HTC promised the world an Android 2.0-based firmware for its Hero line once it figured out the nitty gritty details of porting Sense to Google’s latest code, leapfrogging Donut altogether — but now, it looks like they’re gonna do one better. Screenshots found today show a Hero running Android 2.1, which would dovetail nicely with the fact that Google had teased a “minor update” to 2.0 before the end of 2009 back when it announced Eclair last month. The interface looks largely untouched from 1.5, proof that HTC was able to bring Sense up to speed with minimum drama; it’s unclear when this’ll all be available, but considering that Sprint’s version
just got a super-minor update, some carrier-branded versions could be in for a wait.
Google recently released free turn-by-turn navigation for Android 1.6 and higher. I figured the trip up to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving was a good time to give it a good test run.
Visually, the application is among the highest in quality (Not surprising). Upon first look, it’s nearly indistinguishable from standalone GPS devices.
Screenshot by Google
Overall use was easy. Just enter your destination, hit navigate and you’re ready to go. There are also layers you can add for satellite imagery and points of interest among others. GPS tracking was speedy with very little delay between the marker and my actual destination.
I chose to test this on a route I know very well. Springfield to KC is a trip I have made far too many times that I know it almost perfectly. At a few points, it wanted me to take roads that I would not normally take, nor understood why it would be advantageous to take them. Looking at desktop Google Maps afterwards makes me think that the mobile version will choose a route that has the least distance, not necessarily the fastest route. However, this was better than the experience I had with Telenav, which had me take gravel roads instead of more accessible and faster state routes/highways.
A couple times, the application freaked out, for lack of better term, once for Google’s map not being quite up to date. The other time was more cryptic as to why it happened. It just started “rerouting” for no apparent reason and continued that for a couple miles.
Power consumption was also a welcome relief from Telenav. Using Telenav, I had to shut off the application because it would drain my battery while plugged into the car charger. I was pleasantly surprised that Google Nav continued to charge my phone and stayed at full charge the rest of the way.
One thing that needs to be added is a nighttime display function. Using the app at night was slightly distracting with my eyes having to adjust to the brightness looking from road to my phone.
Google Navigation is a welcome update to the Maps application. It is obviously not perfect yet, but even with hiccups I had, it is by far the best GPS navigation I have used for Android. The real trick is driving smart and not following the route blindly, no matter what GPS device you have.
Pierwsza recenzja po polsku wersji live Androida na PC
Z zainteresowaniem zajzalem do tematu Android Live,bo coz to moze byc?
Po krotkim zapoznaniu sie z tematem,bez zbytniego zastanowienia postanowilem pobrac wersje 0,2USBbot,dlatego iz,moj netbook nie posiada napedu CD.
Po pobraniu ( szybkie serwery,szlo pelna predkoscia lacza) oraz rozpakowaniu ( pliki w formacie .001, musialem pobrac dodatkowy program) przegralem pliki na pendrive,po uprzednim sformatowaniu tegoz.
Lapka w zaden sposob nie udalo sie zbotowac z pendrive :/
Pobralem VirtualBoxa,i zainstalowalem.
Po skonfigurowaniu maszyny ( 1gb ramu, 5gb dysku) odpalilem virtuala z iso. ,obraz zawiesil sie na “Android Live” tj, na samym poczatku,wisial tak 1h.
Postanowilem pobrac wersje 0,3 ,ale CD , tym razem,udlo mi sie odpalic
Najpierw wybor rozdzielczosci .
Wybralem 800×600 , i poszlo.
Nie spodobaly mi sie te czarne paski po bokach pulpitu…
Ale sam OS dziala dobrze. Mysle,ze to zasloga ponad 4x wiekszej pamieci RAM,oraz 2x szybszego procka.
Jest to wersja,oparta na Androidzie 1.5
Jutro,bede testowal rozne apsy,oraz sproboje w jakis sposob odpalic neetboka z tego czegos…
Recenzja for www.android.com.pl
A,i macie kilka screenow: 1. 2. 3. 4.
E-book readers are shaping up to be a hot ticket when it comes to Android (s goog) devices. Barnes and Noble (s bks) has the Nook ready to ship, and readers from other vendors are expected early next year. Hopping on the bandwagon this week was network equipment maker Netronix, which is reportedly planning on making a reader based on Android. The company expects to ship a million of the devices in 2010, and will incorporate into them 3G and 3.5G capabilities.
While Android phone owners have been able to stream video to Ustream for a while now, they (strangely enough) weren’t able to view what they streamed on the phones themselves. The Ustream drought is now over, however, with this week’s appearance of the Ustream Viewer app in the Android Market. The new viewer works with all releases of Android currently in the wild: 1.5, 1.6 and 2.0.
Also revealed this week was a handheld Mobile Internet Device (MID) based on the ARM platform, one with a sliding QWERTY keyboard like many smartphones. The Inbrics MID has a AMOLED touch display, and adds Wi-Fi and GPS for added functionality. Inbrics has indicated the new MID will be demonstrated at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in January.
In the meantime, a version of Google Maps Navigation, which adds turn-by-turn direction to Google Maps and was initially restricted to Android 2.0, was made available for Android 1.6. Some voice activation features are missing on this version, but it is fully functional otherwise.
This is a (hopefully) easy guide for those who may not know exactly what to do and some features of this app require root permissions so you have to have root access to learn hot to root please see my other posts.
Start Up:
Upon opening you may get two pop-ups depending on your use of this application and bluetooth settings.
These pop-ups are
- Ask to enable bluetooth (if not already enabled)
- Application change log (shows 3 times per update)
If you want to send or receive files via bluetooth you will need to click OK or click cancel if you only want to use BlueFTP as a stand-alone file manager.
Once you clicked that it will display a message saying enabling bluetooth layer wait for this message to disappear and the change log will then show once you have read that click the button below the writing (it may not say last time like seen in the screenshot below).
Once bluetooth is enabled you will get one of two screens depending on if you have root access or not.
If you dont have root you will get the following message
If you have root access you won’t get that message above instead you will get a few of these
These are call SU Permissions and will enable you to send and receive files and as i said above you will get about 2 or 3.
I recommend clicking always allow to prevent having to do it on every start-up.
Once your passed those pop-ups you will see an icon in the notification bar of your device which tells you bluetooth is enabled and ready to be used.
You have now completed the Start-Up process.
Settings:
I will now explain what the settings mean.
To access these press menu and click more and select settings you will then see the following
Object Push Profile (OPP for short) is the settings for receiving files here is what the ones above mean.
Enabled – This means it’s all set and ready to receive files.
Start at boot – This means if you turn off your device when you switch it on again BlueFTP will start automatically.
Stop when close – This means when you close BlueFTP it will shut off receiving of files.
Show notifications – This will display messages inside your notification bar to let you know when a file is received.
Show messages – This will display “flying” messages to let you know when a file is received.
See next screenshot for more
Alert on receive – This will display directly on the screen to let you know when a file is received.
Destination folder – This is where you define where you want the received files to be saved to.
Concurrent connections – This is where you choose how many devices can send you stuff at the same time (max 7)
I will discuss the rest after the next screenshot
File Transfer Profile (FTP for short) is the settings for sending files here is what the ones above mean.
Enabled – This means it’s all set and ready to send files.
Start at boot – This means if you turn off your device when you switch it on again BlueFTP will start automatically.
Stop when close – This means when you close BlueFTP it will shut off sending of files.
Show notifications – This will display messages inside your notification bar to let you know when a file is sent.
Show messages – This will display “flying” messages to let you know when a file is sent.
See next screenshot for more
Alert on receive – This will display directly on the screen to let you know when a file is received.
Alert on send – This will display directly on the screen to let you know when a file is sent.
Shared folder – This is where you define where you want the files you wish to share to come from.
Concurrent connections – This is where you choose how many devices you can send stuff to at the same time (max 7)
Sending:
Here is what the contact sending looks like
Just mark the contacts you wish to send and the following screen will show
This is where you either choose the device you want to send to or search for a new device (more info below)
I’m now going to explain how to send files by bluetooth, this method works for any files you wish to send.
First locate the folder with the file/s you wish to send and click the box/es of the file/s you wish to send so it will look like this
Once you have selected the files click menu and the screen should now look like this
Select send (it will display how many items you wish to send for example 6 items) and you will now get a screen like this
It will automatically search for new devices in your area (normally only effective as far as an average sized bedroom so ensure the user is close when trying to connect )
If you can’t find your friends device ensure they have a bluetooth capable handset and that there bluetooth is enabled on their device (refer to phone user manual of your friends device or contact their service provider with your friend’s phone make and model for more info).
Remember BlueFTP doesn’t give the device you’re sending to bluetooth.
Once you have located the device your after on your Android device long click it and select “Create pairing”
You should then get the following message on-screen
Enter the password to which the other device your connected to will have to input.
It can be any password you want I use 0000 as its easy to remember for the other user.
Once you have the password click OK
Tell your friend using the other device you’re sending to the password and a they should get a pop-up asking to input password.
This is where they enter the password you choose.
Once they done that you will get the following message on-screen
This is alerting you that the pairing has been successful and you are ready to send.
Before sending however if you think you will send the friend your currently sending content too at a later date I recommend adding the user as a bookmark by long clicking on your friend’s phone on your device.
It should come up like this
Select Add bookmark and this will save the device for future sharing/receiving.
You may now connect to the device by long clicking your friends device on your screen until the following appears
Select Connect and this should now show
Wait till this completes and it should automatically start send the files you marked above and the screen will look something like this
Wait for that to compete and if sending multiple files the screen above will display each file one at a time not all at once so wait for a message saying sending complete or something like that.
Congratulations you have now passed steps to sending files via BlueFTP.
