Is Android A Failure?

Frank posted about 1 million T-Mobile G1s being sold, but Sascha Segan at PC Magazine is beginning to worry whether Android is already a failure.  He bases his claims on a couple of points. 

First, there are only two Android phones available — the T-Mobile G1 and the HTC Magic (which is similar to the G1 without a keyboard).  That’s not a great variety for a platform touted as being so flexible.  Sure, various hardware OEMs (like Motorola) have said they’d be dev eloping Android phones, but nobody has any to show yet.

Second, the software development environment isn’t very good.  He claims people said the initial Software Development Kit (SDK) wasn’t great, and that the new SDK doesn’t really have any game-changing features.

Also, if you look at sales, T-Mobile has sold 1 million Android phones, but the iPhone sold almost 3.7 million units in its first six months.  That’s a huge difference.

Granted, the iPhone may be a special case, but Android hasn’t seemed to have gotten a lot of play at Mobile World Congress or CTIA.  Maybe I’m too focused on Windows Mobile, but have I missed much?

Personally, I think that it’s too early to write Android off.  Google has deep pockets and great talent, so I’m sure they can make a great product.  However, there’s also a lot of competition out there from a newly revitalized Windows Mobile, the Palm Pre, BlackBerry and, of course, the iPhone.  What do you think?

           

Is Touch Evil?

About a month ago, Zack Whittaker at ZD Net blogs wrote an interesting piece called Touch: the most evil technology in modern computing.  He claims that touch technology is evil for two main (and related) reasons — screens smudged with fingerprints can get glitchy and spread germs.

While both may be true, he undermines his argument by pointing out that one of the most germ-laden pieces of equipment in many homes is the computer keyboard.  Also, a study of office hygiene found that the telephone had the most germs, followed by the keyboard.  So it seems to me that phones with keyboards and keypads are already likely to be infested.

He also claims that touch computing has taken off too quickly and that multi-touch isn’t a mature technology.  While the latter is probably true, touchscreen phones have been around for years, although many (like Palm and Pocket PC phones) used a stylus.  I assume he’s referring to the Apple model of touch using capacitive screens, which is newer, but so what?  Just because something is new doesn’t mean it’s bad.  That philosophy leads to stagnation.

So what do you think?  Does Zack get two thumbs up or is he a bit touched himself?

           

Best Selling Windows Mobile Devices

When it was announced that Windows Mobile sold 20 million devices last year, it was also mentioned that 11 devices had sales of one million or more.  Curious about what those devices were, Mike Temporale of Mobile Jaw asked Greg Sullivan what those top sellers were.  Here’s the list (grouped by manufacturer):

• Samsung Omnia (SGH-i900/908/SCH-i910/M490)
• Samsung Blackjack II (SGH-i617)
• Samsung Blackjack (SGH-i607/600)
• Motorola Q
• Audiovox SMT 5600 (HTC)
• HTC Touch Diamond (Diamond/Diamond-C)
• HTC Dash (Excalibur)
• HTC xv6800  (Titan)
• HTC TyTN II (Tilt/Kaiser)
• HTC Touch (Elf/Vogue)
• HTC P800W (Artemis)

Mike noticed that 5 of the 11 devices didn’t have touch screens and that 7 of 11 had QWERTY keyboards.  That led him to wonder if the preoccupation over developing an iPhone competitor was the best use of resources.

Personally, I say why not develop great touch screen devices — and keep developing other form factors, too.  That flexibility is one of the strengths of Windows Mobile.  What do you guys think?

           

Just Say No!

Steve Laser might have been more accurate than intended in his I Want a New Drug article.  If you find yourself getting bored with your current PDA or phone (or any tech accessory), consider this — you might be a junkie.  No, you probably aren’t hanging out on street corners looking for somebody selling hot phones in their trench coats or turning tricks for a new piece of software, but you may have a problem nonetheless.

This may sound like heresy, but remember that a PDA or phone is just a tool.  It should make your life easier.  Do you get bored with your hammer and feel that you need to buy a new one?  Do you sigh with ennui every time you use your electric drill?  Do you get frustrated with the toaster because its interface hasn’t changed?  I hope not.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m a techie.  I’ve had Windows CE PDAs since Windows CE 1.0, I have four LCD TVs in my house (if you count my daughter’s) plus a few tube TVs, I have three working Replay TV PVRs (plus two that died) and so on.  However, I very rarely buy gadgets to add spice to my life — they either fill a need I have to get something done or they’re replacing a product that’s going bad.  For example, I upgraded my original Motorola Q to a Q9m not because I had to have the latest device, but because the Q9m had HTML E-mail (thanks to Windows Mobile 6), allowing me to link to my Google News alerts that I use to keep abreast of the tech world (and because it was almost a free upgrade).

So, if you find yourself getting withdrawal symptoms because your phone isn’t sexy enough, consider checking into rehab.  If you want excitement in your life, take up skydiving, bungie jumping or street luge.

           

A Phone Fit For A President

It’s been widely reported that President Elect Obama is a BlackBerry fan and wants to keep his despite security concerns.  However, C|Net reported on a secure Windows Mobile phone that’s fit for a President — the General Dynamics Sectera Edge.

The Sectera Edge is rated for Top Secret voice communications and Secret E-mail and Web sites.  It has a second LCD display to show whether you’re using Classified mode or not and separate memory for classified (64 MB Flash, 64 MB RAM) and unclassified data (128 MB Flash, 64 MB RAM).  It also has a MicroSD slot, but I couldn’t tell if that’s for classified data or not.

It measures 1.3″ thick x 3.2″ wide x 4.9″ tall, weighs 12 ounces and has a 2.8″ QVGA main display.  One reason it may be so thick is that it has a CAC card reader integrated (the ID cards used by the Department of Defense), classified and unclassified USB ports and a classified serial port.

All this can be yours for just $3,350.  You can also get a car charger for $100 and other accessories.  I wonder if General Dynamics will send me one for a review.

           

Windows Mobile New Year’s Resolutions

Just before I spoke with Chris about joining Mobility Site, I had written an editorial about what Windows Mobile could do to get some respect, called Windows Mobile New Year’s Resolutions.  It’s fairly long, so I don’t want to repost it here, but I discuss the following areas to improve:

• User Interface
• Web Browser
• E-mail & Messaging
• PIM Applications
• Phone Applications
• Media Player
• Other Applications
• Synchronization
• Hardware

Check it out and let me know what you think.  Would fixing all of those issues be enough to win back former Windows Mobile users?  Are there other things you’d like to see improved?

           

Fresh Meat

I’ve just joined the Mobility Site team as a news editor.  I’ll probably be focusing on Windows Mobile devices here.  I’ve been around Windows Mobile since it was Windows CE back in the late 90s, and have posted here and elsewhere as Pony99CA.  If you want to read more about me than you really should know, you can check out my History page at my personal site.

We now return to our regularly scheduled posts.