Comments on: Will Android 3.0 Stifle Upgrades?

By: Vaughn

Vaughn — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:09:29 +0000

It sound awfuly like and android tablet because its only going to be released on android tablets.This is not going to be used on phones.

By: J

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:40:14 +0000

Before you guys get your panties in a bunch, this article is inaccurate. Just wait and see. Google is not going to lock down interfaces; its going to try to make it so that they’re 1) unnecessary and 2) don’t delay the ability for handsets to upgrade to newer versions of Android.

By: J

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:31:53 +0000

I chose not to read this rant, but the first sentence is spot on. The article starts out with “Gingerbread will lock down customization” to “If there is a lock down.” So, which is it? And why start your article with something you know is likely not true?

By: PRETHOUGHT

PRETHOUGHT — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 06:39:28 +0000

Well, HTC did take a mediocre OS and made it workable with Sense UI. Everyone else is just stuck in mediocre. Google is just trying to even the playing field for all manufacturers.

By: PRETHOUGHT

PRETHOUGHT — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 06:13:31 +0000

First and foremost google is going to push their agenda. That’s the way they make money you can’t fault them for that. They realized selling phones isn’t their business. Data mining is their business. The only thing that will be locked down is google’s ability to gather statistical data on each and every user of their platform, any customization done by phone manufacturers is just icing on the cake. WebOS took a whole lot of R&D money to build out that it cost Palm it’s solvency. Let’s face it without Android, phone manufactures don’t stand a chance against Apple. So I say they will suck it up and take whatever google gives them.

By: drrjv

drrjv — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:29:16 +0000

So much for ‘open’ – sounds like Google is again copying Apple.

They’re even zapping Apps with a ‘kill switch’!

http://bit.ly/appzapper

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:03:50 +0000

I have no problem with google locking down the user interface. If anything what google should do is just do a total lockdown of the basic interface and allow companies to run their own interface on top of it but allow the user to have the ability exit that interface.

For example, HTC is hellbent on installing sense on their phones. I love sense, it does make simplify a lot of the OS but I don’t like having to sit on version 1.5 while everyone else is sporting 2.1 simply because HTC hasn’t gotten around to tying sense into the new updates.

I think this way we as the user can decide do we want to stay on 1.5 and have sense or update to 2.1 and enjoy the features and abilities 2.1 has to offer and in the future allow HTC to release a sense pack addon that gives sense users what they want.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:53:46 +0000

Also, I think google should work on docking options for Android. I’d be so happy if I could simply drop my phone into a dock, and suddenly be able to use it on a big desktop screen, with a keyboard and mouse, speakers, etc… just like the laptop docks for ultra mobiles. The processing power and memory on today’s smartphones is enough to act as most people’s main computers (as shown by netbooks and ipad).

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:50:10 +0000

If they do lock down on GUI customization, I won’t complain. From the beginning they should have made GUI customization not “break” upgrade paths. There’s no reason changing the gui a bit should prevent updates to other important systems. That said, I also don’t think people absolutely need to have the latest bleeding edge version of Android on their older devices, though it’s good if they can.

I don’t like how the minimum screen size is limited to 3.5 inches. Big screens might be nice for many people, but I think forcing a particular size on manufacturers will stifle creativity in device design.

A little off topic, but that also alarms me about the latest trend of huge screens on phones. Basically they’re turning into MIDs (something I expected a long time ago), but it won’t be long before they’re too big to fit in your pocket.

By: Bug Master J

Bug Master J — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:32:55 +0000

Clearly Google is once again emulating Apple. They realize that Android is becoming heavily fragmented (Hardware, OS, Apps) and this is a huge weakness when compared to the streamlined and very consistent UI among iOS Apps. The quality of Android Apps is definitely a notch or two below that of the iPhone. iOS is putting a serious bag of hurt on Android and Google is scrambling to keep Android momentum. Once the iPhone launches across all carriers Google should feel more pain and Flash should start declining rapidly.
I see Android 3 as Google desperate attempt to keep up with iOS in the mobile marketplace. They really have no choice but to reign in their rogue partners who threaten to fork the platform in many different directions.