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Details of Android 3.0, SIP, Video Chat

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we-are-the-robots dept.

dkd903 was one of several folks to note that a bunch of details about Google's Android 3.0 are beginning to leak out. The platform is codenamed Gingerbread; it includes video chat to compete with the iPhone, and a graphical overhaul to try to make it look a bit better compared to its rivals.

18 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Sense (or Sense inspired) all the way by Pojut · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I gotta say, after messing around with Sense, I can't freakin' STAND the stock Android OS look. I'm currently running xtrSense on my Eris, which is a freakin' GREAT rom...but yeah, stock Android is just fugly.

    Looking forward to a system-wide visual update.

    --
    Living With a Nerd
    1. Re:Sense (or Sense inspired) all the way by catbutt · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Aside from the end user experience, as an Android developer (in the process of porting iphone apps) I can tell you that android sure makes it difficult to do the slick effects that on iPhone are practically free. For instance, the transitional animations that make the iPhone seem so slick are a nightmare to accomplish on Android. I hope they do a lot of work in this area.

    2. Re:Sense (or Sense inspired) all the way by phil4 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sense is slick - but I switched to CM6 ( Cyanogen Mod 6.00, an Android Open Source Project based rom ) and was surprised that I didn't really miss anything that Sense had given me. I had already switched away from the very nice weather/clock widget because its weather was not very current and everything else is nearly equivalent. ( Sprint HTC Hero, not the newest/fastest phone but very snappy with CM6 and only slight overclocking )

    3. Re:Sense (or Sense inspired) all the way by binary+paladin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No. They're not. Those visual cues are important to A LOT of people.

      Of course, you're probably the kind of person who shuts off text anti-aliasing too.

    4. Re:Sense (or Sense inspired) all the way by Fast+Thick+Pants · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Ah, fond memories of ECHO ATDP 63489 > COM1...

      (Greybeard three-fer: Dialing from the MS-DOS command prompt, pulse dialing no less, and, God as my witness, I actually used to be able to dial my uncle by using only five digits.)

      (Holy crap, I just remembered that my first modem was an acoustic coupler job that couldn't even dial, and I used to hand-dial into the BBS using a rotary phone. And for kicks I practiced pulse dialing by rapidly clicking the receiver button. I guess it's about time I got a lawn...)

    5. Re:Sense (or Sense inspired) all the way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      No, they are exactly that- just bling. I know what happens when I minimize a window. Showing an animation only serves to slow me down and waste my time.

      Great. What about the other 90% of UI effects? After all, you know where in the document you are, so get rid of the scroll bar position indicator, it's just bling. And using smooth scrolling within a file window, well you know what files you have so might as well shut that off too, after all you can use the 'search' function to find what you're looking for. And automatically changing icons based on file extension, well you know what kinds of files are what so no need for that either.
      In fact, the entire idea of a GUI is really just 'bling', so how about you just go back to using a CLI, then you'll be happy and we don't have to listen to you bitch.

      Or you could try installing your video card drivers, since most UI effects are hardware accelerated and don't actually slow anything down.

      They're not a feature, they're a bug and a fucking annoying one at that.

      Now you're just being a fucking drama queen. It might not be a feature you like, but that doesn't make it a bug, and the vast majority of people find them useful so you can piss off.

  2. Re:Video chat to compete with the iPhone by froggymana · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I would like to know if the video chat for android will actually work over 3G (or 4G) then in comparison to the iPhone only working over wifi.

    --
    "To prevent this day from getting any worse, I'll just read ERROR as GOOD THING" 1GJU8xLuDKDxEs4KLf8fAGyptoDsqvEsBT
  3. Maemo by bcmm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Maemo already does SIP calls and video chat.

    --
    # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
    Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
  4. Encryption please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Waiting for manageable full disk encryption, plus capability to encrypt the SD card. Android will never be fully accepted into the enterprise if this doesn't happen. Touchdown is ok, but doesn't really scale well across a huge client base.

