Archive for the ‘Android’ tag
Google I/O 2011: The Five Biggest Letdowns
Google I/O 2012 kicks off in a few days, and given that more than a year has passed since the last Google developer’s gathering, I thought I’d take a minute to look back at all of the 2011 broken promises. Here’s my list of letdowns.
5. Google TV – It’s easy to pick on Google TV. I mean, the Logitech Revue sold so badly that it cost the CEO of the company his job. Promises were made, and those promises fell flat. But at Google I/O 2011 there was lots of talk about Google TV. The Honeycomb 3.1 update that didn’t happen until the end of the year was really just the beginning. After all the talk about bringing new apps to the Google TV, and bringing new hardware to the consumer Google TV is sitting right where it was more than a year ago.
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Of course Android will survive the patent mess.
I just love reading the missives surrounding the whole Android patent mess that Google not only allowed to happen, but they seemingly encouraged. There were a lot of things that Google could have done to prevent this mess from being such an issue, they just didn’t.
Way back in 2005 when Google bought Android they could have dedicated a floor in the Android building to patent lawyers. You know, the kind that put a unique spin on the plainly obvious and file for a patent. They didn’t. They could have bought up some IP from trolls, small companies and other inventors. They didn’t. Hell, they could have licensed patents from others. Again, they didn’t. There was also the route that they took; do absolutely nothing.
For sure, Google’s inattention to Android IP issues created a mine field for device manufacturers. HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Barnes & Noble and even Google themselves are all being sued, being threatened with a lawsuit or have already entered into various licensing agreements with the likes of Microsoft and others to cover the Android technology in the phones that they sell. As an Android user do I like the fact that the vendors surrounding my phone OS of choice have to pay royalties to the likes of Microsoft to sell me my phone? No, I don’t like it. In fact, I hate it, but patent royalties have absolutely no impact on my life, my daily usage of my phone or my investments, so I ignore it.
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Apple vs Google, the cloud showdown
Apple’s recently announced iCloud service is a clear response to the loosely organized but very widely used Google cloud assortment. If you look, Apple seems to have all of the major Google bases covered. There’s mail, calendar, contacts, documents and music to go along with App Store and iTunes Music Store history.
It’s a well rounded product from what can be seen and used today, and it was very convenient to download all of the iTunes purchases that I had mistakenly deleted over the years. But is it just a Google vs Apple, head-to-head thing? Oh no, don’t confuse it for that. The cloud is a shared vision between the two companies, but the approach and intent couldn’t be more opposite.
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If Michael Dell farted would it leave a Dell Streak in his shorts?
I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to Michael Dell and Dell computers. I will admit that I have a deep hatred for all things Dell and it was owning a Dell computer that turned me to building my own computers. I hate Dell. There.
Mike Dell, the same Mike Dell who in 1997 famously said in answer to a question from C|Net about what he would do if he were running Apple:
“What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders,” Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executive.
That Mike Dell. He’s at it again when it comes to taking swipes at Apple. He had this to say to the Wall Street Journal:
Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But again, if you look at 18 months ago, Android phones were like, “What is that?” And now there are more Android phones than iPhones. I don’t see any reason why the same won’t occur with Android tablets.
Now, you know, it’s not the thought behind his quote that I take issue with, it’s the idea that Michael Dell said it. Nothing that Dell has done with Android has been worth a mention. Their past Android based devices haven’t been received very well and their upcoming 10″ model doesn’t give me the tingles either.
Dell has been shipping what to me are shit computers, laptops and now tablets for a really long time, but that isn’t stopping Michael Dell from stating that Android devices will out ship iPads soon-ish. He’s likely right, based on the number of devices that are or will soon be available Android tablets will likely out ship iPads in the not-so-distant future. You’re just not going to find Dell tablets anywhere near the top of the Android sales leader chart.
Mike, leave the trash talking to the CEO’s of companies that are actually in the game.
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Google Wants Spotify Again?
There are rumors making the rounds that Google is once again trying to acquire Spotify to power its online music product. I can’t even keep count of the number of times Google has been rumored to be chasing after Spotify, is this the third time?
It almost did happen last year with a rumored purchase price of $1 billion but infighting at Google killed the deal. It seemed that there were multiple groups inside the plex that each wanted to control the product and put their own spin on the outcome.
The current version of this rumor has Google wanting to either buy Spotify or enter into an agreement for Spotify to power the Google Music service. Partnering with Spotify is not the answer here. Google either needs to buy Spotify or choke it down with the music labels.
Amazon’s Cloud Player is available right now. Apple’s cloud music product is coming very, very soon. Time is up and Google needs to have an actual plan for a real release for the product that the announced and showed at Google I/O last year.
Source: Business Insider
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Something to love about HTC Sense
It may have taken Apple three years to invent copy/paste but did they ever invent it well. The Android implementation of this Apple invention had always been a real letdown for me, until I got my Thunderbolt.
Thank you HTC for implementing a clean, functional copy/paste function. It seems so simple, but the HTC implementation on Froyo is far better than than the AOSP implementation in Gingerbread.
Posted from WordPress for Android
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Dropped XM Online Radio
I have really been fed up with the problems with the XM Android app. It looks horrible, but the real problem is all of the stuttering in the audio. It stops to buffer every 30 or 40 seconds.
I’ve had Pandora on my Droid for a while now but hadn’t used it much. I’ve been all over it for the last few weeks and I am really happy with what it offers.
No, there aren’t any DJ’s but given how much I listen to XM in my truck that is a good thing. Channels are all customized by me and a new channel can be created from an artist or song on demand. All of this and I’ve yet to have the software stutter or buffer in over 50 hours of listening.
At $36 a year it is the same money as the XM streaming add-on but it provides some much-needed variety in my music listening.
Posted from WordPress for Android
