The geeky fun begins...

I have always intended this blog to be a record of my efforts to learn about mobile games development on the Android operating system.  However, my daytime job has been too demanding of my time last year.  This year, however, I intend to finally get on with my Android game development project.

Check out my blog soon for more updates.

Symbian feels the heat from Android

Apparently threatened by the rise of Android OS as a capable mobile platform, people from the Symbian Foundation are now lashing out at Google.  Read on...

Some folks are claiming that Google is faking the open-source funk.

OK, it's a lot to say, really. Because for all the open-source software Google has helped put forth, it's a bit of a stretch to imply that the company is faking it. But Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, which is in charge of advancing the development and the open-sourcing of the Symbian OS, has basically called Google out for not being as open as the company could be about its Android operating system.

It's not the first time and it won't be the last that Google's been knocked about its policies regarding openness of certain technologies or strategies—policies, by the way, that certain other companies (like Microsoft!) would be blasted for straightaway.

In basketball we had the Jordan Rules, which initially was a term used to describe the strategy some teams applied to aggressively and physically guard Michael Jordan. But later it became what people called the preferential treatment the superstar received from refs who swallowed their whistles whenever Jordan traveled or fouled someone—especially late in close games. In football we have the Brady Rule, which was enacted this season to protect quarterbacks' knees after superstar QB Tom Brady went down for most of last season following a hit to his knee (and, unfortunately, applied in a tight game against my Ravens). And in tech we seem to have the Google Rules, where Google just seems to get pass after pass for stuff others would be called on.

This isn’t to diminish the tremendous capability of any of the subjects of these rules. They’re all winners and fierce competitors without them, but let’s just say the rules help. They’re like a little reward for being so good and so valuable to the game.

In an interview with GigaOM, Williams called Google "evil" and called for the search giant to be more transparent about Android. And it's not just Williams, but some of his crew that also are banging on Google to open up.

In the GigaOM interview, Williams nailed Google for fragmenting the market and for attempting to "cookie" users.

An afterdawn.com analysis of the exchange said:

    "First and foremost the goal of a Google system would be to create a situation where you have information about the user and the use of those apps," said Williams.

    "Secondarily," he added, "it would be to cookie them, so that you get that unique identifier association with the data you've collected on the individual's habits, routines, and so on and so forth so that you can target apps toward them. So you can build more intelligent cloud-based apps for them."

In that same interview, Williams called Apple "greedy" and questioned why Google would even need to mention not being evil in its motto.

Sounds like an old-fashioned Parliament Funkadelic call-out for Google to "Give Up the Funk" or to come clean or “come correct.” Or is Williams just "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing," as James Brown said?

It's clear Williams is doing a little more than just talking smack. Indeed, the points Williams raises are not new, and he is not alone in thinking and saying this. But he is alone in being at the helm of a very large ship that sees a fast-moving Android OS gathering steam in its wake. And rather than sit idly by, Williams is calling them out sooner rather than later.

The Symbian OS is the leading smartphone OS in terms of market share, but Android is looking quite strong, according to analyst reports. Some reports have Android coming in second to Symbian as early as 2012. According to Gartner, Android’s share will be at 18 percent of all smartphones sold globally in 2012, or about 94 million users out of 525 million, said GigaOM.

In his keynote at the Symbian Exchange & Exposition (SEE 2009) here on October 27, Williams did not single out Google specifically by name, but he did take a few generic shots, saying: “I've heard other companies stand up and say they have the world's most powerful operating system. I think they're wrong. ... If it took me six months to add cut and paste, I'd be embarrassed.”

Williams went on to give the audience a bit of the upcoming road map with the Symbian 3 and Symbian 4 platforms.

Meanwhile, during a Nokia Media Day event here, Shaun Puckrin, head of developer services at the Symbian Foundation, said Symbian represents "the biggest market available to developers. We outship our next competitor by two."

Added Puckrin: "Sure Android is open source, but we are a community that adopts things from the actual developer community; that's a difference. ... Whilst Android is open source, it's been difficult to get changes into the OS. But we're attempting to get to a genuine open-source project. I think the proof will be in the pudding."

Moreover, Puckrin said that, though Android is an open-source project, "it's more about using open source than being open source."

John Forsyth, a member of the Symbian Foundation leadership team who is responsible for technology and delivery management, echoed Puckrin and Williams. "With Android you can't get a road map," he said. "We have an entirely transparent process from that perspective. You can go to our site and see every feature that is being planned. With Android, the real source sits behind the Google firewall."

For his part, Forsyth noted, "There's a halo effect people try to get out of open source without actually playing by the rules. You almost get a grudging respect for Microsoft when you see this kind of thing."

Puckrin said he believes proof of Symbian's seriousness about open source is its move to open-source the operating system kernel. "We concentrated on the kernel, which is the crown jewel of the platform," he said. "It set a benchmark and it says we're serious about this." Both Puckrin and Forsyth added that because Symbian has successfully open-sourced the kernel of the Symbian OS, the rest of the platform will follow easily and the organization will meet its planned schedule of having the entire platform open-sourced by the second half of 2010.

