Archive for December, 2009

Google’s Own Android Phone to go the BlackBerry Way

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

I just read that Google plans to sell its own Android phone in two versions:

  1. Branded T-Mobile version with contract.
  2. Unbranded version.

This brought up some memories on how BlackBerry devices are distributed. For those of you who don’t know: BlackBerry devices from Canada’s biggest and S&P 500’s fastest growing company Research In Motion are only available through Wireless Network Carriers; mostly branded. It is impossible to get such devices without branding (unless you are a BlackBerry Alliance partner and get an internal device for testing).

For Google it is a good move to have their device at network carrier’s shelfs because that is where customers get their phones mostly. I guess the mainstream user (not you and me) doesn’t really care much about what phone it is and who made. The phone user’s decision is usually based on

  1. Good deal with the carrier.
  2. Phone’s capabilities.
  3. Phone’s look.
  4. Phone’s reputation.

Obviously user’s of Apple’s iPhone have their preferences sorted differently. Well, the above sorting is mine, and I have to say: even though the iPhone looks cool and is supposed to be “hip”; and the Android phones are kind of geeky (from a technological point of view); I am still using a BlackBerry as my main device. In fact, as I am on the road right now, I am using two!

People now might say: “Why the f*** is that? You are running an Android blog man!” Well, I have to say: Android is not there where I would like to see it at – yet. I really like the Android approach of Android OS and I truly believe it will have a bright future for all of us, but there is still some way to go. The gap to Google’s competitors gets closer and closer but it is still there. Fortunately, our business is such a fast growing one that our world order could be upside down next year.

I am really excited about the mobile future; this includes but is not limited to Android. What devices are you using?

More about this on Two Google Phones Coming in January? (Reuters via internetnews.com)

Android Market counting 20k Apps

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Android Market Icon
The Android Market just took the leap and jumped above the count of 20,000 applications. While the iPhone’s iTunes App Store is still ahead with about 100,000 applications, I have to say respect guys!

Hammering out 20,000 applications in such a short time without the devices and market power (like Apple has for example) is not that easy. I know there are still a lot of ideas in your heads (as in mine) which just want to be brought to paper life. So get started! Open your Eclipse, hack some lines into it, press compile, test, sign and upload it to the Android Market. No matter if free or paid, every new app brings more variety, more diversity and more attraction to the Android Market, every Android phone and therefore it makes the whole platform more attractive to users all around the world.

Get more about this on internetnews.com

Android SDK Updated

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Android Market Kicks Off!

  • Android 2.0.1, revision 1
  • Android 1.6, revision 2
  • SDK Tools, revision 4

These were updated today! Check out the official article at: Android SDK Updates