Android Emulator

The Race Is On

It has been quiet out there on Google Android and Open Handset Alliance lately.

But from various sources I have, several OEM/ODMs are working around the clock to get their Android phone shipped PRETTY SOON. At least one major US operator has already signed up to ship one Android phone this year. Clearly the race is on to ship the 1^st Android phone.

As for how the phone looks like, I heard Android phones will look much better than the “Wistron gPhone that was shown at CES”. Guess how many Android phones will be shipped this year? Will it have a huge impact on Windows Mobile?

Mobile Application Development Analysis (Android and Others)

I came across this technical document on the web that does a good job evaluating four major mobile application development platforms: J2ME, BRWE, Symbian, and Android.

One missing here is Windows Mobile of course.

From the report:

Technical Features:

The technical features and specifications for Android are as follows:

· Handset layouts: The platform is adaptable to both larger, VGA devices and more traditional smart phone layouts.

· Connectivity: Android supports a wide variety of connectivity technologies including Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi.

· Messaging: Both SMS and MMS are available forms of messaging including threaded text messaging.

· Web browser: The web browser available in Android is based off of the open-source Web Kit application framework.

· Java virtual machine: Software written in Java can be compiled into Dalvik byte codes and executed in the Dalvik virtual machine, which is a specialized VM implementation designed for mobile device use, although not technically a standard Java Virtual Machine.

· Media support: Android will support advanced audio/video/still media formats such as MPEG-4, H.264, MP3, and AAC.

Device Support:

Recently announced by the Open Handset Alliance, whose 34 members include Google, HTC, Motorola, Qualcomm, and T-Mobile, Android is a new Linux-based platform currently available only as a developer pre-release. Although it does not yet have any fielded implementations, its support by 34 major software, hardware and telecoms companies makes it likely that it will be rapidly adopted from 2008. Android application environment is J2me CDC and thus SUN CDC emulator and J2ME Java for personal profile applies can use Net Beans and Eclipse IDEs.

Looking for a in-depth analysis of the Android OS ...

Wistron showcases "Google Phone" at CES 2008

Wistron NeWeb Corp(WNC), a Taiwanese phone ODM, shows a real Android based phone at CES 2008. This is the first publicly announced Android based cell phone. Wistron said the phone will be shipped in March.


From PCMag CES2008 coverage:

The GW4 is based on a TI OMAP 1710 chipset with a 216-MHz processor and only 64 MB of program memory, yet the model we saw ran the Opera Web browser, played video and flipped between a range of Web widget applications like weather and stocks. The user interface was very responsive.

The phone will come in two tri-band GSM/GPRS versions, one for the U.S. and one for Europe and Asia. The very slow cellular GPRS (not EDGE) network will be complemented by 802.11g Wi-Fi with a built-in SIP VOIP client for Internet calling. A higher-speed 3G version will come out by the end of 2008. The GW4 also has a 2.5-inch, 320x240 touch screen and 2-megapixel camera.

Other built-in apps include a mail program with Outlook syncing, MSN/Yahoo/AIM IM clients and MS Office and PDF readers, though those will presumably be replaced by whatever apps Google ends up preferring in their Android suite.

Update: According to the PCMag story, the phone they showed at CES is actually running a version of MontaVista Linux 2.6. Wistron spokeswoman Molly Lin said the GW4 will be running Android by March, when Wistron will start selling it to more prominent firms for branding

This brought up an interesting question: how does Wistron get Android? They are not a member of Open Handset Alliance ...

Leaked Windows Mobile 7 details?

Someone close to Microsoft posted some screenshots and descriptions of Windows Mobile 7 that Microsoft is developing. According to the source, Windows Mobile 7 will have cool touch and motion UIs that look even better than what iPhone has.

Key "What's New":

• Windows Mobile 7 will use touch gestures, similar to how the iPhone does.
• Windows Mobile 7 will use the camera on the phone to detect motions and create appropriate actions.
• Windows Mobile 7 will have dramatically improved visuals, different from the iPhone and much more similar to the dark and futuristic visuals of Windows Vista.
• Windows Mobile 7 is designed to use the finger, not the stylus, though many devices will be required to include a stylus.
• Windows Mobile 7 is clearly designed for better media playback, ..., Mobile Internet Explorer runs full-screen web pages in a minimalistic interface, and has “tabbed” browsing, except you can switch tabs by shaking the phone.
• The keyboard has been improved, but plans for a full touch keyboard, a la the iPhone, have been shelved until a future version of Windows Mobile.

If these features finally make into Windows Mobile 7, then I have to say Windows Mobile 7 is indeed innovational. To the feature planning, if true, represents a fundamental change in design philosophy of Windows Mobile. Challenged by Apple iPhone and upcoming Google Android powered phones, folks in Redmond may start to think deeply about what a "consumer' really wants in terms of using a mobile gadget.

Will Android support touch screen as well as those fancy visuals? What cool stuff can it offer to beat the expectation?