There have been several good articles that have come out over the past few days. Personally, I’m a fan of Ars Technica’s rendition of this particular situation (credit to them for being the inspiration for my title). A lot of people are up in arms about this situation. Honestly, I think there are some angles in this whole debacle that have been neglected. I mean surely there are good things that could come out of this situation. Because there’s some good in every situation, right?

Right?

Pros for current T-Mobile Customers

So, I think the most obvious lens to use to analyze this situation is the benefits that T-Mobile customers will receive. T-Mobile is the smallest of the big four national cellphone carriers. While I’m not sure exactly how AT&T plans to integrate the T-Mobile customers into their legacy network, I do know that it is something they’re going to have to do if they want to maintain any notion of quality of service. Either that, or T-Mobile is going to have to remain as a separate company until a majority of their customers are on the 4G networks, which are compatible.

While I’m not sure what their integration plan will be for the months after the merger, they’re going to have to do something. I think the most likely scenario is that AT&T towers will also begin broadcasting on the T-Mobile’s frequencies – meaning near instantaneous better service for T-Mobile customers.

If anyone has found some documents that actually detail AT&T’s plans in this regard I would love to see it. I still haven’t seen anything concrete.

Cons for AT&T Customers

I couldn’t have this article be too positive, because there are some honest con’s – but I don’t think anyone has thought about this one.

The biggest and most dramatic eyesore in this whole equation is the fact that AT&T’s systems are going to have to be updated to cope with additional clients. I list this as a con because AT&T has been known to have some problems with their client facing systems before. Take, for example, the hack that lead to iPad email addresses being harvested. More notably, perhaps we should consider the iPhone activation woes that plagued many users? The fact of the matter is that AT&T has a horrible track record with making changes to their software, and some of us lucky few who use their web service from time to time are going to get to experience some of the joy.

I would advise anyone on AT&T to triple check their bill over the next few months.

Pros for Android Enthusiasts

Nexus One, a developer phone once sold as a retail phone.

I think it would be nieve to neglect the possible advantages that could come out of this deal for Android Enthusiasts. One of the things I hate about phones is something called “bloatware”, which is extra software that a manufacturer installed for promotional purposes. You typically have to go to great lengths to remove this software. Personally, I would rather not bother with that and the million other things that most consumers would not care about. So, because I’m a registered Android Developer, I have the option to purchase a Developer Phone from Google. A full-price no-contract phone with no strings or bloatware attached.

The one downside to this option is that currently, all of the developer phones are designed to run on T-Mobile’s network. My hope is that following this merger, Google will start producing Developer Phones that run on Verizon or Sprint. They could, if they wanted, produce developer phones for AT&T – but quite frankly I’m not interested in buying one. Mostly because I just don’t like AT&T. Sorry, nothing personal.

Anyway, a set of developer phones for other networks would be a huge step forward for Android development culture.

Conclusion

In all honesty, I think there are a lot of bad things that are going to come out of this deal. But I think these are some angles that occurred to me that were at least somewhat unique, so I thought I would share.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Leave me some comment love and let me know what you’re thinking!

Eighth Grader beats Angry Birds

It seems that and Eighth Grader has kocked Angry Birds off of its position in the Top Apps list in the Apple App Store. Macworld reports that Robert Nay, of Utah, didn’t use the straight Objective-C setup that XCode hocks at developers. Matt Peckham writes:

It sounds like Nay tried Objective-C first, decided it was overly complex and moved over to GameSalad, before settling on the Corona SDK, which let him publish the game simultaneously for iPhone and Android.

Personally, I completely understand why. I’m experienced in C/C++, Java, and a few interpreted languages that I use for Web Application Development. Every programming language has a few downfalls, but the thing that always got me about Objective-C was how verbose it is. A friend of mine whose an iPhone developer has always told me that the auto-complete in XCode makes up for the difference, but reading Objective-C still seems a bit unnatural to me.

Nay’s game, if you’re interested, is called Bubble Ball. I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on checking it out because, hey, who doesn’t want to help an underdog win?

Android Fragmentation

I also saw an article today talking about how Android has become more and more fragmented over the last year or so. I found an article, also on MacWorld,  talking about how most iOS devices are using the latest version of the software where most Android devices will use older versions of the Android software. I’m sure this fact isn’t new to anyone, and in fact Android has been pretty widely criticized in recent months because of this.

The article suggests, rather correctly I’m willing to bet, that the bulk of the problem comes from the fact that the phone manufacturers are the ones who are largely in charge of making sure that updates are pushed to phones and it makes better profits for them if they withhold updates and make you buy a new phone in order to get the latest version of the Android software. This is a fallacy that I have been largely immune from, because I own a phone sold directly by Google so all my updates come from them. However, those of you that are using phones manufactured and branded by others have most likely experienced the latency in getting those updates on your device.

