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Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

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Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#171

Post by Steko »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #167
Steko wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don't think most of us fall into that category." I'm calling bullshit. People all the time refer to Maps as one of, if not the biggest advantage of Android. Same thing with the Gmail client. In this very thread you refer to a Chrome for Android (not Chromium afaik) feature as Android ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4734771 ). "What do you call the OS running on the Nook or Kindle?" Properly it's AOSP. That f…

>(the one you can actually use the Android mark with source. A quick check of the brand guidelines page says nothing of the sort. Also, you're intentionally blurring line between people who like the Android experience and people who like the idea of Android as a free OS that is literally taking the world by storm. There is nothing that you or taligent won't say to try to find something to back Android into a corner f…

"source. A quick check of the brand guidelines page says nothing of the sort."

I linked an article that backs up the citation. Here's wikipedia also:

Even though the software is open-source, device manufacturers cannot use Google's Android trademark unless Google certifies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29

Which, parsing anally, might make me look wrong because you could use ASOP and also pass Google's non-open compatibility test but the clear meaning was that ASOP does not get to use the Trademark openly. Ask Asus if you have any doubt about this.

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#172

Post by drivebyacct2 »

Steko wrote: post #171
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>(the one you can actually use the Android mark with source. A quick check of the brand guidelines page says nothing of the sort. Also, you're intentionally blurring line between people who like the Android experience and people who like the idea of Android as a free OS that is literally taking the world by storm. There is nothing that you or taligent won't say to try to find something to back Android into a corner f…

"source. A quick check of the brand guidelines page says nothing of the sort." I linked an article that backs up the citation. Here's wikipedia also: Even though the software is open-source, device manufacturers cannot use Google's Android trademark unless Google certifies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29 Which, parsing anally, might make me look wrong because you could use ASOP and also pa…

I guess I just have two comments:

1. The brand page more or less straight up endorses using the mark, in so much as it describes how to do it properly with attribution of ownership of the mark to Google. Unless you think I'm misinterpreting the implication of this page? http://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/promote/b... Full disclosure, I'm no trademark law expert or enthusiast.

2. That article above, while I missed the first time around is from a truly desperately atrocious source that missed the important facts surrounding the Alibaba case, but to be fair, so did reddit and HN. Everyone saw the shit show the first day as the "Android is Closed!!!11111" allegations flew, only to find out that Alibaba was ripping apps off the Android Market and putting them in a co-branded rip off app store...

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#173

Post by neya »

yohui wrote: post #165
taligent wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually Android is closer to shared source than open source. A typical open source project has an open repository, allows third party contributors, open issue tracking etc. Last time I checked Android had none of these and only released source code after a release.

Downloading the Source Tree: https://source.android.com/source/downloading.html android Git repositories: https://android.googlesource.com/ Submitting Patches: https://source.android.com/source/submit-patches.html View Patches: https://android-review.googlesource.com/ View Issues: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/ > only released source code after a release Granted. They don't release before they release.

He is a well known troll. Don't feed him. But thanks for clarifying anyway.

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#174

Post by [deleted] »

shinratdr wrote: post #129
myko wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe what _you_ call Android. I don't think most of us fall into that category. What do you call the OS running on the Nook or Kindle?

Android fork? AOSP? Something besides "Android" because what consumers know as "Android" includes Gmail and Google Play.

[deleted]

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#175

Post by glomph »

shinratdr wrote: post #60
neya wrote: post #50

This is seriously good news. What many people don't realize is how powerful Android is. Open Source doesn't mean shitty quality software, contrary to popular belief. Android can do so many things that other Operating systems still cannot provide. All Android needs is some time, and some iterations and no one can even dream of killing it (like many plan to). Because, if anything history has taught us, Open Source will…

> Because, if anything history has taught us, Open Source will eventually win the war. How does that work? Where is the open source OS that "won" the desktop war? Where is the open source codec that "won" the codec wars?

LAME, FLAC and x264 all won in a sense.

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#176

Post by shinratdr »

bookwormAT wrote: post #136
shinratdr wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android fork? AOSP? Something besides "Android" because what consumers know as "Android" includes Gmail and Google Play.

Android is a technical term. I don't think it is important to this discussion what the press/ "average" consumer think the word Android means, because they are not part of this discussion. Consumers/press also have a very different meaning for the word "hacker" than most of us here have. Yet we can still use the original term here without getting confused. Gmail and Google Play are not Android, they are pieces of an…

> Android is a technical term.

So why do carriers sell those devices as Android smartphones then? Why does Bell run a campaign advertising "Android superphones" as gifts for the holidays?

Because it's not a technical term, it's what people call devices that run Android. "My Android" like "My Mac" or "My iPhone. I would love to hear you argue that "Mac" or "iPhone" is a technical term.

In that scenario, they instantly roll Google Play, Gmail, and the various other apps that ship on all Google-approved Android devices into the mix.

