Economics of Android

If you like your applications to be lightweight,simple,and fulfil their main purpose without being bogged down by a load of unnecessary bells and whistles,Tweedle is one to check out. It’s a Twitter client developed by XDA Member HandlerExploit due to the need for,in his own words,“a better,cleaner and faster Twitter client for Android.”

The application itself is exactly that—clean looking (almost vaguely reminiscent of the MetroUI),and quite fast. While it’s still at a very early stage of development,with some features yet to be added,this is a fantastic app that has a great deal of potential. All the basic twitter functionality is there,but some functions such as retweets with comments and filtering are currently missing. In the longer term,the developer states that the app will receive tablet support,multiple account support,configurable pages,and a widget. There is one rather notable feature that is already included in the app though,and that is the ability to change the color scheme to one of your choosing via a color picker.

The app is ad-free,will run on Android 2.1 and above,and can be found in its application thread.

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Glassboard is an application which aims to provide “boards” for people to talk to each other like most of your typical social networks and for me it seems to work fairly well as I took it for a spin.

Upon signup,you’ll note the unusual signup screen allowing for display of password:

However,once you get past this initial stage it’s full steam ahead,however you will notice that you get email notifications as well as push which is just a little bit annoying however,it’s simple to turn it off. Also,you can’t confirm your email address via the app.

The main app is nice and simple to use,providing the latest of what’s happening,and it does this really well when you collaborate with others:

You can do most of the stuff in-app,however one major issue is that when you wish to post anything (comment,post,whatever) you get an editor screen and you can’t see the context of what you are editing at all,which is extremely annoying and should be fixed.

Another annoyance is the slide-in UI pattern,which doesn’t feel right to me on Android especially this implementation as it doesn’t slide or anything.

You can’t tap the grey bit on the side,instead you have to tap an option,or back which isn’t very intuitive at all.

Conculsion

The app is smooth,however it needs a lot of the UI more-Android-like but overall,it feels good and does it’s job.

Our Rating 3/5:

Glassboard By Glassboard

Google Play

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If you’re in the market for a smartphone with a full keyboard on Sprint,you might be happy to know that Sprint and Motorola are currently testing out a phone that could suit your needs. A picture of an upcoming Motorola phone with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard has surfaced,thanks to Android Central forum user Va1ha11a.

Not much is known about the unreleased phone. According to Va1ha11a,the phone is currently being tested. Based on the picture,we can tell that the phone is heading to Sprint (because of the Sprint Music Plus app),features a full QWERTY keyboard,and runs…

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Unreleased Motorola phone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard for Sprint spotted in the wild. Could it the Photon Q 4G LTE?
Jonathan Radande –droidmatters.com

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For those who simply can’t get enough of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1,here’s another video showing the tablet and its accompanying S-Pen in action. We’re trying hard to decipher what’s being said on the video,oh wait,there is none – except for the loud music at the beginning. So you’ll have to make do with a silent demonstration.

Unfortunately,there’s little information that we can deduct from the video:we know that the S-Pen can be fitted inside the Galaxy Note 10.1 and how Samsung has decided to go with an HD resolution,something that even Acer has recently bested with the Iconia A700.

But hold up,did we just see a working dialer on the video? …

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Another hands-on video of Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. Will it work as a phone?
Bams Sadewo –androidauthority.com

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If you happen to be the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy S3,but aren’t a big fan of Samsung’s Touchwiz UI,you’re in luck. CyanogenMod,the well known group of modders responsible for bringing stock Android builds to dozens of Android devices,have now announced that nightly builds for the Samsung Galaxy S3 are now available for the public to download and test. If you’re as big of a fan of stock Android as I am,I’m sure you’ll love the tweaks the CyanogenMod team have added to Samsungs newest flagship device.

In order to use these builds,you will naturally nee…

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CyanogenMod Nightly Builds Now Available For the Samsung Galaxy S3
androidpit.com

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NEC has unveiled two virtually identical Android 4.0 tablets called the LifeTouch L. One version of the tablet is aimed at business users,and the other version is aimed at individuals. The difference between the two tablets appears to be software alone. Both tablets weigh 540 g and are 7.99 mm thick. Both tablets also run a 1.5 GHz dual core processor.

The processor is an OMAP4460 unit,and both tablets have a 10.1-inch display. The display is an IPS unit with wide viewing angles and a resolution of 1280 x 800. The version of the tablet for individuals is available with 32 GB or 16 GB of storage. The version for business users is available with 16 GB of storage onl…

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NEC LifeTouch L tablets breaks cover
Shane McGlaun –androidcommunity.com

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Six men,including 3 IT executives,have been arrested in Tokyo for crafting a phishing attack that ruthlessly targeted over 9,000 people. The porn app they created claimed to lead buyers to sex clips,but instead demanded fees while covertly stealing the users’most private information. Over 9,000 people spent 21 million yen ($265,000) on the app. 

 Once the application was installed,it demanded owners pay a fee every five minutes or so,telling them,“Please pay the fees as soon as possible. You need to confirm the unpaid amount. It totals 99,800 yen.”Thes…

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Six Men in Tokyo Jail for Porn App Phishing Attack
androidpit.com

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Unlike certain carriers in the US that are denying future owners of the Galaxy S3 their Samsung-given right of 50GB of free Dropbox storage,all Canadian folks will get their free 2-year cloud storage upon purchasing the Galaxy S3.

