Posts Tagged ‘Android’
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
Feel free to print off and cut out our free ‘T-Mobile G1 Launch Special Edition’ Bu***hit Bingo padtm (below) and see how high each review of the new T-Mobile G1 ‘scores’.
The rules are simple… if a press review mentions a word in one of the boxes then cross it out. You get one point for each box crossed, 3 points for a completed row or column, 5 points for one of the two diagonals and 10 points for some obscure pattern that looks like that bit at the start of the Beijing Olympics…
Good Luck!
| IPHONE* |
OPEN |
UGLY |
TRACKBALL |
SMARTPHONE |
| CHROME |
HTC |
KEYBOARD |
LARGE |
T-MOBILE |
| APP STORE |
SECURITY** |
GMAIL |
KILLER*** |
QUALCOMM |
| CONTRACT |
SMS |
SYMBIAN |
RESPONSIVE |
MAPS |
| STREET VIEW |
GPS |
BIG BROTHER |
BIG IN JAPAN |
SIM |
* This should be accompanied by phrases such as ‘no match for’, ‘lacks the interface of’, etc.
** Extra point if it is accompanied by some random quote from Jack Gold
*** this should ideally be accompanied by words such as iPhone, Windows Mobile or RIM/Blackberry (e.g. “this is not the iPhone killer that many hoped it would be”)
Tags: Android, bingo, G1, Google Android, Launch, Press, Review, T-Mobile
Posted in Dream, Fun, T-Mobile, iPhone | No Comments »
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
Pictures of the T-Mobile G1 (official name for the HTC Dream) have appeared briefly on the T-Mobile site in anticipation of its preview / marketing launch tomorrow in New York. This has been reported in various articles but I first saw it here (mentioned more as a footnote).
(more…)
Tags: Android, G1, Google Android, HTC Dream, T-Mo, T-Mobile, UK, unlock, Unlocked
Posted in Dream, T-Mobile, UK | No Comments »
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
Interesting job posting on Google. They are looking for someone to design and build ‘functional prototype’ hardware. However, it seems a little unusual that they would build prototypes to then have them taken into production by third parties from the OHA (e.g. HTC, Samsung, Motorola…)
Job description includes the following requirements:
- A minimum of three years of product design experience in the field of consumer electronics.
- High-end 3D CAD design proficiency a requirement (ProE, UG, SolidWorks).
- Proficient in the knowledge of injection molding, metal manufacturing methods, materials & finish, mechanisms and heat transfer.
- Working knowledge on battery, display, input devices, RF designs (wireless antenna integration), camera, acoustic devices and EMC.
- Handheld/portable device design experiences are a plus.
After all the speculation, could it be that Google are planning their own in house ‘Gphone’ after all?
Tags: Android, Google Android, GPhone, hardware, OHA
Posted in GPhone, OHA | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
Great article here about how Apple has approached applications that are competitive or ‘too silly’. If this proves to be the thin end of the wedge then this approach could prove too dictatorial for even the biggest iPhone fanboy. The fact that even Microsoft’s ‘Mr. Mobile’ – Jason Langridge is pointing to this as a step too far is a worrying sign. At least Microsoft treats its app developers ‘fairly’ by producing a similar product, including it for free and then using its weight to market the hell out of it – thus crushing the competition slowly..
This is an area where Google hopes that Android’s ‘openness’ will shine. The idea being that the Google marketplace will be a democracy rather than the App Store’s dictatorship. It could be argued that this will lead to a lower quality threshold but hopefully the voting system on the market place will help wade through some of the rubbish. I would forsee that users could also access applications via other sites and will not be restricted to just the Google market site.
Tags: Android, App Store, Apple, competition, Google Android, iPhone, Jason Langridge, Market, Microsoft
Posted in Market, SDK, Uncategorized, Windows Mobile, iPhone | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
[edited] The UK’s daily Telegraph is (again) on the bleeding edge in terms of revealing HTC’s plans for the Dream in Europe. Well, either that or they have again got confused between T-Mobile in the UK and the US.
They state again that it will be available exclusively to T-Mobile UK and on the shelves in November. However, the fact that they show the image below with the alt text as “The Google HTC Android phone” (it’s not, it’s the Touch HD) perhaps indicates they are not quite on the pulse.
Meanwhile the WSJ announced that HTC expects to ship more Dreams than most analysts reckon they are likely too. HTC apparently reckon they could ship up to 700,000 devices.