> I don't think it is important to this discussion what the press/ "average" consumer think the word Android means, because they are not part of this discussion.

Yes, they are. That was the point of the "most of us" comment.

> Yet we can still use the original term here without getting confused.

Maybe die-hard Android fans can. Everyone else associates Android with the Market, Gmail and various other apps just like they associate iOS with the App Store.

> Samsung licensing Google Apps for their android-based operating system is not that different from Samsung licensing Adobe reader for their Android-based operating system.

That could be the dumbest thing I have ever read. Why don't you go ask Microsoft about the differences between shipping applications with the OS you build and negotiating with 3rd party software vendors and get back to me.

> And Amazon is not making a fork. Amazon's software is fully compatible with Android 4.0.3.

Compatibility with applications has nothing to do with whether or not software is a fork or not. It simply implies a split development path.

> Android is what you find at http://source.android.com/

No, it isn't. It's a stripped down subset missing most things associated with Android as being good or useful, like the Market or Gmail. I personally call that AOSP, because that's what it is. Its own separate thing.

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#177

Post by [deleted] »

RivieraKid wrote: post #142
shinratdr wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how two devices, one of which can connect to a data network 5-10x faster than the other, can be considered "on par in overall user experience". And as Taligent noted, as always the PowerVR GPU in the iPhone absolutely without question smokes every crappy Mali GPU in every Android phone ever.

Because on average, LTE does not improve UX that much. For example for me, the UX improvement would be zero (I don't have LTE coverage). It also uses more battery. And for me, 3G is fast enough (about 2Mbit/s where I live). I don't think that 2x faster GPU improves UX a lot for the average user. Accurate maps are more important IMHO.

[deleted]

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#178

Post by shinratdr »

RivieraKid wrote: post #142
shinratdr wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how two devices, one of which can connect to a data network 5-10x faster than the other, can be considered "on par in overall user experience". And as Taligent noted, as always the PowerVR GPU in the iPhone absolutely without question smokes every crappy Mali GPU in every Android phone ever.

Because on average, LTE does not improve UX that much. For example for me, the UX improvement would be zero (I don't have LTE coverage). It also uses more battery. And for me, 3G is fast enough (about 2Mbit/s where I live). I don't think that 2x faster GPU improves UX a lot for the average user. Accurate maps are more important IMHO.

> I don't think that 2x faster GPU improves UX a lot for the average user.

I think that statement says more about Android fans than it does about "the average users". Who needs a fluid UI and responsiveness that can't be beat? That hardly affects the U-->XThe way iOS works benefits heavily from an overpowered GPU because it was designed with hardware acceleration as a core consideration from the ground up. Android device manufacturers tend to spend that component funding where it counts in Android, bumping up the RAM to reduce slowdowns instead.

> And for me, 3G is fast enough (about 2Mbit/s where I live).

It's true, 640k of memory ought to be enough for anybody.

> Accurate maps are more important IMHO.

Good thing I have accurate maps then. Possibly the most overblown issue in history, the Apple Maps are actually fine. Weaker in most areas but stronger than I expected at launch, and good enough that I don't miss Google Maps.

If you think they're "inaccurate" then you're doing more tech-news reading than actual investigating. They're plenty accurate. Considering you have the world to work with, obviously this doesn't apply everywhere. However, neither does the conventional wisdom that Google maps is better. In certain areas that Google has neglected, Apple maps is already better right out of the gate.

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#179

Post by shinratdr »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #92
shinratdr wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Because, if anything history has taught us, Open Source will eventually win the war. How does that work? Where is the open source OS that "won" the desktop war? Where is the open source codec that "won" the codec wars?

x264?

I don't think "heavily used by pirates" really qualifies as winning anything, I would hand that claim to H.264.

Re: Android now powers 75% of all smartphones sold

#180

Post by shinratdr »

myko wrote: post #94
veemjeem wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think iOS is hairy supporting 4.3 and up, you probably have no experience supporting Android apps. The fragmentation extends beyond the Android version. The differences between handsets are so big that one pretty much has to ignore the users who own phones that are impossible to test with. You'll get some random complaint from a user running your app on a device from a manufacturer you've never even heard of.…

I've certainly had issues supporting iOS 4 vs 5/6. Most of the Android issues I run into have to do with WebViews behaving differently on different OEMs devices. Both forms of fragmentation can be a pain in the ass. Probably games developers have it harder on Android, but for the average app it seems just about the same to me as a developer.

The key difference is if you cut out iOS 4 only users you're eliminating at most 2-3% of your market. If you were to try and do the same thing with Android and require ICS or higher you would be blocking off 50%+ of your market.

There is little expectation of iOS 4 support at this point, because users who purchased an iPhone in the last 4 years don't have to use it. The same is hardly true for Gingerbread. Most of the phones that shipped with that half-baked OS will have it until they're retired into a drawer somewhere.

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