css771

I think the reason for that is that they want to target the developing world with low end smartphones primarily. Not everyone will go for a tablet. But everyone needs a phone. The growth is still primarily in phones in the developing world.

> there are no guarantees that AOSP even works without Google's magic proprietary mojo

What do you mean by this? If you mean in the market, it can work. Amazon's devices are proof. If a manufacturer is shipping just AOSP, it needs to have a working complement to Google's suite of apps or it needs to have a different value proposition altogether.

> CyanogenMod had to develop the missing pieces when Google sent their C&D over the proprietary bits

What "missing bits"? They were shipping Google's suite of proprietary apps on top of their AOSP-based ROM and they stopped after the C&D.

Well, you can still install custom ROMs even with a locked bootloader. You just can't change the kernel. The custom ROM needs to be using the same kernel.

A better way to search for an app called "child books" would be to use quotes around it.[1]

But I agree, Google Play's search can still be improved. Currently a search for GTA vice city [2] places the actual game in third place behind other related apps. These apps are The important thing to note is that both these apps have 100,000+ downloads while the game is <50,000 right now. So the number of downloads is given a higher weight than name (as it should be.) But the actual game should get a better rank than other things. As time goes on and more sites link to the game and more people download it, this will improve.

[1]: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=%22child+books%22&... [2]: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=gta+vice+city&c=a...

At that point they're actually Google users too. So in the end, users win. Google along with them. And Apple saves face.

I'm not very knowledgeable on the matter. Maybe you can enlighten me. Can an open source OS actually have private API's?

But isn't it a jump from that to "remote root on every Android device that has market installed" and "If your device is online, it's a few hundred bytes over an always-on socket away from remote install/wipe" (remote install yes but wipe?)

> As a reminder, Google literally have remote root on every Android device that has market installed. If your device is online, it's a few hundred bytes over an always-on socket away from remote install/wipe

Is there a source for this?

Why is it that every time that something like this happens, Google is the only tech company that comes forward with a message? Doesn't having a free and open internet benefit any other company?

OK that's a terrible linkbait title. This is a personal opinion of one person. Every review I've read says the Nexus 4 is much improved in every respect over the Galaxy Nexus. Just because of one person's opinion, that does not make it a dud. Please change your title.

This one - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rickylaish... and this one - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manuelmaly... are the best ones currently imo.

I used to use the T-Mobile $30/month Monthly4G plan. You get only 100 minutes but 5gigs of HSPA+ unthrottled data. If you use the GrooveIP app or set up another SIP client, you can make calls without a problem. Latency for those calls depends on the signal strength in your area.

Or because this is not a particularly new post, no particularly new content either.

Why are you bringing iOS into this? He never mentioned anything about it.

Not from a hardware perspective definitely. But when a kid's interest in software is piqued at say, 9 or 10, would you rather that he/she be using an open source OS that encourages tinkering or a beautiful black box?

I use Android Police's excellent suggestions that come out once every 2 weeks or so. They always have an interesting app or two. Besides that, suggestions on /r/android.

Or, if you have a Galaxy Nexus, try out an alpha port here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1805282

> To leverage the Desktop monopoly to force users to get familiar with the interface of Microsofts mobile offerings, which had no success to gain user acceptance on their own. FUD.

Not FUD. I agree with that statement the parent said. Why else would Microsoft think of including the Metro interface with the desktop. It doesn't make sense.

Or sell it as an upgrade for next year's version.

What I meant by that is that, in WP, if I leave an app running, and then come back to the home screen and tap on that app's tile, it will start a new instance; not resume the old one. Also, WP closes apps way too early in the background.

I have used a friend's Lumia 900 running WP 7.5 actually.

I hate the fact that apps are not retained in memory long enough. They always start over. Also, launching an app from the home screen launches a new instance instead of resuming the current instance.

Notifications are even more terrible. There's no way to access previous notifications. There's no central place where all notifications live. You can't access them from the lock screen.

Yes, all these are quirks I've found as a tech savvy user. Because of these reasons, I cant see myself ever using WP.

Besides, just the fact that you cant run unsigned applications (and there's no viable "jailbreak") is an instant turn-off for power users. So, to suggest that these people will leave Android is hilarious at best.

The tech savvy Android users? They would be the last people to switch to WP. That thing does not have a viable way to run unsigned applications. No proper multitasking, no proper notifications. What exactly about WP is supposed to attract tech savvy users?

Actually, smooth performance is something very few consumers in the developing world actually care about. I bought an android phone for ~$130 in 2010. It ran eclair. Now it runs the latest version of gingerbread. I never really felt it's performance was a deal breaker at any point. And consequently, the galaxy Y duos, a gingerbread phone that retails for ~$160 today, runs pretty smooth. Here's a video of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=qZdAbI0ZMuE It's performance is really good enough and something most consumers would buy.

There was never any such recommendation. The back button is an essential android feature.

The real reason here is a technical limitation. The Nexus One and many other devices from that generation have very little ROM space. Typically <500MB. ICS+ takes anywhere from 350MB-400MB of that. So the user is left is left with hardly any space to install apps. It can fit less than 5 apps probably.

Even with custom ICS and JB roms this is a problem, but there people know what they are getting into before hand, and also for rooted devices, there's ext2sd which basically uses your sdcard to store user data.

Google fixed this with Nexus S and forwards. So we have to wait and see how long the Nexus S will be updated.

What the hell.. junk like appleinsider is making the front page of HN now?

Google does not "sell" Android to you. It's free for anyone to use. Take it up with the OEMs.

Because being sucessful on mobile is about creating the entire experience. If any other manufacturer created their own platform on Android, they wouldn't have the Google apps licensed to them, and consequently wouldn't look as attractive to consumers. Gmail, Google Maps, thousands of apps on Google Play, all these are valuable assets that consumers wouldn't be willing to give up.

Amazon is in a better position than most but they haven't yet created a general purpose device. All their tablets are a window to purchase more Amazon stuff. If they could create an entire ecosystem with a proper device to back it up, they could probably up-end Google. But slowly, Android on tablets is taking off now. I mean, Google recently released stats for number of tablets activated daily, which they hadn't done until now. Maybe that's because Google feels Android tablets are finally making a dent in the marketplace.

Talking purely from a consumer perspective, you want to argue that one phone reproduces accurately the full RGB spectrum and another blows it out of proportion and that makes one phone better? Isn't that a matter of subjective taste? How does that make one phone better than another? For eg. I may like to turn the color all the way up on my TV. That doesn't mean my TV's picture is objectively bad or the other way around.

I dont see much incentive for Google to release an app right away. The people who are going to install a native app from the app store will use the web version anyway. And Google can still get to serve location based ads on the browser for places.

I wouldn't be surprised if they just improve the web version some more and call it a day. If you want good Maps, they might want to make you switch to Android.