Category Opinions

Hypocrisy

Posted on August 21st, 2012

So Twitter’s been under fire lately by a lot of bloggers. In particular, John Gruber, MG Seigler, Jim Darymple…well…basically every aggressive blogger you can think of. Now, a lot of these highly opinionated bloggers are Apple advocates through and through. In fact, from what I’m seeing daily, it’s only them. Maybe I’m not following the right people to get both sides of the story, but these guys are bashing Twitter like crazy.

For those that don’t know – Twitter is locking down their API and now requires “traditional” clients with large amounts of users to request access. In other words – they’re locking out a lot of the community that made them what it is today. Kind of a short version that misses a lot of points, but that’s the gist of it.

Contrary to popular belief – I don’t hate Apple, I hate how a lot of their advocates function and act in different situations. I mean, I don’t think Apple makes the best products by a long-shot. I’ve used a bunch of them extensively and it just doesn’t feel right. The only products that I highly endorse are their trackpads and the iPad for news reading and web browsing. What I don’t like is those extreme followers. Every cult-following has them, but Apple fans have this community of insanely brutal and aggressive voices that constantly bash on other companies.

Take this Twitter situation for example – we have some of them telling Twitter to drop dead, some saying Twitter’s lost it’s way, and others saying Twitter is evil. Why? A developer policy change to a free service? A developer policy change. Huh. You’d think Apple fans/developers would be used to that. How many times has Apple changed their policies and threw a bunch of developers out the door? Keep in mind that these developers actually pay Apple to make applications for them, not a free model like Twitter’s. If you aren’t catching it – that makes it way worse. People invested tons of money to be a part of that ecosystem and got cheated out of it because Apple decided to change it’s mind.

One big example is the banning of apps if they didn’t use Apple’s own 30-percent-taking in-app payment system. It’s okay to take 30%, but to force it on every developer after you’ve allowed otherwise in the past? Amazon damn-near got rid of their Kindle app. Tons of other developers pulled out as well because either the profit margins would be horrible or they’d have to overcharge users. I’m not saying Apple or Twitter are worse than each other – not at all. My point is that there should be an equal level of anger and discussion about these major changes.

Are these same bloggers angry about Apple’s developer policy changes, no matter how ruthless they may be? Nope. In fact, they create reasons as to why it makes sense. They’ll make post after post about why it makes sense to apply these new policies. But with Twitter – anger, hate, and numerous cruel words. And if this was the only time it could be slightly excusable. But it happens all the time. When else? I have a huge list of examples.

When Samsung allegedly copied iOS and it’s corresponding devices, Apple bloggers screamed out and said Samsung deserves nothing better than the courts. It didn’t matter that Samsung was bringing fantastic competition on the table – let the law books to take them down. They wanted to bring the law in for something they didn’t even totally understand. But when Apple allegedly price fixed – an illegal act – they blamed Amazon. They said Apple brought competition and such actions should be allowed. It didn’t matter that it forced users to pay more on every single marketplace – Apple was in the right. It didn’t matter if Apple was guilty or not – the law didn’t need to intervene. Amazon was wrong.

And remember that whole Samsung Galaxy Note thing? Geez.

Microsoft is taking a big risk with Windows 8 and is trying to create a brand new experience. They’re trying to combine what Apple is convinced should be in two form factors into one device so that consumers don’t have to have three different devices. Without even blinking they claim Microsoft is wrong and that Windows 8 is a complete failure. It’s not even out to market. Not to mention that it’s gotten lots of good reviews. And let’s bring up the fact that most users don’t want to spend money on three different devices when they can buy two devices and save tons of money. But Microsoft is wrong.

Any PC maker comes out with a new laptop and Apple bloggers call it out as a Macbook or Macbook Air copy. But when Apple steals great ideas from Android or Windows Phone they don’t even discuss it. In fact, they act like it never happened and move right along. In the vice versa case, umpteen blog posts with people making comparisons and showing how others constantly copy Apple.

