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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]."
1) Submit "story" to Slashdot with affiliate sales link cleverly embedded inside.
2) Profit!
So what? The guy is pointing you towards something you're interested in. What does it matter if he makes a little scratch from it?
Now if it were a Slashdot editor's affiliate link, that would be a different story.
Well, I bought one because it was(arguably still is) the best smart phone on the market.
But that doesn't mean I like Apple and the iPhone OS. It's stupid silly how they have it locked down and I'm tired of the iTunes tie in.
I'll be trading my iPhone out for a G1 soon probably, but I don't at all regret having bought the iPhone back in January. It was the best device around at the time and it's served me well over the last year.
Actually I don't really like the G1 all that much either. I think the hardware isn't as nice as the iPhone hardware. I'm really hoping for an iPhone ripoff with the Android software on it.
But like the iPhone was over the last year, the G1 is probably the best device for me at the current time. So I'll buy one and when something better comes out, I'll move to that.
Considering Motorola has already stated they are going to make a series of devices with Android, and I'm certain that other equipment makers will probably jump on board at least with a handful of devices, I don't think you will have to wait too long for a more elegant android device.
That being said, I think the criticisms on the hardware of the G1 are necessarily fair. I mean, yeah, it doesn't shine, but I like function over form personally and the hardware buttons and the qwerty keyboard suit me more than just having the touch screen.
I respect that that's not good enough for some, but I don't think the G1 was developed as an iPhone killer like some believe and like the gadget media keeps trying to indicate. I think it's aimed more at the audience of people who want a smartphone but want a more open platform than what they are being served by most providers. For instance, I'm a programmer myself and the idea that I can sit down and easily develop applications for my own use for the G1 really drew me towards the Android platform in general. Yeah, you can do that on the iPhone, but not nearly as easily or conveniently as you can on the G1. Not to mention that the SDK was available even before the first device was out and google has already laid out a roadmap for improvements to the platform and SDK. A far cry from what you get from Apple. It's as if Steve Jobs begrudgingly allowed the SDK to be more widely available but really didn't want that to happen.
I hope that Google's "end game" (really just a beginning, natch) is to force open access to wireless carrier networks. "Roaming" charges and other lockins that bundle the physical network with the data, its servers, and (in the US) even the client HW are entirely against the openness of networks that has made them extremely valuable for everyone. Until networks were opened and unbundled, they were not so much engines for growth as they were accessories. Telcos and other network operators long ago stopped innovating in any area other than lobbying, lawsuits and restrictive licensing. All the growth in value comes from people competing to offer services on open networks.
Google is one of those innovative competitors. I hope they can force Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and the few other wireless carriers to join the 21st Century's openness and growth.
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make install -not war