Android gets handled, now with Street View
[Thanks, Omar A.]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
[Thanks, Omar A.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
james @ Feb 28th 2008 8:54AM
awesome!
Alex Karpowitsch @ Feb 28th 2008 9:00AM
Curious as to what kind of ARM processor they're going to stuff into these things at release.
sockatume @ Feb 28th 2008 9:20AM
It's just a set of hardware/software standards. In principle, a phone of an arbitrary spec from an arbitrary manufacturer could be running it.
OneLove @ Feb 28th 2008 4:09PM
right ARM.
Chris @ Feb 28th 2008 9:03AM
GUI is ugly as hell.
The phone itself same.
Tom @ Feb 28th 2008 9:09AM
That should change before it is officially released. I think it will be a very easily skinned GUI
turn_self_off @ Feb 28th 2008 9:48AM
just about anything on android can be user replaced iirc...
as in, the basic android framework is a connector of sorts.
one can install a laternate ui, and it will hook up to all the right points to take over the tasks of the default ui and so on.
this also allows one to install a different mail app for example, and it will be used as the default app if wanted, with no loss of functionality when it comes to interacting with other apps on the phone.
Brandon @ Feb 28th 2008 9:05AM
Hopefully the final product won't be that thick. In the end i still wouldn't get it. Its basically another company trying to make something like the iPhone. 3G for the iPhone will hit in the summer.
Kamokazi @ Feb 28th 2008 9:18AM
While this can be designed to mimic the iPhone, that is NOT it's intention whatsoever. That's just a reference design (watch the frickin video). It's a universal OS designed to be used on many different form factors, some without touchscreen at all. It's primarily being developed by Google, but there is a lot of input from many companies that are part of the Open Handset Alliance
bucyaj @ Feb 28th 2008 9:29AM
Not everything is trying to copy the iPhone, I think this looks new and fun. In addition, therres no guarantee that there will be a "3G iPhone" in summer at all
bachviet @ Feb 28th 2008 9:56AM
Copy the iPhone? Because it has a touch screen, makes calls, browses the internet, and has icons?
Tom B @ Feb 28th 2008 10:03AM
Street view looks like it could easily be made for the iPhone... can't wait for that!
benhem_12 @ Feb 28th 2008 9:30PM
The iPhone sucks, apple sucks, and not every phone ever made is trying to copy the iPhone. Got it?
Kamokazi @ Feb 28th 2008 9:06AM
I played with the first SDK demo and thought it was OK, and I downloaded the second one (the one running on this phone) a couple weeks ago when it became available, and that's when I thought: There is finally an alternative to Windows Mobile (for me..RimOS is too simplistic, PalmOS is antiquated, and there aren't any good CDMA Symbian devices [VZW is the only carrier with decent reception in my area]).
LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Feb 28th 2008 3:49PM
So glad you remembered Symbian, or I would have b*tchslapped you with a large trout. Been shopping PDA phones lately. I was playing with a T-Mo Wing (Windows Mobile) for a few days, and the thing is positively useless as a phone. Or a PDA. They took all the worst features of Win 98, shrunk them down to make them entirely unreadable, haphazardly added a phone and text-messaging application and called it a "phone".
Then I got to experience a Symbian S60 device... holy frick, what a beautiful thing. It's lightning fast, intuitive, instantly usable as a phone, and easy to use the PDA functions.
Saad Rabia @ Feb 28th 2008 9:32AM
That guy in the first frame looked funny! lol (Sorry geeks :p)
Andir3.0 @ Feb 28th 2008 10:02AM
"Sorry geeks"
And you are...? Hanging out on Engadget... I think that means you too.
Saad Rabia @ Feb 28th 2008 10:05AM
Yes Andir3.0, including me. :)
Temple @ Feb 28th 2008 9:34AM
Looks great, but I guess the phone doesn't have multi-touch. You have to do a long-press to pull up the zoom menu to zoom compared to using two-fingers to zoom like the iPhone. Hopefully, they can support it for subsequent phones. Also, it would be nice if they made the icons bigger in the application selection menu. Being that its an open-platform its exciting to see these developments because you know that even the smaller manufactures are going to be able to make good phones with this.
turn_self_off @ Feb 28th 2008 9:52AM
the phone shows is just a internal prototype made to test different things by the sound of it.
so i would guess that the software may very well support multi-touch, its just that on that prototype its not available.
hell, if the platform is as flexible as i have understood it to be, there should be no problem for the phone brands to add multi-touch support on their own, and make it available to any apps installed.
Poom @ Feb 28th 2008 9:43AM
What's the guesture for zooming? It's done with one finger, which seems interesting.
turn_self_off @ Feb 28th 2008 9:53AM
its the classical long press. he basically holds the finger pressed on screen for a while to bring up the zoom dialog.
i would compare it to right click on your avarage desktop pc.
Brandon @ Feb 28th 2008 9:43AM
A 3G iPhone is something i BELIEVE will happen in the summer, not a "guarantee". Also theres nothing that new about the interface in this thing and as far as fun...right now....it looks like a brick.
Shiftlock @ Feb 28th 2008 10:18AM
Listen clueless, the point of this demonstration is the OS, not the hardware. Did you watch the video? Does the audio work on your computer? The device is irrelevant.