Tags: Android, Dream, G1, Google Android, HTC, HTC Dream, T-Mobile, Telegraph, UK, WSJ
Posted in Dream, T-Mobile, UK | No Comments »
Monday, September 15th, 2008
Worth heading over to Slashgear to see Vincent Nguyen like a kid in a toyshop with a pre-release Android phone from Qualcomm. The videos are a little frustrating as he doesn’t always ask the questions or tap the menus I’d like to see. For example when the guy is about to show him the ‘double tap to zoom’ function but he asks to make a phone call instead. However, it is a great scoop so congrats to them and to androidcommunity.com .
What comes across on this particular device is that Android is running really quickly on a hi-res screen. On the less positive side, the interface doesn’t seem that intuitive. I know that Android is the underlying platform and therefore is not the phone and is not the interface either. However, it does still reflect badly on the prospects for the interface on the first phones.
Where the iPhone excels is by being so simple that your granny could use it. I don’t wish to pre-judge how others may have designed their interface for Android but I hope that it is more simple than what is shown here. It is particularly surprising that the browser came across as complicated given that it is based on the almost over-simplistic Google Chrome.
P.S. Demo shows Google Gears running on the Android browser so that’s yet more proof that the web is full of more false rumours than a BBC documentary. I previously reported there would be no Google Gears on early versions, I was clearly wrong (oh, the shame).
Tags: Android, Android Community, Browser, Chrome, Gears, Google Android, Google Gears, GUI, Hi Res, Interface, iPhone, Qualcomm, Slashgear, UI, Vincent Nguyen
Posted in Chrome, Dream, Qualcomm, iPhone | No Comments »
Saturday, September 13th, 2008
Great article over at VentureBeat.com that is a more upbeat commentary than we’ve seen of late on the future of Google Android. I agree with a lot of the article although I also agree with some of the comments on the article that the work estimate table (below) is a little bit too vague.
The article describes how operators are moving away from walled gardens to try to provide users with more choice. It also mentions the T-Mobile App Store equivalent, although interestingly T-Mo have said that they won’t be supporting Android with their first iteration of their App ‘program’. This presumably won’t be too big an issue as Google plans to have its own Android Market.
Tags: Android, App program, App Store, Google Android, Market, Marketplace, T-Mobile
Posted in Market, T-Mobile | No Comments »
Friday, September 12th, 2008
Wow! I bet with all the not-so-great publicity Android and the HTC Dream has already received the Google guys are really pleased to have the backing of gaming giant Gizmondo! Phandroid amongst others have covered this. From reports the Gizmondo 2 is erm… exactly like the old Gizmondo except with a new battery and video chipset. It will apparently come in two flavours – Android or Windows CE.
I guess it proves the point that Android can be used as a basis for anything from phones to set top boxes but if you wanted the blessing of a successful name in the gaming industry then Gizmondo isn’t the first one that would naturally spring to mind.
Tags: Android, Gizmondo, Google Android, Phandroid, Windows CE
Posted in Gaming | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
Reuters has reported the T-Mo in the U.S. will launch the HTC Dream G1 on the 23rd September (2008!)
If this proves to be true then this gives them a decent run up to Christmas. Obviously, everyone has already written off Android as a lame duck which is probably great as such low expectations have been set.
I’m sure Google want it to be a success but equally they don’t seem to be set on setting the world alight and destroying the competition (Microsoft take note!). As long as they have some of their apps and their search available on other platforms they probably don’t care too much what device you buy. Google maps runs great on the Nokia E71, HTC Diamond Pro and Blackberry Bold alike with ‘subtle’ ads creeping in to newer versions.
One thing you can be sure of, every review/preview around the 23rd September will contain the word ‘iPhone’.
Tags: Ads, Adverts, Android, Blackberry, Diamond, E71, Google Android, Google Maps, HTC, HTC Dream, iPhone, Microsoft, Nokia, September, T-Mobile, Windows Mobile
Posted in Blackberry, Dream, RIM, T-Mobile, Windows Mobile, iPhone | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
Good article over on phandroid.com (if a little lengthy) pointing out that some analysts don’t seem to be able to separate the Android platform from the hardware on which it happens to be running. It seems inevitable that when the first Android phone is released there will be a flurry of articles pointing out why the iPhone is better and how Android has failed to live up to the hype.
There is no doubt that the iPhone is excellent and has raised the bar sustantially. Apple also has the advantage of owning their hardware and so having complete control over how it behaves. Android will suffer from manufacturers producing hardware that isn’t high quality in the same way Windows will run like (even more of) a dog on a poor spec PC. However, Android offers the opportunity of a wide choice of devices and a wider choice of software to run on it. Longer term manufacturers will also hopefully be able to produce these phones at lower cost due to not having to pay for the OS.
Tags: analysts, Android, Google Android, hardware, iPhone, phandoid.com
Posted in Dream, iPhone | No Comments »
