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With iPad 2 out, some are wondering whether or not a decent competitor will emerge to challenge Apple’s crown for king of the tablet devices.
Although Motorola’s Xoom is barely surviving the tablet wars, it doesn’t appear that they (or any future Android tablet) will be able to compete against iPad 2 in the near future due to 3 simple blunders. [Read more…]
Originally posted on March 14, 2011 @ 2:19 pm
Apparently Google doesn’t like being called a liar in public and Andy Rubin (one of the co-founders) seems to be upset about the “fear, uncertainty and doubt” being spread by the media about Android’s new rules.
Rubin attempts to clarify Google’s position regarding Android, although manufactures may not like what they hear.
We don’t believe in a “one size fits all†solution. The Android platform has already spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices – many of which were not originally contemplated when the platform was first created.  […]
If someone wishes to market a device as Android-compatible or include Google applications on the device, we do require the device to conform with some basic compatibility requirements. (Official Android Blog)
To Google’s credit, members of the Open Handset Alliance did promise not to fragment Android, so Google (technically) did not perform a “bait and switch” upon carriers or manufactures when launching Android publicly a few years ago.
However Google can not claim to be open while running their “anti-fragmentation” campaign, as the former by definition gives everyone the power to alter (or fragment) Android to their hearts content.
Google is trying to have their cake and eat it too by using the open source community to help build up Android, while at the same time embracing a “Windows Phone” philosophy (i.e. force standardizations upon all phones).
While having standards for Android devices is needed for consumers and app developers, Google needs to stop pretending that Android is all about open (as Android is only “more open” than rivals, instead of being purely open source).
Originally posted on April 7, 2011 @ 1:03 pm
Microsoft has released stats regarding the size of their app store for Windows Phone 7, and the news of it should make RIM tremble.
Windows Phone Marketplace currently offers more than 9,000 quality apps and games and enjoys a base of over 32,000 registered developers, delivering an average of 100 new apps every day. The Windows Phone Developer Tools have now been downloaded more than one million times, and we recently announced an update to let developers take advantage of OS updates such as the addition of copy and paste functionality. (Windows Phone Developer Blog)
Note: Emphasis mine.
Currently Blackberry App World sits at 22,885 apps (including a few test apps) which is a decent number considering how much attention iOS and Android receive from developers.
However if Microsoft’s app store continues to grow at its current momentum of 3,000 new apps every month, we could witness Windows Phone 7 stealing the bronze away from Blackberry in about 6 months (if not sooner).
With iOS and Android app stores widening their respective leads and Microsoft attempting to sprint ahead of them from behind, RIM’s only hope for relevancy may lie with Android Market (a decision that could starve out their native app store).
Originally posted on March 9, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
Samsung is apparently taking advantage of Symbian chaos that ensued after Nokia ditched Symbian for Windows Phone 7.
Although known mostly for their Android devices, Samsung is apparently trying to introduce Symbian developers to their home brew OS known as Bada.
“If you are a Symbian developer unhappy about Nokia’s recent announcements, and are hence looking for a new platform to showcase your talents, we say ‘Hello!’ and ‘welcome to bada (operating system),’ said a newsletter posted by a Samsung developer on the Internet and quoted in online media.
“If you’re new to the bada development, or are moving your app from Symbian, we’d like to welcome you.” (Reuters)
Apparently Bada has many similarities to Symbian which Samsung hopes will attract disgruntled Symbian developers in order to boost their native mobile OS.
While the mobile OS looks mature (at least upon Samsung’s Wave smartphones), it’s uncertain whether Symbian developers will embrace Bada over Android, or even iOS (both which support tablets).
Samsung has designed Bada to court low to mid range devices, although with Apple moving into that space, Samsung may have to find a way to win over Symbian developers before Steve Jobs does.
(Hat tip: Mobile Burn)
Originally posted on March 10, 2011 @ 2:27 pm
In a bid to help make the lives of Blackberry developers easier, RIM has released their Blackberry Analytics SDK which should provide greater insight regarding the usage of apps by Blackberry addicts.
Some very good information can be tracked such as the number of times the application opens, closes, the number of screen views, carriers, device models as well as usage time. […]
Many other events in your application can be captured as well (including custom events), and there are built-in reports for Media playback, Product Views and more. Once configured, data will be captured automatically and aggregated in the dashboard view or reports. It can also be exported to CSV or Web Service. (Blackberry Developer’s Blog)
The SDK is currently in beta, which means that developers will probably encounter a few bugs after installing Blackberry Analytics within their app.
While it’s great to see RIM releasing an official analytics tool, it’s also makes one wonder whether or not Blackberry will be courting Android Market in the future (note: RIM has confirmed that they are embracing Android apps upon the Playbook).
As far as the developer community goes, RIM has a long ways to go in order to appease their current stock of developers (let a lone woo new ones)
Hopefully the company can stabilize their analytics tool (among other features) in order to keep developers from defecting towards iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7.
Originally posted on February 28, 2011 @ 1:23 pm