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Android Gathers Steam Among Open Source Developers
svonkie writes "Despite launching on the T-Mobile G1 with little mainstream fanfare, Google Inc.'s Android OS appears to have gained strong interest in the open source development community. According to a survey of Black Duck Software's Knowledge Base, Apple Inc.'s iPhone led the industry with 266 open source project releases during 2008, while Android followed in second place with 191 releases. Black Duck compiled the data after scouring through over 185,000 of open source projects across 4,000 Internet sites."
Sorry to interrupt a good rant; but Android is Apache v2.
That is funny. I'm in the Midwest and I use T-Mobile. There service works for me wherever I go in the Midwest. There service is as good or better than AT&T or Verizon in my experience. Although cellular companies much like cable companies and telcoms all seem to suffer from group mediocrity.
Honestly, I thought T-mobile was a plus. They seem to be a little less prone to some of the anti-consumer schemes common among providers. They'll even unlock your phone after 90 days if your account remains in good standing. The G1 data plan cost was about what I otherwise saved switching over all my lines from Verizon. They also don't try to hit you with per-MB fees if you go over some cap and you don't need some expensive plan to do this.
There has been so much focus on iPhone, Android and Windows application development in the media the last few years. And yet no one as far as I can remember has ever mentioned that Nokia has a great open source development platform for their phones which runs on newer Symbian 60 called PyS60(Python for Symbian 60) http://wiki.opensource.nokia.com/projects/Installing_PyS60
With PyS60you have access to about every feature in the phone. Everything from SMS, to the accelerometer. Not to mention that programming in Python is fun, and if speed is an issue, you still have access to several Python C++ Extensions http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/C%2B%2B_Python_Extensions and there is support for developing your own c++ extensions. On the Nokia wiki there are several small easy to read examples of how to use all the technology in their phones http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/Category:Python
Yet I don't understand why developers and media ignore this development platform. Isn't powerful applications that can be coded in less than hundred lines pure joy for a developer? There is a lot of people with Symbian 60 phones out there, more than Android and iPhone together(not sure about Windows though).
Sprint has Android phones on the way. http://phandroid.com/2009/02/20/sprint-android-coming-ceo-reassures/
It really depends on how you use it. If you use it to make occassional phone calls, and to check your email once in a while, then you'll easily get a full day or more out of the battery.
If you sit down and use it like a laptop, browing the web, playing games, etc - well, then it will be dead in two hours.
I had a lot of trouble with mine when it was new - but that was because I'd just tinker with it all day on a weekend. Once I settled down to real life use I haven't had any problems with it.
Sure, I'd like more battery life. It is still weaker than I'd like it to be. However, it isn't a reason not to get the phone.