28
Jul
2010
Google’s Android Sells More Mobile Phones
The smart phone industry has never been focused on operating systems like the way it is now. Currently, the platform war is being fought by three major sides, Google’s Android, RIM’s BlackBerry OS and the Apple iOS. As the end of the year approaches, much is expected from the upcoming Windows Phone 7 OS. The Nokia and Intel made MeeGo OS is not being considered by most critics, but it may add itself to the list if it proves to be surprisingly good.
Anyway, despite the impending challenges ahead for the OS, the Android is a pretty successful mobile platform. This year, the number of handsets running the operating system has sold more than three times the volume that it did last year. And this is more than just a sudden growth in overall smart phone sales; buyers actively seek out specific Android devices, this means that the OS’ sales growth is caused by its actual performance.
Recently, the OS has been updated to version 2.2 Froyo which brings better performance, new features and support for Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1. The update has been released for the Google branded Nexus One and will be released for other mobile phones later on. Google has also announced that the Android 3.0 Gingerbread will also be released later this year.
The current lineup of Android phones provides buyers with quite the array of choices. Of course, Google’s self branded Nexus One deserves to be put in the top of the list. But the HTC Desire and the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 come in at a very close second. Samsung’s i9000 Galaxy S certainly looks promising with its super AMOLED touch screen technology. Aside from the XPERIA, SE also has the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro which provide Android fans with mid range choices as well.
26
Jul
2010
Android Market is Fragmented, Needs Work
While it is quite true that the Google Android operating system is indeed the most widely used smart phone mobile platform in the world, it is also the most fragmented (not counting the Symbian operating system of course).
The reason for this is due to the fact that so many handsets of different configurations are using the Android OS. Phones that come with varying touch screen sizes, display resolutions, internal memory, RAM, processor speeds and various other hardware configurations run Google’s open source mobile OS. This makes it hard to come up with a new version of the Android that would run on all mobile phones.
Add in the fact that the firmware updates that Google releases are different from operator specific updates that are compatible with users who are under a contract or tariff, and you have a mobile platform that needs some serious reworking.
Looking at this, it shows a bit of a reason as to why the previous Russian rumors about the 3.0 Gingerbread requiring strict hardware standards have popped up: because Google actually needs it. While it would be too much of a requirement for all Android devices to have 4 inch touch screens and 1GHz CPUs (as stated by the rumor), Google does need to set a new bar.
The hard part here is actually declaring some Android devices as incompatible with further updates. Which means that there will be phones stuck with running the older versions of the OS; it’s a big price to pay if Google wants to standardize the platform and help the OS’ market grow.
As it is, users of Android smart phones are taking a big gamble with each app purchase as some apps simply do not work on specific phone models –not Android OS versions. The lack of uniformity in the user experience for Android owners will have to be fixed is Google’s platform is to fully succeed.
2
Jul
2010
Android Gingerbread in New Rumors
While we are all waiting for the release of the new Android Froyo update for the many smart phones running Google’s powerful, open source, operating system –Google has been busy in their labs working on what would be the newest version of the Android OS: version 3.0 Gingerbread.
The name (and version number) has already been announced during the Google I/O conference. But with the expected launch date of “end of 2010” being several months away, the current focus for many is on the 2.2 Froyo –which is still not released for a great majority of handsets. Right now, only the Google Nexus One is able to make use of the update that is available. While it is expected that compatible patches will also be released in the next few weeks, none have yet to be made available.
Anyway, the rumors regarding the new version 3.0 Gingerbread are both impressive and at the same time, a little hard to believe. The source of the rumors has been traced to a Russian tech podcast that states that the new 3.0 version will be made specifically for high end Android devices –while mid to low range handsets will be sticking with version 2.2 Froyo. While such a move would not be surprising (Microsoft is doing the same with Windows Mobile and the upcoming Windows Phone 7), Google is not quite likely to take that route.
Right now, Google’s mobile platform is the most used OS –considering that there are so many handsets that make use of the OS. Pushing version 3.0 to abandon the older OS would mean alienating a large percent of Google’s current users. Also, Google also announced at the I/O conference that they plan to make the Gingerbread something close to a standard version –stable and with minimal compatibility issues so that all devices have a specific benchmark to meet.
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