Mobile Syrup has gotten in touch with Samsung directly and received the following confirmation:

“New GS III users will receive a basic 2GB of free space with Dropbox (It is permanent). When they create their own Dropbox account or link their existing account to Samsung Apps,the user will receive 48GB more space through a promotional offer,for a total of 50GB. This is available for 2yrs. “

So yes,the Dropbox offer will stand for…

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Galaxy S3 owners on all Canadian carriers will get the free 50GB of Dropbox storage
Bams Sadewo –androidauthority.com

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I live and work in that area of Northern California known as Silicon Valley… the center of tech innovation. Since I moved out here in 1996 I’ve been working in the tech industry and have seen many a technology come and go,from Palm Pilots to Pocket PC’s to Blackberries.

The Fruity Revolution

Once Apple redefined the smartphone in 2007,the mobile landscape started to change. Gone was the vast variety of feature phones and PDA’s as more and more people got iPhones. Apple essentially redefined what a smartphone should be. There’s no disputing that fact. And for the longest time,Apple had no real competition,allowing them to saturate the market with their devices and increase the mind share of their mobile brand.

The Green Robot Wars

Seemingly out of nowhere in 2008,Google came out with their first public iteration of  the Android mobile operating system,known as Cupcake. It was showcased on the now historic G1,a QWERTY slider on T-Mobile in the United States,also known as the HTC Dream elsewhere. It didn’t exactly take the mobile world by storm,but it was a very important release since it showed a glimmer of possible competition to the OS from Cupertino.

Three years later,Android has grown tremendously through follow-up releases Donut,Eclair,Froyo,Gingerbread,Honeycomb, and now Ice Cream Sandwich. Android is in its fourth major release and has matured to a mobile OS that rivals the Apple juggernaut. As a matter of fact,it has now surpassed iOS in market share worldwide. With over 900,000 daily activations,Android is still growing and its app ecosystem is robust.

Silicon Valley Bubble

I was in a meeting at work the other day with 8 people,including myself. I looked around the room and I counted the different types of technology I could see. There were 4 Macbooks,3 iPads,and 5 iPhones. Only one Android tablet and one Android phone…both mine. As a matter of fact,when I look around my office,the vast majority of people have some sort of Apple mobile device,and much fewer own any sort of Android gadget.

I’ve also been to many Starbucks coffee shops in the Bay Area and they are always aglow with the familiar shape of the Apple logo emanating from practically every table. Don’t get me started on what I see when I attend local tech conferences. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even want to eat apple pie anymore (ok,not really).

So if Android has really penetrated more than iOS has worldwide,why don’t we see more Android in the wild here in Silicon Valley? It seems like there is an Apple-shaped bubble around us whose epicenter lies in Cupertino and extends all the way up to San Francisco,down to San Jose,and over the bay to Oakland.

So What Gives?

Obviously,we can point to the fact that Apple is a Silicon Valley darling. Of course there should be more Apple devices per capita here than anywhere else. But Google is also a local company,so I can’t help but think something else is going on here.

Now keep in mind that everything I am saying here is totally speculation on my part,so take it how you will. My instinct tells me the main reason Apple is so popular here is because it’s Silicon Valley…a place full of tech entrepreneurs and innovators. The people here consider themselves pioneers and visionaries,and when they see a product as successful as Apple’s iPhone,they can relate to its success and want to connect to it.

Since Apple came first,most of these early adopters bought into their ecosystem and grew along with it. Now along came Google with their little green Android and slowly chipped away at Apple’s dominance. But most of these early iPhone adopters haven’t switched. Why should they when they have a perfectly good device and ecosystem already,plus they’ve probably invested lots of money in app and music purchases.

Being an early adopter is common out here. We all love to say we knew the band before they made it big. So when the tech we bet on becomes the dominant player,there’s a sense of pride in knowing we were among the first to see its potential. But now there’s a second group emerging…those of us who did NOT bet on Apple in the first place and held out for that “something better”we knew would come without the price of being locked into Apple’s closed system.

In places across the U.S. that perhaps have fewer early adopters of technology,the higher price of Apple’s devices likely slowed their adoption rate when compared to Silicon Valley. So when Android came in with more types of devices at different price points,it was a no-brainer for a budget-minded customer to choose one of those over an ironically-named less-featured feature phone,not to mention the more expensive iPhone.

So,Android Users Are Poor?

The joke is that Android users are poor and iPhone users have money. That’s not quite true the way I see it. Since Android is open,it allows for manufacturers to make more devices with different features and hardware specs. This means they can make devices ranging from budget-friendly to top-shelf. Covering these price points ensures more sales to a wider customer base. So no,Android users are not poor…they are simply a more financially diverse group.

Sure,as time goes by,older iPhones get cheaper and trickle down to other price points. But it’s still considered the more premium product…one that makes more of a statement about paying more for higher quality. It’s about perception. Maybe even fashion in some cases.

From my limited point of view here in Silicon Valley,it seems that right now,at least,there are more Apple products everywhere you look,and Android devices are not quite as easily spotted.

Winds of Change

All that being said,things do seem to be changing. This Apple bubble I speak of is like any other bubble…it will eventually pop. Though I see more Apple devices daily than anything else,at least I am starting to see some Androids invade. It used to be I would maybe see one Android phone in the wild every few days. Now it’s a few daily. Many of those are from folks finally ditching their Blackberries or Windows Mobile devices. Some are from feature phone users making their first leap into smartphone territory. Finally,a few are from iOS users looking to make a switch to “try the other side”.

Either way you look at it,Android is making a dent,it just seems like its probably a tad slower out here than in most other places.

Conclusion

Like I said before,take everything I say here with a grain of salt. I am speaking only from my very limited viewpoint that covers nothing more than my normal everyday home and work life. Others may have a completely different experience than me. But regardless,there is no question that Android is growing and becoming more and more popular every day. It’s weird being a tech minority out here when worldwide I’d be in the majority.

But you know what? I knew the band before they made it big.

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