A lot of the problem has to do with Google’s permissive licensing strategy. They essentially give the phone manufacturers free reign to do what they need to do. I’m willing to bet that this was done to be completely contrast to Apple, who controlled everything. While there are no doubt downfalls to both strategies, I’m beginning to think more and more Google is going to need to re-engineer their strategy.

As always, leave me some comment love on these issues! I’d love to hear from you!

eBook Revolution

One of the first things that comes to mind when I think about the new year is my new toy. That’s right, I got an eReader. A Barnes & Noble Nook to be exact. For awhile I was considering investing in the Nook color, but let’s be honest – the last thing that I need in my life is yet another backlit LCD screen to stare at for hours on end. Also, I tried to get the Nook Color SDK working so I could write apps, and the software wouldn’t run. Not cool. So I settled for an eInk Nook… which is less expensive anyway.

So far, I’ve immensely enjoyed having it. I’ve already purchased and completed James Patterson’s The Witch and the Wizard, which was less than what I expected from him – to be honest. Yesterday I purchased Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony, and I’ve been enjoying that ever since. (Just in case you’re wondering: No, I do not feel ashamed that I still enjoy Artemis Fowl.) I’m planning on picking up a Dan Brown book whenever I finish with Artemis Fowl – keeping in mind that the amount of time I have to dedicate to reading will decrease once school starts tomorrow.

Hopefully, having the nook will encourage me to get back into reading. If there’s one knock I have against brick-and-mortar bookstores it is the fact that they can be overwhelming. Not to mention the fact that unless one is down the block from where you live, there is some travel time involved. Additionally, when I am so inclined I can purchase single issues of popular newspapers like USA Today and read them instantly.

Now, I’m sure a lot of you are wondering why I would choose the Nook over the Kindle. That seems to be the question on everyone’s lips… that is, which one to buy. Having toyed with both devices, I think that the Kindle could, in fact, be the better device. It makes since, considering that Amazon has been at the game longer than Barnes & Noble has. The Kindle costs less money and there are even cases where books are cheaper on Kindle (the artemis Fowl book I mentioned is 10 cents cheaper for Amazon kindle). But there are a few things that sold me on the Nook after I had played with demo units of both devices for a short period of time.

1. I feel that the touchscreen, while it has its problems, provides a more straightforward navigation scheme than does Amazon’s hardware keyboard. In playing with both units at Best Buy, I was able to figure out the way the Nook works a lot quicker – and that wins usability points from me, which are key.
2. The Nook is Android based. As you might have noticed, I like Android. While the Kindle is Linux based, I think Android based devices have a better chance of long-term viability than those mobile platforms based solely off a Linux install that was customized by one company alone. Android is the standard for Linux for mobile platforms, these days.
3. The Nook has a leg up on the Kindle in terms of feature support. Some books are designated as “Lend Me” books – that can be lent out to other Nook users and the Nook supports the ePub standard where Kindle does not. While I realize that is just one software update away if Kindle decides to support it – I’m willing to pay extra money for it now.

Android Game

In other news, I’ve started writing out specifications for an Android game that I’m interested in writing. I’ve also started doing some Photoshop Mockups of the UI and researching Game Engines that I can use to help manage Graphics, the Event Queue, and the like. I think I may have settled on libgdx – but I’m not sure. (Suggestions from other Android coders are welcome.)

I’m not going to release too many details right now, but those of you who know me from the Cybiko days may be able to take a guess at what I’m working on. I’ve mentioned it to a few of you. However, this game is going to come back fiercer than you ever could have imagined. (Color graphics!) So, get ready. I’ll be acquiring some web assets for the game and creating the official site and announcement shortly.

Also, as a general roll call: if there are any graphic designers out there that are interested in helping me out with the menus – there would be a small payday and a free copy of the game in it for you when it comes out.

Project 365

So, I think that I’ve decided I would like to participate in the 365 Project, which is to take at least one picture a day for an entire year. There are some websites dedicated to this, but I personally think that I’m going to repurpose that little grey box down at the bottom of the homepage for this instead. Or perhaps stuff it in the sidebar somewhere. Still haven’t decided.

However, if you know anyone else whose doing it, let me know!

In Conclusion

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. As always, leave me some comment love. What was your new years like? Etc etc. For now, I think I’m going to go read some more Artemis Fowl. Don’t lie, we all know you’re jealous.

So, I stumbled upon a nice little review from ArsTechnica about the Maylong M-150 Android tablet that is being sold at Walgreens. Yeah, Walgreens. Ars wrote a scathing review that inspired a post on the Best Buy blog showing what different things can be done with this tablet.

