Google: Expect 18 Android Phones By Year’s End

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/google-expect-18-android-phones-by-years-end/

by mjfern • 17 years ago

35 22 17 years ago

bits.blogs.nytimes.com

Anon84• 17 years ago

And Android becomes windows... having to support a gazillion different hardware configurations and not working properly in any of them.

Android is a pretty cool system, bu trying to please everyone will be it's demise.

jrockway• 17 years ago

What? Even the iPhone OS runs on different hardware -- the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and various iPods. Even with the different hardware, it still works "well enough" everywhere.

Windows mobile and the Blackberry OS run on a variety of phones, and they all seem to run the same software just fine. And FWIW, desktop OSes that run on widely varying hardware all seem to be just fine, too. (Windows obviously works well enough, as does Linux / FreeBSD / NetBSD / OpenBSD.)

Nice Apple fanboi-ing though, I really enjoyed it.

raganwald2• 17 years ago

Gosh, I'm not familiar with the term "fanboi," does it mean anyone who doesn't agree with you that Windows works well enough? Or anyone who thinks that a hardware company that makes its own OS has certain advantages over an OS company that has no control over the wide variety of devices it must support?

It could be just me, but I think that last line really detracts from the comment. It moves from debating the merits of an argument to a personal attack.

jamroom• 17 years ago

I agree with the parent - the one thing the iPhone has going for it is a _consistent_ platform, which allows developers to design the user experience around a hardware set that is pretty much standardized. I highly doubt the 18 phones that Android will be on come year end will all have standardized on things like screen resolution, touch features, hard/soft keyboard, etc, and so we'll see a fractured user (and developer) experience. I'm certain that Android will be a wild success, much like other mobile phone OS's before the iPhone were successful, but I don't think it will take off like the iPhone has.

The comparison to trying to be the "windows" of the mobile phone was right on (in my opinion).

wallflower• 17 years ago

Windows Mobile good enough? Did it ever occur to the WM designers that wiping the entire handset for a OS upgrade isn't the best experience. iTunes isn't the best program but it's day when compared to the night of a WM upgrade.

"Installing the new software will erase all data on the device."

"All third-party applications and data that remain on the device prior to downloading will be deleted and unretrievable"

http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm23435.xml

endtime• 17 years ago

>What? Even the iPhone OS runs on different hardware -- the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and various iPods. Even with the different hardware, it still works "well enough" everywhere.

There's very little difference in the hardware there. The 3G has slightly better hardware + GPS, and the Touch has no phone. But most of the components are the same. That's not quite the same as running on completely different models from different manufacturers. I don't share the concerns about Android voiced in your comment's parent, but I don't think the iPhone OS is a good counterexample.

>Nice Apple fanboi-ing though, I really enjoyed it.

Unless the parent edited his comment drastically, this is completely unfounded, and it's also the kind of lowbrow ad homimen crap I'd like to think the HN community is above.

dejb4• 17 years ago

If by Windows you mean the platform that is still so dominant that many regard it as a monopoly then you just could be right. I'd say it could be like the 80s all over again were Android does indeed represent Microsoft / IBM compats and the iPhone is the Mac.

stanleydrew• 17 years ago

I was convinced of this too, i.e. that Apple again is trying to control the user experience to their own detriment just as they did in the PC wars where they also had a major first-mover's advantage. I saw Android as the "IBM-compatible" OS for phones.

But then I had a very interesting conversation wherein I was reminded of one important reason that a flexible OS like Windows (i.e. an OS that was built to run on many varied hardware configurations) ended up winning. And that was the speed of hardware innovation. When hardware upgrades are popular, it pays to give people an OS that will run on almost anything. When differences in processor speed and RAM actually mattered, Windows gave people the ability to choose. Apple's Mac hardware often wasn't the fastest or newest thing, and that brought them down.

Contrast that with today, where I would argue that hardware innovation in the mobile phone market is almost irrelevant. The iPhone hardware is just as good as any other 3G phone, and in fact millions of people (apparently) prefer it. But more important is that people feel their phones are good enough, and they don't feel the need to upgrade components of their hardware.

I'm not saying I think Apple will win this time. In fact I hope they don't since they treat developers pretty poorly. I'm just saying the analogy to the PC wars breaks down in a pretty big way.

ars• 17 years ago

Anyone know if you can convert your device from one of the three types to another?

joeyo2• 17 years ago

In principle you can build your own android image from the public git tree. This would be the first type. My understanding is that people have figured out how to hack the google apps (gmail, market, etc) onto these pure open-source images, so switching between the types is technically possible, but probably infringes copyright and/or violates eulas.

noaharc• 17 years ago

If you can install any app on the free version, though, why not just install GMail etc? Perhaps not an officially sanctioned app, but I'm sure you could find/make one that would get the job done.

I guess I don't really get where the tension is in the three options. Usually, e.g., you get more options but have to pay more. He seems to hint that handset makers and carriers trade autonomy for more polished software, but doesn't really make it clear.

mdasen• 17 years ago

I really hope these devices give Apple a run for their money. As of now, the iPhone is quickly becoming the Windows of the mobile phone world in that application developers are dedicating their time and energy into developing for the iPhone with other platforms being an afterthought (if at all).

Not that I don't love Apple, but due to a large family plan I can't switch carriers. Plus, it's always good when multiple companies can compete effectively. As a long time Mac user - back from the days before the Mac was cool again - I remember how hard it was to get good quality apps. The web, becoming more and more of a platform, and Apple's return to prosperity changed that.

Maybe I'm just being a worrier (it's been known to happen), but I'd like to see another platform drum up the developer community that the iPhone has. I'd rather that the mobile space had better competition than the desktop space did, say, 9 years ago.

vaksel• 17 years ago

They don't even have to do that. Considering you can only get the iPhone from AT&T, that leaves plenty of other carriers for the android powered ones

rimantas• 17 years ago

It is interesting to think about dynamics of the mobile space: two years ago iPhone was not yet released, iPhone SDK is just over a year old and to work with it you have to learn the "exotic" Obj-C…

fortunado• 17 years ago

I feel like when they figure out how to get the Cell processor into phones, it'll just swallow up the Android market.

Google: Expect 18 Android Phones By Year’s End

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