Let’s talk about receiving now and then exiting before we complete the guide.
Receiving:
So you want to receive a file from a friend.
Firstly make sure your device can handle the file your friend is sending you.
- Ensure you have enough free space on your device.
- Ensure the file is compatible with your device e.g a MP3 track and not a theme for a Sony Ericsson (it will not work on your device).
- Ensure you friend has bluetooth on their device and its enabled (refer to phone user manual of your friends device or contact their service provider with your friend’s phone make and model for more info).
Unless already paired previously with the device you want to receive a file from, you will get the following
This is where you enter the code your friend has chosen (so ask your friend what the password they put in was).
Once you’ve input the correct password you will get the following Pop-Up
This means you are receiving the file so wait for this to complete before doing anything.
If you got notifications and/or alert on receive enabled via BlueFTP settings you will get something like the following
This is all you need to do to receive a file.
Exiting:
Last step is basic and that is exiting the application.
It’s simple, all you do is press your back key on your device until you get something like the following
Select the appropriate option for you and then your complete.
This concludes the beginners guide to BlueFTP.
Please give the developers a break and read this fully before e-mailing them with issues as it may not be BlueFTP’s fault.
I’m also will to assist you should you have a issue so leave a comment below.
Google Maps navigation for Android 2.0 was launched last month. This is the free application that provides the complete details of the directions using smartphone’s embedded GPS & Internet connection. Since the application connects to the internet, there is no need to purchase the map updates & also, there are no monthly charges applicable on this service.
As the earlier versions of Android were not having this facility in using this application, the other versions of Android like the T-mobile, myTouch, 3G & G1 are now having the facility of accessing the Google Maps navigation. They can download the application from the Android market easily.
With this feature, Google has really hit hard on the other navigational apps with providing this service for the other versions of Android as well. Maps updates & monthly charges are the main source of revenue for many location-based companies. The biggest advantage that Google is providing here is that it is much better than the paid services offered by the others.
Ultimate Insider Black Friday Guide
With a slowly recovering economy, retailers are looking for ways to lure wary customers into their stores on Black Friday. Some retailers are attracting shoppers by staying open on Thanksgiving Day, in addition to extending their hours on Black Friday. Wal-Mart leads the pack, with most of its stores remaining open for 24 hours on Thanksgiving Day as well as Black Friday. On Thanksgiving, the Gap will open at 9 a.m., Banana Republic at 11 a.m., and Old Navy at noon. Toys “R” Us stores will open their doors at midnight before Black Friday. Others are employing social media contests to draw in customers, like J.C. Penney Co.’s Facebook sweepstakes, in which winners will receive a Penney’s $500 gift card, assistance from personal shoppers, and a limo ride to the store.
Here’s where you can score some impressive Black Friday deals:
Read full article…
tulisan ini dibuat oleh kang Lucky Sebastian – milis Gadtorade hari minggu kemaren …
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Kayaknya ada yg ngomongin di thread sebelah
Ini ngga ngeracun, ngga ngajak move on, just simply cerita kenapa saya ninggalin BB.
Apakah BB ngga bagus? Tidak, BB sangat bagus…
Apakah BB tidak keren? BB sangat keren, makanya semua orang mau memilikinya, bahkan yang tidak mampu beli yg asli beli replikanya
Apakah BB tidak canggih? BB sangat canggih, servernya hebat… berkembangnya pesat
Apakah BB tidak bermanfaat? Sangat bermanfaat, dipakai kerja sangat membantu..
Lebih dari itu BB memperkenalkan kepada masyarakat kita dunia lain, yaitu email, internet , chatting dan social networking. Better than iklan internet masuk desa.
Kalau ada penghargaan dari negara untuk orang2 yang membuat kemajuan bagi negara, saya mengusulkan BB dimasukkan di dalamnya, BB memberikan bukti nyata kepada masyarakat ada teknologi maju yang harus kita ikuti dan kuasai dan kejar.
Apakah saya a BB lover? Yup, sebelum mata terpejam, BB adalah benda terakhir yang saya pegang, waktu mata terbuka di pagi hari, bb benda yang saya pegang pertama kali untuk lihat ada berita atau kabar apa dari teman2.
Nah loo… so kenapa move on? Percayakah anda pada cinta pada pandangan pertama? Ketika pertama saya memegang Magic (android dari HTC, HTC Magic), saya merasa ada sebuah "klik"
Masih ingat Micah Sanders? karakter di film seri Heroes yang bisa bicara dengan mesin dan komputer? Itu yang saya inginkan ketika memegang android pertama kali, ingin berbicara dengan "mitos masa depan" ini.
Masih butuh beberapa lama sampai saya bisa memiliki sebuah android dan mulai mendalaminya. Akhirnya saya bawa 2 device, 1 BB dan 1 Android.
Akhirnya mulai, setiap malam sebelum tidur, android adalah benda terakhir yang saya pegang dan benda pertama kali yang saya ambil ketika bangun. Kalau dulu email teman2 dan bbm yang berlangsung hingga malam yang membuat saya masih memegang bb sampai akhir tidur, kali ini karena saya ingin berbicara dengan android , mengenal karakternya, kemampuannya.
Saya merasa BlackBerry kalau analogi kendaraan adalah sebuah mobil Kijang. Bisa mengangkut banyak anggota keluarga, the more the merrier, aa, teteh, paman, bibi, tante, oom, kakek , nenek semua bisa kita bawa dalam bbm nya Bisa dipakai mampir ke undangan, bisa dipakai ngantor, nganter anak sekolah, bisa dibawa liburan, bahkan ke pasar (makanya dari keluarga paling kaya yang punya bentley atau RR, sampe keluarga biasa , biasanya punya Kijang, setidaknya kata yang kaya, untuk ke pasar..)
Android seperti sebuah Hummer, Humvee, kendaraan 4×4 offroad atau sebuah Land Rover. Yang dia tidak mampu adalah membawa semua aa , teteh, paman, bibi dll tumplek blek dalam bbm
Tapi kalau anda ajak berlibur, dia bisa sampai ke ujung pantai, kalau anda bawa ke gunung , dia bisa diajak masuk ke dalamnya, kalau dia diajak ke pasar, bisa diajak ke tempat paling becek. Kalau anda ajak ngantor, dia bisa parkir di atas trotoar walau parkiran penuh.
BlackBerry sudah penuh sesak, ketika rekan2 kirim attachment gambar, tertatih tatih saya mendownload, ketika rekan memberi link url , tertatih tatih saya membuka.
Ketika ada yang harus di download, berbagai macam trik harus dikerahkan supaya bisa mengatasi hambatan batasan download. Ketika ada link youtube, saya ter[aksa tutup pesannya.
BlackBerry sudah mengubah banyak kebiasaan orang, dulu saya kalau pulang kerja, buka komputer download email dan balas via outlook, setelah ada BB, outlook tidak pernah disentuh lagi. Semua saya depend di BB. Sampai akhirnya saya mengikuti keinginan BB, limitasi.
Android tidak semudah BB, mengetik di android melatih kesabaran lebih daripada belajar mengetik di BB storm. Padahal kita sudah biasa ngetik di BB. Saya juga tau ini jawaban ketika banyak orang bertanya, kenapa banyak pemilik android belum lama pakai sudah jual? Pertama they miss BBM, ke dua mereka ngga tahan ngetik nya
Jawaban ketiga adalah mereka belum tahu android bisa di push kemana, macet ngantri di dalem Kijang sambil BBM dengan rekan2 dianggap lebih nyaman daripada , naik Humvee yang bisa lewatin kemacetan karena bisa dipakai naik ke trotoar , lewatin banjir dan shortcut via semak belukar.
*Jadi maksud anda BBM ngga bagus?
Tidak, BBM sangat bagus, termasuk salah satu arena chit chat paling hebat.*
Trus Android punya yang lebih hebat dari BBM?
Tidak, android tidak punya….
Jadi kenapa tinggalkan BBM , padahal orang2 rasanya dunia runtuh ketika kontak BBM nya hilang karena gagal upgrade?
Begini jawaban menurut saya: Dulu ketika saya kecil, waktu terasa lama, hari demi hari berlangsung lambat, libur sekolah 1 bulan, wuih…rasanya tidak habis2. Pulang sekolah masih sempat puas main. Suah mandi sore masih sempat main lagi. Tetapi sekarang tidak, hari2 berlalu sangat cepat.
BBM pertama kali sangat menyenangkan, tapi lama2 diperhatikan obrolannya mulai tidak terlalu penting. Kalau berteman dengan tukang jualan, tiap hari di bombardir jualannya: Barang baru masuk, x, y z bla bla bla Kalau ketemu customer: pak minta pin BBM nya, nanti sudah dikasih, ngga kenal waktu tanya ini tanya itu, kalau sedang sibuk tidak dijawab, BUZZ berkali kali. Belum mereka yang begitu sosialita dan penyebar segala berita, dari si A saya dapet broadcast message: hati-hati kalau terima ym dari si X, bisa bikin BB hang bla bla bal. Ngga lama isi yang sama saya dapet dari si B trus si C, trus si D. Belum ada pesan yang dengan akhiran: sebarkan pesan ini ke 10 teman lagi atau lebih supaya kamu tidak kena bencana. Bla bla bla… TIba 2 saya dapet pesan dari miss X, yang saya tidak kenal, ternyata dia sebenarnya miss S yang baru saja mengganti namanya dengan sederet icon hati, smiley dll. Then I feel it’s not for me anymore.
Di android tidak ada yang bisa buzz saya di google talk Tidak ada yang bisa lihat saya sudah baca pesannya atau belum, kalau dimarahin kenapa belum di balas? saya tinggal berkelit belum baca… Ketika waktu senggang, saya lebih suka google talk secukupnya, tulis email dan baca rss.
