Honeycomb Solidifies Android As The Future At Google, Not Chrome OS

I am going based on what I've heard and seen and since I don't own an Android-based tablet, specifically Honeycomb, I can only go with what's out there.  And so far, I've not seen much about it on this matter.  Nevertheless, all the focus at Google must be on Honeycomb and tablets, which is where the media and blogs have pegged as the current front in the mobile war.

And with the iPad 2 just released and Xoom as the sole Tegra 2 based Honeycomb tablets, RIM's Playbook out in April, and a few more Android tablets and the Touchpad from HP out after that, I get the feeling that Chrome OS will get a proper introduction and dominate the headlines for like a week before all eyes are back on Honeycomb.

Then let's not forget that development on Android for smartphones are likely happening at a furious pace.  Just as the tablet market is getting very crowded, iPhone 5, the next Web OS device, RIM's typical updates will mean that Google and its partners have to some of their resources in this part of the mobile market as well.

I reckon that Google might leverage its position as the sole guardian of Android and convince a few of its smartphone and tablet partners to come out with a Chome OS netbook or two.

I'm not sure where that will go but I am not optimistic at all.  It's clear that the iPad, Galaxy Tab, and other tablets have greatly impacted netbook and low-end laptop sales in 2010.  And I think the growing tablet market in 2011 will further crowd out the netbooks.

It'll only be a matter of a couple more tablet revisions from Motorola, LG, and Samsung to evolve the tablet into a more robust device for mobile computing.  With each passing quarter, Honeycomb will improve along with the hardware.

I think I'm gonna call it now and say that Chrome OS is dead, killed off, not by Apple or Microsoft, but Google's focus on Honeycomb.  And I'm not sad to see it go.

Mobile Payment Is Coming In A Big Way

The mainstream media has not caught on to it yet and I've talked about it here from time to time. But be prepared to be bombarded with tons of media reports, blogs, tweets, and e-mails about it in the coming weeks or months.

At week at the Mobile World Congress, near field communication, NFC, was being talked about as if it is the next holy grail of mobile. And to a follower of mobile happenings like myself, this is a big thing. In as few words as possible, NFC allows payments be made through mobile devices.

Think of this as what you can already do at Starbucks. You can order and pay through the app. Well, this will happen in a much much better way. There are a couple of devices on the market with NFC capability, specifically, Google's Nexus S. But as with some technology, being first doesn't mean much.

However, it is largely expected that Apple's next iOS hardware updates, including the next iPhone, will support mobile payment. And I expect an explosion of next generation Android devices to support this as well.

I really recommend reading up on it because just about everyone from your bank, credit card, wireless providers, and hardware companies will be getting in on this lucrative new business. Oh, and retailers would love this as well.

Also, there are also security concerns you'll need to be aware of.

So get ready media and ad blitz coming our way. I'll be devoting much much more attention than I have in the past. I started talking about almost two years ago, pointing the ease that the Japanese users have been able to enjoy with paying through their cell phones for years.

It'll be our turn soon.

Sony Brings Gaming To Android - Competition To Marketplace

Sony is all in with mobile gaming. Not only will it release it own mobile gaming device based on Android OS, Xperia Play "Playstation Phone", it is offering a coding environment for developers to create games for this Sony app. And it will require devices running the latest Android OS, 2.3.

How will this change things?

We're not exactly sure at this moment but this is very exciting news. Sony also introduced their next generation PSP, NGP "next-generation portable", that promises PS3 like graphics and gaming, we have to assume that this Android app will be a very different thing all together.

Still, having access to a library of PSP games is great news for Android gamers. These are games from top tier developers that have yet to commit to Android, or for that matter, Apple's iOS devices.

Sony only would commit to 2011 but would not say when that would be. This is likely a good move for Sony but for Android gaming, we might see a shift away from Marketplace if developers believe they can deliver quality gamings through Sony's setup than through Google.

Here are some key points from Sony's press release:

• Gaming and gamers have diversified. This explains why Sony is deliver a Playstation gaming environment on Android while developing PSP2 in tangent.
• Will offer a “PlayStation®Certified” license program for hardware manufacturers.
• Classic Playstation games will be offered - Woohoo!
• There will be a Playstation Store
• Will have SDK for developers to create games and sell through the PS Store
• Will require Android 2.3 and beyond.

On a level of a mobile warrior, this news from Sony is great. We're talking about increased competition for our wallets. It'll be interesting to see Sony's device competitors like Motorola, Samsung, LG, and HTC open up and install Sony's Playstation app.

Furthermore, this really has Nintendo, and maybe Apple, scramble back to the drawing board to come up with an answer. So stay tuned. I get the feeling well get more answers at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.

More at Android Community.

Chrome OS And Android To Merge

It has always puzzled me that Google would first introduce the Android and the Chrome OS a few months later, setting up a competition between groups within Google to see which OS prevails.  Now, the creator of Gmail, who no longer has an relations with Google, believed the two OS will merge into one.  And I agree.

In one way or another, Google is not going to have a dual OS strategy.  It is simply too messy.  Not even Microsoft with years of experiences seem comfortable with this.  Nor is Apple doing this.  As a matter of fact, the conventional thinking is that Apple will merge iOS with OS X years down the line.

Right now, Chrome OS has the making of what the future of computing will look like.  Everything will be in the cloud and we will trust that connection to cloud data will be robust enough for us to put all our eggs there.  But I don't see that happen in the short-term.  Sure, we have already begin to save a lot of data on Android and Gmail on desktops and laptops on Google servers but we still do a lot of work that require local storage.

I am very interested in the opportunities that Chrome OS has to offer but I don't want my next netbook to be a dumb terminal.  Nor do I want that for my future Android device, whether it's tablet of smartphone.  But as a solo project, Chrome OS will not survive as we have come to know it.

