Posts Tagged android programming

Fragmentation in Android OS Market

PC World has a perspective on the most recent Android update made available by Google and pushed to Motorola Droid owners. This could be one not-so-subtle issue that may keep software houses from focusing development efforts on the Android operating system platform and instead opt for the Apple iPhone platform.

On Friday, Sprint posted a Twitter message saying its HTC Hero and Samsung Moment phones will get Android 2.0 in the first half of 2010.

The Sprint announcement points to a potential fragmentation issue that some experts worry might plague Android. Already there are phones on the market running Android 1.5, 1.6 and 2.0. The problem with having many versions in the market at the same time is that applications may have trouble working smoothly across all the OSes.

That makes the platform less attractive to the developers Google relies on to build interesting applications, and to end-users who may find that an application they download doesn’t work on their phone.

PCW Article

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Android 2.0 source released, runs on T-Mobile G1

Google quietly released the Android 2.0 source code last night. No sooner had it been released when the capable hacker community had it up and running on the T-Mobile HTC G1. The speed with which it was ported is either a testament to the skillz of those who do Linux programming or the stability of the OS build. In any event, it’s within the realm of possibility that a solid build for the G1 could come as soon as this weekend.

Source Code

Ported code progress

“Cyanogen’s” (Steve Kondik) Twitter page

Android 2.0 lockscreen running on T-Mobile G1

Android 2.0 lockscreen running on T-Mobile G1

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Android Marketplace aggregator Cryket is gone

Either the proprietor of cryket.com has sold the domain for a tidy little fee, is selling the domain, or it has fallen prey to the “do no evil” corporation.

Cryket (pronounced “cricket”)  was one of few places where you could search the entire Android Marketplace for phone apps via the web. It was popular with the Android development community as a handy method for charting the success and trends of applications they built against others in the store, as well as reviewing daily comments left by consumers. Some bits of information found at Cryket.com were stock market-like up and down arrows charting an application’s popularity trend over time, download statistics, an area for video and screenshot uploads, and the best part of all… a QR barcode image on each application page in the Android Marketplace that provided all the information needed to download the app with your Android phone. (example of how this was done in the video below.)
Read the rest of this entry »

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Sony Ericsson shows off prototype UI “Rachael”

Running the Android OS, Ericsson gives us a peak of a conceptual UI they are toying with.

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HTC Hero to get Android 2.0

And the cookie crumbles for the Motorola Droid, just when we thought the Droid would be the savior of the fledgling firm, news broke out today that Android 2.0 is being pumped in the uber popular HTC Hero phone.
“Yes, we are working on an Eclair update for the HTC Hero. Because Eclair is a significantly enhanced release, it will require some time to update Sense for this new version of the Android OS. Please be patient while we work to provide you with a tightly integrated experience like the one you are already enjoying on your Hero.” a statement from HTC read.

This would be the second handset to feature the Android 2.0 operating system, after the Droid, which releases on November 6th. It would be interesting to see the Sense UI integrated with Android 2.0 on the HTC Hero

The HTC Hero is one of the highest selling phones in the world, it features a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus with a screen resolution of 320 x 480 on its 3.2 inch screen, along with Wifi, Bluetooth, ac3.5 mm audio jack, microphone, speaker, Accelerometer and it delivers a talk time of 470 minutes with a standby time of 420 hours.

Android 2.0 improves upon allowing developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries. Google Voice for the Google Voice service, Scoreboard for following sports, Sky Map for watching stars, Finance for their finance service, Maps Editor for their MyMaps service, Places Directory for their Local Search, Secrets for safely storing passwords and My Tracks, a jogging application all run on Android.

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Mobile app stores “gold rush” is a fallacy

I hadn’t seen this article before and it was authored back in May of 2009. It’s a sobering perspective on the hype surrounding the app store and the notion that application developers can become a millionaire success story overnight. Written by a “successful” (used loosely)* iPhone app developer, the piece details just how difficult and improbable it is for you to get rich writting mobile phone apps. If you are thinking about getting into this racket, this is definitely worth a read.

http://www.stromcode.com/2009/05/24/the-incredible-app-store-hype/

* actually, his apps are really pretty popular so he is, in fact, successful by iPhone App Store standards, just not by Wall Street standards as his article demonstrates.

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Android 2.0 OS on a G1

Not surprisingly, it took about 3 days before someone was able to port the Android 2.0 OS to Android 1.6-based phones.

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