Here’s another that I posted onto Google+ recently where Jim Darymple posts a link to a list of apps optimized for the Retina Macbook (a few of these lists also came out when the retina iPad came along too). If this same list was for apps optimized for a new Android phone, what do you think it would be about? Fragmentation.

RIM is currently going through some really hard times. They’re trying to bounce back with new products but it’s definitely a really rough patch. Whenever their new CEO tries to shine a bright light on the situation you’ll find an Apple blogger literally laughing at their situation. Some tell them to even shut down because it isn’t worth it. Yet they forget that Apple was in the exact same situation years back. Microsoft was forced to give Apple billions of dollars to continue to exist. This company is now worth more than Microsoft. Why can’t RIM bounce back the same way? Why is it that only Apple can pull such a thing off? Apple isn’t some Godly creature that came out of nowhere. They’re a company – a corporation – much like RIM and RIM has just as much of a chance of bouncing back.

And here’s a last one I posted a while back when ASUS gave out free GPS dongles because the Transformer Prime had faulty GPS.

Not all Apple-focused bloggers are like this, but there’s a huge community that is. Cut it out, grow up, and take the similar side to every issue. If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t, but don’t act one way when Apple does something and when other companies do the same. Cut the hypocrisy. I think your readers deserve it.

Fragmentation is a Bad Excuse

Posted on March 31st, 2012

Ah, fragmentation. The marketing term that has even blinded developers. The word that lets software engineers make excuses for writing bad software. But hey, don’t let me stop you from complaining. I’ve been developing for Android long enough to know that it’s not an easy thing to make apps for devices like the Galaxy Nexus while still supporting low-end devices like the Samsung Replenish. Yeah, two completely different devices. I know it’s not easy. But you won’t find me saying Android sucks because of it. In fact, you’ll find me praising it for that exact reason.

You can go ahead and brag that iOS development is easy. Yeah, I’m listening. But before you continue, I want to ask you something really, really important: are you seriously okay with having one device with one operating system powered by one software market run by one company? I’m not talking on a “control” level, I’m talking on an innovation and choice-of-use level. If so, you can go ahead and do what you want. But if you believe in the growth of technology and the power of scalability – this is for you.

Android (Google’s version and the open source one) fits on multiple kinds of screens and resolutions and handles numerous kinds of hardware that the Android team doesn’t control. On top of that, they’ve built a framework that scales applications that they also don’t control. Take a second to understand this. Do you realize how amazing this is? Do you, as a developer, understand that this is one of the toughest level of scalable software you’re going to encounter? And then you’re going to complain about an app on top of a VM and a framework that gives you tools to make things scale? Seriously?

Programming is a challenge. Scalable programming is that much harder. Android involves the latter. The fact that there are different screen sizes, resolution, and underlying hardware is bad enough, but the fact that OEMs and carriers take their sweet time to upgrade to the latest OS makes things even more difficult. That being said, majority of applications won’t need more than what the framework tools in FroYo (2.2) gives us, so that’s a really great thing and if you do, there are backwards compatibility libraries to make sure you can use them even then.

You know what else is great? Google’s made it quite easy to make your applications scale properly. Yeah, it’s all in the framework – you don’t need to build something to do it. Things like RelativeLayout and weighted layouts make a developer’s life really easy when it comes to handling mulitple kinds of devices. I’ve made incredibly complex layouts that scale onto any screen and resolution quite easily – yes, even between the Galaxy Nexus and the Replenish. It’s completely possible and it doesn’t take that much more effort. It just means you, as a developer, need to properly write your code.

You can keep saying that fragmentation is a problem, but I’m about to tell you the problem with iOS: it’s tailored. It’s tailored to the point where if Apple ever increases the size of their device (or, as we saw with the iPad – increases the resolution), too many applications won’t work properly. That means that the app store that Apple themselves controls will fall into shambles because they never prepared developers for such a change. Or, on the other hand, they’ll never change the screen size of their devices, which is even worse if you ask me.