This is how it'll play out.  Google will try to sell Chrome OS as an alternative to Windows in the netbook arena.  It might find some success but eventually, Android will gain a lot of Chrome OS' features and a couple of years later, Google will announcement that it has successfully merged to two but, in reality, Chrome OS will exist only as key components of Android.  

And folks, that ain't a bad thing.  

More at Techcrunch.

Android 2.2 Not Ready For Tablet Primetime Says Google

I don't want to get into a pissing contest with Steve Jobs about what is the perfect screen for the tablet. iPads have done will but Android's day under the tablet sky will come.

Right now there are a few unsanctioned Android tablets on the market if you're willing to chance it. Yeah, I thought so. So then therefor Samsung's Tab which will cost close to $1K unsubsidized, $400-600 depending on carrier subsidy.

But even then, Google has publicly said that Android 2.2 is not optimized for tablet use and we'll have to wait for Android 3.0 at the end of the year.

What's clear though is that Android tablets will flood the market early 2011. And if you thought waiting until then is hard, just wait until we have to chose between different versions, screen sizes, and which works best for us.

Current State of Mobile Computing: Tablet or Laptop

Depending on who you talk to you and who you believe, the netbooks, perhaps even lsptops, are taking a sales hit because of the iPad.

Perhaps. Then there are those who are not so sure this is happen on a large scale. Given the potential that Apple may be on the verge of a $20 billion quarter and cuts on orders by dorm laptop and netbook makers, it has industry and mobile observers such as myself very excited.

Is this the beginning of the end of mobile computing as we know it?

More at Greenjava Mobility.

Internet Withdrawal

Yesterday, I altered my T-Mobile wireless data plan: now, I am without data on my G1, iPhone, or my upcoming Sony Equinox. I have done away with wireless data completely. Why?

I find that I am too connected. At work, home, Stabucks, and bookstores. Not to mentioned between stops at intersections and anywhere that doesn't readily offer free wireless broadband. However, today, it was different. This afternoon, I went to a supermarket deli area for continuing work on my iPhone development. There was no Internet access there. But that was fine as I was able to get considerable amount if work done.

But then I went to my cousin's house for dinner. While he has wifi access, I didn't want to ask (he would have seen it as begging since he detests anything Apple), I held off on it.

It was problematic, not because I could not check my emails or tweet my about my withdrawal but I had a few missed calls that went directly to my Google Voice voicemail. The only solution was to call the missing numbers back but a couple of them I wanted to screen possible voice messages first.

And truly, there was discomfort. It was not so bad that I was going mad but it was like a really bad itch that I couldn't get rid of.

When I finally arrived home, within the range of my wifi network, the chime of mail beeped from my iDevices and I instantly fired up the mail app as soon as I put my car into park on the driveway.

You know what it felt like? Like I was coming up for air after holding my breath for along time underwater.

Okay, you might think me pathetic or exaggerating this ordeal. Okay, perhaps a bit. But the feeling of disconnect certainly was there.

Hoe long can I last with this experiment? I don't know. I am very good at adapting. And the reason I wanted to do this was I was afraid the constant connectivity was preventing from stopping now and then to "smell the flowers". I saw my nephew appreciate his new Wii. Had I had Internet access, I might have missed much of it.

I think this is for the best. Should a greater need require that I have wireless Internet access at all time, I can always get it back.

I'll continue to update my wireless-less experiment as well as my iPhone development experience. Hopefully, both endeavors will turn out well and fruitful.

Note: I was offered an option to being back my data at a considerable discount. But even with this enticement, I will try to hold out longer. Not only that, I was even offered for free a brand new Android device for being such a long and loyal customer. Yeah, I passed on that too.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Android: Open But For Who?

Android has been billed as open. Based on Linux, it is open-source. Okay. But when we like to compare Android to the iOS ecosystem, we like to say it open. Apple's iPhone and iTunes definitely is not.

But what is this definition of open? And for who?

I have to root my G1 to install the tethering app. Without performing some hairy digital surgery, there was no way to install and use the app. And T-Mobile was not about to provide me with the keys to the kingdom, willingly or otherwise.

And of course, the marketplace is open for most apps and most developers. There is hardly any policing (hence, the increasing regularity of trojan horse apps). There is of course a great number of virtues in this. For developers.

What about for consumers?

When the sales guys at Verizon, ATT, Sprint, or T-Mobile tooted the Android phones as open compared to the iPhone, are we the consumers suppose to know they mean for the developers and not for the consumers to do with the phones as we wish? That certain functions are locked out but the device OS and SDK remains open for developers to create any app they want. And even if can find and download those apps, we, as Android users can't use them.

In that case, isn't the iPhone just as open? As an Android user, I like to feel like I can rely on the strengths of the platform. Mostly, the Google apps and less curating involved. I think that alone is enough to entice users.

Open it is not but Android does offer a plethora of devices. Choices.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

One, Two Punch of Apple And Google To Decimate Telecoms And Wireless Providers

It's rare to see Apple and Google working together in any meaningful way like they used to. Well, the combination of Apple's Facetime for the iOS devices and VOIP calling integration into Gmail/Gtalk, though accidental, means we can start the countdown clock to the demise of landlines, telecoms, and wireless providers.

Facetime for the iPhone and iPod Touch has the likelihood to transform communication and Internet calling just makes expensive wireless plans unnecessary once it becomes available on Android.

Of course, the telecoms and wireless providers can transform and innovate. But I'm not optimistic. Personally, I'm okay with them being dump pipes.

More on how Apple and Google are working, again not necessarily together, to end the era of draconian telecoms at Greenjava.