Seriously, read the review. It amazes me how people manage to peddle crap like this. Fair warning kids: don’t try to skimp on new tech like tablets. It probably won’t go well for you.

The idea is simple enough, and not completely wrong, but Lifehacker suggests (correctly, in my opinion) that  some Android users may be fooled about how much these task killers are helping the performance and battery life of their phone. I’m recommending that anyone with an Android smartphone check it out, and let me know what you think. As always – I love to hear what your experiences have been with task killers and the like.

Link: “Android Task Killers Explained” on Lifehacker

If anything, Android’s biggest problem as a platform is its fragmentation. As mobile service providers continue to butcher it to put their bloatware on it, they reduce the value of “Android” as a marketable brand. These secondary App Markets are only going to make things worse. What I don’t understand is why people are so intent on reinventing the wheel! The App Market is pretty good as it is now. Why does it need to change?

To be honest, the future that I predict – that scares me – is when Verizon’s VCast AppMarket comes preloaded on phones and the original AppMarket is removed. For people like me, that’s not going to pose a problem. I take a hacker’s mindset toward these sorts of things, and I will not be denied access to the Android Market if I want access to the Android Market. Much like I strongly suspect that I’m going to hack the next Android device I own to install the real Android OS on it, because Motorola and Samsung really like putting cheap knock offs of the real Android on their phones. (HTC did a pretty good job though.)

I think that it’s perfectly fine if Verizon or Amazon want to try doing their own thing, but that’s only as long as I – as an end user – have the option to choose not to use it. And if Motorola’s little Droid X boot loader is any indication, the cellphone makers are starting to tighten their control on the Android platform. And that scares me a little bit.

But seriously, am I the only Android user out there that finds this concerning? What can we as an android community do to prevent this from becoming a problem?

Android News
The first fun news in the area of my favorite mobile platform is the release of the upgrade plans for Motorola Android phones. For US telephone users, the Droid X will see the Android 2.2 update sometime late in the summer. The Backflip, Cliq, and Cliq XT should be seeing an upgrade to Android 2.1 sometime around the end of 2010 (possibly as late as the beginning of 2011). The Devour, on the other hand, will not be getting an update to Android 2.1. If you want to see the full article on Talk Android, complete with a list of upgrade plans for other countries, click here.

On a similar note, it seems that Motorola accidentally leaked the Android 2.2 update to some Droid X users. Well, some clever people who had the upgrade leaked to their device shared it with some friends… who shared it with some websites… who shared it with everyone. Anyway, now Motorola is up in arms, according to Wired. They’re reporting here that Motorola is sending cease and desist orders to the websites that were hosting the update.

The Amazon Kindle seems to have inspired something slightly more advanced, Engadget reports. The new device is an Android reader with a color screen. Pocketbook, the company behind the readers, is announcing a series of five models supporting 6 and 9.7 inch screens. Engadget has a full gallery of images and the full press release that you can find here. I don’t know about you, but all the talk about these Android tablet devices is getting me excited. Then again, I just like seeing Apple jump through hoops, and am completely for anything that will let me see some of that. I will still admit the iPad is pretty sexy though…

Lifestyle News
So, everyone loves traveling – but as technology expands, so do the way in which we can use that technology when we’re on the go. The iPad is one particular device that can change how we travel, and Wired put together a pretty cool list for using your iPad when you’re traveling. They have everything from practical battery and money saving techniques to useful apps that will help you get around wherever you might be. I don’t own an iPad, so I won’t talk about how bitter the article makes me feel, and will instead suggest you check it out yourself.

Odd News
Wired is nothing if not diverse, and I love some of the stranger stuff they can come up with. Oftentimes, I know people who work in Atlanta have good reason to complain about the traffic on their daily commute. But, if you think your commute is bad – Wired is here to prove you wrong. One of their articles today was about something that I term as “the worst traffic jam of all time” – a 9-day traffic jam in Beijing. I don’t think I can really augment that with anything.

Essentially, this document outlines a very basic protocol that would be useful for the distributed testing of Android applications. If it sounds fun, pop it open and take a look. I’d love to hear some feedback, and if anyone actually implements this let me know!

I’ll try to get back into the habit of posting interesting things daily tomorrow.

Attachment: ADTP.pdf

The Dell Streak (Photo Credit: Dell)

Allow me to be the first to introduce you to the Dell Streak. This little gem is an Android-powered device that Dell is producing, and I’m going to tell you all of what you need to know about it, and why this phone is going to be superb. More after the jump.

So, let me get the very basics out of the way by defining exactly what the Dell Streak is.