Scalable beats tailored 100% of the time, so don’t complain if you’re required to do it. Once you learn how to do it on your specific platform, it’ll be a breeze to do it from then on. It’s just a matter of not being lazy and taking that first step.

Be a software engineer that scales, because that’s what software engineers do. Don’t be afraid of the most important task you have as a developer.

Think Different

Posted on March 25th, 2012

A few months back, Apple bloggers screamed out that Samsung does nothing but copy Apple. In their heads, Samsung doesn’t have an R&D or design team; they have a “watch-the-Apple-keynote” team that re-creates Apple products and throws Android on them. They find every article, picture, and video that tries to prove this ideology and absolutely dismiss any evidence that they’re not doing that at all. Selective blindness can be dangerous when you have a large readership.

Exhibit A: The Samsung Galaxy Note

The moment the Note was announced, Apple bloggers everywhere laughed at the idea. “HA!” they said “It’s not 3.5-inches so it simply can’t be comfortable for the user! What are they thinking?!”

Apple bloggers repeated that statement over and over when some guy did an “experiment” and found that a 3.5-inch screen is the perfect size because – since we all have the same-sized fingers – it’s the size that allows us to hit every part of the screen with one hand. Apple did tons of research behind this, so it has to be right. I mean, what do Samsung, HTC, and Motorola not understand this? What do they know? It’s not like they’re doing any market research; they just use Apple’s research and build their products based on that, don’t they? After all, to put it in the blogger’s terms:

It’s one of the things that makes Apple products Apple products.

Yeah, it’s got nothing to do with the fact that they started with that screen size and can’t increase it because it would screw over a huge developer community that hasn’t been warned to make their applications fit multiple screen sizes. Even John Gruber admits to this iOS development flaw.

What’s even funnier is if Samsung did make a 3.5-inch device, they’d be thrown under a train because it looks too much like the iPhone.

Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t. Or, rather, in the distorted vision of Apple citizens – damned if you aren’t Apple.

Now let’s take a moment here to show what’s really happening in the world. That is, outside of the Apple offices, stores, and Mac-filled homes. Yes, there is a world out there like this, guys. I know – it’s terrible, isn’t it? In this world, there are people who need different kinds of devices. Not everyone wants a 3.5-inch brick-shaped, glass “protected”, app-on-app-off device. Some people need devices to be bigger, smaller, rugged, media-focused, camera-focused, mutli-sim, multi-screen, physical-keyboard equipped, single-purposed software, multi-purposed software, non-restri…well…you get the point.

Different people are different. I know it’s hard to grasp this concept, but it’s a reality. Hopefully it’ll set in before this next part that’ll absolutely blow your Apples to the core.

There are people – people who understand the smartphone market as a whole – who think the Galaxy Note is the best phone out there right now. Yeah – that’s right. This 5-inch beast of a device you laugh and mock is actually awesome and it has a huge market (pun not intended). I’ve used it and I’ve loved it. I don’t need that big of a screen size because I already have a tablet, but I can see the appeal, just as much as I can see the appeal of the iPhone 4S, the Galaxy Nexus, and the Nokia Lumia 800. It’s a fantastic phone that solves a few problems that some people may have with today’s phones.

So who are these smartphone experts? Jon Rettinger from TechnoBuffalo. Yeah, the guy that refused to give up his iPhone for anything else has decided to make a switch because he can’t find a phone better than the Galaxy Note. He even went ahead to say that it’s the best phone of 2011 and that the large screen size is a plus. The audacity!

Aaron Baker from PhoneDog did a Galaxy Note challenge where he spent a few days using it and swiftly went back to his iPhone 4S. Within a few days, he went to the Galaxy S2 because he loves the 4- to 4.5-inch screen size; yeah, not the 3.5-inch size, can you believe it? Now he says that there’s a 60% chance of him going back to the Galaxy Note.

