Sprint getting Adroid

mr.jcarter · Thread Author #1 07-03-2008, 08:42 AM

I'm a big tech junkie. I've been from the Palm, to Windows, and now to my trusted BB. I don't know about you guys but I'm pretty eager to jump on Android when it comes out. Maybe not in exchange for my Curve, but I might start carrying two phones. Anybody else considering Android? I know there aren't too many details about the OS to make any solid decision but after seeing a couple youtube videos and reading plentiful articles, it seems like it's going to be pretty sweet.

Here is an article I found about why Sprint may be the first US carrier to bring customers the Android OS.

Sprint - Android’s First Carrier? | Android Phone Fans

bmcclure937 · #2 07-03-2008, 08:46 AM

Android looks amazing... it will def throw down some competition in the smart phone market!!

I am pretty excited about it... so we will have to see what happens!

Q-fugee · #3 07-03-2008, 08:53 AM

Androwho?

There are plenty of details on Android at google's developer portal. You can download the entire Software Development Kit.

If you've already paid for your BB, I don't see the incentive to switch. If you're already addicted to your BB, I don't see android features that can duplicate it (push email, MDS, security).

The Android SDK is pretty much plain vanilla J2ME, just like the BB. There will probably be a truckload of Android apps at launch just because there's already a ton of Java stuff out there. The same stuff already runs on the BB.

The only reason to switch would be if your BIS or BES policy doesn't let you run unsigned plain-vanilla Java apps, or if you can't access certain phone features like GPS or the file system (JSR-75 support) from unsigned apps.

Android offers end-users nothing that any other Java-enabled smartphone like the Instinct doesn't already have, assuming the carrier doesn't lock it into a walled garden.

Android offers phone companies a free OS for their phone, which lowers their handset subsidy and increases their profit. YOU won't get a cheaper phone, though.

If your BB runs generic Java, you already have an Android. If your carrier won't unlock your BB, they won't unlock an Android phone, either. Sprint is very cool about letting 3rd-party apps run on their phones, though. They'd definitely be the carrier to go with if you wanted an Android.

--Qfg

mr.jcarter · Thread Author #4 07-03-2008, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Q-fugee

Androwho?

There are plenty of details on Android at google's developer portal. You can download the entire Software Development Kit.

If you've already paid for your BB, I don't see the incentive to switch. If you're already addicted to your BB, I don't see android features that can duplicate it (push email, MDS, security).

The Android SDK is pretty much plain vanilla J2ME, just like the BB. There will probably be a truckload of Android apps at launch just because there's already a ton of Java stuff out there. The same stuff already runs on the BB.

The only reason to switch would be if your BIS or BES policy doesn't let you run unsigned plain-vanilla Java apps, or if you can't access certain phone features like GPS or the file system (JSR-75 support) from unsigned apps.

Android offers end-users nothing that any other Java-enabled smartphone like the Instinct doesn't already have, assuming the carrier doesn't lock it into a walled garden.

Android offers phone companies a free OS for their phone, which lowers their handset subsidy and increases their profit. YOU won't get a cheaper phone, though.

If your BB runs generic Java, you already have an Android. If your carrier won't unlock your BB, they won't unlock an Android phone, either.

--Qfg

I understand the fact they both run java, but I'm pretty sure Android will be able to do alot of what my Blackberry can do and more.

You mentioned push email: How sure are you that gmail isn't implementing something to allow for push services? Like I said, all the details aren't out yet, despite the SDK being available.

MDS: I'm not a corporate user, I'm on BIS = Not an issue for me.

Security: Not being a corporate user, how much security do I really need? I mean honestly.

Simply put, I'm an avid Google user and having an OS based off the company that produces all these apps (Gmail, Google Search, Maps, etc.) would be a simplified, streamlined, delight.

Hi-Definition · #5 07-03-2008, 09:33 AM

I would think that the android would offer standard push-mail capability...especially considering how gmail already has the ability to push e-mail to phones (I.e. Curve) capable of receiving pushed content.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Q-fugee · #6 07-03-2008, 10:56 AM

Gmail doesn't push to anything right now, including blackberries. It's just another POP3 server. BIS does the polling for you, then pushes to your handset.

As for the OS being in a neat package from one company, I could say that about Windows CE, but not Android.

Android is not one neat package. Android is one OS from one group, modified for handlhelds by another group, with a runtime environment from two others, built-in apps from Google and a few dozen partners, and on and on. Google lumping it all together under one banner is marketing, pure and simple. There's no tight integration going on here.

"Simplified, streamlined delight" is just a wee bit concerning. The specs don't really justify that much google-love-projecting here.

