Android This Week: Nvidia Gives Android the Smackdown
Android so far is only on a few phones, but some want to put the Google OS on bigger devices. Yet just as analysts are starting to believe in the suitability of Android to run netbooks, chipmaker Nvidia is backing off the OS for the newly emerged smartbook category.
Analysts at Gartner have gone on record stating that Android is a viable alternative for netbooks. The OS isn’t quite ready to run on devices with screens larger than phones, but they’re confident it will be soon, providing a good alternative to Windows and Linux, either of which can be found in all netbooks currently on the market. Applications will play a big part in providing the functions that consumers need from netbooks and there are already some decent apps in the Android Market that could drive its adoption.
Once Android becomes a player in the netbook game, this will open up an alternative to the Intel Atom processor, which is the de facto standard in this class, as Android is written for other processors. We’ll most likely see Snapdragon processors based on ARM technology first, as Android is already optimized for them. Given the integrated communications in the ARM architecture and the “instant on” nature of the chipset, this will open up a whole range of capabilities for cheap netbooks and smartbooks.
Nvidia is hoping to get into the relatively new smartbook devices market with its Tegra processor. It was previously thought that the company was looking to go the Android route but it’s laid that thought to rest, at least for a year. In a statement that has surprised many, Nvidia said it will produce Tegra-powered smartbooks, but running the aging Windows CE operating system. Their reasoning is that Android is not ready yet but that Windows CE is mature and ready to roll.
Sorry to hear that nVida. Though this has in no way lessened my personal interest in an Android netbook. If they turn out the way I expect them to, I will be buying one for each of my family members. That way I don’t have to learn to troubleshoot Mac’s and don’t have the headache of their windows computers breaking down all the time.
Android, what a stupid OS! Why would you bother for an idiotic and incomplete OS (which will never ever get complete) when there is a ultra solid and advanced OS – Windows CE. But apparently people love stupid things – like iPhone. I wouldn’t even imagine that someone will make a phone that can’t multitask – heck, not even copy and paste, and people would take it seriously.
nVidia is very right on this one.
Because it has more potential. If people were giving up on planes because they were incomplete, we would be still at the stone age. The future is about as important as the present.
Very wrong analogy. This is more like reinventing Wright Brothers’ plane after building a Boeing 787!
By the way, MS made Win CE kernel totally open source. Many projects are already distributing their CE version with their software,freely.
I have developed on closed source CE and open source Android. Guess which is easier to debug?
I think your comment is very myopic. Let me give you my background. I have programmed on Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Blackberry and just getting into Android and iPhone development. I have personally used smartphones for over 5 years of every variety. Here is my take. Windows CE is designed for embedded systems and specialized devices. It sucks as a consumer and general purpose OS.
Windows Mobile just plain sucks. A few years ago I went through 3 WM devices. Each time getting the latest and greatest and forking out hundreds of dollars. Outside of outlook the user experience sucked. The machine with multi-tasking and all kept freezing. The problem was that MS had tried to cram a Windows OS into crappy hardware. And do not even get me started on the web browser. Yes I liked programming to SQL compact and having my apps run in the background. But the machines were so underpowered that the UX was terrible. The users hated the Windows experience on a small screens and using the stylus. There is a reason WIndows Mobile continues to lose market share.
NVidia made a safe, conservative and myopic decision. Are they might be targeting vertical and specialty applicaitons – then the decision makes sense. By selecting Windows CE they have invested in yesterday’s OS. Terrible UI, sluggish performance and crappy browser. Crappy support for core web technologies such as JScript, FLash, CSS and HTML and HTTP support. I guess if all you do is write is C# applications then it makes sense otherwise Nvidia is in big trouble.
By the way I and my family love the iPhone. We used to own 3 Blackberries before. Now we own all iPhones on T-Mobile. Can’t wait to get apps on a platform that people actually love to use. I am not sure what qualifies you to call iPhone users stupid.
I like Acer’s plan to dual-boot Android & Windows on netbooks. If you want/need to use Windows, you can. Otherwise, Android offers you the benefits of fast boot & runtime, super long battery life, touch-optimized UI, location-based services, cell phone calls, SMS/MMS, multi-media playback, and access to all the other cool apps in the Android Market.
A similar approach could be used on smartbooks, with Ubuntu instead of Windows (since Windows does not run on ARM). This would be awesome! You would run Android most of the time, but if you need OpenOffice, or any other Ubuntu-supported app (developers could even run Linux dev tools!), you could launch them.
My vote is for this Android dual-boot configuration to be standard on all smartbooks/netbooks…perhaps with Windows/Ubuntu as optional add-ons.
No sense rant, why going with Android when you have [as an example] Linux? What’s the advantage of using Android?
There is certainly a use case that supports a “thick” desktop OS like Windows/Ubuntu (for office apps, etc.), but there is also a use case for a “thin” OS, like Android for:
Hopefully, both categories of devices will co-exist, so users can buy the device that fits their specific needs.
So, you think that an operating system called Linux, embraced by lot of developers and companies is not enough for a netbook or mobile? sound more like a commercial arrangement than a technical solution.
@srw
Android is Linux. Linux is not a single OS, but a collection of OS based on the same kernel. Kind of like how Windows XP and Windows Vista are both Windows, but are not the same OS. Android is just a version of Linux optimized for use on a phone. The advantage of having a single version of Linux across all phones, rather than each manufacturer coming up with their own implementation, is ease of software development.
Well then nVida is not getting any of my money. I don’t want a unit that is held back by the constraints imposted by Intel and Microsoft. I wan’t the thousands of apps with more coming out every day. The opportunity for anyone to make a program for it and for any manufacture to make it. I want FREEDOM!!