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Running Google Android On iPhone Clones
wooby writes "With the release of Android's source code, we may see iPhone and Nokia clone phones of Chinese origin capable of running Google Android. These phones, often available for less than $200 without a contract, are available on DealExtreme and elsewhere. But the software running on them is universally awful. Is the clone phone market a vast, nascent install-base for Android, and part of Google's end game? According to Google's Dave Bort, 'One of our goals would be, just to get Android all over the place' [YouTube link]."
It worked for MS-DOS. Just ask Microsoft. ;)
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because i really hate the iphone os.
just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!
I for one welcome the return of the 80s standardisation of the PC market via Windows compatibility demands but in a different market. All of China's clone manufacturers can dump 90% of their software development costs and have something that isn't insanely buggy for free that they occasionally do a bit of custom GUI stuff for. Of course that will happen.
"To any truly impartial person, it would be obvious that I am right."
Errmmmm...and where, exactly, do you think Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, etc., all make their phones?
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I think Google is unfortunately in a precarious position with Android if it's primary niche becomes crapware-filled knockoff phones or installed on very uninspired and underpowered hardware. They are in the same boat as MS, where a large majority of criticism of the platform from the average consumer is due to OEM modification, pre-loading, and crappy hardware support (via 3rd party drivers).
Linux thrived in a hobbist environment eventually to the point of corprate adoption, which takes both time, a community, and a willingness to run at a loss for a long time. The real key to success is developers whose goal was a OS that was secure, stable and efficent on legacy hardware, and somewhat "peer reviewed". For Android, the average developer is going to produce $3-$5 applets on their own for consumers who have no sense of style or consistency (UI standard). I cringe; personally when I see applications for my iPhone that have no forethought and look like bastard stepchildren compared to my other apps who follow the UI standards. For a consumer good, it needs to be "excellent" (or "better" than the competition) and not only that, downright "sexy" before it hits the masses or it is going be DOA or lackluster at best.
I fear the same methodology that made Linux "proper" great, will make Andriod a cheap OS for cheap phones developed on by bad developers for companies trying to squeeze every last cent of profit out of a "consumer good" like a toaster or DVR. That being said, I hope I am wrong.
Forgive my spelling from time to time. I'm often posting during short breaks.
Basically, you're saying that with Android, a manufacturer wouldn't really even need the support of a big brand of cellphones - since the big brands use China for fabrication, but then pocket some of the money.
So Chinese fabs could just hire a couple of engineers to quickly make clones of devices designed by experts, and there would be a ready-made, free software for those devices. I like it! But it must be a scary thought for companies like Nokia, Motorola, RIM and Apple. Maybe it will drive some hesitation about the use of Android, because everyone will know that knockoffs will work pretty much identically to an Android phone.
Potentially, the big winners here could be the carriers, who could just brand the cheaper hardware.
...then why the hell did you buy one? iPhone isn't made for people who want to tinker, its made for my mom and dad. This is like buying a minivan and then bemoaning that you can't start supercharge it to 400hp.
It's like the 80's except better since the software is open-source and you aren't locked into the whims of the supplier!
Everybody wins! Yay!!!
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I'd believe that about some of the older Nokias, which don't seem to be destroyed by dropping them into just about anything else...
Trouble is, it isn't that the phone makers are morons, it is that the American phone distributors, who are almost always the telcoms, have no interest in you having that feature. Dual SIM support starts down a dangerous slippery slope: First consumers want to consolidate their work and personal numbers on one phone. Allowable, though they really should be paying a monthly fee for some sort of forwarding service(remember, when you own the network, intelligence at the edges is the enemy). Before you know it, though, they've gotten uppity, and are using cheap prepaid SIMs from other companies in order to save money. Can't have that.
Regardless of which uber phone/OS device you chose, it'll still cost you an arm and a leg for the monthly data service rate.
I don't know if this will work out as well as some people are predicting. People don't want phones with Android because Android itself is so great. People are excited about Android because it promises to be an open PLATFORM on top of which people can build cool APPS. It's the APPS that everyone wants--like all the cool things we're seeing on the iPhone, but without all the dumb restrictions of Apple and the App Store and the limitations of the iPhone hardware (removable storage, etc.)
But with all these clone handsets will come inevitable hardware variances (motion sensors, single- and multi-touch screens, different screen resolutions, aspect ratios, CPU speed, amount of RAM and storage, etc.) and that will make app development less like iPhone and game console development and more like PC game development: different things require this or that bit of hardware, or work better here or there, etc. It'll be harder for dev's to test thoroughly and it'll be that much more for buyers to keep track of.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
why wouldn't the Chinese knockoff manufacturers just sell their phones with Android installed on them in the first place? they have no real attachment to a shittier OS (unlike carrier-rebranded phones), and they'd save on both development costs and also move more product.
so it'll likely only be people using AT&T/Cingular-branded phones, or perhaps even the iPhone, who actually have to install Android on their own.
So what? You still get the same information from the story with or without the affiliate code. The article provided me with an insightful look at Chinese knock offs, and having a small referral link doesn't change that.
This is an 'everybody wins' situation. You get a story, slashdot gets content, DealExtreme gets traffic, and the author of the story gets a small kickback for bringing that traffic. Is that such a bad thing?
And also that Tiffany isn't at #1.
You say it as if Soulja Boy is better.