Speaking of ways to go anyone else a little upset by the rumored price of the Motorola Xoom, the supposed answer to the ipad. Xoom will be a 10.1″ tablet running Google’s Honeycomb, aka Android 3.0 which was designed for tablets. It looks gorgeous but at $799 and requiring a 3g plan, Verizon and Motorola are pricing themselves out of the average consumers price range for a device that basically would be in between a laptop and a desktop. Granted that is the same price as the 3g Apple ipad with similar specs but the issue is that there is no wifi only version which would bring down the costs for the consumer. Options are good things, ask Samsung, the galaxy tab while a mild success would probably have sold better if it had a wifi only option like the ipad.

2011 is shaping up to be an interesting time for the mobile community, here’s hoping that competition breeds an even brighter future for consumers.

                          

Notice I said right apps, ipad while having the apple app store has a brevy of applications but not all of them translate well to the lovely ipad screen, and the prices for some of the simplest apps are not the best. You wouldn’t expect to pay $5+ for a simple ssh/terminal or rdp tool. The android app store while having more free apps isn’t available on all of the android tablets currently, with the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy tab being the exception. Not only that but Google themselves have stated that Android in its present form isn’t really designed for the tablet format but hopefully that will change with Android 3.0 which is due out this winter.

Now to add into the mix Blackberry announced their “Playbook” Tablet with a nice array of features including at dual-core 1Ghz processor, which could really but a damper on battery life if not properly managed. The one area that RIMM succeeds is in the business world, but Apple and Android are fast on their heels. Blackberry doesn’t have the greatest of history with apps and touchscreen formats, ahem Storm anyone. Most developers are also moving away from Blackberry so it will be interesting to see what the new Blackberry OS built off of QNX will over to developers and if it will help bring some of them back.

So many choices what is a young technologist to do, wait and see is my motto. Galaxy Tab and Blackberry Playbook while announced isn’t available for sell yet nor has pricing been confirmed and the rumored talks of the data plans from AT&T don’t appeal to anyone and will probably have you looking at the iPad 3g before a Galaxy Tab. Both the Galaxy Tab and Playbook will have a wifi only option, with the Playbook being exclusively wifi only and tethered to other Blackberries as an option for 3g.

References:
Blackberry Playbook Announced
Samsung Galaxy Tab

                          

I’ve also noticed over the last 8 months the outcry from some people especially the techies and tech news sites the complaints about the fragmentation of android. By fragmentation I am referring to android phones running different versions of the android os. Now as a power user I understand the frustration when the Google Branded Nexus One gets Android 2.2 before everyone else but I also realize that is to be expected as it was the first phone marketed and sold exclusively by Google. It was basically the Google Reference phone, so of course its going to get Froyo before the rest of us that being said the debacle with the 2.1 upgrade from verizon for the droid has left a bad taste in some people’s mouth. But honestly ask yourself does the average consumer even care that 2.2 hasn’t been released on their droid or evo 4g. I dont think they give a rats ass, as long as they can make their calls, receive texts and do whatever else they do on their phone they could care less about an os upgrade that adds a few more features that they might never use.

As a power user I push my phone to the limit so yes I’m slighted by the fact that Nexus One gets Android 2.2 before the rest of us, but motorola has already announced that the Droid and Droid-X will both be getting Android 2.2 before the summer is over. Let us hope that Verizon doesnt muck up the release again, not that it matters to me since I’m already on 2.2 thanks to the awesome rom community that surrounds the Android community.

I guess the question is, is the Fragmentation in Android phones really that big of a problem? In my opinion its not because the average consumer doesnt care and honestly us geeks are just the very vocal minority. We have to remember that the carriers like stability over the hot newness. Plus Google has already stated that with 3.0 Android will be moving toward a more modular makeup basically making updates as easy as going to the app store.

                          

I’ve been using it for about a week now and I can say it makes my droid a little snappier. Now Froyo added a few things to the table:

• Tethering via USB or Wifi
• Flash 10.1
• APPS2SD
• Improved performance
• Better exchange integration
• Chrome to Phone
• Voice dialing over bluetooth

I havent used all the features yet that Froyo promises so I sill speak on the ones I have tried out. Flash 10.1 is currently in beta for Froyo and I’ve done a little testing of course little bit after froyo hit the web for all us droid users, hulu found a way to cut off the access to their widget. Currently Flash 10.1 is at beta 2 and I’ve gone a a few sites it has a few slowness issues but overall it works pretty well.