"While Lee [Williams] has his personal opinion, I think how Google acts in general is open source," Forsyth said.

Meanwhile, Forsyth questioned the Android architecture itself.

"It's a late '90s architecture," he said. "It's Java—not as light and fast as an AJAX [Asynchronous JavaScript and X M L] environment. Android's a bit unnecessary, and I don't think it's in Google's best interest. But they have a bit of a 'see what sticks' mentality."

Ooooh, yeah!  Money is hot and the times are a-changing!

Source: eWeek

Android's Spread Could Become a Problem

By Olga Kharif

As more handset makers adopt Android, there's a danger of multiple versions of the operating system. Software developers may have to build several iterations of a single app.

For the mobile-phone software Android, popularity may carry a high price tag. The operating system created by a Google-led consortium is being adopted by a growing number of mobile-phone manufacturers and wireless service providers.

Yet as Android is woven into more phones, developing add-on tools and games and other software-based features for it may become more difficult. "We are very careful about not splintering the code," says Eric Heiser, director of business development at Kyocera Communications, one of the manufacturers that plans to build Android into devices next year. "That's definitely a concern, that's something Google (GOOG) has been talking about every day." What's more, the widening variety of Android devices could have the unintended consequence of confusing consumers and diluting its brand appeal.

Manufacturers, carriers, and developers have grown more concerned about the prospects for Android amid news that the operating system is being adopted by a who's who of wireless players. Motorola (MOT), Samsung, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel (S) are just some of the companies that have recently become big supporters, joining the ranks of early adopters HTC and T-Mobile USA, owned by Deutsche Telekom (DT). PC giant Dell (DELL) and Sony Ericsson are working on devices based on the operating system.

Possible Splintering of Software Code

As many as 20 phones based on Android are likely to be released this year, and Gartner (IT) analyst Ken Dulaney expects to see 40 more devices in 2010. "There's a lot of horsepower behind it," he says. Android's share of the mobile operating system market is expected to skyrocket to 14.5% in early 2012 from 1.6% in the first quarter, he estimates. That would make Android the world's second-most popular mobile operating system, behind the current leader Symbian.

The more wireless service providers behind Android, the greater the likelihood of one-upmanship. Carriers and handset makers are already competing on the look and feel of their Android devices and have begun encouraging third-party developers to tailor applications to work better on their phones, and not those made by others.

A result could be so-called splintering of software code, where developers work on multiple versions of software, rather than contribute collaboratively to a single project. So if programmers want software available on more than one or two phones, they'll have to build multiple versions of it. In the past, developers who wanted to write for such systems as Java and mobile Linux had to create dozens of iterations of a single app if they wanted it adopted widely.

Google may have increased the likelihood of splintering when, on Aug. 21, it said developers can now create games, calendars, and other mobile applications for specific carriers. So an Android app for T-Mobile USA, for example, may not be available to Sprint Nextel subscribers. There's rampant but unconfirmed speculation that developers in China even used Android code to build their own version of the software that's not compatible with the main effort.

Threat of Brand Fragmentation

If carriers and handset makers try to make their Android products too unique, developers will have to tweak their apps to work on these devices, and that would make application development for all Android gadgets more expensive and time-consuming. It could reduce the appeal of Android over rivals such as Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry, and the Palm (PALM) Pre.

Brand fragmentation and consumer confusion is a danger, too. Today, all Android handset makers' phones appear to have different digital menus, look different, and feature varied controls, such as touchscreens and buttons. "Everyone wants to have its own take on the Android device," says Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC. "It could potentially dilute what Android is." The carriers and handset makers have also not come up with a unified way to market these devices under the Android brand. "Each of these [players] may have a different message, and users may not see it as one thing," Dulaney says.

Android backers have tried to avoid splintering by corralling several companies into the Open Handset Alliance. "We are trying to do all we can to make sure fragmentation doesn't happen," says Google spokeswoman Katie Watson. Yet, because thousands of developers, handset makers, and carriers use and contribute to the code, Android is harder to control than rival efforts, such as the software running the iPhone.

Carriers Encouraging Tailored Apps

Developers may want to tweak their apps to run well on devices with unique controls and keys, such as the Motorola Cliq, which features a five-way navigation button. Kyocera is working on a phone that's small yet manages to give consumers an opportunity to interact with a large screen (the company won't provide details on the exact design). While apps created for the device should work on other makers' Android phones, "these apps are not as compelling if you don't put them on the right device," says Kyocera's Heiser.

Carriers are encouraging developers to tweak their wares as well. At a developer conference later this month, Sprint Nextel is likely to encourage attendees to create apps that take advantage of features of its wireless network that some other carriers don't offer, says Len Barlik, a Sprint vice-president. For instance, the carrier will tell developers they can collect information on the location of cell towers nearest to a particular phone. The feature would allow apps that depend on precise location information, such as those used for managing corporate truck fleets, to function better on Sprint's network than they would on networks of competitors that don't provide that cell-tower information to applications.

Android has a lot to gain from ending up on a range of devices with a host of applications. But its backers will have to avoid code splintering and brand dilution if they want to reap the benefits.

Source: BusinessWeek