Droid rocks my socks off

[N2CHX]

I traded my Blackberry Tour for a Droid. I was only going to evaluate the Droid but I'm already hooked and then my boss sold the Blackberry already today so I guess that's it, lol.

I love the thing. It will do everything the BB did and a lot more, and easier.

[n6hcm]

i've been really pleased with my captivate. i was a symbian fanboy ... the hardware was good but the developer pool was tiny (considering that this is the largest smartphone platform worldwide) and the ui was dated.

[W4RLR]

I still love my iPhone. To each their own.

[NQ6U]

Be aware that Google developed Android as a low-end mobile OS--a replacement for WinCE. They haven't done much with it lately and will probably abandon it in a year or so. In other words, don't get emotionally attached.

[al2n]

I have been debating on which one to get- the droid or a blackberry. My contract is up and there are some pretty nice deals out there.

[w6tmi]

I think I'll get a blueberry.

It goes with my pie.

[KC2UGV]

I didn't get the "Droid" (Like HTC or anything), but the LG Ally. At 20$, what's not to like? It runs Android 2.1, and has a really nice touch screen. My first smartphone (Well, personal, I've had a Palm and Blackberry in the past for work).

It's really fun so far. Got EchoLink up on there, and it's a nice handy app. Plus, GoogleSky is really cool (Point it where you want, and it tells you what is there).

[KC2UGV]

Be aware that Google developed Android as a low-end mobile OS--a replacement for WinCE. They haven't done much with it lately and will probably abandon it in a year or so. In other words, don't get emotionally attached.


Really? Android 3.0 is due out soon: http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=Android+3.0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

They wont give up Android. What better way to serve ads, than to be able to find out where your prospective customers have been, and where they go? Plus, the Ad service in some of the free apps is are nicely non-intrusive (Much like Google AdSense)

[NQ6U]

Here are some interesting insights re: Android:


Android also continues to face problems created by Google. The core strengths of Android are supposed to be its openness and status as a freely available operating system. But those aspects are also its core flaws.

When adherents talk about Android’s market share, they forget that Android isn’t a product, it’s a technology portfolio. Android’s popularity doesn’t benefit Google in the way that Windows made Microsoft extremely rich. Google gives Android away, and in some cases pays hardware makers to use it. Pointing out that lots of phones being sold use Android is like saying that a large number of smartphones are black. So what?

As soon as white or silver or woodgrain becomes more fashionable, devices will shift. The same applies to their core OS. The problem for Google is that, unlike Microsoft, it has done little to establish Android as a de facto standard or necessary piece of the puzzle. Had Google pushed a strong, centralized UI the way Microsoft did for Windows, at least customers would begin to recognize “Android” as something they thought they needed. They do not today.

Microsoft’s unification of branding, UI, and APIs meant that PCs couldn’t really be sold without Windows. Today, anyone can put together their own OS and deliver a phone, just as Palm/HP, Nokia, Samsung, and RIM’s Blackberry are doing. Google hasn’t established a strong platform, it just co-opted Java and made a half-hearted attempt to set up an app store that hasn’t achieved the same sort of industry-changing influence as Apple has.

Partly, that’s because Google isn’t catering to customers who actually want to pay for things. It’s attracting users who don’t want to pay for anything, and want the freedom to bootleg and hack. That demographic is not really attractive to commercial development for obvious reasons.

There’s no reason preventing Motorola or HTC from shifting to another operating system once Android begins to lose its allure, just as there was little holding either back from switching from Windows Mobile to Android a couple years ago.

Of course, the other problem for Android is that Oracle is now focusing on Java as a core asset, following its acquisition of Sun. And that means it is not just taking legal efforts to force Google to pay for its use of Java-related IP, but also that it is partnering with IBM to develop open source Java independent of the now to be abandoned Harmony, the software Google borrowed for Android.

The full article can be found here (http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2010/10/12/android-threats-from-verizon-iphone-windows-phone-7/#more-4385).

[KC2UGV]

Here are some interesting insights re: Android:



The full article can be found here (http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2010/10/12/android-threats-from-verizon-iphone-windows-phone-7/#more-4385).

Well, it might be some time before Android loses it's allure...
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9194278/Android_phones_outsell_iPhone_2_to_1_says_research _firm

Outselling iPhones 2-to-1 right now. People buy things that they wont get locked into. Google allows pretty much any app into the market, and the instant backup feature of your contacts and settings is a positive note. Ever lose a phone?

Add to the fact that phone mannufacturers don't have to license the OS (Anyone can grab it and install it), and the fact google makes a killing off of the Ad service that developers can add to their their apps instead of having users pay outright for the app.

[NQ6U]

The problem with the claim about Android outselling iOS 2-1 is that it doesn't take into account the fact that :


The iPhone is only available on one carrier in the US right now.
Verizon has been giving away Android phones with a 2-for-1 offer over the past year.
It only applies to the US market. If you look worldwide, the figures are different.


As far as the "people want open platform" thing goes, there's nothing to back that up at all, at least not as far as mobile phones go. Most mobile phone users only care about features and usability; only the real geeks care about openness.

[n6hcm]

nope. the iphone is only available on one carrier in most markets--only a few (like the uk) have the iphone on most carriers.

you're right about one thing--users care about ease of use ... at&t is betting on this--their android handsets can only install apps from the android market (unless you go through the trouble to fix it, which i did). your carrier can censor apps from your view of the market. android *can* be open, but the networks are pretty much not interested in that, and most users don't know they should be interested in that.

[KG4CGC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eJmME20MdM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eJmME20MdM&feature=player_embedded