Android punya widget rss, yang tidak sepotong sepotong Saya cape kalau harus baca rss di bb, sudah sepotong baca full story harus masuk web nya dan laaaammmmmbatttt… sampe waktu menunggu lebih lama dari bacanya.
Setiap hari saya bisa baca informasi teknologi terbaru cukup dari rss yang sudah ada potongan gambarnya.
Kalau dapet link youtube saya langsung bisa menikmati tanpa jeda, bahkan bisa lihat youtube related nya. Rasanya senang nonton youtube, karena di pc juga pakai speedy youtube terengah engah. Dan semenjak paki BB youtube menjadi barang asing untuk saya.
Kalau dapet link url, saya tidak ragu2 membukanya, karena dalam sekejap nongol di depan, full site, tanpa dikurang2i.
Kalau di BB bisa full site, misal pakai opera, bolt, tapi ketika di baca, geser kiri geser kanannya PITA (pain in the ass…upss sorry) belum lag nunggu fullsitenya muncul.
Di android ketika saya besarkan dengan geser jari, huruf2 langsung menyusun rapi ke bawah, dan tinggal geser pakai jari ke bawah. Belum kalau sitenya mengandung Flash…
Buka website sekarang menjadi kesenangan saya, bahkan kalau harus download saya download dengan gembira, tinggal klik kaya di pc.
Karena android dibuat oleh Google, saya mulai lihat visinya ke depan sebagai gadget segala informasi. Sedikit sedikit ada icon share, kalau web bagus atau isi rss menarik, saya tinggal klik share, mau di share kemana? gmail, email lainnya, FB, twitter, delicious? dll
Dan upload foto 3 mega ke FB is a snap, sebentar beres, kalau di BB hmmmm… bbm aja sekarang kirim gambar musti accept, udah accept masih expired pula. I love market. Android market berjibun dan bertambah terus apps tiap hari, dari yang simpel sampai aneh. ngga ada keraguan untuk mencoba, karena downloadnya sudah free , cepat pula, dan kalau ngga suka buangnya juga gampang. Bejibun softaware dari yang amazing sampe yang ngga guna ada disana.
Saya ngga pusing soal theme, soal background. Semuanya ada di luar sana. Sekarang sedang musim hujan, kalau saya membayangkan di negeri 4 musim sedang salju. Ah iseng saya mau background saya hamparan salju dengan pohon2 cemara. Maka saya hanya buka software background dan dia menyajikan bermacam macam foto bagus online sudah dipilih dan sudah sesuai format ukurannya, tinggal di pilih dan use it as background. Nanti malem mau ganti lagi, silahkan, tidak perlu bawa gambar2 dalam memory mu.
Sesudah pilih tema yang cocok, background yang cocok, ya tinggal susun icon2 dan widget2 yang sesuai, semuanya personal dan tidak membosankan. Kalau ganti theme di BB, seringkali jadi lost mana software yang kita mau pakai, karena iconnya sudah berubah, susunannya harus sesuai kemauan pembuat tema. di android you ‘re the boss, you ‘re the architect.
Pekerjaan saya mengharuskan saya kerja sampai malam, ketika pulang saya kadang ingin melepas penat , nongkrong ngopi di warung, dan lihat mood, ah saya pengen denger lagu2 dulu, maka saya stel saja radio 24 jam online seluruh dunia yang menyajikan lagu yang cocok, sambil saya baca komik di android.
Dulu saya pernah pakai iPhone karena saya pikir wah baca komik asik di iphone tinggal besarin gambarnya snappy. Tapi ternyata hanya pembesaran dan tidak merapikan resolusi, jadi percuma gambar komik jadi buram. Dan masukin ke dalam iPhone nya juga PITA, dikit2 sync itunes. Di Android gambar dibesarkan kemudian resolusi ditampilkan sesuai ukuran gambar, jadi enak bisa dibaca dan jelas, tinggal geser kiri geser kanan baca frame per frame komik.
Saya teringat, jika anda2 adalah makhluk malam, yang tidur sangat larut, apa yang harus dilakukan ketika teman2 chat sudah tertidur? Dengan android saya masih asik download lagu, baca informasi terbaru, nonton youtube, nyoba2 software, sampai mata tak kuat lagi.
Dan saya tidak pusing sekarang dengan backup kontak saya, semua ada di google. Sekarang saya mau coba android baru atau mau ganti rom, saya langsung kerjakan, karena sekejap kemudian data saya balik lagi. Tapi 3000 kontak di jave saya tidak berhasil di upload ke google walau sudah pake google sync dan menggunakan 3 provider ditinggal semalaman, entah jalaurnya muter2 atau memang jave saya sudah uzur
Kemudian ketika saya bilang, this is the last day saya pakai layanan BB, karena bis saya sudah jatuh tempo.
Saya cinta BB, tapi seperti pepatah tidak ada hamba yang bisa mengabdi kepada 2 tuan
Saya bukan orang yang sanggup bawa 7 hape seperti mr B:-) atau bawa 3 BB yang aktif semua seperti Mr Joh :-p , cdma esia yang kecil saja saya berikan ke pegawai.
Saya hanya ingin bawa 1 device, yang bisa memenuhi mostly kebutuhan saya, jiwa saya. Akhirnya saya memilih melengserkan BB yang sudah dari jaman bayarnya 700rb dan scroll samping saya sudah miliki.Tunggu sampe BB evolusi atau beli license WebOS…(ya kan oom wi
Buat yang mau coba android, saya hanya bisa bilang, miliki dulu, coba kenali, coba "bicara" seperti micah.
Pakai cara keras untuk menguasai ketikannya, tinggalkan seminggu BB di laci karena memang ngetik di BB itu mudah dan nyaman.
Jangan under estimate dengan diri anda bahwa anda ngga akan bisa ngetik cepat di touchscreen, your mind is your weakness.
Ingat dulu jaman nokia seri 3 yang tombolnya kaya pencetan telepon jadul, melingkar? Dulu saya bisa menguasainya, berarti sekarang lebih mudah Ingat saja, mendaki ke puncak gunung butuh usaha, tapi ketika anda sampai di puncak dan lihat matahari terbit, semua lelah terbayar, matahari terbit di puncak gunung jauh lebih indah daripada dibalik monas
have fun. Masih banyak yang bisa saya ceritakan, tapi saya mau ngetik yang lain ah, sudah lama, cerita weekend:-p
A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law asked if I would be interested in developing an iPhone application for him. I won’t explain the app or its details as that would violate the NDA that I am under. Nevertheless, I thought that this might be fun as I haven’t played with Apple’s development platform since 1995.
Well, Apple hasn’t changed. It appears that their goal is to lock you in a comfortable room and make sure you never leave – even if you can’t afford to stay. In order to build an iPhone app, you need to use Apple tools. That started off simply enough. I tried to put together a Cygwin environment on my Windows 7 system. After a few days, I did have a working environemnt that I could build Unix apps on. But the iPhone SDK isn’t just any old Unix environment. It absolutely needs Mac OS X – and OS X 10.5.3 for good measure.
I don’t have a Mac. So I figured that I could put together a development environment using VirtualBox or VMWare. And if you have enough patience (and can find the right image files) you can run OS X 10.5.2 (through 10.5.5) from within a VMWare host. But to do it legally, you need to buy a license for the OS as well as purchase the iPhone SDK. Before I plunked down any coin of the realm, I had to try it out first. And after a couple fo weeks of tinkering, I found that I could indeed build a virtual environment that would run the iPhone SDK.
But performance was labored. And to do it properly, you really need VMWare Workstation (not VMWare Player). So the final cost for putting all of this together would have been a couple of hundred dollars. But you can get a Mac Mini for a few hundred bucks. And with that, you can remote onto a head-less device that is more than adequate for compiling the code. So I would need a few hundred dollars if I went via VM and a few hundred dollars for a fully functioning Apple hardware platform.
But that is just for starters. Add to that the cost of the iPhone (or iPod Touch) and the cost of the service contract. And when you are done, you have access to one platform on one carrier. In my mind, that is both a fully closed and a highly distasteful investment.
As a former Sprint employee, I had always hoped that Sprint would be the team that would bring forth the best and brightest from a cool new platform. I was wrong. Verizon has brought a solid contender into view with the Moto Droid. And they have brought the marketing pizazz that the Android platform really needed. So I started wondering what it would take to bring together a functioning development platform.
After being disheartened by the cost of an iPhone development platform I was thrilled at what I found when constructing the Android development platform. First, I needed the SDK. Low and behold, the SDK could run on any platform that would support C/C++. And the SDK was free.
And the reference platform for the IDE is Eclipse – which is also freely available. Being a former Java developer, I had no problems getting re-acquainted. I downloaded Eclipse and then downloaded the Android Development Tools (ADT). All along the way, these investments required no financial outlays. And the Android platform even included an interpreter so that I could do rudimentary testing – even w/o the hardware.
So here is the bottom-line. The iPhone costs some serious scratch in order to have the privilege of being locked onto a single hardware provider and a single carrier. On the other hand, Android’s barriers to entry are negligible. I put together a functioning testbed in a couple of hours – including the download time. And once done, I have a platform where I can build apps for any carriers and any number of hardware providers.
Indeed, this reminds me of the Apple-Microsoft PC wars of the nineties. Will Apple ever learn from their mistakes? And will developers choose to be on yet another vendor-selected leash?
Android (s goog) is like a snowball rolling downhill — it won’t be long before it’s moving too fast for anything to stop it. That movement is surely going to spread from the smartphone sector, where Android has its roots, to that of smartbooks. Knowing this, ARM and the Android folks have put their heads together and formed the Solution Center for Android Alliance.