  5. Re:We already have video chat by Superken7 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Speaking of effortless nice Android UIs:

    In an effort to make creating a nice Android UI less painful I started this small project called Android Theme Samples.

    Its just like the Android Samples, where many examples are combined into a single downloadable app so you can browse it, try it and get those parts that better fit your own app.

    Its up in github for anyone to take and contribute: http://github.com/pllopis/AndroidThemeSamples

    I just got started and only a "light" theme and an "Action Bar" UI pattern are included. (Mind the design, I am not a designer).
    Would be really great if others contributed their own design :)

  6. OpenVPN without root by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The only thing that I need is to be able to connect to my office OpenVPN without having to root the freakin' phone.

    My N900 does it, but I'm stuck with IPSec on the Desire which fails completely because of damnable NAT from the telco (Vodafone and O2 in my case!)

    Our sales droids would love to have an Android!

  7. Re:SIP would be great by priegog · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What I'm really looking forward about this is that the current (to my knowledge) most battery efficient app on the market today (Sipdroid) absolutely DEVOURS my battery, making it impossible for me to leave it running in the background. I'd really love a completely "virtual" phone in the sense that I could use it as a full time SIP phone, but so far, it's either take a charger everywhere I go or just use it for outgoing calls. Hopefully (probably?) Google will make an awesome app that doesn't use a lot of battery, making it usable.

    Google providing a SIP account would be great too. One less thing to configure.

    And yes, I'm in Europe, and yes I pay less than 15 Euro/month for my calls + internet. It's even a prepaid "plan", so I didn't sign anything. /bragging (I DID however have to pay 150 Euro for my free {as in freedom} HTC Magic {yay eBay!}.)

  8. This irks me by stimpleton · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have a Samsung Galaxy S (Epic, Fascinate in some markets) which it a top of the range phone. It has broken GPS (like most every other Galaxy S owner) and no official Samsung Android Froyo 2.2 update is forthcoming, and 3.0 is leaking?

    I feel aggrieved to be honest. I suspect this isnt a software problem and it may be hardware now.

    I was visiting another town the other day, and collegues from another org, were giving me gip as they all had IPhones and merrily pointed out locations, as mine couldnt get a lock at all. "Well, you have your Live Wallpaper. I guess thats something."

    If you like a bit of corporate show boating I would advise against a Samsung Galaxy S.

    --

    In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
  9. Re:We already have video chat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why not contribute to the existing project instead of making your own?

    I think this is where Android is failing, developers ego's

  10. Re:Catch up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    What are you talking about...flash on Android is a complete bomb? I use it daily to watch videos from NyTimes, Aljazeera, etc. My web browsing experience is complete with this plugin. So what if a few finger gestures are missing...it works and plays videos flawlessly for me.

  11. Re:Try Google App Inventor by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As someone who just started using App Inventor, it's AWESOME. For someone who doesn't have time to learn how to code Android deep down, it works wonders.

  12. Re:What The Fuck Are You Babbling About? by DeionXxX · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dwireless-phones&field-keywords=android&x=0&y=0

    A bunch of phones are on that list and under $50.

    When I got my phone, my wife got hers (Droid Eris) for free. There were a bunch of other promotions like buy a Droid X and get any other phone for free etc... It's stuff like this that inflates the numbers. My wife probably wouldn't have gotten an Android based phone and she doesn't download apps in the marketplace or anything like that. So I don't think developers are benefiting from these low-end android phones.

  13. Re:Video chat to compete with the iPhone by mr100percent · · Score: 3, Interesting

    FaceTime is using open, unencrypted protocols and is looking to share it and make it interoperate with others. Skype is proprietary closed-source that blocks competitors (like Fring).

    FaceTime uses H.264, AAC, SIP, STUN, TURN, ICE, RTP, and SRTP. All open standard protocols that someone could make work with iPhones/iPods. I'm surprised nobody put together a Windows app to connect to them. Imagine how popular Oovoo would be against Skype if they had this feature