My Desire touchscreen got a little funky too, but a reboot solved that, and I haven't had the problem again even though I have the Skype app running again.
I've been using mainly Cyanogenmod based Desire ROMs, but I got exactly the same behaviour on my old Moto Milestone...I know it sounds stupid. but I get the feeling that most people just don't realize that the apps are no longer running - the notification bar icon doesn't disappear, after all.
I haven't measured power consumption during actual calls, but during standby the Skype app seems very well behaved. According to Currentwidget, my phone draws about 5mA during standby with Skype running... same as without Skype.:)
... the most horrendous of which is the same one more or less all other Android instant messaging apps have:
After about 10-20 minutes of the phone idling, the app is just closed in the background. Notification icon stays put, so you don't notice it, but when you try to actually open Skype again, it starts up right at the login screen and procedes to log in again. Nearly all the other instant messaging apps I've tried also exhibit this behaviour: Meebo, Nimbuzz, eBuddy, IM+ 3.x...
Other than that it's not bad. Decent power management (between 0 and 1mA of power drain in standby, compared to 35-40mA for most other IM apps), good call quality on WiFi (haven't tried 3G yet) and a decent UI.
Still feels pretty buggy, of course, but hey... it's Skype and the calls work!
Sounds a lot like a placebo effect to me. Macbooks are pretty, but comfortable to work on? Uh, not really. I for one can't get over the hard right angle that passes for a wrist rest... It's fine on a desk, but get one of those things on your lap and ouch.
+1... I'm still running a Thinkpad X41T as my main machine, and for day to day work it's perfectly fine. I also have a 15.4" WSXGA+ machine with a Core2Duo for heavy(ish... Cubase, Handbrake, Photoshop, occasional WiFi module compilation for Android... nothing very taxing really) lifting, but when I don't need the screen real-estate, I usually just RDP in from the couch...
I just hope these specs trickle down to smartphones some time soon - these toy tablets are just too big for my pockets, and I already have a real tablet PC. But a smartphone with these specs, and a 3.7" 1024x600 or higher res screen... Want.
"1. insta arrival at recipient, even if recipient is not connected (to the intarwebs, that is)" - If you've got GSM reception, you've got GPRS. Any decent IM protocol has offline message support, delivering messages as soon as the recipient logs in... effectively the same as SMS.
"2. recipient can choose to check at their convenience" - Same with IM. When my phone vibrates with a text notification, it doesn't matter whether that text is in the form of an SMS or IM or E-Mail... they all get the same priority. If I can read it right away, I do... if I can't or don't feel like it, I don't. Why differentiate?
"3. recipient can choose to reply at their convenience" - Same with IM. Other people just need to log in regularly or leave their phones online permanently...
Then again, I'm the sort of person who'd rather pay 25 a month for data just to use IM than pay 20 cents for a single SMS... YMMV;)
That's more of a technical snag, isn't it? If you want to use Google apps (Maps, Nav etc.), you're going to need to use Google's geolocation service, since there's no easy way to integrate Skyhook's services - and why should there be?
But how exactly do they make money from their WiFi geolocation service? Maps, okay, put in ads or paid POI... but WiFi geolocation isn't exactly something you can monetize unless you sell it...?
I'm not sure if Google is really the bad guy here. Skyhook's concept is cool and all, but there may be other reasons Skyhook wasn't considered for providing location data in Android. If they'd made a decent offer and provided a service that's up to par, why should Google go to all the trouble of setting up their own location tech? Wouldn't it have been much cheaper and easier to just use Skyhook?
The thing is, they took all those things and did them better than everyone else. Might just be a matter of taste, but in every one of those examples (except maybe Street View, which I find is completely unneeded), I prefer the Google service over the competitor you mentioned...
Yes, I'm an absolute Google fanboy. I like getting cool stuff for free (especially when you can't buy it anyway);)
Do you have any more information about 4)? I'd love to read more about that, since I was actually hoping Skyhook support would be integrated additionally for more accurate data...
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...putting your hand in a toaster also causes Toasted Skin Syndrome.
Who woulda thunk it? :(
My Desire touchscreen got a little funky too, but a reboot solved that, and I haven't had the problem again even though I have the Skype app running again.
Actually thought it was a fluke...
I've been using mainly Cyanogenmod based Desire ROMs, but I got exactly the same behaviour on my old Moto Milestone...I know it sounds stupid. but I get the feeling that most people just don't realize that the apps are no longer running - the notification bar icon doesn't disappear, after all.
I haven't measured power consumption during actual calls, but during standby the Skype app seems very well behaved. According to Currentwidget, my phone draws about 5mA during standby with Skype running... same as without Skype. :)
... the most horrendous of which is the same one more or less all other Android instant messaging apps have:
After about 10-20 minutes of the phone idling, the app is just closed in the background. Notification icon stays put, so you don't notice it, but when you try to actually open Skype again, it starts up right at the login screen and procedes to log in again. Nearly all the other instant messaging apps I've tried also exhibit this behaviour: Meebo, Nimbuzz, eBuddy, IM+ 3.x...