I’ve even seen some posts on Google+ that have a similar confession of loving the Galaxy Note over any other device.

Oh, and let’s go a little deeper for a second if this isn’t enough for you. There was a study – not just some guy telling us his fingers can reach the edges of the iPhone – that said that majority of smartphone users prefer larger screen sizes.

when presented with the option, almost 90 percent would go for a device with a larger display. The 4-4.5-inch range was described as the “sweet spot,” though the one sticking point for most users was that the device still needed to be thin.

Now there’s a study you’ll never find on DaringFireball or ParisLemon. It just doesn’t fit into their world, perhaps. Regardless, it does fit with 90 percent of the world, and that’s what actually matters. You keep making crazy claims – or endorsing claims – like the Galaxy Note is the stupidest phone and you’ll start looking like Steve Ballmer talking about the original iPhone.

I’m not saying that you’re wrong in thinking the Note might be a little big. I’m just telling you that maybe you want to step outside of your comfort zone for five minutes and realize that we’re not all drones – we have our own needs. Some of us need more than just a list of icons and a 3.5-inch screen. Just because iOS doesn’t come packaged with a larger screen doesn’t mean that no one wants a screen bigger than 3.5-inches – it just means that Apple doesn’t cater to the group of people that do. And that’s where extensible operating systems come into play.

Think Different.

Web on Mobile: More Thoughts on Android In-App Payments

Posted on March 10th, 2012

Yesterday I gave some thoughts on Google’s policy of making Google Wallet more or less a “standard” in Android in-app payments. In rare form, I blasted at Google’s choice. I don’t agree with it, and I likely won’t regardless of how good people tell me it is for the user. Why? Because I don’t think it’s good on any spectrum – consumer or developer. Tightening controls on something like this can be a slippery slope, especially considering how little Google monitors apps on the market. How many will pass through such a policy?

But that’s not my problem. It never was, in fact. My problem with this decision was more because it went against a philosophy Google themselves have taught me. No, not all this “open” crap. That has nothing to do with this; Android is open source regardless of this decision and any blogger who questions the “openness” of Android because of this doesn’t understand the technology at all and shouldn’t comment on it.

It’s about Android being a consequence of the web.

From a loose framework that allows for extension to design principles – Android is the operating system of the web. It’s why the Nexus One was promoted as “Web meets Phone”; because Android is exactly that. Working with Android on a framework level will prove to be incredibly enjoyable in the sense of innovation because there’s just so much you can do without any hacks whatsoever. The robustness reminds me a lot of how the internet works, and I’m quite sure this is exactly what Google had in mind. If you’re an Android developer and you feel like the layout development is strikingly similar to web – it wasn’t a mistake, it was an intent (no pun intended…maybe). The new design philosophy which has been geared more or less by Matias Duarte is very similar too. This quote has stuck in my head since he said it:

I offer the web. Here there’s beautiful examples of very customized, very different feeling websites. [...] These look completely unlike each other, but people understand how to use them because the right things are standard conventions, and other things are flexible. That’s what we tried to build with the Ice Cream Sandwich convention.

This particular quote is from The Verge’s interview with Duarte before the Galaxy Nexus launch.

Google has been built off the web, and it’s no surprise Android is too. In fact, the web is the perfect example of this kind of “next-gen” interface we need to communicate with on a daily basis. Mobile should be influenced by it’s power.

So why am I talking about Android’s web influence? Because this decision of singular in-app payment directly goes against this philosophy. On the web, there is no standard payment method. If I use Chrome, I’m not forced to use Google Wallet; if I use Firefox, I’m not forced to use PayPal. I use what the site offers me, and if I’m not comfortable with it I don’t use it. Why does Android – or mobile in general – need to be any different? Why can’t the users make their own decision on whether or not they’re comfortable with a payment system? Google Wallet/Checkout is not the best payment system and being allowed to use a different one shouldn’t be out of the question.