The sole aim of the group, which was unveiled this week, is to help make it easier to put Android on ARM-based devices, of which smartbooks are the emerging choice. The group of 35 companies will pool resources and make them available for developers to get Android systems going with the ARM chipset, which is particularly well-suited for the consumer electronics market.
In the meantime, the Verizon (s vz) Droid, produced by Motorola (s mot), is the hottest Android phone on the market. But early adopters of the Droid were reporting that the auto-focus feature on the device’s powerful camera wasn’t working properly, resulting in lots of fuzzy images. This week, however, many Droid owners found the focusing difficulties to be a thing of the past, prompting suspicions that Verizon had pushed a secret fix over-the-air to the phones. There seemed to be no other explanation for how such a serious bug could suddenly disappear.
In fact, the auto-focus code that Android 2.0 uses reportedly has a bug that makes for fuzzy photos in 24.5-day cycles. The camera works poorly for 24.5 days, then works properly for the next 24.5 days. This is based on the improper use of a timestamp by the focusing code, a strange cause to be sure. Hopefully Verizon will have the formal fix for this bug before the 24.5-day “good” working cycle ends.
While Android 2.0 has been floating around on Motorola DROIDs for over a week now, one important chunk of it has been under lock-and-key: the source. Even amongst manufacturing partners, we’re told, Google hasn’t been completely open; outside of Motorola (and more recently, HTC), most of the other handset manufacturers have been left out in the cold with nothing to keep them warm but Android v1.6. Until tonight, that is.
As the sun set over the Silicon Valley last night, Google pushed the source code for Android 2.0 to the Android Open Source Project. Within two hours, the endlessly able Android community had it up and running on the eldest Android of them all, the T-Mobile G1.
See that lock screen to the right? It doesn’t look like anything too special, but that’s the world’s first screen shot of Android 2.0 running on the G1.
According to leading Android hacker Cyanogen, everything is running “really well, fast and smooth”. The only thing not working properly at the moment is audio/video playback. Considering that they’ve gotten this far with just a few hours of porting work, it doesn’t seem too likely that will be an issue for long.
I’d assume it’ll be at least few days before they work out all the kinks and make the download/tutorial available to anyone willing to root (read: hack) their phone – but it’ll still probably be faster than waiting for an official patch from T-Mobile.
Hace muy poco se entregó la lista oficial de los ganadores de los Webby 2000’s Top 10 que es algo así como un Oscar para los acontecimientos y hechos mas significativos que se han presentado en Internet en la primera década del 2000, así quedaron las cosas:
.Craigslist expands outside San Francisco (2000): La expansión de este portal de todo tipo de clasificados que pasó de operar en la ciudad de San Francisco a tener presencia en más de 500 ciudades alrededor del mundo y en 50 países, marcó la base del funcionamiento de las Web como negocio y su potencial, demostrando y marcando un hito histórico en la digitalización de los medios impresos, ya que a partir de esta estructura de negocio, fueron miles de diarios y revistas los que se vieron motivados a ver la Internet como una oportunidad para ampliar y diversificar las fronteras de las empresas.
.Google AdWords launches (2000): En mi concepto uno de los logros mas excepcionales en el mundo de los medios de comunicación. Google AdWords abrió la posibilidad de hacer promoción de cualquier tipo de empresa y negocio logrando digitalizár la pauta publicitaria y trayendo consigo un modelo que trae una cantidad de ingresos que tiene hoy en día a Google como a una de las organizaciones mas poderosas del mundo. Con este practico, sencillo y útil sistema es posible elaborar campañas pulicitarias con un gran nivel de segmentación además de hacerles un seguimiento estadistico impecable, para poder medir el retorno de la inversión.
.Google Wikipedia (2001): Gracias a dios nació Wikipedia la enciclopedia mas completa que jamas haya existido y lo mejor gratuita y alimentada por nosotros mismos. Se socializo el conocimiento y es un excelente método de compartir, corregir y enriquecer la información por personas en todo el mundo.
.Napster Shut Down (2001): Desafortunada o afortunadamente (la verdad es depende del criterio de cada persona) se cerró este monstruo digital en donde podíamos obtener y compartir música de todo tipo. Solo era necesario hacer un clic para bajar el programa y en menos de nada ya teníamos listas interminables de canciones en nuestro ordenador. El inicio y final de este marcó un cambio en la industria de la música, se quebraron disqueras, los artistas tuvieron que cambiar su estructura de negocio ampliando sus giras y reduciendo la promoción de sus discos que cada vez los compraban menos y dejaban de ser rentables además de su principal base de ingresos.
.Google IPO (2004): El inicio de Google Maps, Android y la mayoría de las aplicaciones que Google nos ofrece para facilitarnos la vida y de las cuales muchos no podíamos prescindir, diversificando la empresa y argumentando el porque se considera a esta empresa como uno de los pilares de la innovación a nivel mundial.
.Online video revolution (2006): Adobe’s Flash 9 video player se quedó atrás y se formó la revolución del video digital dando la oportunidad a todos los usuarios de Internet de agilizar la reproducción de vídeos en Internet sin necesidad de descargarlos y es de allí en donde nace el monstruo YOUTUBE que no necesita de ningún tipo de presentación porque ya todos lo conocemos.
Facebook opens to non-college students and Twitter takes off (2006): existen personas que no pueden prescindir de esta red social, se pluralizo el Media Networking y millones de personas en el mundo comenzaron a compartir fotografías y comentarios a lo largo del mundo entero. Después fue adquirida por los creadores de Twitter y su creador se hizo una de los jóvenes mas ricos del mundo.
The iPhone debuts (2007): Acá difiero y le daría este puesto a Ebay o Amazon, pues si bien el I-Phone y Apple en general hacen constantemente un uso impecable de la plataforma de la Internet para la promoción de los productos, se podría premiar como estrategia publicitaria pero no como un acontecimiento al nivel de los antes mencionados. Me declaro fan del I-Phone y si tuviera que escoger entre los 10 productos más representativos de la historia éste desfilaría en mi lista junto a la Coca-Cola, el Ordenador, la TV y algunos otros pero no olvidemos que no estamos hablando solo de productos sino de los acontecimientos mas importantes en Internet de la primera década del 2000.
U.S. Presidential Campaign (2008): Mensajes de texto, redes sociales, AdWords, Blogs, una Web de landing impecable fueron de gran ayuda para poder llevar a la Casa Blanca al hoy en día “Hombre más poderoso del mundo” según la lista Forbes. Obama acumuló una votación sin precedentes en la historia de estados Unidos. Esta en particular resulta la mas inspiradora para mi, pues es en el área en donde trabajo y sustenta sin darle cabida a ningún argumento en contra, el porque todas las empresas deben contemplar entre sus planes de Marketing a la Internet.
Iranian election protests (2009): Twitter fue la plataforma en donde millones de Iranies plasmaron su decepción e inconformismo con los muy sospechosas elecciones de 2009 cautivando la atención de los medios y causando un revuelo a nivel mundial pidiendo a gritos el respeto de la democracia y la justicia.
Ya veremos que nos trae la próxima década, tengo algunas predicciones de acontecimientos que darán mucho de que hablar sobre los cuales haré hincapié en mi siguiente articulo.
Sometimes its more difficult than others to read the signs. For instance (because this is my latest obsessive compulsive thought), I’ve been planning for a month or more to upgrade mine and my husband’s cell phones in December. We have been Palm users for a couple of years, now, (not counting the original Palm Pilots that were not phones, also) so were originally planning to move to the Palm Pre. Then we started researching the apps, battery life, durability, and countless other nit-picks about every smart phone on the market and are now right back at square one. Actually, as of this postingm, we aren’t even at square one, we’re behind square one…and its frustrating and heck! How am I supposed to stop obsessing about cell phones (to upgrade, not to upgrade, what to upgrade to if we go through with said upgrade) when the issue is not being resolved?
OK, so I decided the answer to my obsession was prayer. That’s certainly logical. Now that I really think that God cares what phone I have or don’t have, but I’m pretty sure He still knows what’s best for me and which phone will help more and which will hinder more, if you know what I mean. So, I prayed. Yes, I prayed about cell phones. I know, I know.
So, I arose from my prayer time over cell phones completely at ease with whatever came my way. That if it was best for us to keep the phones we have for now and make no change, that I wouldn’t pout. That if the upgrades were a good plan (or at least not a bad plan) then that decision would be made obvious as the nose on my face or the crows feet around my eyes from years of big smiles. And my mind was (note, was) at ease.
So, I’m good to go and no longer obsessing. Then, I get to the office, and I’ll be darned if the very first email that pops up is from Fora.tv telling me that they now have an app for the iPhone. Now I’m just confused, because I’m sure that God isn’t really giving me the go-ahead for the phone of all phones, the acclaimed iPhone 3GS…or is He? I can justify the hack out of an iPhone purchase (or even some of the Android phones, for that matter). I do tons of stuff on my phone, practical stuff…now just games and goofy stuff. I blog, email, work on the company websites, facebook (thats no goofy), tweet (not goofy, either), and so much more. Phones any more truly are our personal computers, and this is especially true for me as we do not even have a computer at home anymore since we use our cell phones for everything.
So, all of that obsessing to ask: When we pray for definite signs and directions, and we get answers that surprise us, how do we answer? As for the phone, I’m still not convinced that I’ve gotten the last of my direction on that matter and I won’t buy a new phone until I am sure, but really this is just the latest of many personal examples of this kind of signal reading test. When do we know the answers from the wishful thinking???
