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This is so relevant. I love my samsung moment, and I love my sprint plan, but I hate running 1.5... and I hate the grudging attitude sprint has towards improving the situation. If it weren't for a new contract, I might have picked up a droid. Still, I don't see how the nexus one could motivate sprint to get it together any more than verizon can...
@miles002: Well, here's a possibility: If Google sells a lot of phones directly, the carrier that will benefit the most is the carrier most willing to accomodate these users. Conversely, if Android-using Sprint customers start buying Googlephones and taking their plans to competitors, Sprint could decide to improve the situation for their existing Android customers. And the same for any other telco...
This is a great read. I hope that Google succeeds in reigning in the ISP's by offering a phone that always has the best version of Android and therefore makes the other want to at least play catch up to match the Nexus.
By the way. I have a rooted G1 and I'm running Eclair with Google voice navagation.
CommentingpointlesslyisMeh promoted this comment
bkchurch: The one guy who didn't buy Modern Warfare 2 was starred
bkchurch: The one guy who didn't buy Modern Warfare 2 was unstarred
"What we still don't know is what that means: If the original Tegra could decode 1080p video, what can the new one do? Decode 1080p video more enthusiastically?"
It's really not that tough. If the Tegra 1 could decode 1080p video, then the new one can probably do it with lower CPU utilization and power consumption. I'm surprised the writers at Giz weren't able to guess that.
Beyond that, I'm sure Nvidia improved the 3D performance of the chip, and hopefully went for an ARM Cortex A8 CPU instead of ARM 11.
The Tegra is built by NVIDIA, leaving Zune fans to suggest that it delivers industry leading, desktop-gaming type graphics that far exceed the capabilities of industry-standard mobile graphics. However, Tegra isn’t a scaled down version of NVIDIA’s PC graphics GPUs. The Tegra’s CPU/GPU package also uses DDR1 memory, introducing significant real world RAM bandwidth limits no matter how powerful the embedded GPU core is rated to be in theoretical terms.
In contrast, the modern Cortex-A8 used in the iPhone 3GS, Palm Pre, Nokia N900, and Pandora game console represents the latest generation of ARM CPU cores. It also employs a DDR2 memory interface, erasing a serious performance bottleneck hobbling the Zune HD’s Tegra. It’s difficult to make fair and direct comparisons between different generations of technology, but NVIDIA’s own demonstrations of Tegra’s ARM11/integrated graphics show it achieving 35 fps in Quake III. The same software running on Pandora’s Coretex-A8 with SGX GPU core achieves 40-60 fps.
onsense as it simply counts logical blocks common to all embedded SoC parts as “cores.” The CPU in the Tegra is a single ARM11 core. Even if the Tegra did supply multiple CPU cores, the Windows CE kernel used by the Zune HD doesn’t support multi-core SMP so it couldn’t make any use of them. Again, if you’re wondering why Microsoft was able to score the NVIDIA Tegra “before” Apple, it wasn’t due to any mobile industry clout or hardware experience on Microsoft’s end, but rather simply due to the fact that Apple has its own resources for designing and building advanced, state of the art mobile processors, and didn’t need to buy into the desperate hype NVIDIA is using to promote the runner up technology of Apple’s former SoC vendor.
@istuptinosil: that's really interesting. I wonder if Tegra 2 has solved the DDR1 issue and raised the FPS scores. Eventually I suppose that benchmarking phone graphic prowess will become a normal thing to do before buying. I bet that someday we will all be able to "upgrade" our phone GPU's when they become outdated (may be not...pipedream).
I almost feel like people would prefer to develop for the iPhone because there is only really one set of hardware, and resolution to worry about. Sure there are slight variations on phone models, but not like the android developing with all different screen types.
@Chambana: on the other hand, developing for android means more freedom, you can use any API you want and you dont have to worry about your app getting denied at the last step.
@Chambana: Different screen types isn't an issue with Android 1.6. Similar to Windows apps, it doesn't matter what size screen/resolution (15" or 28") you're running, the apps scale to fit.
Resolution is easy. hardware is a little more complicated. But if dev's put a "system requirements" (similar to PC games) such as "made for 2.0 or up", or "designed for droid", then bam, problem solved. Most apps aren't hardware dependent, but camera apps and the sort are a different story.