Go all-in with the web philosophy and it’ll make Android even more robust. It’s worked in the past, and it’ll work in the future. Don’t ruin it.

Google’s Forcing Wallet for Android In-App Payments

Posted on March 9th, 2012 | Permalink

I can’t explain my hate for these kind of restrictions. I get the reasoning – consistency and whatnot. But to me, these kind of things should follow the same philosophy of Google Play – the users will decide what’s good and what’s not. If an app decides to use another service for in-app payments, then so be it – the users will decide if they want to use it or not.

At least it’s a step up from Apple’s policy – transferable digital goods like eBooks aren’t included in this clause. But honestly – this needs to change no matter how long this has been in place.

Apparently Google sells our data [G+]

Posted on February 29th, 2012 | Permalink

One of my rare rants on Google+. I was kinda disgusted at the misinformation, so I had to let it out.

It’s a Whitelist

Posted on February 20th, 2012 | Permalink

If you haven’t heard, tech writers are in fury over the fact that a pick few analysts got a chance to get a preview of Mountain Lion. There have been claims of a blacklist of writers that Apple refuses to preview anything to simply because they don’t want bad press about their update on initial release. But they have it all wrong. Apple doesn’t hate anyone, they just like certain people more. Shawn King writes:

Hey TUAW, try this on for size. Apple does not have a “Black List” (Jason O’Grady’s whining notwithstanding) but they most certainly do have a White List of favored outlets.

In other words – I don’t hate those kind of people, but these kind of people get more stuff because I think they’re cooler. Nice. Discrimination is discrimination, no matter how you twist and turn it. Shawn then follows up and says that this is called “managing the message” and that all companies do it. I nodded my head in agreement because that’s just how companies work.

Then I remembered something: Google gave MG Seigler a Galaxy Nexus to review. Yeah, that MG Seigler. Doesn’t seem that Google “manages” a message at all. There’s no whitelist, blacklist, or graylist of any sort for Google.

Heh.

iMessage All the [Apple] Things!

Posted on February 16th, 2012 | Permalink

My god – Apple must be filled with geniuses. Now not only can I send iMessages to iPhones, iPods, and iPads – but even iMacs and MacBooks! What will they think of next – iMessages hitting some sort of website?

Are people actually impressed by this? Is this what people want to replace SMS with? Platform-specific messaging? Even RIM is running away from that idea now.

Sorry if I’m not as excited as you. It might be because I’ve been using something that’s cross-platform, has an API for extensibility, and sends messages to my email if I’m not there to take them. Did I mention that it’s existed for years. Not to mention apps like Kik and WhatsApp that are doing an amazing job as well. But, hey, what do I know. I’m just some “fandroid”. iMessage away!

Apple’s Misleading App Store Metrics

Posted on February 15th, 2012 | Permalink

Inside Mobile Apps:

It’s remarkable how widely-known the phenomenon of fraudulent download bots was throughout the iOS developer community. Essentially, bots or automated programs have been used for well over a year to download apps until they reach the top of the charts where they can be seen by real users. [...] It’s absurd to think about how long Apple must have known about and tolerated this practice.

Ha. I don’t think it’s absurd that they’ve tolerated it, considering how much they tout the number of downloads in their app store regularly. And here’s something interesting:

In comparison, Google Android Market’s charts are more immune to bots because the company’s ranking algorithm is more holistic and incorporates factors like whether users keep their apps installed.

Now there’s a metric. Who cares how many people download your app – it’s about who’s using it in the first place.

But there’s something that bothers me even more about all of this. Steve Jobs, during one of his famous keynotes, accused Google of lying about their Android activation numbers and said they’re “only updates” – something that was quickly proven wrong by Google. Jobs did this while knowing very well that Apple’s metric for app downloads was wrong and followed up his accusation lying about his own App Store’s downloads.

Yeah. Oops.

Post link via David Sehllabarger.

