Google Outlines Feature Set For Android 2.2 305
evdotorrey writes "Google announced new features and improvements for Android 2.2. New features include Flash and HTML 5 support, faster browser performance using the V8 engine, Microsoft Exchange support, a Portable Hotspot feature that makes your phone a Wi-Fi hotspot, and many more exciting features." An anonymous reader adds some more on the new release, codenamed Froyo: "Google claims the operating system will be from two to five times faster thanks to advances made in the compilers and the Dalvik virtual machine it uses, and how it is ported to new processors and platforms. On the enterprise front the new operating system comes with full support for Microsoft Exchange, including access to the global address book and the ability to translate native security features to mobile handsets. APIs have also been added to allow controls such as the automatic wiping of missing handsets and other remote management features. Google is also making its voice translation and search APIs open to developers, and showed off an application developed for the handset that allowed real time translation from English to French."
No Wonder Why Apple Got Dumped Into 3rd Place (Score:1, Insightful)
That clunky looking new iPhone and Apple's pathetic and half-assed fake multi-tasking and wallpapers sure as hell is no Android-killer.
Re:No Wonder Why Apple Got Dumped Into 3rd Place (Score:1, Insightful)
You obviously know nothing about how Apple's multi-tasking works.
It doesn't. Whatever you call the thing Apple is doing on their iPhones, it isn't multitasking and it isn't particularly similar to multitasking.
Re:Anonymous Cow (Score:5, Insightful)
Every time I to look into my future I find the screen blocked by the sheer amount of cash I have by not having apple in my pocket.
Re:Wifi tethering (Score:3, Insightful)
I have real, functional Wifi tethering on my 2.1 Droid, complete with basic or absolute access control, notification of new connections, et cetera. It works well.
Even though I have all access control and encryption disabled, so that anyone within earshot could use it freely, I leave it turned off unless I'm using it myself. This, despite the fact that I also carry an iPod Touch (which certainly benefits from having an always-on connection), and could easily lock the connection down to just the iPod and my laptop if I chose to do so.
Why? The answer is very practical: I don't care if anyone benefits from using my bandwidth, but as long as it impacts my battery life, I'm not game. Not even for myself.
That said, there's technical reasons why your idea won't work. A sea of miscellaneous open APs, moving about in cars and sidewalks (while you might also be doing the same) sounds like a good idea, until you realize that hopping from one to another kills any existing TCP connections, trashes any UDP sessions, and would be generally unreliable.
I currently pay $30 per month for unlimited data on my phone. And even in a world of free, cellular-backed mobile access points: I'd be very happy to continue paying that every month, just so I don't have to fuck with restarting connections (or wait while software takes care of it for me) every few dozen feet.
We'd need some new protocols, or better-tailored support from existing ones, before your idea would become useful for the sorts of things that people actually use this stuff for.
First things first (Score:3, Insightful)
Well great,
the new android is almost on the shelves, but nowhere i read if they are gonna support setting
a proxy for WiFi. Up until now you are unable to make use of a proxy. As far as i can tell this feature
was there in 1.x (with or without the use of 3th-party apps) , but in 2.x it is not possible to set a proxy for
WiFi.
Despite the 344-and-growing comments on http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1273 [google.com] ,
in which the feature was first reported missing on Nov. 12 2008 (Two thousand and eight!!!, we're in 2010 now)
They have failed to respond or shed some light on this. And looking at:
Status: New
Owner: ----
Type-Enhancement
Priority-Medium
Component-Device
Subcomponent-Wifi
It doens't give me a lot of convidence that they are really looking into it.
Don't get me wrong, WiFi thetering is great and all but compared to making use of a proxy for WiFi,
if you are dependend on a (corporate) proxy due to missing signal from your provider, slow connections
(3G or even G),are at the whim of corporate policy or you have to pay extra for data per mb to you provider,
it's pretty insignificant to have WiFi thetering if you are unable to use the internet on droid at all...
So my 2ct's are first things first, you can't not support proxy for WiFi and push your OS as someting that
can be used in an corporate enviroment...
Re:Anonymous Cow (Score:5, Insightful)
A crappy browser that makes you look at crappy Flash?
Independently of how arguable the "crappy browser" part is (I haven't found a better or faster browser for a mobile device yet - maybe my needs are minimal on a minimalistic device?), no one is making you look at anything - you can disable Flash on Android 2.2 and continue your flashless experience, which I will probably do as soon as it's officially rolled out.
Re:LOL, What An Idiot (Score:4, Insightful)
My guess is that the Android user base will be larger than that of the iPhone/iPad/iwhatever in the near future, in part due to the larger number of available devices and the variety that brings. However, I think iPhoneOS will remain popular, and a larger part of Android's growth will come from other smarphone operating systems...
Re:No Wonder Why Apple Got Dumped Into 3rd Place (Score:3, Insightful)
The iPhone integrates with third party services quite nicely - twitter, facebook, flikr, etc, and the new advertising service is *optional*. It doesn't do anything that the app store doesn't have already, it just means that if an app developer wants an easy way to include advertising, they can no do so - with the bulk of the heavy lifting (ad serving and ad selection) handled by Apple (for a cut). You can still produce free apps, or roll your own ad distribution like apps in the store already have (like Shazam lite for one).
For all the crying about how Apple limit developers, you think that a new feature that makes development easier if you were going to use ads in the first place might at least be *understood* by slashdot, if not praised. (it is an ad service after all).
So Apple are "nickel and diming you to death" - compared to Android? The apps on the Android marketplace cost money too. Why is it different on there? There are free apps on both platforms, and ad-suppoted apps on both platforms. Why is it "nickel and diming" on iPhone and not on Android?
Article sucks (Score:4, Insightful)
>> Android 2.2 will be the first mobile operating system that will have native flash support.
Excuse me, you mean that Android will finally get Flash, following in the footsteps of the non-corporate bastardized Maemo for Nokia N900 smart phone which has had native flash support for months, if not a year. Obviously this Google fanboi didn't want to pass the word along. After all, somebody might go out and buy a phone you can get flash on TODAY. Instead of in some indefinite time in the future, for a phone that's locked down to the bastards at Sprint. Ehhhh.
Re:No Wonder Why Apple Got Dumped Into 3rd Place (Score:5, Insightful)
Let me ask you: do you think we'll see a) a decrease or b) an increase in the number of ads on iPhone now there's a central mechanism for delivering them, and Apple take a cut?
App prices are one thing, but to use the iPhone I need iTunes. I need an iTunes account. If I want accessories that work I need Apple ones (put an ID chip in the video out cable? So that instead of a simple $5 cable I now need a $40 Apple version?). If I rent a movie, it expires if I've not watched it for a bit.
Apple's vision of the future is you slumped on the couch consuming music, tv and video on your iPad, and paying a small premium every single time.
Re:No Wonder Why Apple Got Dumped Into 3rd Place (Score:4, Insightful)
When Apple bought the mobile advertising network it was the last straw.
wait, so apple got an ad firm and that's your excuse to go to GOOGLE of all companies? I don't think you thought that one through...