Brandon @ Feb 28th 2008 10:25AM
Yeah, your kinda late on that one captain obvious. Scroll up, someone already pointed that out.
DonatoM3 @ Feb 28th 2008 12:58PM
So Brandon what does that make you if it was pointed out before you made your initial commment?
Plus it was in the article. I wish there was a way to make people read the articles before letting them post.
sinjinn @ Feb 28th 2008 2:41PM
he's an ifan
sinjinn @ Feb 28th 2008 2:41PM
he's an ifan
sinjinn @ Feb 28th 2008 2:41PM
he's an ifan
MBS @ Feb 28th 2008 10:23AM
Engadget, I'm still looking for my "sigh, just another iphone copy" speed-comment button?!
To commenters: what about reference design do you not grasp?
collide007 @ Feb 28th 2008 10:29AM
You know, I've hearing alot about this lately, and until now i ha vent really seen anything that impresses me, but watching this video has shown me that Android has huge potential and is the first mobile platform that I've seen, when ready for consumers, will be a real rival to the iPhone. And the fact that its flexible for non-touch devices adds to how huge this is. I finally see what all the fuss is about. It isn't even finished yet and I think it is miles better than Windows Mobile.
Ellianth @ Feb 28th 2008 11:10AM
Personally I don' think the iPhone is anything special. What makes you think that it's the first phone that will be an iPhone contender?
collide007 @ Feb 29th 2008 8:37AM
Because i've seen and used phones that try to imploy the same features such as the LG viewty and I have not been at all impressed by them, in fact in the case of the viewty, i would rather buy a traditional phone. I think the iPhone is very special, it set quite a few bars. As a phone, perhaps it lacks a little in functionality, but it excels in other areas, and these pros, far out strip its cons. I have not seen any phone on the market yet that rivals it.
tubby17 @ Feb 28th 2008 11:04AM
For the last time, Android is an OS, NOT a piece of hardware. The fact that every demo we've seen is the same software (with continued improvements) on a different phone should make you realize that.
Whenever I see someone complain about how the particular demo phone looks, I think back on when I installed Fedora on an old Compaq. It's like saying, "I hate Fedora because the keyboard is dirty, the mouse isn't sensitive enough and the screen is only 15 inches". Doesn't make any sense.
tha-don @ Feb 28th 2008 12:30PM
Why would a wookie, an 8 foot tall wookie, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two foot tall ewoks? That does not make sense!
ljm @ Feb 28th 2008 11:24AM
HTC please take note on what a fully functioning MSM7200 chip is capable of rendering.
dwboston @ Feb 28th 2008 11:33AM
There's another video over at Phonescoop from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a few weeks ago. That was also a "reference device" - a generic PDA with QWERTY keyboard similar to a Moto Q. I'm impressed - the OS seems very fast and intuitive from what I've seen. Looking forward to some actual devices to dampen the ridiculous iPhone hype. Maybe the iPhone will actually have 3G and real bluetooth functionality by then. :)
Eric @ Feb 28th 2008 2:13PM
This looks great! Everytime I see the revisions done to android every couple of months I get more and more excited. I think the main interface is much better than the first prototype. It's now sort of like a Stacks thing on the OS X Dock, which I think is perfect for a phone.
I'm so stoked!!
evilstrike @ Feb 28th 2008 2:21PM
One needs to remember that the iPhone is an entertainment device that uses proprietary hardware and OS designed only by Apple. Sure SDK will we available soon but most people who uses the iphone dont care about the sdk because they are to busy watching clips on youtube and listning to music on itunes.
Android being an OS built to work on many different hardware has nothing to do with the iPhone. I believe the iPhone crowd differs greatly from the Android crowd and Android will in no way be a "contender" of the iphone. Android will mainly be used by people who want to "free" themself from many lame restrictions put in place by the carriers. Many developpers will be able to program a variety of applications which will allow things to advance to the next level and Android being an OS will be able to be "updated" so that Android can handle phones with new hardware.
Its not because the iphone has a touchscreen that every phone that comes out with a touchscreen is automatically an iphone copy. The touchscreen existed before Apple decided to make the iphone anyways!. Apple does have a patent for "multi-touch" but thats about it.
iPhone: Proprietary hardware and software
Android: Open OS customizable to fit different hardware combinations. Not hardware which uses a framework for easy building of new features and applications
case closed!
:o)
pheer6224 @ Feb 28th 2008 2:32PM
Why does the iphone have to come up whenever any kind of touchscreen device is shown ? The iphone, believe it or not, was not the first phone to use a touchscreen, and definitely not the first with the features everyone's been screaming about. I'm anxious to see android, simply because it will get at least some public attention, unlike windows mobile or symbian, they're as uncommon as snowflakes in hell in north America, yet the iphone, a proprietary device with a proprietary platform, closed source, ridiculously expensive and behind the curve has sold by the millions. I hope Google has the popularity it needs to get something as refreshing as android out of the peanut gallery.
sinjinn @ Feb 28th 2008 2:42PM
errr.. oops
Allen @ Feb 29th 2008 11:32AM
Bring it on.
But not again.