On Path & the Address Book Blunder

Posted on February 12th, 2012 | Permalink

Me on Google+ talking about the Path address book blunder:

No matter how you put it, it’s wrong to steal a full address book without permission and stick it on your servers. Yes, it’s stealing. That wasn’t a slip-up.

I don’t care how you twist and turn it – it’s unethical. In fact, I find it unethical for any app to go through an address book unrelated to it because none of that information is actually mine. These are people that I’ve added as contacts, not people who told me “have my number, email, and street address so you can send it to multiple apps at your own discretion”. But since we can’t go that far, let’s at least make sure that the user that has to make that discretion can actually make it in the first place.

Hilarious how people like +MG Siegler are defending Path, and then turn around and tell Google that they’re evil because they’re keeping data that people have sent on their products and on top of that are fully disclosing how, when, and where this data is being used.

Yes, MG is an investor of Path and an Apple fan beyond imagination. I don’t even think I need to say more.

EDIT: P.S. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Path is an evil company or that they did this with any wrong intentions. I just think that it’s not something anyone should sit back and defend. Path is doing a good job of fixing their errors, and Apple should do the same by adding a prompt for sharing address book information.

What do you guys think? If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them on the G+ post!

Google Entertainment System?

Posted on February 9th, 2012 | Permalink

Well here’s something interesting. Do I believe it? Meh…hard to say. But I think this can go [at least] one of three ways. It could be exactly what WSJ is saying, in which case I’d expect something like a Nexus TV, or at least something along those lines. Kind of like a lead-device for the TV spectrum Eric Schmidt said would grow incredibly quickly very soon. Another option could be that they’re working with multiple manufacturers for multiple devices to roll out the initial batch of Android @ Home & Android Accessories devices that they introduced at Google I/O 2011. Or, lastly, it could be nothing but them testing out cool things for the Android @ Home /Accessories platform and they’re not making anything official at all.

I’m placing my bets on #2 simply because it seems the most reasonable to me. Google’s been talking about releasing a tablet in the next 6 months, so an entertainment device back-to-back just kind of seems iffy. If so, they’re first real foray into hardware will start with a bang.

Chrome for Android: Bothered

Posted on February 7th, 2012

UPDATE: I did in fact speak too soon.

Wow. It’s finally here. And it’s everything, as a user, I would’ve expected. It’s smooth, fast, and it seamlessly works with the desktop version. Yet…something bothers me about it. I don’t care that it’s only for Android 4.0 – there are legitimate technical reasons for that choice, so I’ll let it slide. It’s sad that not even 3.x devices got this release, but if Apple doesn’t put Siri on the iPhone 4 this isn’t even close to that kind of offense. I’m not even going to complain about the lack of Flash because that would need support from Adobe – something they’ve decided not to do. And still…something bothers me… Read more

Wasted Marketing

Posted on February 5th, 2012 | Permalink

Samsung’s much-awaited Galaxy Note ad. If you ask me, it’s a waste of a minute and a half Super Bowl spot. They could have used that time to talk about how awesome the phone is, what they’re lineup looks like, or even talk about the robustness of the OS. But no. Let’s dance.

Smartphones > PCs? Not so fast

Posted on February 4th, 2012 | Permalink

For the first time, smartphones have become more popular than traditional computers.

There are two big problems with this statement based on the study. For one, we’re talking about shipped smartphones, not bought. So, sure, smartphones are getting more popular on the OEM side, but it says nothing about the consumer. Then again, I don’t doubt that more smartphones have been sold either.

But that means nothing. Why? Well, think about it this way – majority, if not all, of the people I know own a PC, but many don’t own a smartphone. In fact, most people that do have a smartphone bought it in 2011. Does that mean that they’ve decided that the smartphone is more important? Of course not. They bought a smartphone because they already had a PC and based on the influx of all of these power house mobile devices, they wanted to buy one. Eventually things will even out again; if they don’t, then that’s an interesting change.

