Wednesday, October 15, 2008

T-Mobile G1/Android Community Stepping up again

Many people are wondering if and why the G1 is better than the iPhone. There are my reasons some of them include hardware features, but I think the biggest reason is that the operating system of the phone is Open Source, with the only restrictions being ones that keep vandalism and other devious acts to a minimum.

You may be wondering why this is such a big deal. The iPhone has a shop for applications. Well unlike the iPhone pretty much anyone who has a drive to create an application can on Android with out big licencing fees. Then without becoming a criminal he can use it on his phone, and give or sell it to friends or the world. No need to jailbrake your phone etc. worry about the next firmware upgrade and your apps still working. 

The next intelligent question would be then will anyone really take the time to make these progams being that as of right now being that the G1 hasn't launched and there are no other phones that use android yet? (other than people hack projects) The answer is yes, there has already been a contest to support the community that builds these applications, many times using their own money and making them available for donations. The imaginative and creative applications that emerged were nothing short of amazing. I would like some of my favorites however there are just too many interesting ones out there look for your self would you like any of these programs ? 




Sound off what do you think about all the open handset hype? How much would you pay for some of these programs? What programs would you like to see?

Friday, October 10, 2008

Android Features I Crave

Of course we all want different things from our cell phones, here are some of the features I would like to see (no particular order). Let me know if there are other features you would like to see? 
  • Video MMS / Video recording / streaming / Video Out via mini usb adaptor to hdmi or ?
  • Screen orientation / Step counter / G force meter for use in car / inclimeter (using accelerometer)
  • Turn by Turn Navigation with traffic avoidance.
  • Call Recording (with and without beep)
  • Ability to view flash websites like Skyfire does http://www.skyfire.com/
  • Divx player
  • Bluetooth keyboard / other bluetooth profiles
  • Internet sharing ie: 3G->Wifi or 3G -> MiniUSB etc.
  • gdesklets http://www.gdesklets.de/
  • the ability to use the mini usb port as a usb port ie usb flash and hdd support or wireless usb (dreaming)
  • touchscreen keyboard for when you don't have the time or will to open the phone, or when you have it in a dock.
  • Call filter. http://www.anfymobile.com/callfilter/
  • WIDSETS (all you Nokia fans know this one :) ) http://www.widsets.com/
  • Multiplayer games (quake :) )
  • 3d or 2d cad (ok I know it sounds odd but it is helpful for inventors like me drawing up blueprints while we are waiting for shit) 
  • A lite version of open office :) (although I think google docs will suffice)
  • Gas Mileage tracker using GPS (& for tax man)
  • Remote Control for electronics devices (TV, DVD, DVR, Stereo, Laptop, etc.)
  • Graphing calculator / ti89 emulator
  • FTP hosting
  • BitTorrenting
  • Graphic editor (with reasonably cool features)
Cool Features I found with the Android Emulator 1.0 r1
  • Looks Like Android already has some of these built in you can filter calls in the contact book by checking the box send calls directly to voice mail.
  • The Web Browser allows you to use most webpages. Including Google. Documents, Reader, and most all the other Google services. It seems that all google features are specially formatted.  
  • Robust alarm clock
  • Many sweet graphical features for developers, many sample API's to take advantage of.
  • Widgets