Posts Tagged ‘screen’

Android 2.0 features unveiled!

October 27th, 2009

Today, Android SDK Tech lead Xavier Ducrohet announced Android 2.0 support in the SDK, which unveils some of the big capabilities in the latest version of Android, expected to hit the market soon on at least one of Verizon’s upcoming “Droid” devices. In the developer video posted today, for instance, all the new features were shown off on a device connected to the Verizon network, and the release notes say it will be deployable in November.

The keyword with Eclair is interoperability.

Motorola recently launched its custom Android build with a UI called MotoBLUR, the central function of which is the ability to integrate with a user’s many social web services from a single interface. The new APIs included in Eclair give this communicative function to all developers. So with the new Account Manager API, developers can centrally store account credentials on the device, the Contacts application can now sync and aggregate contact data from multiple accounts, and the Sync Adaptors API provides full two-way contact sync with ANY backend.

To provide a single, unified face for this data, the Quick Contact function has been added. By clicking on a contact’s picture, a user can pull up a menu of all the different ways to reach that contact…Gmail, Email, IM, Phone, and the various Social networks. It’s like the existent “live folder” concept for contacts, but brought together under the standard contact list, or in any app the developer chooses.

Android 2.0 also updates the Bluetooth API so apps can now access Bluetooth controls to discover, connect and share information with nearby devices, which unlocks the ability to make peer-to-peer and proximity-based applications.

The built-in Android browser has been updated with a refreshed UI with an actionable address bar, bookmarks sorted by thumbnail, double-tap zoom command, and HTML5 support, which opens up Application cache, client-side SQL databases, geolocation API support, and fullscreen video tag support.

The camera app has again been tweaked, but this time it includes digital zoom (with macro mode), built-in color effects (posterize, solarize, etc) and built-in flash support.

It even adds Exchange Support and includes Multi-touch support for the soft keyboard.

Throw this out there with the upcoming availability of Verizon Droids, the Sony Racheal, and whatever else is coming out, and we’ve got a really huge quarter for Android. I’m gonna start doing video blogs soon, it just takes a bit longer to write and record them.

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My six reasons for considering the Cliq

September 10th, 2009

AndroidGuys is a solid site.

Amid the hue and cry of today’s Motorola Android news, they’ve made a post saying “We want to hear what you think of the Motorola Cliq and MOTOBLUR.”

Well, I’ll tell you what attracts me to the Cliq in order of importance:

The Cliq (aka "Dext" aka "Morrison")
1.) Glass Screen–the G1′s screen is just too sticky. Glass has just enough friction to feel good, and it totally enhances the touch experience, not to mention adds stability to the entire unit.
2.) Boosted RAM–even though it’s only a minor bump, it’s totally something that will make a noticeable difference in day to day use.
3.) Solid Chassis– This is the only thing I consistently favor about the iPhone, and if this is anywhere in that neighborhood, the Cliq will have improved on all my biggest complaints about the G1.
4.) 3.5mm headphone jack–Self explanatory: I use the MP3 player, DroidLive, Listen, and now Pandora and I DESPISE the usb headset. I will dedicate a rant to this in the near future.
5.) Keyboard–it may not be as powerful as the HTCHero*, but it’s the second ‘droid phone on T-Mobile with a keyboard.
6.) Exclusive UI—Not that I particularly have a need for social networking 24 hours a day, but I am interested in the UI design since it’s been compared to HTC’s Rosie/SenseUI, which I totally dig.

Naturally, I want to handle it before I decide to buy it…but it’s beginning to look like this is what I’ll be picking up in the fall.

It’s not a phone to die for by any stretch, but it certainly would be an improvement over the G1, aside from the move from a trackball to a D-pad, which would only take a matter of time to get used to.

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How I really feel about my antiquated G1

August 18th, 2009

…So the G1 may not be updated beyond Cupcake (Android 1.5)…

As an Android early adopter, I do not feel screwed.  Do I care that I shelled out all that money for the G1 just to watch it get put out to pasture in less than a year?  Nope.  I can’t imagine that any other G1 owner would really be that upset either.

Know why?

Because we didn’t want the G1 when we bought it.  We wanted the first Android phone.  We wanted the first Google phone, and we got both of those things.  If anything, the G1/Dream actually made the whole experience worse for a lot of people.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love the phone, I really do, and I am now painfully attached to the keyboard/trackball layout.  But overall it’s janky and I now have a legitimate reason to shop for a new phone.  The first one on my list is the Motorola Sholes simply because it has a keyboard and there more Android devices without one.

I understand that a physical keyboard lends to a phone’s overall creakiness, and the iPhone is therefore built like a goddamn rock.   My G1, on the other hand, cracked to shit when I dropped it once and it feels all wobbly most of the time.   But I simply do not wish to sacrifice the already tiny screen real estate (and use a soft keyboard)  for the sake of a stronger chassis.

I mean, are you nuts?   People and their virtual keyboards, man.  How fucking small of a screen do you want?

Your virtual keyboard cuts the workspace down to 1 inch. Good Job.

Your virtual keyboard cuts the workspace down to 1 inch. Good Job.

Knowing this, how can you honestly consider an onscreen keyboard a viable interface?  Couldn’t they have come up with some kind of stupid gesture-related “handwriting recognition” alphabet like the old Palm Pilots used to have?  I mean,  ONE INCH OF WORKSPACE….your screen is about this big:

This doesn't look so awesome for running apps.

This doesn't look so awesome for running apps.

Now I know these two devices end up having the same real estate because I have both of them and I measured.  The LG eNV is actually a o.9″ so I rounded up, and the iPhone’s screen space in notepad and messaging was 1.1″  so I rounded down.

I know Motorola hasn’t had a killer phone since the RAZR, but I’m putting a lot of stock in the Sholes, since it’s one of the only Android Phones in the near term that has a keyboard.

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