According to the promotion and presale page on Dell’s website the Dell Streak is “The perfectly-sized, go-anywhere entertainment, social connection and navigation device.” This device is Android-powered and is touting the lightening fast Quailcomm Snapdragon Processor, which is the most widespread high-speed mobile CPU for Androids on the market. Additionally, Dell’s new toy is sporting two cameras (a 5 Megapixel camera on the back of the phone and a VGA camera on the front – presumably for video chatting). Additionally, they have also decided to follow suit from Apple and use glass on this thing. I think I’ve made it clear before that I’m skeptical of that design choice.

Now, while I have been hesitent to call it a phone (because that’s not really how it is marketed right now), Dell does list the device as having the capability to operate as a Quad-Band GSM phone. This means that it will work as a phone in the states on AT&T or T-Mobile and in most other countries. But here’s the kicker: it looks like if you want the ability to use a 3G data connection (instead of EDGE which is like pulling teeth to load an email) then it looks at though you might have to be using AT&T’s network in the US. While there is no official mention of AT&T, Dell does list what radio frequencies the device is built to use for 3G… and they are AT&T’s frequencies.

Obviously, Dell is taking some cues from Apple. And to be honest, this looks like it might be trying to be a compromise between the utility of an iPad and the size of an iPhone. Either way, with any luck this device will take off and we’ll see a counterpart from Dell geared toward Verizon’s network (because I don’t know if I can put up with AT&T much longer). Overall, it looks like a pretty snazzy device, but here’s the ultimate question: What is it going to cost?

Dell has not posted a price on their website yet, and my Google searching hasn’t turned up much, but I’ll take this as an opportunity for discussion. What do you think it’s going to cost? Keep in mind that the Nexus One, which was sold in a similar fashion and had a smaller screen cost $529 retail. My personal estimate is that it’s going to cost about $700, but that’s just me.

Parking!!

Deep from the inner sanctum of Google Labs comes a brand new gem called Open Spot.

I can’t speak for your place of residence, but trying to navigate downtown Athens is a nightmare most of the time. There’s not enough parking for everyone on the street, and no one really wants to pay for the deck, so it’s not uncommon for people to drive around aimlessly looking for a parking spot. Which, I might add, is not a good situation to be in when there’s a no cruising policy in effect (silly po po).

So, if you’re an Android owner and I’ve peaked your interest in the practicality of this app, let me give you a rundown of what you can expect when you download it. More after the jump.

Essentially, idea is that when an Open Spot user is getting ready to pull out of a parking spot (not actually moving though, less you be mistaken for texting) they will press a button that says “Mark a Spot.” At that time, all other Open Spot users who are looking for a place to park will see a dot pop up on their screen. In theory, you could also use this if you’re walking around and happen to see an open spot that you want to mark. And, when you report spots your karma goes up. Yay!

The dots are color coded by how old they are, and there’s always the possibility that someone will beat you to the spot without your knowledge as there’s no way to report that you’ve taken a spot that was on the map. But all in all, I foresee this app increasing the frequency of the luck it requires to find a parking spot in downtown Athens, if enough people participate.

What I would like to see is a version of this application appear for the iPhone. I will admit that I doubt that will happen because, in my opinion and based off what I’ve read, Steve Jobs seems to hate Google’s apps as they refuse to approve them for the app store for highly ambiguous and silly reasons (if you’re not smart enough to tell the difference between Latitude and Maps, you shouldn’t own an iPhone… just saying). But, if Open Spot made it to the iPhone then I think the app would catch on like wildfire.

So, to summarize, I believe the limiting factors are going to be:

• The number of people using Android 2.0 Phones (which is increasing)
  • This app will not work with phones that do not yet have version 2.0 of Android. Older Android users, you either need to root your device or buy a new one if you want to participate.
• The awareness about the app (which I’m trying to help with).

As usual, Google has come up with a completely novel concept for improving something that we do every day. After playing around with it for a few minutes (which unfortunately wasn’t very interesting at 11 in the morning) I could already tell that it was a pretty cool app. I’ve gotta give props to Google for their cleverness on this one.

Although, there are some suggestions that I have for them (and if any of you Google-employees are out there reading this, I’d love to hear from you to know if any of these are a work-in-progress). These are:

1. There needs to be some sort of way to encourage people to report that they are leaving a spot. A rewards system of sorts? Maybe something as simple as the 4Square badges. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m not really motivated by a karma number.
2. It would be nice if there were a widget you could place on your desktop so that, without seeing the full map or opening the app, you could report a spot on the fly.
3. Releasing the API to the public would be great so that:
   1. Someone could develop apps for other platforms that can find parking.
   2. Someone could develop an iPhone app that wouldn’t set off Jobs’s Googledar that causes the App Store Nazis to ban all things Google.

These are my humble suggestions. What do you guys think? Would you use an app like this to help you find parking if it was widely used? Let me know in the comments!