1.) Astrid/Evernote
2.) ChompSMS
3.) Twidroid
4.) Movies (from Flixster)
5.) RemoteDroid (WiFi keyboard and mouse control of a desk/laptop)
6.) ASTRO file and process manager
7.) Last.fm/Pandora
8.) Shazam
9.) ShopSavvy
10.) Yelp.Where
...To say nothing of all of the official Google apps (Voice/Goggles).
My thoughts on this is that Google needs to get the other members of the Open Handset Alliance to sort themselves out. If they want to be part of the Android experience they need to support it with fast updates so that we can all have the same experience. Maybe Google needs to lay down a minimum spec for each x.0 release so that everyone moves forward together. Sure people on older devices may be upset that they are getting left behind, but that was going to happen anyway, the way that mobile tech is advancing.
Welcome to the problem the Microsoft has faced for decades and taken the blame for. If hardware was more consistent, ahem..Apple, then the kind of software compatibility issues would be out the window. No pun intended.
Windows Mobile, Windows Phone or Windows or Android will face challenges when the hardware is out of their hands.
I am a Windows Phone owner and all i can say is Thank You XDA.
12/16/09
I don't know if there are 4,000 of them, but still.
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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.
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if yes, maybe.
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It's really not that tough. If the Tegra 1 could decode 1080p video, then the new one can probably do it with lower CPU utilization and power consumption. I'm surprised the writers at Giz weren't able to guess that.
Beyond that, I'm sure Nvidia improved the 3D performance of the chip, and hopefully went for an ARM Cortex A8 CPU instead of ARM 11.
12/16/09
In contrast, the modern Cortex-A8 used in the iPhone 3GS, Palm Pre, Nokia N900, and Pandora game console represents the latest generation of ARM CPU cores. It also employs a DDR2 memory interface, erasing a serious performance bottleneck hobbling the Zune HD’s Tegra. It’s difficult to make fair and direct comparisons between different generations of technology, but NVIDIA’s own demonstrations of Tegra’s ARM11/integrated graphics show it achieving 35 fps in Quake III. The same software running on Pandora’s Coretex-A8 with SGX GPU core achieves 40-60 fps.
onsense as it simply counts logical blocks common to all embedded SoC parts as “cores.” The CPU in the Tegra is a single ARM11 core. Even if the Tegra did supply multiple CPU cores, the Windows CE kernel used by the Zune HD doesn’t support multi-core SMP so it couldn’t make any use of them. Again, if you’re wondering why Microsoft was able to score the NVIDIA Tegra “before” Apple, it wasn’t due to any mobile industry clout or hardware experience on Microsoft’s end, but rather simply due to the fact that Apple has its own resources for designing and building advanced, state of the art mobile processors, and didn’t need to buy into the desperate hype NVIDIA is using to promote the runner up technology of Apple’s former SoC vendor.
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Still... Doesn't fix the Fragmentation issue. :/
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Thoughts?
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Resolution is easy. hardware is a little more complicated. But if dev's put a "system requirements" (similar to PC games) such as "made for 2.0 or up", or "designed for droid", then bam, problem solved. Most apps aren't hardware dependent, but camera apps and the sort are a different story.
12/16/09
12/16/09
12/16/09
1.) Astrid/Evernote
2.) ChompSMS
3.) Twidroid
4.) Movies (from Flixster)
5.) RemoteDroid (WiFi keyboard and mouse control of a desk/laptop)
6.) ASTRO file and process manager
7.) Last.fm/Pandora
8.) Shazam
9.) ShopSavvy
10.) Yelp.Where
...To say nothing of all of the official Google apps (Voice/Goggles).
Now, please to be giving me my 19,990 apps?
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1. You need shitty apps so you can have an idea of what a non shitty app feels like.
2. Without quantity in anything, you will never find the diamond in the rough. And nobody likes piles of diamonds.... i mean, um.....
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Windows Mobile, Windows Phone or Windows or Android will face challenges when the hardware is out of their hands.
I am a Windows Phone owner and all i can say is Thank You XDA.