editorial - 4/6 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

In-Depth Analysis: Android's Notification Bar Patent (And How Apple May Or May Not Infringe It)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, Legal, News

There has been a lot of interest of late in a patent filed (by Google) back in 2009 for what is obviously a rendition of Android's notification bar system. There are a number of pretty (well, as pretty as black and white gets) figures in the patent showing the notification bar we all know and love, and lots of language about notification systems and the like.

As many of the Android-faithful know, Apple recently implemented as part of iOS 5 the "Notification Center," and it looks an awful lot like Android's in some respects. This immediately drew criticism from the Android community, with many claiming that Apple had essentially "ripped off" Google's implementation, and has been a sore subject ever since.

Feb

Motorola Laying Blame On Hardware Variation For Slow Updates Is Missing The Point - Carriers Are The Real Culprits (In The US, At Least)

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, Motorola, News

Earlier today, when I read comments from Motorola executive Christy Wyatt over on PCMag explaining that lagging software updates could be blamed in large part on hardware variation, my first response was "really?" Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Motorola has iterated so much hardware in the last year that it has actually promised to cut down on the number of versions of Android handsets it will make.

Specifically, Wyatt made a point of the obvious fact that when Google releases the source code for Android, the only devices it will readily compile on fall into the "Nexus" category.

Feb

Editorial: The Thinness War Needs To Stop, Or, Why I Shouldn't Have To Carry A Portable Charger For My Phone

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX

When it comes to high tech, downsizing is often looked at as a sign of progress. Microprocessors meant whole computers, for the first time, could fit on a desktop. LCD displays made them portable - in the form of laptops. Moore's law proved that chips that once would have been classified as capable of enterprise-level computing now occupy devices that easily fit in your pocket. And advanced lithium-ion batteries meant you could finally take yourself off the AC teat for an appreciable amount of time, and you could charge your gadgets over and over without worrying about the ridiculous cycling fatigue that plagued earlier rechargeable systems.

Jan

RIM's New CEO Says Android Devices Are "All The Same," We Beg To Differ - With Giant Comparison Pictures

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials

Let's be frank: RIM's BlackBerry products are unilaterally, shall we say, unexciting. And RIM's new theme song should probably be this. And by "unexciting," I mean ugly, hopelessly dated, and so boring that a story about them spontaneously bursting into flames might actually give the company some much-needed edginess in their marketing campaigns. Maybe that's a bridge too far.

Anyway, when I read this morning that RIM's new CEO Thorsten Heins, speaking to CrackBerry, said Android devices are "all the same," I couldn't help but go slack-jawed in a combination of muted laughter and near disbelief at the irony.

Dec

[Editorial] Just How Much Did Google's 10 Billion App Promotion Help Included Developers?

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, Editorials

Following up on last week's editorial, I decided it may be interesting to take a look at the other side of the story – that is, what effect has Google's 10 Billion App promotion had on the developers who were invited to participate?

To begin with, I think it would be wise to take a look at just how developers were invited, and how Google ran the promotion overall. We've heard from a handful of developers about this, so we've got a pretty clear picture of how things went.

Google began approaching developers in October, offering few details about the promotion, other than the fact that each developer's chosen app would sell for $0.10 on a predetermined day during the promotion.

Nov

Editorial: Android Custom ROM Developers, I Think We Need To Have A Talk

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Development, Editorials

Dear Android Custom ROM developers: I love most of you. Really. You're part of what makes Android so awesome, because you're so enthusiastic about it, and about making it better. Because of you, we have awesome things like CyanogenMod.

I want to give you some numbers. Let's just look at some popular Android devices:

T-Mobile Galaxy S II: 9
AT&T Galaxy S II: 8
HTC ThunderBolt: 23
DROID BIONIC: 7
Epic 4G Touch: 10

What do these figures represent? The number of different custom ROMs found on the first page of the XDA forums for the above devices. The ThunderBolt's count comes from the pinned post on the ThunderBolt's forum with a listing of ROMs - and those are only the Gingerbread ones.

Nov

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Editorial: Google Music Doesn't Bring Anything New To The Table - But That May Not Matter

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials

Google Music is old hat. Sorry, guys - it's true. Streaming? Amazon's Cloud Player and iTunes iCloud both have it. Locker storage? Amazon gives you a decent amount, too - and they might even increase it if they feel Google Music is one-upping them. Purchase options? Apple and Amazon both have more music you can purchase digitally, including titles from Warner Music Group (which Google Music does not have), where many major contemporary artists are signed.

Basically, Google did what it had to with Music: it kept up with the competition. Not having streaming, cloud storage, or a major storefront would make Google Music look like a joke next to iTunes with iCloud or Amazon MP3, and this is probably why Google waited so long after the launch of the "Beta" to unveil Music in a more public way.

Sep

[Editorial] Let Android Be Android: One Year Later

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Editorials

Introduction

It's now been exactly a year (minus one day) since I published my very first editorial for Android Police, Let Android Be Android. A lot has changed since - dual-core CPUs are now table stakes for a high-end smartphone; Android has evolved from an exclusively mobile OS to a software powerhouse for phones and tablets alike; and we've been given several seminars on stretching the truth about the speed of a wireless network (yep, that would be the "4G" drama).

Sadly, one thing has remained almost entirely stagnant: the diminutive amount of vanilla Android devices on the market. In fact, it would be more than accurate to say that the skin situation has been exacerbated since my article on it last year.

Jul

[Editorial] Why Honeycomb Is Taking A Beating (And What Google Needs To Do To Fix It)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Editorials, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2

Last Updated: January 28th, 2012

When the iPad first hit the market, it changed the way consumers looked at computing, mobile devices, and productivity. It provided an easy way to accomplish basic tasks, a convenient way to surf the web, and bridged the gap between laptop and smartphone. As the natural competitor to iOS, Android had to fire back with a device that was comparable in function: the Motorola XOOM, the world's first Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet. The XOOM and most subsequent Honeycomb tablets have achieved both form and functionality that rivals - and in most cases, bests - that of the iPad/2, so why hasn't the Android tablet market exploded?

May

Google Responds To PayPal Trade Secret Lawsuit - What Does It All Really Mean? An Explanation

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, News

Disclaimer: I'm not an attorney. This is not legal advice.

The PayPal and Google lawsuit is just another one of Google's seemingly endless big-name legal tangles over the last couple of years. Why is Google litigation such a frequent topic?

At least in part, it's because Google has one of the most aggressive stances towards litigation of any member of the tech industry. Google's reputation for taking its battles to court has become almost notorious (well, except for the "Buzz" incident) - regardless of cost or, sometimes, likelihood of victory. Google's approach is one of the modern corporation - during the 1990's and 80's, when civil litigation was actually more prevalent, in-house counsels for major corporations often preferred to settle potentially high-dollar suits rather than risk wasting piles of cash on defending them, only to lose in the end.