Anyone who reads much of my writing knows what’s to come. An little while after finishing up the posting on my cell phone conundrum, I came to the following passage in my New Testament reading. I won’t commentate further, the Word speaks for itself!
Then someone out of the crowd said to him, “Master, tell my brother to share his legacy with me.”
But Jesus replied, “My dear man, who appointed me a judge or arbitrator in your affairs?”
And then, turning to the disciples, he said to them, “Notice that, and be on your guard against covetousness in any shape or form. For this man’s real life in no way depends on the number of his possessions.”
(Luke 12:13-15, Modern English Translation)
and then further down…
“You must not set your heart on what you eat or drink, nor must you live in a state of anxiety.”
(Luke 12:29, Modern English Translation)
Like the smartmouthed hero Dade Murphy said in the movie Hackers, RISC is good. Good for ARM’s business, that is. ARM is the chip seller that developed the RISC architecture back in the early 80’s, and luckily for their longterm shareholders these little chips now have homes in about 98% of all mobile phones.
I’m talking about iPhones, Blackberries, Android phones, Game Boys, the fun battery powered things that we all carry around today.
Because small devices love the reduced power and increased processing power gained from RISC, ARM loves these small devices. Since everything is going small and mobile these days….
Enter the ARM Solution Center for Android. “The ARM Solution Center for Android (SCA) offers developers new to Android or to ARM, the widest range of Android resources for ARM architecture. SCA members come together to share their expertise, solutions and services, including: Development tools, complete Android solutions, Android software components, Android services and Android training.” (text quoted directly from the SCA site).
That’s nice and dandy for developers, but what does this mean for us consumers? Since Android is being used for more than just smartphones, it means we’ll see a lot of great apps on a lot of great devices.
Lets follow the math and peer into the future. Take the amazing progress that Android has seen in its first year, its roots with the juggernaut Google, its enthusiastic following from techies everywhere who aren’t still too drunk with lust for the aging iPhone, and the fact that ARM is now throwing their weight into the ring.
Look into the past a little bit and think about what grew like weeds in the early days when everybody under the sun started making x86 based personal computers and servers? Microsoft. And we all know how big they are today. All those devices needed something to run them.
This SCA is the chicken and egg situation, build it and they will come. When they come, they use your chips.
Google’s egg was Android. All they need to do is keep fertilizing it with free apps like Places and Gmail, and the chickens are sprouting like weeds.
The farmers are HTC, Motorola, Samsung, anybody who is now pumping out chickens … errr, device after device with the Android OS running it.
I’m betting that Android will come out on top.
Now if only I could figure out that one stock that stands to benefit the most from this …. does anybody know of a good Android Mutual Fund?
Oh, well the answer is ARM Holdings plc of course, their stock has doubled in price since Jan 2009.
CNET изглежда са направили обстойно интервю с Ерик Шмидт – главен изпълнителен директор на Google и той официално е потвърдил, че очакваната операционна система – Google Chrome OS ще бъде специално предназначена за нетбуци. За нея се твърдеше, че трябва да излезе по някое време тази седмица (вместо в началото на 2010-та както се споменаваше по-рано).
При запитване за разликата в подхода към Android и Chrome, г-н Шмидт е казал за CNET, че в крайна сметка базовата разлика между Android и Chrome OS е, че едната е предназанчена за мобилни телефони, а другата – за нетбуци, където налице е повече мощ, по-голяма резолюция на дисплея и потребителите си имат клавиатура.
As you probably know, I have been lusting over Sprint Android phones for about four months now. So why haven’t I gotten one yet? After all, the Hero’s been out since mid October, and the Moment’s been out for nearly two weeks now.
If you read my previous post, you know that there are pros and cons to each phone. However, according to various forums, including SprintUsers.com and Sprint’s own Buzz About Wireless, it looks like both devices were rushed to market, probably to compete with Verizon’s Droid. Here are some of the problems that have been discussed ad nauseum:
Hero:
Sending a text message using the built-in messaging application will prevent the device from going to sleep, thus sucking the battery dry. There are workarounds that seem to work for a few days to a week or so. http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/23043?tstart=0
Dust is getting under the screen within just a few days of use. http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196341
It takes as four seconds before the phone recognizes an incoming call. Sometimes, the phone is so bogged down doing other things that it never allows you to answer the call at all. http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/23670?tstart=30
Bluetooth usage will incurr stackdumps that are not thrown away. This uses memory that is not kept in check and that cannot be disposed without a reset. http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=198477
If the device runs with less than a certain amount of memory, it starts throwing away text messages. Once this starts happening, the only way out is to get a new device. http://androidforums.com/sprint-htc-hero/12643-htc-working-critical-sms-voicemail-issue.html
Text messages don’t always reach the device. http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/121830#121830
Moment:
The battery meter is not accurate, by a longshot. http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/24000?tstart=30
A-GPS is not working (This isn’t supported by Android 1.5. Seems like HTC added the feature and Samsung forgot to.) http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/24023?tstart=0
USB connectivity isn’t the best. http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/24013?tstart=0
According to Sprint, a patch for the Hero is in the works, and for the Moment in talks, so we’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.
Fragmentation of Android Open platform and Google’s efforts to bring a method to madness in its OS updates and its pitfalls.
Open platforms are increasingly coming of age and the future from the looks of it is completely Open Platform led (read report). LiMo powered Google Android is the best example of trend setting into the mainstream. With every major account that Google Android takes over, the proprietary WinMo loses. The Android camp can today boast of HTC, Motorola and Samsung in its ranks. Each of those names is Android’s gain and WInMo’s loss. Earlier, Gartner had predicted a 7X increase in smart-phone numbers driven by Android in the next 4 years, even as the smart-phone market would grow 4X. WInMo in the same time would at best remain flat. (Read report here)
The best thing about open platforms such as Android is that they seem to make the devices platform agnostic. An Android powered HTC and the Moto Droid would thus be on the same interaction levels. Thus interface commonality of applications and content would make the user experience uniform.
However by adopting standard platforms, manufacturers risk losing the ability to differentiate themselves. This is something akin to the WinMo 6.1 screen that is ubiquitous across all Windows devices. The handset manufacturers had no choice with WinMo, but with Google Android they have a choice of differentiating their Interfaces and re-designing them. The fact that Android gave the ODM the choice of customizing the platform was one of the USPs of Android. However, this then causes the open platform to fragment as ODMs dig deep into parts of the operating system. So then Google Android starts branching out like the Moto Blur or the HTC Sense.
An example to this effect is the multi touch “Pinch” zooming:
The Motorola Droid’s Android 2.0 OS supports multi-touch out of the box, but Google and Motorola haven’t turned it on for any of the phone’s built-in apps. So the Droid’s Web browser, Google Maps, and built-in photo app do not support pinch zooming. Third party applications can also support Multi touch.
Meanwhile, the HTC droid Eris, which runs an older, customized version of Android, also supports multi-touch — but only for a few apps made by HTC. The Droid Eris’s Web browser and built-in photo app do support pinch zooming. But Google Maps does not
That’s just one feature compared across 2 manufacturers. The complexity could be a groundswell across multiple ODMs and a number of features. The inconsistencies among phones will continue to grow. And it wont just be confusing to consumers, but could be a roadblock to developers writing apps for Android. That is something Google can’t afford.
So then it will be important for ODMs to maintain application compatibility even as they create distinct ways to organize user’s information and services.
On the other hand, it could also mean Google having to step in with the ODMs in the UI customization stage such that device differentiation is created and platform sanctity is also maintained.
Google seems to have stepped into device UI customization process already as was the case with Motorola Droid. Google’s Android team directly assisted Motorola and Verizon in building the Droid’s software from the ground up and is currently assisting another, unknown, handset maker in Korea to create a finely-tuned hardware and software combination. (Read Report). Currently Google releases major updates on a chosen flagship model.
1.0 went to the HTC G1
1.5 went to the HTC Hero
2.0 went to Motorola
While this suits Google’s scheme of things, this discrimination can hurt Android eco-system in the long run. Google will have to balance two things:
Coordinating UI update releases to ensure appropriate standardization for open source innovation
Being fair to the ODM eco-system in terms of roll outs of the UI versions.
In unserem letzten Blogbeitrag haben wir viel über die japanischen Mobiltelefone gesprochen. Wir haben versucht die Frage zu beantworten, warum die modernen japanischen Mobiltelefone nicht in den Weltmarkt gekommen sind und welche Rolle die kulturellen Unterschiede auf dem asiatischen und europäischen Markt spielt.
Kurz haben wir über das revolutionäre Produkt iPhone gesprochen und die Auswirkung von Betriebssystem erläutert. Auf dem Mobiltelefonmarkt hat in der letzten Zeit wieder viel passiert. Mit neuen Produkten, neuen Applikationen und neuen Betriebssystem sehen wir einen ganz neuen Trend auf dem Mobiltelefonmarkt. Heute versuchen wir mal ein kleines Zukunftsbild von Mobiltelefon zu bemalen.
Die Betriebssysteme von Smartphone
Die heutigen Smartphones kann man fast mit einem Rechner vergleichen, sie leistet die Aufgabe schon weit hinaus von einem einfach Telefon. Auf meisten Smartphones können die Nutzer Applikationen installieren und das Smartphone nach eigenem Bedarf gestalten. Dazu spielt das Betriebssystem eine entscheidende Rolle. Wenn man heute zu Tage ein Mobiltelefon kaufen will, kauft in der Tat nicht nur das Gerät, viel wichtiger ist die Plattform, die das Mobiltelefon anbietet. Das Betriebssystem entscheidet welche Software die Endnutzer installieren und welche Funktionen das Mobiltelefon haben kann.