Other than that it's not bad. Decent power management (between 0 and 1mA of power drain in standby, compared to 35-40mA for most other IM apps), good call quality on WiFi (haven't tried 3G yet) and a decent UI.
Still feels pretty buggy, of course, but hey... it's Skype and the calls work!
Sounds a lot like a placebo effect to me. Macbooks are pretty, but comfortable to work on? Uh, not really. I for one can't get over the hard right angle that passes for a wrist rest... It's fine on a desk, but get one of those things on your lap and ouch.
+1... I'm still running a Thinkpad X41T as my main machine, and for day to day work it's perfectly fine. I also have a 15.4" WSXGA+ machine with a Core2Duo for heavy(ish... Cubase, Handbrake, Photoshop, occasional WiFi module compilation for Android... nothing very taxing really) lifting, but when I don't need the screen real-estate, I usually just RDP in from the couch...
One word: Permissions. There's a reason they're displayed every time you install an app...
The RAM... the RAM!
I just hope these specs trickle down to smartphones some time soon - these toy tablets are just too big for my pockets, and I already have a real tablet PC. But a smartphone with these specs, and a 3.7" 1024x600 or higher res screen... Want.
All either geeks or idiots I got hooked on smartphones :)
My main correspondent is my girlfriend, and getting her an Android phone isn't all that hard ;)
"1. insta arrival at recipient, even if recipient is not connected (to the intarwebs, that is)" - If you've got GSM reception, you've got GPRS. Any decent IM protocol has offline message support, delivering messages as soon as the recipient logs in... effectively the same as SMS.
"2. recipient can choose to check at their convenience" - Same with IM. When my phone vibrates with a text notification, it doesn't matter whether that text is in the form of an SMS or IM or E-Mail... they all get the same priority. If I can read it right away, I do... if I can't or don't feel like it, I don't. Why differentiate?
"3. recipient can choose to reply at their convenience" - Same with IM. Other people just need to log in regularly or leave their phones online permanently...
Then again, I'm the sort of person who'd rather pay 25 a month for data just to use IM than pay 20 cents for a single SMS... YMMV ;)
Why not IM or some other sane method of communication? *headscratch*
Aha! Now that I didn't know, makes sense of course. Thanks for that little bit of info.
That's the funniest translation error I've seen in a while :D
Angefressen actually means annoyed/pissed off - literally translated... yeah, partially eaten. :p
What would have prevented Motorola from just removing the Google apps and doing whatever the hell they wanted with Android?
They didn't have any problems doing things like encrypting the bootloader, so this isn't really much of a leap for them.
What if they're actually giants standing on the shoulders of midgets? :)
That's more of a technical snag, isn't it? If you want to use Google apps (Maps, Nav etc.), you're going to need to use Google's geolocation service, since there's no easy way to integrate Skyhook's services - and why should there be?
They're not even actively stopping the use of Skyhook... see Layar for Android: http://satellite.tmcnet.com/topics/satellite/articles/102092-layar-adds-skyhooks-core-engine-its-android-applications.htm
Uses Skyhook, is available in the Android market, and even ships on some handsets stateside IIRC...
Of course... but why would using Skyhook for geolocation stop Google from putting location-sensitive ads in apps?
How does knowing where you are through Skyhook make Google less money than knowing where you are through their own in-house system?
I hardly think that rolling their own system was cheaper than just licensing Skyhook would've been...
Yup, and I'm OK with it ;)
But how exactly do they make money from their WiFi geolocation service? Maps, okay, put in ads or paid POI... but WiFi geolocation isn't exactly something you can monetize unless you sell it...?
Thanks, I've been using that app for a long time... cool that they're using Skyhook in addition now though.
But doesn't that show that Google isn't doing anything to stop the use of Skyhook in its OS? Layar works fine... I'm sure other apps would too.
I'm not sure if Google is really the bad guy here. Skyhook's concept is cool and all, but there may be other reasons Skyhook wasn't considered for providing location data in Android. If they'd made a decent offer and provided a service that's up to par, why should Google go to all the trouble of setting up their own location tech? Wouldn't it have been much cheaper and easier to just use Skyhook?
The thing is, they took all those things and did them better than everyone else. Might just be a matter of taste, but in every one of those examples (except maybe Street View, which I find is completely unneeded), I prefer the Google service over the competitor you mentioned...
Yes, I'm an absolute Google fanboy. I like getting cool stuff for free (especially when you can't buy it anyway) ;)
Do you have any more information about 4)? I'd love to read more about that, since I was actually hoping Skyhook support would be integrated additionally for more accurate data...