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10:05 PM
10:35 PM
And what's the damn fascination with analogue clocks that mobile phone designers have? HTC has it right with Sense.
09:12 PM
12/16/09
By the way. I have a rooted G1 and I'm running Eclair with Google voice navagation.
Root your phone at your own risk folks!!!
[forum.xda-developers.com]
12/16/09
All the hard work to make shitty WinMo less shitty.
12/16/09
12/16/09
And to annoy even further, this is exactly why I made the move to OS X and iPhone - I'd rather have just a few options for my OS, each of them developed by experts in the field, and know that anything made for the OS will work well. Applications are easy to install, anything that wants to hook into the system knows exactly where those hooks are, and I don't burn any brain cells trying to figure out where the system preferences are for a particular app.
12/16/09
I think that fragmentation merely has the potential to screw up the market. The statement that "it needs to be tightly controlled to remain consistent" is, itself, true. But the implication that consistency is necessary for success is a bit untrue.
The majority of users have yet to grasp that Android is a platform like Blackberry and not a phone like the iPhone. I had to explain to several people that my G1 runs the same software as the Droid (just an older version). Forget Sense, Blur, Rachael and whatever else there is.
Most people simply take whatever looks good and are happy with it.
There's two important parts that do need to be consolidated, though. For one, the developer experience. Google can speed through fifteen updates to Android a year. Small app companies can't. Google needs to make that process easier for them. Keep them updated to new developments. None of this dropping 2.0 source code and SDK a couple weeks before the Droid hits. The Market is what ties everything together. If the Market is the same (or similar enough), then users who don't realize that their Sense phone is just as Android as their friends Rachael phone won't care. This same logic extends to keeping manufacturers up-to-date enough to move their updated UIs out the door.
The other important part is the Google Experience brand. There's off-shoots of Android that can lag a version behind without major consequence (though Sense phones still being at 1.5 while we're on the brink of 2.1 is unacceptable), but the Google Experience phones need to be unified. If the Nexus One is a Google Experience phone (and I'm certain it is), then it needs to be running whatever the Droid is running. Whether that means the Nexus One gets 2.0 or the Droid gets a quick update to 2.1. And as many other Google Experience phones as possible, too. I realize the G1 has its own memory issues, but the MT3G has no such problems.
The Google Experience brand will be the flagship for Android. The other brands stick with their "with Google" subtitle and quietly build up Android's marketshare and app opportunities. Some users will know, others won't. Doesn't matter.
I think you're right that some other companies are dropping the ball on this, but I think that Google has made more than a few mistakes with Android, too. The process leading up to 1.6 was fairly open. We knew a lot of what was coming before it got there. Devs (whether UI or app) need to know what's coming. Well in advance. They didn't with 2.0, and 2.1 isn't much better. And the leaks are showing 2.1 to add more than just a little polish.
Honestly, I think that whatever backroom deals there were that kept the Droid so hush-hush created more of a problem than a lack of control.
Either open up or shut down, but both at the same time is destined to confuse people.
12/16/09
That said, Google is notorious for being internally uncommunicative, and the dev periods for the Droid and Nexus One almost certainly overlapped. Im see this more as an admission of fault, or an attempt to right the ship. And there really isn't a graceful way to transition from the old Android model--the one that Google came up with a few years ago, before we had a strong precedent for the benefits of platform control--and a completely new one.
12/16/09
The only phone I've ever owned that got a firmware update was the iPhone. My old Curve was stuck on 4.2 for ages, in no small part because RIM sat on their ass (though T-Mobile wasn't exactly prodding them along).
12/16/09
12/16/09
12/16/09
Interesting how this argument is diametrically opposed when it needs to be to counter or support claims to the contrary.
Tight-knit ecosystem? Open it up so all can party and play!
Haight-Ashbury free-for-all? Close it up, the contact buzz is too much!
12/16/09
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12/11/09
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12/11/09
On the other hand, over the next six months there will be new Android phones on various carriers - some of them with better hardware, some of them running the latest official release. Decisions, decisions...
12/13/09
@jon.athan: Well, my contract with Sprint is up pretty soon and the only reason I choose it in the first place was because it was the only carrier with service at my home, where I no longer live. And if Sprint doesn't have the phone I want, why can't I look around?
12/11/09
12/11/09
I get closer and closer to rooting this thing everyday.
12/11/09
12/11/09
12/12/09
Why would it take so long to update the phones?
12/12/09
I don't think any exclusive deal was made public, but it seems that at least for a while the Droid is the only device running 2.0. In fact, perhaps this deal is the reason the Hero has to wait so long. Unfortunately, it's all speculation from here.
12/11/09
Useless information/rant follows if you're bored (all I have is free time at the moment):
My mom has one that is ready to snap photos just a few seconds after it's turned on, but requires nearly 15 seconds to take another. I borrowed that one because my wife's camera takes 10-15 seconds to power up, and also takes too long in between photos (I have gone through different modes and settings). Then, my camcorder takes decent photos as quickly as you can take them, but there is no flash and it's something I don't want to always carry with me.
I never realized how slow they were until I tried taking spur-of-the-moment pictures of my baby ("I formed babby").
I hate this need for splash screen startups, or automatic picture review after one is taken (I also don't like how people, especially my wife, feel they need to review every single photo immediately after. You were just there!), and know I don't need a 30 megapixel camera with three displays and YouTube, Facebook, or other built-in fad support.
12/11/09
I also don't know anything about cameras so I don't know if they specifically rate that or have categories for a digital camera that works as fast as one from 15 years ago that took pics as fast as you could wind the film.
Any information about it would be greatly appreciated!
12/11/09
[www.dpreview.com]
They often give list how long all those things take for a given camera. The forums are really helpful, too.
12/11/09
really good for snapshots and keeping in your pocket. i like it. i keep it in my car. has a good battery life. if i need it i got a usb car adapter so it will charge on the drive to the event. it holds up pretty good. takes good photos.
is that cheap enough.
12/11/09
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12/11/09
12/12/09
With all of the different models out there with bonus novelty features and smile recognition and volume knobs that go to 11, it can be confusing to find a decent, simple camera that does what it's supposed to well.
(tried to promote all replies in case this multi-reply doesn't work as I'd imagine it to. Hopefully others find this useful too!)
12/12/09