Android 2.0 released; more features and improvements for developers
Google launched the newest version of the Android 2.0 SDK today to the public for development purposes. The new release offers a significant amount of tools for developers to help with app development along with increased support for the various phones that are being released in anticipation of the holiday season.
For users there are plenty of new features that will be used in their new high-end phones from HTC, Samsung, and Motorola. As a result, the attraction for Android phones will most likely sky-rocket and developers can create more sophisticated and detailed apps.
Below is a list of new features for users:
Contacts and accounts
· Multiple accounts can be added to a device for email and contact synchronization, including Exchange accounts. (Handset manufacturers can choose whether to include Exchange support in their devices.)
· Developers can create sync adapters that provide synchronization with additional data sources.
· Quick Contact for Android provides instant access to a contact’s information and communication modes. For example, a user can tap a contact photo and select to call, SMS, or email the person. Other applications such as Email, Messaging, and Calendar can also reveal the Quick Contact widget when you touch a contact photo or status icon.
Email
· Exchange support.
· Combined inbox to browse email from multiple accounts in one page.
Messaging
· Search functionality for all saved SMS and MMS messages.
· Auto-delete the oldest messages in a conversation when a defined limit is reached.
All of these new features are important considering that many of the phones are now the equivalent of personal media devices that plays multimedia files, surfs the Internet, doubles as Personal Digital Assistants and function as phones as well.
The Exchange support is vital for business users who often need to sync with secure company email servers to access their email. In addition, the improved support will help developers with business productivity apps to increase their customer base since companies will most likely require apps that secure connections and provide customized email support. The improved synchronization support helps cement the concept of phones being personal digital assistants and small netbooks that are capable of handling the demands of business professionals.
Improved phone contacts are necessary when most individuals have close to more than a hundred or so detailed contacts in their phones. Especially those that are in the business world often have detailed business cards dedicated to their contacts.
Camera
· Built-in flash support
· Digital zoom
· Scene mode
· White balance
· Color effect
· Macro focus
Camera support is important considering that many of the new Android phones have powerful cameras which require improved support as the phone cameras are slowly becoming acceptable means of capturing photos. Considering that the iPhone received camera support very late, it is good to note that Android has strongly started committing support to the camera features on its phones.
Android platform gets new phone; start of many new phones?
Building on the impetus of the upcoming holiday sales, the Android platform received a new phone to help boost its image amongst customers. The yet-unconfirmed phone is from HTC and has strong links to the new HTC Dream 2 hardware and design, aptly codenamed Dragon. The emphasis again lies on the impressive touch screen that plans on utilizing the new Android 1.6 update with improved support for touch screen phones. The design elements of the phone are also reminiscent of simplistic yet sleek trends in current phones.
The spy shots of this phone will help boost the appeal of the Android platform along with sales figures for service providers who are competing against the ever-strong iPhone on AT&T’s network. However, hardware release alone is not going be a sufficient enough basis for attracting customers. There is massive potential for Android applications; however, the boom seems to be lagging in comparison to the phenomenal growth that the Apple App Store receives.
Regardless of the hardware capabilities of the current phones being released – faster processors, increased RAM, larger storage space – will be underperforming media devices without the necessary software to create an interest in the platform itself.
A quick read of the Engadget comments section shows the number of customers that are not satisfied with the performance of their iPhones’ on AT&T’s network. Although AT&T provides reliable Internet connectivity for their phones, the problem is that the voice service itself is extremely unreliable. Customers have frequently complained about the poor service and AT&T has not been able to resolve said issues. AT&T needs to realize that the iPhone is still primarily a cellphone and a secondary multimedia device for users. With the focus on the new iPhone 3GS touting Wi-Fi capabilities, AT&T has forgotten that customers still make calls on their cell phones. This lesson is not just applicable to AT&T but rather all service providers who are upgrading their networks to cope with the new trends of smartphones and Internet usage.
Android phones have been in development for a very long time by major manufacturers such as Samsung, Nokia, HTC and Motorola. With the growing anticipation of the high-end features such as touch screens and improved operating system stability, phone manufacturers and the Android team expects to see a boom in sales during the holiday season. An additional benefit for Google will be increased interest in its smartphone OS; a key element when growth is lagging behind the still-strong iPhone.
The situation is overall in favor of Android since the phones launched are significantly more powerful than the iPhone and support Adobe’s new Flash update. Considering that a majority of the web content available online is in Flash. This is a major incentive for developers as well who can view and develop their content so that it continues to span the Internet and their smartphones, and acts as a bridge between the two technologies.
The recent upgrades to the Android market will also be tested as users start purchasing phones in anticipation of uploading new apps to their phones. After following a similar structure to the App Store as created by Apple, Google hopes to bring a sense of familiarity to the storefront to ensure customer retention and interest in their Android platform.
Below is a list of phones that are expected to be released on T-Mobile’s network that will have the Android OS on them:
“T-Mobile Tap
No keyboard here, the T-Mobile Tap is a touchscreen phone with a focus on Web browsing and socializing. It support email, SMS, MMS and IM, and comes with GPS, Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel camera. Users can choose between berry and midnight blue finishes.
