The RAM/CPU specs are close to my netbook. I'm surprised that JIT compilation isn't standard for a Java-related language, it's pretty old now.
The fragmentation is a concern, for market size (for apps), though it will sill be massively larger than for Apple. The appstore deficiency is a greater concern - google need to buy a startup for this, they suck at UI.
The Oracle suit does scare me though. Why invest sweat equity if it might all be washed away? That's the idea, I guess.
Regardless of what happens to this particular platform, the hardware is just about there, so something fantastic will soon be here.
The latest version of Android (Froyo) supports JIT.
Not sure I agree with the "They suck at UI" comment. Most of the rest of the Android UI is really well designed. The Market Place app needs improvement though yes.
Thanks, I'm surprised it wasn't in the first version.
I bet that UI came with the the Android acquisition. Though gmail is very good. All of their other good examples of UI's that I can think of also come from acquisitions: it's an opportunity. Google is great at engineering.
The UI has improved dramatically since the first Android phone came out, ie post-aquisition. I'm assuming the people responsible for the Market Place app are the same people responsible for the general UI but I could be wrong.
I think the next release will be the big major release android finally needed. Android 2.2 offered the JIT (which really is a HUGE difference!) and overall i think that Android is pretty much feature complete. Apart from the UI which lacks behind the polish of the iPhone. Development of Android 3.0 concentrates on the UI, Google even aquired some UI designer of WebOS (which is said to have a really nice UI). Also, i think Android 3.0 focuses on UI scalability in general, which might mean that we will see this UI in most phones/tablets/TVs/whatever in the mid-term, fighting the fragmentation :)
The fragmentation is a concern, for market size (for apps), though it will sill be massively larger than for Apple. The appstore deficiency is a greater concern - google need to buy a startup for this, they suck at UI.
The Oracle suit does scare me though. Why invest sweat equity if it might all be washed away? That's the idea, I guess.
Regardless of what happens to this particular platform, the hardware is just about there, so something fantastic will soon be here.
reddit thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/dafec/android_first...