Auf dem Sarmtphone-Markt gibt es momentan circa fünf verschiedene Betriebssysteme, die folgender Marktanteil hat:
Symbian OS wird schon lange als Betriebssystem von vielen großen Smartphone-Herstellern wie Nokia und Sony-Ericsson verwendet, 2008 beschlossen Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Motorola und NTT Docomo Symbian als gemeinsames Betriebssystem zu nutzen.
Sowie das iPhone OS unterstützt RIM Blackberry OS nur das Smartphone Blackberry, mit den perfekten Kalender- und Emailprogrammen werden Blackberry von vielen Leuten als Pocket PC benutzt.
Als Smartphone kam iPhone eigentlich ziemlich spät in dem Markt, aber in nur fast zwei Jahre besitzt das Produkt schon 13 Prozent des Marktanteils. Die rasante Entwicklung kommt einerseits aus der tollen Hardware und schönen Design, aber entscheidend ist das Geschäftsmodell, was Appel der Markt revolutioniert hat. Das iPhone ist nicht nur ein allein stehendes Produkt, es ist ein Endgerät von dem AppStore. Appel verkauft letztendlich eine Plattform, die Kunden können mit der großen Software-Auswahl ihr Smartphone beliebig gestalten.
Das Betriebssystem Android hat sich seit diesem Jahr sehr schnell entwickelt und verbessert. Viele Mobiltelefonhersteller planen jetzt neue Produkte mit Android in den Markt zu bringen. Andoid hat zwei große Vorteile, dass das Betriebssystem Open Source ist und Google ihre Dienste durch Android in den Mobiltelefonmarkt erweitern möchte. Als Linux-basierte Betriebssystem hat Android in der Zukunft ein breiter Spielraum als die anderen Betriebssysteme. Der Projektleiter von Android kündigte schon in 2008, dass man Android nicht nur als ein einfaches Betriebssystem für Mobiltelefon verstehen kann. Android kann diverse Geräte betreiben, egal das ist Netbook, Navigation oder auch eBook Reader.
Das Hardware (Mobiltelefon)
In der letzten Zeit sind ein paar neuen Smartphones in den Markt gekommen. Drei großen Mobiltelefonhersteller Nokia, Sony-Ericsson und Motorola haben fast gleichzeitig für den Weihnachtmarkt ihre neuen Produkte (Nokia N900, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 und Motorola Droid) veröffentlicht.
Wenn man die technischen Daten von den drei neuen Produkte anguckt, kann man feststellen, dass sie sehr ähnlich sind. Der große Unterschied ist nur, dass sie unterschiedliche Betriebssysteme haben.
Die Unterschiede von Hardware werden bei Smartphones immer kleiner, die Hardware wie GPS, WiFi, Kamera usw. werden Standartausrüstung. Die Hardware von Smartphone wird immer besser, allerdings ist die Technik nicht mehr der entscheidende Punkt.
Applikationen
Sowie oben schon erläutert wurde, dass die Applikationen bei den zukünftigen Smartphones eine entscheidende Rolle spielen wird. Teilweise haben wir Ihnen auch schon einige interessante Anwendungen in Twitter vorgestellt. Durch die Entwicklung von Applikationen kann das Mobiltelefon völlig anderes definiert werden. Zum Beispiel, man kann mit Mobiltelefon nicht nur Musik spielen, man kann auch damit Auto fahren. Es ist nur einer Anfang, dass man viele Anwendungen und Funktionen durch Applikationen auf dem Mobiltelefon integrieren kann.
Google zeigt ein gutes Beispiel, wie man das Navigationsystem auf dem Mobiltelefon integrieren kann. Vor ein paar Woche kündigte Google eine Applikation für die Android-basierten Mobiltelefone, mit dieser Applikation kann man das Smartphone als Navigation verwendet werden. Außer die gängige Funktionen von Navigationssystem unterstützt die Applikation die Ziele durch Sprache einzugeben und das Highlight ist, dass man in der Navigation auch das dreidimensionale Street View zeigt kann.
Google erweitern ihre Dienste durch die Plattform bzw. Betriebssystem Android, es ist wahrscheinlich nicht so lang zu warten, dass Google ihre komplette Angebote auf dieser Plattform anbieten kann. Wir sind gespannend, welche interessante Anwendungen entstehen und wie die Mobiltelefonhersteller mit ihrer Hardware darauf einstellen werden.
Ausblick
Zukunft des Mobiltelefons werden sehr wahrscheilich nicht von Hardware und Betriebssystem entschieden, Android OS können nicht einfach die anderen Systemen mit dem Vorteil von Open Source ersetzen und iPhone kann auch nicht immer mit dem schönen Design die Kunden gewinnen. Wenn die Smartphones in der Zukunft einen technischen Standart haben, entscheidend wird dann die erfolgreichen Applikationen und die Offenheit des Betriebssystems.
Nicht wie bei den Betriebssysteme in Computer gibt es zum Glück jetzt schon für Entwicklung von Appikationen Smartphones einige technische Standart. Es ist zu erwarten, dass die Applikationen in verschiedenen Systemen verwendet werden können.
Vielleicht kann man die Zukunft von Mobiltelefon mit dem Webbrowser Firefox vergleichen. Wir werden in der Zukunft doch mit verschiedenen Computer und Betriebssysteme arbeiten, aber viel wichtig ist, dass wir mit einer offenen Plattform viele Applikationen verwenden können und das Browser bzw. das Mobiltelefon nach eigenen Wunsch gestalten.
A new Android phone was popping up all over the web this week, one that looks like a chubby Droid. The V1 has all of the standard features you’d expect in an Android smartphone plus the promise of a unique video calling function, and is due to be launched next year, according to the company bringing it to market, Saygus. Never heard of Saygus? Neither had we.
In the meantime, the Droid is the only phone currently available with Android 2.0, which means it’s the only one running the new Google Maps Navigation, the search giant’s (s goog) free foray into the turn-by-turn navigation world. It’s only logical to assume that future phones running Android 2.0 will also be running the navigation software from Google, but as is usually the case, hackers have decided they won’t wait. A cooked OS version (ROM) has already appeared for the original Android phone, the G1, and it has a functional version of Google Maps Navigation onboard.
I’ve been using a loaner Droid for a while now, and offer my continuing impressions of the new phone from Verizon (s vz), that network’s best phone by far — although some would argue that’s not saying much.
I have used (or been used by) the Palm Pre for the last 5 months. I am going from one “iPhone killer” to another and have to honestly say that I have never been happier with another smartphone. First off let me put this straight; the Motorola DROID will not dethrone the iPhone. The iPhone still has a huge place in the market and will continue to have that place until Android becomes more user friendly.
The DROID is something different, it is meant for a specific type of crowd that wants more out of their mobile device. The DROID feels like a small computer in your hands partly due to the great hardware that Motorola built but also because Android feels much more powerful than the iPhone OS or Palm’s webOS. I am not saying that Android 2.0 is easier to use than either of the OS’s; I am saying that Android is much more powerful than either platforms.
Android 2.0 feels much faster than Android 1.5 or even 1.6. The problem is that since this is the first phone with 2.0 and that it is the first Android phone with Cortex A8 processor this faster feeling may not necessarily be the software. Nonetheless, switching through applications is generally quite fast although visually the switches lack polish. Sometimes the graphics become distorted going from application to home screen. For me this isn’t a problem especially because the device doesn’t lock up, it just sometimes looks clunky. I am more into function than form.
The voice quality of the phone is amazing. Seriously. Voices sound very good through the handset and even over my car speakers. The speaker phone is incredibly loud. Something that Motorola got right here was that they actually made a phone, not just an internet communication device. In using the Palm Pre’s phone I noticed that it takes forever to connect, hang up, look at your call list, etc. With the DROID being so fast the phone is usable and works very well.
The screen is beautiful and other screens look terrible after using the DROID.
The camera does fairly well but I was expecting more quality. I will say that the video quality is damn good and can be used while streaming Pandora without too many hiccups. I think that I need to experiment more with the camera to either praise it or count it out in the long run.
The browser is not as good as the iPhone 3G S or the Palm Pre’s, yet it is definitely acceptable and usable. I do find however that there are some sites that just don’t work, one of which is WordPress.com. I cannot seem to login from the main page and when I think I am about to an error pops up. Anyways, the browser needs a little work and I do miss pinching and zooming gestures that are hopefully going to be added in the near future.
I haven’t had enough time with Google Maps Navigation, that may be something for an entire post.
Everyone is still complaining about the keyboard and I just don’t see that much wrong with it. It is almost identical to the HTC Mogul’s keyboard; keys are flat, close together, small bumps underneath them, and a tad slippery. I guess it sounds worse than it is. I actually love the keyboard aside from the fact that my right hand has to reach over the directional pad. Nothing that I can’t get used to.
So, my conclusion after three days of use is this; I am keeping the DROID until it dies or something literally groundbreaking comes out. This phone does everything I need it to do and so far it does it very quickly. I feel that the hardware will outlast my 2-year contract. And since this is a “Google Experience” device I should get Vanilla Android updates quickly. So far I am a happy DROID user.
The HTC Hero. Running Google Android. And Spotify Premium. Powered by 3.
The HTC Hero
This is clearly and unarguably an amazing combination of technology. The HTC Hero is a fantastically designed piece of hardware from what I have read, and I’ve definitely done my research. The only truly negative thing seems to be a slight sluggishness, but then it seems the latest firmware solves at lot of these issues anyway. So we’re golden. Similarly, Android is clearly the way forward with mobile operating systems. Some literally ground breaking things are already happening with the operating system and the combination of open-source development with Google at the helm means things are only going to get better, and fast.
