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High Expectations For Google Android

Posted by Soulskill on from the keeping-up-with-the-googses dept.

Several readers have pointed out recent articles discussing the development and features of Google Android. Silicon.com has what is essentially an FAQ for Android, providing the relevant basic information about it. Apcmag questions whether Google can meet the high expectations most enthusiasts have for the platform, and The Register discusses Google's claims that it will be competitive with Apple and worth the wait. We discussed a preview of Android last month. Quoting The Register: "Google mobile platforms guru Rich Miner acknowledged that for the moment, Apple may have an advantage. After all, Steve Jobs and company have actually shipped a piece of hardware, while the first Android handset won't arrive until 'the second half of this year.' But Miner also told the crowd that Stevo hasn't treated developers as well as they deserve. 'There are certain apps you just can't build on an iPhone,' Miner said. 'Apple doesn't let you do multiprocessing. They don't let your app run in the background after you switch to another. And they don't let you have interpretive language in your iPhone apps.'"

5 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Re:First post? by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Competition will be good. Perhaps the Feature Nazis at Apple will be forced to loosen the strings a little bit.

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  2. My take. sure to be modded down by The+End+Of+Days · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Using my many years of reading Slashdot as a gauge, the enthusiasm for the Android handsets, and lack thereof for the iPhone, that are evident on this site lead me to believe that Android will flop and the iPhone will take over the mobile market. Large-scale market trends always seem to defy the common wisdom brokered by the denizens of this site.

    Of course, I'm not making a prediction. Just a hunch, based on self-selected observations. My take means nothing, ultimately.

  3. Re:They're really stretching by PotatoFarmer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's interesting to note that iPhone doesn't allow interpreted code... while Android doesn't allow native code. Which one of these is more "open"?

    From what I've seen so far, the limitations in Android are mostly technical, whereas the limitations in the iPhone SDK are mostly business. From that perspective I'd say that Android probably has a higher ceiling.

  4. Re:First post? by 2nd+Post! · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple has released more features and functions to developers and consumers than Google has, courtesy of a shipping iPhone in four countries vs none, a shipping SDK, and multiple firmware revisions. I would be hesitant to proclaim Android capable of grinding Apple into the dirt until after an Android phone exists.

    So Apple has three things working in their favor:
    1) Resources
    2) Developers
    3) Customers

    Google, thus far, only has hype :)

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  5. Re:First post? by not+flu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A larger point however is that the iPhone doesn't do any of those things without jailbreaking. With the exception of the iAno (which I admit sounds cool), pretty much any ol' symbian phone should be capable of everything else you mentioned.