From Onxo: Gameloft And Others Cut Back on Android Dev

Gameloft, as well as other developers, are cutting back or abandoning Android app development all together.

This is what I'm afraid of. Right now, I don't see a lot of people getting excited about their Android phones. It's as simple as that. Android is one of the most exciting mobile platform on the market today for the media, bloggers, and armchair quarterbacks, but it just isn't generating the same kind of excitement among users as the iPhone and iPod Touch is doing for its users.

I've spent $$$ on my iPhone apps while I've spent less than $20 on my G1. Why is that? Here's a couple of reasons:

1. Even at 10K strong in the Android Marketplace, the few apps compare favorably in use, feel, and looks as even mediocre apps in the iTunes app store.
2. I don't know if any app I buy now will work with my future Android devices. Already, there is a lot of fear of fragmentation is what I'm hearing and reading about. Just thinking about the Microsoft Windows Mobile situation.

Basically, Google created a huge potential and has yet to made it work for developers as well as users. You can't blame users or developers for this.

Gameloft is reporting the iPhone has already grown to 13% of its revenue while iPhone apps are selling 400 times better than Android apps. One can attribute that the fact that the iPhone has been in the market two years longer than Google's mobile platform. Maybe.

However, after a year, I believe Apple had been bragging about one billion downloads.

Well, I attribute that to the beta-ish status of the G1. I am hoping the new devices like Droid and others running Android 2.0 will realize the full potential what Android can do.  We'll see what Google does to help its developers and it better come through big time.

Note:  Google is in the mobile market to sell ads and be a player in mobile search.  It gives away its apps for free.

eReader Now Available On Android

Get it now, my fellow Ondroids!  That's right, I'm gonna call my fellow Android device owners "Ondroids".

Back to the reader.  It's available and it's awesome!  I am sure this is just the initial step as Amazon should follow shortly with the Kindle reader for our great platform.

Here's  a pic showing how to operate the app.  I'm totally stoked!  It's about frakkin' time, too!

I've been reading ebooks on the iPhone for the longest time now and even further back when I had just the Palm PDAs.  I think Android devices should totally rock given the crisp and bright screens on all the devices. Frankly, I have no problem finishing off books after books in a 3"-ish screen.

Give it a go.  Show that the Android phones are a viable mobile reader.  Furthermore, not just Kindle.  You know Google has been working with publishers worldwide on books and rights?  Once that's all cleared up, look for Google to release its own reader.  That's my prediction.

I'll be back tonight with a bit of review and hands-on report.

More at Fictionwise.

G1 Hacked For Tethering And Google Navigation

A couple of weeks ago, I hacked my G1 to gain tethering capability. For the technically inclined, it was probably like a walk in the park. For me, I bricked it, brought it back to life, then bricked it again, and then finally go it to work.

Well, I woke up this morning, and guess what? The intrepid folks in the Android community found a way to load up Google Navigation on the G1. I first heard this on Android Community. I had woke up early this morning to go on a run but decided this was more important than to keep my girly figure, somewhere between the baby fat and, well, nevermind.

The initial set of instructions were difficult to follow. Over at xda-developers, the provided all the information you need to get your G1 up and running with Google Navigation. Here's the thing, I've pretty much done a lot of the work needed. The most important being rooting my G1 which I needed to do in order to install the tethering app on the G1.

So, I searched around and followed the instructions of instructions from one of the commenters at Gizmodo. It was a piece of cake. Again, I had rooted my G1 first. Gizmodo also provided you with an overview of what you need and what has to happen but you still need to do some research to gather together what you need. I used the instuctions from the second commenter.

And now that I got it work, how was it? In a word, excellent! I took it for a spin after work. Drove around town while I ran a few errands. I'm still getting a feel for Google Nav but this totally makes it my first GPS navigation device. I have seen a few in Lexus vehicles but I don't know how Google Nav compares with the standalone devices or the ones on the iPhone. From the stock price drops of the GPS companies, I think it's pretty good.