Chromebooks: A Few Months Later [G+]

Posted on February 4th, 2012 | Permalink

I’ve been using my Samsung Chromebook for a little while and for the past few days I used it exclusively. I wanted to see what it would be like. Here are my findings in Q&A format on Google+. If you have any questions/comments, feel free to ask them in the G+ thread.

Windows Phone 8 Feature Leak

Posted on February 2nd, 2012 | Permalink

Some things on that list look really awesome. Overall it seems that they’re trying to bring more choice to the market in terms of hardware and bringing support for things like NFC – which, yes, includes mobile payments (!) – and some hardcore cross-device integration. I already said that I’m excited about Windows 8 and it looks like Microsoft is gearing up really quickly on the mobile end. They’ve already caught up incredibly fast in terms of features on Windows Phone, and they’re already starting to go above and beyond some of the competition with some of the detailed features.

As you can see, there’s no way I’m counting out Microsoft in this competition like most are. Like Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said – there’s a horse in Redmond that will always get up and keep running. This re-imagining of their products is exactly what they need to become a strong steed in this race.

Cutting out the metaphors

Posted on January 31st, 2012 | Permalink

Kamangar claims putting traditional TV shows on YouTube would be analogous to putting radio on television, taking a “one-way experience and putting it on a platform that goes two ways.”

Exactly. Kamangar really brings out a real problem in today’s applications. It’s the same as one of the main problems I have with Apple’s textbook program as well. Just throwing in animations and audio doesn’t make education better; completely missing the point. Stop repeating the past when the internet and all these devices can do so much more than their current counterparts. It’s time to take advantage of the technology we have at hand. Cut out the “real-life” metaphors. Don’t “reinvent” and “tweak” – create something new and powerful.

Why I’m Excited About Windows 8

Posted on January 29th, 2012

The computing world is fragmented. It’s been fragmented for an incredibly long time, and there’s almost nothing we can do about it. It’s a consequence of competition and demand. But recently, about three years ago, we’ve been faced with even a bigger problem. Up till now there was fragmentation on the PC level. Windows had the overwhelmingly large market share so it was hard to see, but anyone with an Apple PC could feel it on a daily basis. But now, not only does this fragmented PC market still exist, but each form factor seems to be getting it’s own operating system as well. PCs, tablets, and smartphones each live in their own world with their own apps. Sure, Android is trying to solve this with “fragments”, but the fact remains that there’s just too much going on for the average consumer to keep up. That’s where Windows 8 comes in. I know – an Android fan excited about Windows 8 tablets? Let me explain. Read more

Goodbye Menu Button

Posted on January 26th, 2012 | Permalink

Just the Android team reminding us devs that the menu button will no longer exist in Android 3.x+ devices. I haven’t given my opinions on it, but it seems like a good time to talk about it.

Do I like it? I don’t know – I’m kind of split. I can understand that that too many people were missing out on important options in their apps, but it just seems a bit too inconsistent now. My particular problem with it only exists on phones. See, in tablets the action bar holds all of the buttons deemed “most important” by the developer along the action bar; if there’s anything else, there’s an overflow menu for the user on the top right. Simple, straightforward, and consistent. But this consistency kind of falls apart on phones.

On phones, the action bar can end up in one of two places. If there’s only one or two buttons then it’ll just sit on the top. However, if there’s too many options, the action bar continues along the bottom of the screen and the overflow menu will exist at the bottom right. Here’s the problem – if the developer decides that he/she wants only one “important” button and the rest in an overflow menu, then it sits on the top right. That’s right – there’s two different places to look for options. I won’t bother talking about deprecated apps in which the menu sits with the onscreen main buttons because those will eventually fade out. My problem is that in every app I have to literally look for the menu rather than having a static button that I know the location of.

This inconsistency frustrated me when I used iOS as well; the settings were all over the place and unfortunately this mess has reached Android as well. I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.