As for APPS2SD the main issue with that is the developers need to activate that function in their program now granted this was already active in certain roms but Froyo brings it to all of the android community.

I can say that overall the performance has been greatly improved on froyo.  System is very responsive and the native install gives you 5 screens instead of the current 3 in stock 2.1 release for Droid. Whether or not this will be the case on the final approved release remains to be seen but one can only hope. Still no release date on when Froyo will be available for Droid, a few lucky testers on the nexus one were able to get a hold of it for their handset but Google quickly pulled it down.

Sources:
Manifest Tech
Froyo on the Droid

                          

Google should soon be announcing what enhancements are going to Android 2.2 OS. Flash 10 is included in Android 2.2 and supposedly running pretty well on the Nexus One. LG will be releasing the LG Ally soon, rumors are it will be Verizon Network at the moment yet another temptation to replace my precious droid. Ally has a strong product tie in to Iron Man 2.

Droid Incredible by HTC was released at the beginning of May and brings a Nexus One equivalent to Big Red Network, which is good since the evidently the Nexus One will not be released on Verizon or Sprint Networks. Evidently the Incredible and EVO 4G have replaced it respectably. EVO 4G looks to be the smartphones of smartphones making the droid look like its bastard cousin too bad I’m on Verizon for the next 2 years locked in.

Lg Ally Homepage
Droid Incredible by HTC
HTC Evo 4G

                          

In Google Android news there is a rumor going around over the weekend that was posted on gizmodo that Google may be trying to release Android 2.1 to all existing Android based phones. How this is going to work with the various carriers and manufacturers is anyone guess. Unsplintering Android would lead down a much easier road for developers but will 2.1 run on the older models of hardware is something we will just have to wait to see.

Linkage

                          

Speaking of apps, I would like to send out my support for a nice little widget that adds a bunch of functionality to the base home screen of the droid models, Beautiful Widget. Originally Beautiful widgets brought the HTC Sense screens to other droid models but HTC was not having that so the author had to change his design. Still a nice little design and it adds a lot of widgets that make the droid even easier to use. Only 1.99 on the market and well worth the price.

Beautiful Widgets adds widgets for wifi, gps, airplane mode, vibrate, bluetooth, and a home screen addition with a clock and geolocation weather. The author is very good at updating the application especially when problems are reported by the users.

Here is the application on Androlib:Beautiful Widgets

                          

Verizon’s Motorola Droid is a brand-new phone today. Like many smartphones before it, the Droid has been rooted so that owners of the Android 2.0-based smartphone can install multitouch support (including pinch-to-zoom gestures), enhanced themes and other previously forbidden goodies.

Cyanogen, a well-known Android modder, tweeted this afternoon “Droid does … ROOT” and linked to an Android message board where the exploit is posted. Zinx Verituse, the hacker who discovered the exploit, posted the essential details and links to the file so modders can get down to business.

I’ve yet to try out the exploit as I’m a wee bit hesitant to muck with my $600 phone call me a wuss all you want but bricking this thing would not make me a happy camper. I dont advise anyone to do this unless they have a clue of what they are doing nor do I take responsibility if you brick your device by following these instructions.

                          

Fixes are listed below:

• OS stability is improved.
• Battery life is improved.
• Camera auto focus functionality is improved, and time between shots is reduced.
• Enhancements for three-way calling.
• Audio for incoming calls is improved.
• When receiving a call on call waiting, the speakerphone now remains on.
• Bluetooth® functionality is improved; background echo is eliminated.
• Improved Bluetooth phone book transfer of contacts to in-vehicle Bluetooth solutions.
• After closing a GPS application, the GPS icon will now automatically be removed from the notification panel.
• Users can now receive SMS and MMS messages after an EMS message is received.
• SMS and MMS may now be sent to seven-digit addresses.
• Google® contact merging has been updated to accommodate seven-digit numbers.
• Visual Voice Mail notices now arrive instantaneously.
• The corporate calendar widget user interface is updated

Nothing majorly announced but there is improved movement in the interface so the droid is a little more zipper than before not that I had a problem with it. Also the battery life has been improved havent fully tested it as I just upgraded today to 2.0.1 . Here are some pictures I’ve taken one before the upgrade and one after. Note the last picture was taken through my upstairs windows to the outside and the first one was taken from inside a moving aircraft after.

From Drop Box

From Drop Box