Comment by Lewisham | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Lewisham | Hacker News Reader

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The UI for Honeycomb, as displayed, would not work on phones.

I get the impression that Honeycomb isn't going to be coming to phones. Why Google is doing this is anyone's guess. Things that are deeply important, like graphics acceleration, needs to filter down very quickly, but it looks like Google are solely focused on tablets.

It's a really schizophrenic strategy, and I'm beginning to get the impression no-one is really in charge there. Why does the Nexus One still not have 2.3? Why are features that were slated for 2.3 now in 3.0, which doesn't even look like it's coming to phones?

Google certainly aren't doing well at pleasing their current customers, and they've certainly scared me away. I don't see why I should trust anything about their upgrade path. The argument that you buy a handset for what it does, rather than what it promises, is flimsy, but when you sell phones like the Nexus One, and specifically promise upgrades, you're just lying.

EDIT: To those commenting about iOS 3.2, the difference is that iOS 3.2 didn't really deliver any large features that meant iPhone didn't maintain parity. Honeycomb, with graphics acceleration, overhauled UI etc. etc. will. Apple's strategy was always a unified one, with a little detour to get it going on tablets. Google appear to have completely switched tack.

Apple released iOS 3.2 which only ran on the iPad. Then iOS 4 which only ran on phones, and then 4.2 that finally ran on both.

Google may have a similar strategy in the works. 3.0 will be tablet-only, then some future version will consolidate things. Since they're not as secretive as Apple there may not be as long a break while things are integrated properly.

That said it'd still be nice to hear about such a strategy if it exists.

Where were you when IOS 3.2 was released?

Andy Rubin has said that they are developing functionality that allows a developer to design a tablet application which will work equally well on a phone. Something about designing an application as a series of panes. I believe it was in his "All Things D" talk, where he debuted the Motorola Xoom.

There's mention of it (multipane UIs) here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html...

It's a really schizophrenic strategy

It's the same strategy that virtually every maker is following now. It's building out a platform, and its what you have to do to compete now.

I get the impression that Honeycomb isn't going to be coming to phones.

Their introductory video specifically says "built entirely for tablets". I don't know what the credibility of it is, but there was the rumor that the next iteration will be 2.4 and will be for handsets. Such a versioning strategy makes sense.

Obviously they would share considerable amounts of code. The "shell" is just a replaceable process.

Google certainly aren't doing well at pleasing their current customers

It's clear that Google and its open handset partnership is perilously understaffed right now, and they need to cut the umbilical going to whoever is screwing up this opportunity.

Android, I think, succeeded far beyond Google's dreams (originally tablets and PMPs were a no-go, but they've become a primary focus), but it seems to be moving far too slowly. A bunch of stuff they promised for 2.2 still isn't there in 2.3, and is only rumored for 3.0. They need to seriously pick up the pace.

there was the rumor that the next iteration will be 2.4 and will be for handsets. Such a versioning strategy makes sense.

Except for the part where 2.4 comes after 3.0...

...where 3.0 is the new tablet line and 2.4 is the next handset version of 2.3. There's nothing particularly confusing about that, and there's a logic.

And at 4.0 they would likely merge.

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