Nokia 3711
The Nokia 3711, which will arrive late-October-ish on the T-Mobile network in a shade called sable, is an economy-friendly feature phone with 3G Web browsing, built-in GPS, support for email and IM, a 2-megapixel camera with video and Bluetooth.
Flash has been the bane of many software developers and hardware engineers, an inherently resource intensive program along with a rather difficult technology to master, it has become the darling child of the Internet. It has acquired the status of a necessary evil in Web development. The ease and multitude of options available in Flash programming let developers program with relative impunity while hardware specialists scream at the resource intensive nature of Flash.
Regardless, of the benefits and disadvantages of Flash, Adobe has announced full support for all smartphones. This is an important update for iPhone users who have not had Flash support for certain applications leaving them locked out of a total user experience on their iPhones. Joining the fray is Google’s Android platform along with webOS for Palm and RIM’s OS for BlackBerry’s.
However, a recent change of mind in the hearts of Apple seems to have lead to the fact that there will be no Flash support for the iPhone. Some individuals are quite happy with the lack of Flash support since it will stop the Flash based ads from appearing in certain apps, however, it still does lock out a total user experience on the overall web experience.
“Adobe and Research In Motion announced a joint collaboration to bring Flash Player to BlackBerry smartphones, and Google joined close to 50 other industry players in the Open Screen Project (OSP) initiative.”
Again, an important development in this scenario is the backing of Adobe to bring Flash to RIM. Used extensively by business professionals, it has come as a welcome addition for some of the developers who have wanted to use the BlackBerry OS as a development platform.
One of the major upsides of this new update are cellphone manufacturers who plan to release a slew of phones before the holiday season. Motorola and Nokia both have high-end phones coming out that allow Flash based support such as the Cliq, N-series and E-series. This will be a major help in boosting sales of phones during this holiday season which promises to be a good sign of recovery for the world economy.
Apple’s refusal to allow Flash support on its phones may be a critical issue considering that the appeal of the iPhone slowly starting to saturate and the availability of cheaper and more appealing phones. Motorola and HTC are offering phones that are significantly more powerful and open sourced in comparison to iPhones. Google’s business direction seems to be challenging iPhone directly with more powerful phones and a strategic decision to collaborate with Verizon to provide high-end quality phones to CDMA customers. Again, the CDMA market does not have the option of the iPhone, however, Google’s Android compatible phones are being pushed on to the Verizon network which has an extremely loyal customer base and fairly reliable perception amongst consumers. AT&T is already facing a slew of problems with regards to reliability when receiving calls on the iPhone. Google’s Android platform may receive the much needed boost that it wants and needs to become the next dominant smartphone OS.
What do you think? Will Flash dictate consumer choices? Will Apple’s decision haunt them as time progresses? Leave your comment and thoughts below.
The iPhone OS remains the undisputed champion of smartphone OSs’ however, this phenomenal domination has not remained unchecked, Google’s Android and new WebOS on the Pre are gaining popularity. This data is derived from AdMob’s recent survey into smartphone usage has shown some interesting results. Although iPhone remains the dominant smartphone OS and massive usage coming from the United States, there is still potential for growth in the region.
“The Apple iPhone OS’ share of the smartphone operating system worldwide market grew from 33 percent in February to 40 percent in August, AdMob found. (AdMob noted that it didn’t include the iPod Touch in this ranking because, despite running the Apple OS, it isn’t a phone.)” – AdMob survey
Although the growth in iPhone OS development is impressive, Google’s Android and the WebOS on Palm’s Pre is gaining momentum as well. As previously discussed in our blog, the potential for current boom in Google’s Android is still very relevant and is contributing to the usage of smartphones across the globe. Android’s growth has jumped from 2% to a new high of 7% within 4 months, which is a massive leap considering the ever-strong popularity of the iPhone. Still behind the iPhone by a long margin, the signs are promising in light of Android’s new SDK release and new releases of smartphones that support Android.
A surprising new entrant into the market is Palm’s WebOS for the Pre. Facing significant problems with Apple in regards to its iTunes syncing problems, it still managed to retain a rather respectable 4% market share. This is good news for Palm considering that many consumers feel that it does not live up to the comparisons made with the iPhone.
Surprisingly, the phones that are accessing these platforms are interesting to note as well, even though iPhone does lead the pack, the Pre, the HTC Dream and BlackBerry’s 8300 were also heavily utilized. The spread of phones is interesting to note considering that there seems to be equal representation from Android (HTC Dream), iPhone (Apple) and WebOS (Palm). The only phone with it’s own unique interface is the BlackBerry 8300. The BlackBerry 8300 is linked with RIM’s own branded OS, development for the BlackBerry OS has been slowed down.
“In the United States, judging by ad requests from the OS, the iPhone represented 50 percent of smartphone use, followed by RIM BlackBerrys with 14 percent of the pie and Android devices with 13 percent. In a respectable fourth place came WebOS phones, with 9 percent.” – AdMob survey
It seems that BlackBerry has captured the overall market via its unique marketing channels that offers companies integration through their email exchange servers, however, Android is not far behind along with WebOS.