A little editorial here. This along with tethering and the improvements from Android 1.5 and 1.6 should have been what Android 1.0 ought to be from the beginning. Google should have waited. Really, I mean that.

Folks these days have to go up against the iPhone and it's important to bring their A-games. Well, Googlers have done a great job and I can't wait until Android 2.0 becomes available for the Android devices currently on the market.

But some you might might be asking why are people through all this trouble? Well, because there are a lot of smart Android fans. Plus, this is specifically important to G1ers because there is a chance (a good chance) that G1's limited onboard memory will not be able to take on the added features of Android 2.0.

And I want it now. So, I'll be driving around a bit this weekend doing family stuff and I'll be sure to give Google Navigation a very thorough trial. I'll get back to everyone with a more in-depth experience.

Note: Over at Onxo, I noted to readers that I've got a few Google Wave invitations. Click through if you're interested.

T-Mobile Disruption Due to Coding?

95% Of us didn't know about it.  But 5% of T-Mobile customers experienced outage yesterday for a few hours yesterday afternoon into the evening.  Boy, I'd be really irked off if I was relying on my new tethering scheme with the G1 to check up on the election results.  But I wasn't.  But I'm sure some were. Okay, maybe not.

So, T-Mobile came clean today to tell us what happened.  Software.  Not hardware.  But it was because there was too many or too little zeros and ones.  Alright, I'm watching the World Series and Philly isn't putting up a lot of fight so far and I'm looking for things to say.

Anyway, the software blip caused "abnormal congestion on the network" and T-Mobile promised it'll never happen again.  But it sure makes one wonder about this a bit.  I'm sure it happened as T-Mobile said but I wonder if they had folks in place to watch out for things like this right from the beginning.

In fact, should this have happened at all?  We talk about our water distribution.  Our electrical grid.  And ports.  All vulnerable to attacks or sabotages.  No one has said as much about our wireless networks.

More at CNet.

Cliq for $120, Not $199 - Here's How

Okay.  Cliq is $199 with a 2-year contract from T-Mobile right?  Right, but only if you buy it directly from T-Mobile.

Should you get it from Wirefly (source:  Phandroid), you can save yourself $79.

Times are tough as you well know.  We all know and perhaps even these tech and service companies are competing really hard for what's left of our money.  That's fine by me.

Anyway, if you're looking to stick with T-Mobile for your Android mobile experience, this is by far the best deal you can find for one of the latest Android devices on the market.

More at Wirefly.  The link for Wirefly here came directly from Phandroid so I don't know if they get a cut or not.  If so, that's fine by me.  They do a good job providing us with good Android info.

Droid Commercial: Awesome Delivery

This is Verizon's latest and totally awesome Droid commercial.  Awesome because the delivery but I don't know if folks who aren't following Android closely as we do will know what's the big deal.  They might end up thinking it's some new movie promo.


Still, bad ass!

I want one now! XPERIA X10

Just watch the video I lifted off Phandroid's post. It's a youtube promo for Sony's X10.

Alright, this could be my next Android phone if this thing ever comes to the US.

Here are some quick specs:

• Android OS, baby!
• 1GHz Snapdragon from Qualcomm!
• 8.1MP camera, autofocus, video recording, face recognition
• WebKit
• Email and messaging - Exchange, bla, bla...all the bells and whistles
• Great design
• GPS with Google Maps - this will likely run 2.0 which means free Nav app
• Wi-Fi, USB support (separate from micro-USB), BT, 3.5mm audio jack
• Sony-branded services like sync, Mediascape, Timescape as well as the usual Google Webapps
• 4" screen - 480 x 854 pixels!
• 8GB microSD card included
• size 119 x 63 x 13 mm, 135 grams

Engadget has a hands-on with the device. Alright, if this thing is as great as it looks and works as it should, maybe I'll consider getting it unsubsidized next year when it's out. Still, pre-announcing like this is risky as others are coming out with just the same specs and likely with competitive pricing as well.

Still, I wait eager! More at Phandroid.