As for tight hardware integration, there is none. Their hardware model is actually worse than Symbian or Win CE's. Android is being offered like Ubuntu. They have no idea what hardware it'll end up on beyond a reference spec. Why does push email suck on windows CE? Becuase it pretends to be push email by polling really often. Bye-bye battery. Why is push email great on BB? Because the OS is integrated with proprietary hardware that came from their days as a pager company. Same goes for PIN messaging. Really, only the BB and the iPhone offer tight integration of hardware & software and that's the value-add those platforms offer.

Android's value proposition is that it's cheap, period. You are dead-on with that assessment. You'll avoid the Blackberry tax and get a cheap device. Only the sunk cost of already owning a BB would hold you back. And as you pointed out, this discussion is of no interest to corporate MDS users.

Go download the SDK and the reference spec and then tell me specificially where you're getting the "what my Blackberry can do and more" from. "Close enough to justify not paying for BIS" is more like it.

--Qfg

mr.jcarter · Thread Author #7 07-03-2008, 11:34 AM

I'm not here to go tit-for-tat with you over a future OS, I just wanted to put it out there Android may be coming to Sprint, and I'm looking foward to. As I said in my first post I'm not looking for a replacement for my Curve, yet a complement to it.

I'm not a developer so I won't be downloading the SDK. I don't feel the need to go into that much detail over a simple discussion.

Q-fugee · #8 07-03-2008, 12:19 PM

OK, my propeller beanie got the best of me.

The people who need to quake in fear over Android are Microsoft & Qualcomm. Free OS is bad for MS, free developer toolkit is bad for Qualcomm (BREW).

Consumers are only in a position to win.

--Qfg

Commander · #9 07-08-2008, 11:15 AM

The thing that the BB has over WinMo and other OS's so far that Android will likely have based on it's driving force is Google App support on the device. I don't want to have to hit a website to see a google calendar or gmail. So if they make those apps as nice as they are for BB they'll have a winner and I can't see any of them going to market without a plethora of Google apps to drive the Google side of the development.

This has been the biggest selling point for my Curve so far is how much better it was than the Q9c I used for google app support.

thebokonist · #10 07-09-2008, 12:23 AM

Maybe it's just me, but I think Android looks ugly.
I'll stick with bb os forever, thanks.

Smooth69Style · #11 07-12-2008, 07:49 PM

I read about the android in Wired magazine, but I heard it is being started at Google. Do you really think that Sprint will jump in on this? From what I have read, it sounds great.

reagan247 · #12 08-04-2008, 12:55 AM

From what I've heard from insiders at TMobile, is that they are getting the 1st Android phone late this year...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

latina berry · #13 08-07-2008, 01:15 PM

Nice advertising!!!!!!

dasbeav · #14 08-07-2008, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Q-fugee

Gmail doesn't push to anything right now, including blackberries. It's just another POP3 server. BIS does the polling for you, then pushes to your handset.

As for the OS being in a neat package from one company, I could say that about Windows CE, but not Android.

Android is not one neat package. Android is one OS from one group, modified for handlhelds by another group, with a runtime environment from two others, built-in apps from Google and a few dozen partners, and on and on. Google lumping it all together under one banner is marketing, pure and simple. There's no tight integration going on here.

"Simplified, streamlined delight" is just a wee bit concerning. The specs don't really justify that much google-love-projecting here.

As for tight hardware integration, there is none. Their hardware model is actually worse than Symbian or Win CE's. Android is being offered like Ubuntu. They have no idea what hardware it'll end up on beyond a reference spec. Why does push email suck on windows CE? Becuase it pretends to be push email by polling really often. Bye-bye battery. Why is push email great on BB? Because the OS is integrated with proprietary hardware that came from their days as a pager company. Same goes for PIN messaging. Really, only the BB and the iPhone offer tight integration of hardware & software and that's the value-add those platforms offer.

Android's value proposition is that it's cheap, period. You are dead-on with that assessment. You'll avoid the Blackberry tax and get a cheap device. Only the sunk cost of already owning a BB would hold you back. And as you pointed out, this discussion is of no interest to corporate MDS users.

Go download the SDK and the reference spec and then tell me specificially where you're getting the "what my Blackberry can do and more" from. "Close enough to justify not paying for BIS" is more like it.

--Qfg

According to other forums I have read and other articles, as of BIS 2.3, Gmail pushed to blackberries.

BIS 2.3 launches today? Yahoo, Gmail now push | BlackBerry Cool

I know that I get my gmail pushed to my blackberry, most times before it hits the webclient or outlook.

bmcclure937 · #15 08-07-2008, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reagan247

From what I've heard from insiders at TMobile, is that they are getting the 1st Android phone late this year...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

That is what I have heard as well... only time will tell

Quote:

Originally Posted by niubeav

According to other forums I have read and other articles, as of BIS 2.3, Gmail pushed to blackberries.

BIS 2.3 launches today? Yahoo, Gmail now push | BlackBerry Cool

I know that I get my gmail pushed to my blackberry, most times before it hits the webclient or outlook.

I totally agree!

Same experience here