To all those with Iphones...

[thatbloke]

And the reason they are running older versions of the software is because they are running on old hardware...

 

[Wol]

Mines running old software because t-mobile havent got their arses in gear yet to "brand" their image of android.

 

[Huung]

The hardware limits the software it can run, obviously.

People don't complain that an old iPhone model doesn't run the same OS as the new one, in the same way I wouldn't complain a non-rooted G1 runs 1.6 and not 2.1 like my Desire.

All the apps on the Android market are compatible across (seemingly) all versions - I've just jumped from 1.6 to 2.1 and had no problem with any of the 30+ apps I have working differently on either. So whilst new shiny stuff is being added with each release, it still maintains backward compatibility.

 

[BiG D]

We're talking phones that are less than a year old, here. There is no reason they couldn't be running the newest version aside from the carrier or hardware vendor not pushing it out to users.

 

[Huung]

We're talking phones that are less than a year old, here. There is no reason they couldn't be running the newest version aside from the carrier or hardware vendor not pushing it out to users.

True, but it tends to be that those who give a damn are tech savvy, and have rooted their phones. There's no reason (besides hardware limitation) you can't have the latest Android release on any handset, you just have to know what you're doing.

The end-user doesn't usually care all that much about upgrading, if it works, they're happy. Isn't that Apple's entire sales pitch?!

 

[BiG D]

The issue being you can't say "android device" and automatically know what functionality it has.

 

[waterproofbob]

I love my iPhone because it is all apple. I don't have to rely on a provider to supply me a new OS. My older hardware will support the new OS so I have no fear of having to settle with an older os if I don't get the new handset. And as a result of apple making both the os and the hardware even tho my phone may have a lower tech spec than some newer android phones from what I've seen it performs as well as those higher spec phones.

Also you have to remember you are blind wol. I'll be appreciating the awesome new screen with my working eyes.

 

[Spicypixel]

Fragmentation is going to be hit on the head with the release post 2.2. The current reason for it is those god forsaken addon GUI's, sense (being the least offensive) and the others bolted on my the manufacturers. They are deeply linked to the low level code in android and it just means extra time to catch up.

Here jumps in Google, making is to the whole GUI is going to a modular layer on top so that a phone with Sense on it for example can upgrade the core of android to 2.2+ without having to mess around with upgrading the overlay. Sure the sense overlay will not have a new feature here and there, one that could come to mind is the ability to turn off 3g with a single click - currently not possible in android, will be added and the widgets wont support it. Minor issue.

With fragmentation out of the way and moving onto hardware, Android will remain on the pinnacle of tech albeit with a cost. Apple do product amazing hardware, sometimes their evangelical ideas produce substandard designs (example being the older iphones having no volume controls on the side and being told by Jobs no one wants them only to being seemingly added in the iPhone 4). As Huung has said the fact that I'd guestimate over 60% of the remaining manufacturers have adopted a single core OS will eventually be the winning feature here.

Remember Apple did this once before in the the desktop space. Closed systems die natural - if not extended, deaths.

PS; I'd sleep with the entity of google if I could, inb4 anyone goes for the fanboy approach.

 

[Huung]

My older hardware will support the new OS so I have no fear of having to settle with an older os if I don't get the new handset.

But this also applies to Android... if you know what you're doing. If you don't know what you're doing, chances are you don't care.

The issue being you can't say "android device" and automatically know what functionality it has.

You can't say "iPhone" and automatically know what functionality it has. Is it the iPhone? The 3G? The 3GS? The iPhone 4? All of these run different versions of the iOS...

 

[Spicypixel]

The issue being you can't say "android device" and automatically know what functionality it has.

Sure you can, all apps are compiled with flags, for example if the app can only use a accelerometer and your phone doesnt have one the market hides it from view.

That said on a more general level nearly all phones on android working on ARM SoC's roughly have the same abilities give or take 10% per clock.

 

[Wol]

Also you have to remember you are blind wol. I'll be appreciating the awesome new screen with my working eyes.

My phone is just under 200dpi and if i look at it really closely I can just about see the pixels on it. Upping the dpi to something stupid is just like putting effort into something thats not worth it. Why not get a better battery life, and just use the same screen people can see. People don't view their phones under microscopes!

 

[thatbloke]

It's precisely the same on the Android marketplace - if the app says it requires that, for instance, your phone has an accelerometer and it doesn't have one then the app will not be presented to you by the android marketplace

 

[Traxata]

No Huung, they don't it's all one OS, the OS is programmed for the different phones to simply not enable the features they can't control.

The OS is also the same OS you can now install on the iPad.

edit*

They run the same version of the iPhone OS.


As of June 24th, it'll be iPhone OS 4.1.0 (possibly 4.0.0 but I'd have thought that updates during dev testing would have had atleast 4 updates).

 

[Spicypixel]

No Huung, they don't it's all one OS, the OS is programmed for the different phones to simply not enable the features they can't control.

The OS is also the same OS you can now install on the iPad.

To be fair every major OS does this and isnt special. Speaking of terrible things though I hear dealing the app store from the perspective of a developer is like having your balls chewed softly - acceptable pain but pain nonetheless.

 

[Traxata]

Yeah, the 'screening' process to make sure you have no pr0n in your app

 

[BiG D]

The screening process is terrible and needs to be dealt with. Period.

As for andriod, I will believe 2.1 is going to fix the fragmentation when I see it. Not convinced at all.

 

[Spicypixel]

The screening process is terrible and needs to be dealt with. Period.

As for andriod, I will believe 2.1 is going to fix the fragmentation when I see it. Not convinced at all.

2.1 has been out for months, 2.2 is being deployed on most phones soon, and 2.2+ will be aimed at fragmentation fixing.

 

[Huung]

No Huung, they don't it's all one OS, the OS is programmed for the different phones to simply not enable the features they can't control.

all apps are compiled with flags, for example if the app can only use a accelerometer and your phone doesnt have one the market hides it from view.

if the app says it requires that, for instance, your phone has an accelerometer and it doesn't have one then the app will not be presented to you by the android marketplace

Sooo... Android and Apple's backward OS functionality with handsets is the same? This was the point I was trying to prove, after:

The issue being you can't say "android device" and automatically know what functionality it has.

My point is you can't with either Apple or Android, so it's a moot point. They're all one OS, sure - but so is Android. Newer versions introduce new features, and the backward compatibility stays with both iPhones or Android handsets.

 

[Spicypixel]

Nvidia Tegra 2 + Android
http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/see-the-nvidia-tegra-2-android-tablet-in-action-20100520/

/thread

 

[Wol]

The screening process is terrible and needs to be dealt with. Period.

Yea, for some reason it took them a month to say our app was okay. All it is is a few windows which just have buttons on! Definitely don't like that part of the iAppTunesStore.

mmmm nvidia pad eh......