll try and guide you through the common features between Droids, but of course, that will be more difficult the more Android becomes fragmented. Hopefully, once everyone is up to at least Android 2.0+, we can update the guide to reflect the newest version alone and take out any references to Android 1.6. Continue Reading…
22
Android Fragmentation – Some Numbers and Thoughts
7 Comments | Posted by Benjamin at 12:56 pm
Android Fragmentation
Android fragmentation is getting worse. One of the greatest and worst features of the Android OS is it’s open source nature. Open source means that anyone can take the software, write up some tweaks to it, add/delete re-write features and functions without worrying about stepping on anyone’s toes. But, that brings along with it the trouble of trying to keep everything consistent within the Android world. Continue Reading…
Google Buzz seems to be Google’s latest child and they are currently in the process of describing it. It’s almost like Twitter meets Wave, meets Gmail. One item of interest is that it will be coming to your local Android phone soon with Google Maps integration and fully voice controlled if you wish. This will indeed be a new version of Maps, on top of the update that just happened providing multitouch. More information here as we obtain it. Continue Reading…
8
Why I Choose an Android Phone Over the Competition
0 Comments | Posted by Benjamin at 11:04 am
I choose an Android phone because it reflects who I am. The Android OS is an open source mobile operating system built by a community of developers and is fully capable of being hacked, tweaked and customized in ways that are only limited to the imagination of us humans. I want a mobile phone that will conform to me and not the other way around. The manufacturers have realized this too. Just look at the number of added customization being done by the manufacturers, Sense UI, Sony Ericsson User Experience, MOTOBLUR, and TouchWiz. This allows for a unique experience for each person and the selection allows the user to purchase the phone that is just right for them. Continue Reading…
Ever since the launch of the latest myTouch 3G, the Fender Edition, T-Mobile has been promoting the use of DoubleTwist software to sync your myTouch with a desktop application. The Android platform currently lacks an officially syncing application for the desktop, though Windows users of HTC Sense UI powered Android phones have access to HTC Sync. DoubleTwist provides the lost desktop application and has been supporting Android devices for a while and after a recent update, includes access to Amazon’s MP3 for purchasing direct through the syncing application. Double twist has been around for a while, but Continue Reading…
Well, this is an interesting tidbit from Erick Tseng. According to the Google senior product manager of Android, The next version of Android will not be called Flan, but instead will be “Froyo” a.k.a. Frozen Yogurt. I hope they don’t take too long with it or it will be more like Melyo, Melted Yogurt. This continues with Google’s Android team naming big releases after desserts in alphabetical order, after Donut, Cupcake and Eclair. Continue Reading…
And here I thought Android, open source, and the linux world was the supposed be-all and end-all for developers. Chris Haseman at Developer.com has an interesting, half-satirical article about why Android is a platform he loves to hate. Or hates to love. I’m not really sure which. For example, he says of the debugging process:
Google, curse their cotton socks, has quite literally taken a process that used to involve hours of work and reduced it to simply pressing F11.
While it may not be a totally serious article, and you may not agree with it, I thought it was an enlightening look at some of the quirky ins and outs of Android development. Take a look at it here.
FYI – That picture’s not me, it’s a stock photo. I know you were wondering.