Spotify needs no introduction I’m sure. This is easily one of the most important pieces of software in recent years and I’ve often toyed with the idea of shelling out for a premium account. Consider the constant updating of their music catalogue and the additional content available to premium members, the service gets better every week. I’ve given in and paid for the odd day pass, but to have a Spotify Premium account in my pocket – let’s just say it’s a very, VERY large factor in why this particular deal is so incredible.
I heard about this deal in mid-October and was instantly intrigued. The deal was with 3 who I’ve been with for the past 16 months. This had a few advantages – I was familiar with the service and generally haven’t had any problems with them. Also, they’re big on Skype and even on my K660i I’ve had free use of Skype despite not having an internet add-on. Lastly, despite having 2 months of my contract left I was in the “upgrade phase” so hopefully I could migrate as soon as I wanted to. 3 had a splash page about the deal which at the time just listed the general contract details and had a box for entering your email address since the Hero wasn’t available yet.
The contract itself seems like a pretty good deal. It’s a 24 month commitment which has unlimited texts, internet and 3-to-3 calls. Skype is also free without eating into the bandwidth fair usage policy and 750 voice minutes are provided each month for other network calls. This came to a grand total of £35 a month, a little over £10 more than I was currently spending. However, remember that this price included the Spotify Premium account which if you buy stand-alone is £9.99. Since I’ve been thinking about going premium for a while, this seemed like a perfect deal. I popped in my email address and was left with nothing to do but wait and dream about phones.
The deal launched at some point last week and I spent a good while thinking about the best time to upgrade. The Spotify deal was only on until the end of November but I should have a pay-day before then. I decided it would be the best idea to wait until I had some money and then see if it still felt like the right thing to do. That was before today.
When I got in from work I had an email from 3 with the title “Spotify on the HTC Hero – Exclusive to 3″. I thought, apart from them being a little behind sending the email out, it wasn’t really of any interest since I’d hardly forgotten about the deal. Opening it up however I found these words:
The HTC Hero is here
And because you signed up to receive info about this award-winning mobile, we’re offering you an exclusive deal: get the HTC Hero with 24 months’ Spotify Premium without paying the usual up front charge.
Save £97.86
I had to read it several times. The only reason I hadn’t gone for the deal already was because of that up-front cost which I really couldn’t afford. Still reading the email I started frantically dialling the 3 sales team at which point my mobile told me my battery was low. I pulled my charger out of my laptop bag and dashed into the kitchen, whacking my knee on the table in the process, to the nearest free plug socket – unplugging things in this room would have wasted precious moments! About 30 seconds after receiving the email I was ordering my HTC Hero and it was costing me nothing.
The only downside was I would have to sign up with a new contract – I wouldn’t be able to upgrade my current one. I thought this was a little strange but it was a very good, limited time offer so I could see their potential reasoning. Still, if I was saving £98 and only had two months of a £21 contract left, I could live with paying off that last commitment and still saving over £50, not to mention the over £100 I was saving on the 24 month Spotify subscription. I asked the guy about swapping my number over to the new contract (I’ve only ever had one mobile number and would like to keep it that way) and he said a quick call to customer service could get my current contract cancelled and my number transferred to a pay as you go SIM for transfer when my new phone arrived. A bit of an effort but all in the name of savings.
I thought I’d get it out of the way and so picked up the phone to customer service and explained the situation. The guy on the other end of the phone then proceeded to tell me that I could have just upgraded and still got the deal. This. Was. Amazing! Yes, I do mean amazing! Suddenly not only was I getting the deal of the year, I wouldn’t have to pay two months of my old contract and fuss about with swapping my number. This called saved me another £42 – they were virtually paying me to buy their phone!
I’m not sure why the first operator seemed to think I couldn’t upgrade but I don’t really care, this deal has worked out amazingly every step of the way. The upshot is I now have two HTC Hero’s heading to my home due to arrive Thursday. I’ll have to send back the one that was created on the new contract of course (and 3 will provide packaging to post it back for free, which is cool) but it’s a small price to pay for the deal I’ve been lusting over which so far has actually profited me.
The lines may have been subdued, but one way or another, it sounds as if Motorola managed to sell quite a few DROIDs over the weekend. According to analyst Mark McKechnie at Broadpoint AmTech, the outfit managed to move around 100,000 of ‘em during the opening weekend, with most stores moving at least half of their original shipments. He also estimated that Moto would sell one million Android-based phones in Q4 2009 alone (which includes the CLIQ and DROID Eris, obviously), and that he viewed the first few days as "encouraging." It’s been a long, long while since we’ve been able to say this, but hey — nice job, Motorola.
Filed under: Cellphones
Analyst estimates 100,000 DROID smartphones sold in first weekend originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Analyst estimates 100,000 DROID smartphones sold in first weekend Darren Murph Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:12:00 GMT
Adobe Photoshop the market-leading image editor has released a native photo editor and up loader for iPhone/Android/Windows. It’s a very handy application for fixing and offloading images where ever when ever you want.
Multiple effects can be done and undone easily, besides that photos can be cropped, rotated, re sized and adjusted for saturation, exposure and tint as well as have a black & white effect applied or soft focus. All version are best and do a really good job for correcting the images not good in first place.
It’s a free application that can be easily downloaded from Photoshop.com
Après avoir lu sur le nouvel appareil de Motorola j’en conclus que le Motorola Droid est un concurrent sérieux au iPhone d’Apple.
Tout d’abord le Droid tourne sur la plateforme Android 2.0 de Google, d’ou son nom.
Son écran de 3,7 pouces se distingue de celle de 3,5 pouces du iPhone.
Son clavier glissoir se démarque également du iPhone ou l’on doit taper avec nos doigts sur un clavier sur l’écran.
Le téléphone inclus toute la gamme d’application de Google dont Google Maps Navigation qui vous permet de vous déplacer avec un GPS a reconnaissance vocale. Par exemple vous êtes à San Francisco, dites à votre Droid “Navigate to Starbucks in San Francisco” et il vous affichera une liste des Starbucks de la ville, sélectionnez-en un et vous aurez les indications vocales pour vous y rendre.
Une possibilité intéressante avec Droid c’est de rouler plusieurs applications simultanément alors que c’est chose impossible sur le iPhone.
Aux États-Unis, le Motorola Droid coûte $200 avec un abonnement de 2 ans avec Verizon, le distributeur exclusif.
Qui distribuera le Droid au Canada. J’ai parlé de cet appareil dans mon entourage et plusieurs m’ont répondu, “S’il vous plaît, n’importe qui sauf Bell”.
Disons que iPhone a de la belle compétition avec le Palm Pré, le Blackberry Storm 2 et maintenant le Motorola Droid, à mon avis le plus sérieux adversaire que le iPhone n’a jamais eu.
En terminant le Motorola Droid fait beaucoup plus professionnel que le iPhone de Apple qui lui a l’air d’une bébelle aux côté de l’autre.
In a hugely significant step, Adobe have released a mobile version of Photoshop for the Android platform. Photoshop for Android represents a real vote of confidence in the Android platform, as Adobe is huge and Photoshop is its crown jewels. [...]
The video of Photoshop for Android is below. It’s very comprehensive, though, so ends up being overly long, but it does walk you through pretty much everything the app can do.
In particular, Photoshop for Android will let you do the following:
Crop, straighten, rotate and flip your photo
Use image and colour correction filters, such as saturation, tint, and exposure, on it
Add effects, such as soft focus
Alter the colour of the photo (accentuating the photo’s blue, for example)
Upload your pics to Photoshop.com
Share them with your friends
Read the full article here Adobe releases Photoshop Mobile for Android – MobileMentalism
como ya algunos saben, mi tesis trata sobre una aplicación que corre en Android. Pues bien parte de mi proyecto consiste en verificar el ciclo de vida de una aplicación, incluso hasta el momento en que se verifica la necesidad de una nueva versión, y como funciona el android market. Pues bien es aquí en donde quisiera detenerme. Acaso los latinoamericanos, somos taaaan miseros o pobres o incultos o como quieran llamarnos, que la gente de google nos ha privado de la posibilidad de realizar compras y subir aplicaciones a su tiendita?. La cosa es más preocupante si vemos que a nuestro país recien está llegando el bendito telefono con el SO ya nombrado. esperemos que la gente de google cambie su manera de pensar respecto de latinoamérica y que el So se masifique de la manera que esperamos, con su tienda incluida
Verizon (s vz) has been all over the Android (s goog) news this week, with two of the hottest phones finally arriving on the scene. The Motorola (s mot) Droid, a stylish phone almost as thin as the iPhone but with a sliding QWERTY keyboard, debuted Friday. Early reviews are not finding the keyboard to be much of a bonus, but it’s amazing to find one at all in a thin handset. Verizon is also offering the HTC Droid Eris for just $99 with a contract. It’s shipping with the HTC Sense interface on top of the stock Android UI, making it the cheapest phone thus equipped.
Some Droid phone reviewers have taken note of the Verizon Channel in the Android Market. This channel offers apps that have met Verizon’s approval before offering them to customers. T-Mobile announced its own channel for the Android Market this week. Both channels allow customers to buy apps and have them charged to the phone bill, eliminating the need for a credit card transaction.
Meanwhile, two recently announced e-book readers could have more than the Android OS in common. Spring Design this week sued Barnes & Noble (s bks) over the Nook reader, claiming it has features the bookseller gleaned from information Spring Design shared with B&N under NDA. It has requested an injunction to prevent the Nook from being sold.
Quand on parle d’application pour mobile, on pense tout de suite à l’Apple Store. C’est vrai qu’il est le numéro 1 avec 100 000 applications et 2 milliards de téléchargement, mais la seconde plus grande base de donnée s’appelle Getjar, avec plus de 57 000 applications pour différents systèmes. La société existe depuis 5 années, et malgré une absence totale de publicité, elle atteint les 680 millions de téléchargements jusqu’à ce jour. Ce qu’il signifie qu’il laisse loin derrière Android Market avec ses 10 000 applications, et Blackberry App World avec seulement 2000 applications.