Summify Acquired by Twitter

Posted on January 19th, 2012 | Permalink

So what does it mean? It could mean that Twitter is set to release a Twitter news aggregation service where you get all the news shared by your followers in an easy-to-read list. Then again, they might take the Tweetdeck route again and not really do anything. I just find it kind of weird that they’re acquiring some of the best third-parties or re-creating third-party services in-house when when it’s those third-parties that are pushing the ecosystem.

Questioning the Apple Education Program

Posted on January 19th, 2012 | Permalink

Harry McCracken of Technologizer had a few concerning questions about Apple’s education announcement today. I had these same questions and more. One in particular question that stands out is this one:

Is it an issue that these textbooks are iPad-only?

Of course it is. Books should be as fluid as the internet. Locking education into an ecosystem is wrong in every sense. Funny how Apple talks about supporting open technologies and makes broken promises about making open standards and still continues to create closed technologies. Especially ones that have the future of education in mind. In particular, books concerning education should be available on any and every platform of choice, whether it’s iOS, Windows, Android, or the wide-open internet. I shouldn’t have to force myself to use a certain kind of device for school. That’s not revolutionary; that’s sneaky.

I think I prefer Amazon’s HTML5 standard much more than this.

Carriers & Stock Android

Posted on January 12th, 2012 | Permalink

“Verizon and AT&T don’t want seven stock ICS devices on their shelves,”

Yeah, yeah differentiation and whatnot. I get it, and that’s fine. But how about giving us a choice to turn off your “differentiation” so if we want stock Android, we actually have a choice? Kind of like what Asus is doing with the PadFone[YT]; it would be nice to see something like that on all “differentiated” Android devices.

Siri “Alternatives”

Posted on December 5th, 2011

I find it funny how the Android community works sometimes. First, everyone got steamed because Apple released Siri into the wild, a voice-based interface to use your mobile phone. Immediately, the community raged and claimed that “we did it first” because of Android’s voice commands. Once it was realized that it wasn’t really command-based it was a natural language interface, a ton of people on my Google+ laughed and said “who wants to talk to their phone?” And, lo and behold, not even a week later the Android community began it’s search for the “Siri for Android”. First came Iris, a cheap imitation that was boasted to have been made in 8 hours. Hurray! But, unfortunately (and quite obviously) it couldn’t even do a quarter of what Siri could do. Then we claimed that Vlingo, probably the best voice-command interface in Android, was our answer to Siri. Followed by many other apps. Ugh. Sorry, guys – but Apple beat Android to the punch on this one, and we shouldn’t laugh at it, rage about it, or deny it. Read more

“Then you win.”

Posted on October 20th, 2011

“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they write four apoplectic blog posts in 24 hours disparaging minute subtleties in your choice of font. Then you win.”

Googler DeWit Clinton wrote this on Google+ today, and it was referencing John Gruber‘s (Apple enthusiast, developer, and blogger) ridiculous night of bashing the new Android font featured in Ice Cream Sandwich. I saw all those posts the night before, and I found it funny that the font was all Gruber had opinions about. I agreed with Clinton right away, but something else came up today that proves this point. Read more

The Next Iteration of the Nexus: What’s in a Name?

Posted on October 9th, 2011

As we get closer to the postponed Samsung-Google event that will finally unveil Ice Cream Sandwich and the lead phone that it’ll release on, there have been way to many rumors to keep track of. Photos, videos, screen captures, spec leaks, and so much more have had all the fans whirling in a daze trying to figure out what the next big phone will be. We even got a little video from Samsung themselves, which turned some heads due to the beauty of the phone they teased. There’s no doubt that the next few weeks will include even more of these rumors, but there’s one that’s been constantly argued – the name of the phone. I’ve consistently stood by the name Nexus Prime, but there have been a few other names, like Droid Prime, Nexus 3, Nexus Galaxy, and of course the name in question – Galaxy Nexus. As of recent, it’s been this last one that I truly believe is the lead phone’s name. Read more

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Tech Thirst by anuj ahooja