Monday 5 November 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDROID!

NOVEMBER 5TH ANDROID’S BIRTHDAY
What can I say that you don’t already know, huh? Android has been a force to be reckoned with ever since it came out five years ago today! It has usurped Apple iOS only because Android has the amazing ability to grace so many makes of handset! Android is firmly on the map (sorry, Apple)!

But where’s the party? Where are the extra 5 or the other two Android devices, huh???? I guess it could be bad taste to celebrate after the devastation Sandy left in her wake! There again, isn’t that what Americans are about: Business as usual in great adversity?

SCANNERS
Have you ever seen the smashing hit movie of the 80s, ‘Scanners’ by David Cronenberg? The ending reminds me of the battle between iOS, iPhone and Android! “We’ve won…” You have to see the film – it’s awesome!

It is said that Android takes up over 52% of the US market share, but I am convinced that the percentage is higher! I estimate it at being somewhere around 60% and I predict that come 2013 that percentage will get higher! Why? It’s because we ain’t seen nothing yet! And Apple keeps boxing itself into a corner with their ill-conceived rhetoric and mind numbing adverts going on about the hand… The less said about that ad the better! It’s obvious that people have gone and are still going crazy about the Galaxy SIII – ok, it’s not quite the vanilla Android experience, but Android 4.1 Jelly Bean works great with the SIII and when it gets upgraded to 4.2 it will be even better! Samsung, as you know, aren’t resting on their laurels – oh no! There’s already talk of the Galaxy SIV that is expected around April or May! I wonder if Samsung will drop their TouchWiz overlay for their classy widgets and apps?

There will be more handsets from HTC, Huawei, Sony, LG, ZTE and I expect to see some phones coming from China! Oh, not to mention some tablets!

Speaking of tablets…

THE iPAD TOPPLES
The Nexus 7 has definitely had an impact on the tablet world and many Android fans have been dreaming of a 10” Nexus to challenge the iPad tablet dominance! The spec of the Nexus 10 certainly beats the iPad 3 and 4! However, Android users can’t live on great hardware alone! I am at a bit of a loss to understand why Google have not put an app development team together to get its products started in a major way! Why? I can’t say that I understand Google’s way at that point! I think from the moment they (Google) have a tablet in mind they ought to have a collection of apps ready to roll that will take advantage of the screen size, etc.

That said, I think that Jelly Bean is ready to deliver a great tablet experience! I reckon if you’re prepared to hang on for a short while the quality tablet apps will come! Apple has shot their load, so to speak, with the turgid iPhone 5, made from scraps iPad Mini and the premature iPad 4. There’s nowhere for Apple to go – unless they backpedal and release products that can appeal to technology fans and not iDevice fans!

Android appeals to technology fans and that’s why it has won and will continue to win! Another thing that Google needs to do is produce some adverts that will help potential users understand how powerful and how easy Android is to use!

IS ANDROID STILL FRAGMENTED?
Hmmmm… It’s a yes and no situation… Yes, in that with Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich one does not get to have Google Now for example! Unless one is prepared to root the handset then it is possible to install elements such as the new gesture keyboard which I am using right now on my Galaxy S! I am running a Cyanogenmod version of Jelly Bean 4.1 and it is fantastic! It’s like I have a new handset!

No, in that Android does exactly what you want it to do whether it’s sharing photos with social networking sites, messaging apps, etc. You don’t really miss the new features in the latest versions! I would venture out to state that tablet users won’t notice too much of a difference between the versions other than the Jelly Bean speed! I’ve reviewed a number of Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich based tablets without any problems! Therefore I think that any talk of fragmentation is a great exaggeration!

Android is still going strong!

Happy Birthday, Android!

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Best wishes!

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