Rien que pour le mois d’octobre, Getjar enregistre 57 millions de téléchargement, soit une augmentation de 260 % par rappport au moins précédent. Le site a enregistré près de 300 000 développeurs pour les applications mobiles.
A l’origine Getjar était une plateforme de développement, ainsi les programmeurs pouvaient l’utiliser pour tester leur applications sur différents périphériques. L’un de ses principaux atouts est qu’il propose des applications pour n’importe quel type de téléphone ce qui n’est pas le cas d’Apple Store.
L’une des raisons du succès est la détection automatique du téléphone, ainsi le site connait le type de téléphone dès qu’on se connecte sur le site standard ou mobile. Ce qui fait que l’utilisateur est redirigé automatiquement vers les applications correspondantes sans se soucier de la compatibilité.
Un autre aspect est qu’on peut même trouver des applications qui n’existent pas encore, par exemple, si votre téléphone ne posséde pas de version Facebook, Getjar peut créer des raccourcis et des liens qui vont se comporter comme des applications à part entière. Cette grande souplesse fait que Getjar est utilisé par les utilisateurs du monde entier.
Il y a quelques inconvénients comme le fait que les possesseurs de l’Iphone ne peuvent pas télécharger directement, au lieu, ils peuvent utiliser Getjar pour découvrir des nouveautés et ils seront redirigés vers l’Apple Store. Un autre bémol est que les applications ne sont pas payantes, aussi les développeurs ont du mal à rentabiliser leur produit. Toutefois, ils peuvent intégrer des publicités dans leurs programmes pour avoir un revenu. De plus, ils peuvent se faire connaitre des utilisateurs en proposant des applications plus puissantes, et les rediriger vers un autre site de vente.
On peut espérer que Getjar a de l’avenir devant lui, et qu’il trouve un modèle économique viable, c’est dommage que de tels initiatives ne soient pas connues du grand public, et qu’on se focalise sur des Blackberry et des Iphone.
Depois do sucesso da interface Sense UI da HTC no HTC Hero, a empresa já está planejando como será o futuro do seu sistema com o Android. Aparentemente, a companhia trabalha atualmente com uma nova interface chamada “Virtual Book”.
Considerada mais intuitiva do que a atual TouchFLO/Manilla, a nova interface já foi pantetiada. Sabemos quea HTC não costuma errar nesse quesito, e o grande sucesso de parte de seus celulares se deve justamente as modificações feitas no Android e Windows Mobile para seus aparelhos.
I am a big fan of social media and how it can really make it easy to spread ideas worth spreading. Of course, this is also its biggest danger – bad ideas (that seem appealing) spread even faster.
When I was growing up, Dad bought a pool table for our game room. Why? So Mom and Dad could keep an eye on me, listen in on my conversations, and see who I was hanging out with. We had one phone line, which made it easy for them to “overhear” what I was talking about.
Now parents don’t overhear conversations any more unless they grab the cell phone and look at the text messaging or go online and check out Facebook. Technology is creating a communication gap between parents and their kids, and it is about to get much worse.
The new trend among young people is to completely abandon computers and do everything on the new social media phones. The iPhone and the new Google Motorola Droid, which releases tomorrow through Verizon, are prime examples of this. Now kids can keep their whole life, all of their “friends,” in their pocket. Facebook, Twitter, email, texting, pictures — everything, all in one place.
When I was a kid I remember a public service announcement that would come on the TV. It said “It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?” So my question to every parent out there is: “It’s a social media world. Do you know what your child is saying, and what others are saying about your child, in cyberspace?”
Después de tantos y tantos rumores pululando por ahí el primer Sony Ericsson con Google Android fue presentado oficialmente. Mejor conocido como “Rachel” ó X3 este celular se viene con todo ¿a qué me refiero?, uhmm bueno… una mega-pantalla de 4 pulgadas, cámara de 8,1 megapixeles y un procesador Snapdragon de 1GHz (¡¡!!).
Oficialmente no viene con la versión 2.0 de Android, sino con la 1.6 (Donut), pero hombre, con estas características ¿quien necesita la última versión?. Aunque a primera vista no termina de gustarme mucho el modelito, y aunque los fabricantes tienen la posibilidad de modificar la interfaz, siento que se pierde un poco la esencia del sistema. Lo digo quizás porque nunca he probado uno.
Sony Ericsson officially unveiled their first Android device, and as expected, you almost can’t tell it runs Android. The Xperia X10 uses the UX platform, which sits on top of the base Android platform, much like HTC’s Sense UI. Based on watching the X10 video, the interface looks as fluid as we’ve seen through leaks and teasers in the past. I even wonder if SE had to wait for Qualcomm’s (s qcom) 1 GHz Snapdragon, because I’m not sure UX would be as smooth on older processor architecture. That’s simply a guess on my part, however.
Sony Ericsson is definitely taking a social networking tact when it comes to marketing and features. The Timescape app helps manage unified communications with a given contact, including Facebook and Twitter as well as photos, emails and texts. Specification-wise, the phone ranks up there with the recent Motorola Droid and the just-around-the-corner HTC HD2:
4″ capacitive touchscreen at 854 x 480 resolution
Android 1.6 – actually surprising that it’s not 2.0 yet, but it could see an upgrade
1 GB of internal memory, 8 GB of included microSD storage
8.1 megapixel camera with video recording, 16x digital zoom
GPS, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth
Quad-band GSM and two flavors of HSPA support, depending on model (UMTS HSPA 900/1700/2100 or UMTS HSPA 800/1900/2100)
Sony Ericsson expects to offer the X10 in select markets in the first quarter of 2010. That should give them enough time to get Android 2.0 on there, no?
It’s currently 44.1* out, Absolutely freezing in my apartment as I sit here typing this out and listening to my meditation CD. I really should invest in a space heater, hopefully much sooner than later.
Today was a very good day, had the meeting this morning about Red book and Cotton. It went very well, much progress is being made forth and it feels like everything is about to come together. The book is published, the website is up, the fan page is up. Everything that needs doing is being done, it really seems like a few parts left, some that are small and granted some that are very large. Many steps forwards has been taken so far, it’s very exciting to be part of something so amazing.
The rest of the day, I spent really just relaxing. I can honestly say that tonight I feel the most rejuvenated I have felt in two weeks.
I went to the Tmobile store and looked at the Motorola Cliq. I like the screen, handles fingerprints really well. The keyboard would definitely take getting used to. It’s a nice phone.
Then I went to sprint and played around with the Samsung Moment. Now this phone runs 800mhz processor which is noticeable. Menus slide smoother/faster. Screens transition even better, keyboard is okay, also would have to get used to it. Either way on the keyboard will be fine for me basically because I’ve never had a full QWERTY Keyboard.
While they are both nice, there’s another month before December and Sony Ericson is suppose to be announcing their new phone tomorrow that is running the Rachael UI. I’ve seen pictures, it is NICE. Rumor is that it will run on Tmobile. If so…. Oh I may have to stay with Tmobile!
Going to keep this post shorter, there are things that I am thinking about but I would like to let them play out in my mind a bit longer before I put them down.
I just found this quote that I love, have to share it.
“There seem to two kinds of searchers: those who seek to make their ego something other than it is, i.e. holy, happy, unselfish (as though you could make a fish unfish), and those who understand that all such attempts are just gesticulation and play-acting, that there is only one thing that can be done, which is to disidentify themselves with the ego, by realizing its unreality, and by becoming aware of their eternal identity with pure being. – Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei…”
This is an interesting article on how Google is changing the marketplace. More traditional companies like Microsoft and Garmin that sell their products for a profit to consumers are going to have to change the way they do business if they want to survive!
Certainly there is a benefit to consumers who love to get free stuff, but there is also something given up…privacy. Google makes money by knowing everything about our preferences. By knowing what we want, when we want it, they can sell that information to other businesses at a premium.
Google has been gathering data about consumer preferences through searches on google.com for the last ten years, and now they are expanding into mobile phones, Internet browsers, just recently maps with turn-by-turn directions, and soon operating systems!
Many of these products are growing in popularity and quality, making them even more competitive in the marketplace. Additionally, companies are choosing to incorporate these Google products into their own products, like Android and Google Maps Navigation in the new Droid by Motorola, because Google pays manufacturers part of the ad revenue generated from consumer use of the phones (searches done on the phone and location aware ads). This is what Bill Gurley from abovethecrowed.com calls the “less than free” business model that will revolutionize many industries affected by Google’s new products.
Should we trade some privacy for free, useful, ever improving products and services from Google? I think it’s a fair trade so as long as Google uses the data they collect to better serve us what we need, when we need it, and not to spam us or bombard us with advertising.
E-book readers are shaping up to be a hot ticket when it comes to Android (s goog) devices. Barnes and Noble (s bks) has the Nook ready to ship, and readers from other vendors are expected early next year. Hopping on the bandwagon this week was network equipment maker Netronix, which is reportedly planning on making a reader based on Android. The company expects to ship a million of the devices in 2010, and will incorporate into them 3G and 3.5G capabilities.
Nevertheless, I thought that this might be fun as I haven’t played with Apple’s development platform since 1995.
Android (s goog) is like a snowball rolling downhill — it won’t be long before it’s moving too fast for anything to stop it. That movement is surely going to spread from the smartphone sector, where Android has its roots, to that of smartbooks. Knowing this, ARM and the Android folks have put their heads together and formed the Solution Center for Android Alliance.