It’s funny - but the first time I heard about Android was about 2.5 years ago, when Eric Schmidt told me about the device at Stanford after I got a job offer from Google (yet before I accepted it!). Since then I have seen many iterations of the software. The software. Not the device itself, because sadly it hasn’t changed in many years. The reason many people see the phone as ugly and old-fashioned is simply… because it IS! It’s a design unchanged for at least two years, without iterations on it besides color schemas (it’s now available in Zune-brown along with white and black) and the silly ‘with Google’ description on the back. Don’t ask me what ‘with Google’ means. I didn’t understand it back then and still don’t understand it today.

Not only did it end-run the App Store, it cut Apple out of its 30 percent take on the fee. No more, though. Apple has shut down access to the ad hoc license system. I wouldn't go so far as to claim Apple's iron-fist approach will cause consumers to switch phones. But there's an obvious angle for Google: Play up the goofy apps like Pull My Finger that Steve Jobs wouldn't touch. Because if you've ever watched a bunch of drunk twentysomethings playing with their phones in a nightclub, you know that stupid and entertaining often beats pretty and functional.

"It is still just a phone running on a fourth-placed proprietary network," writes Blankenhorn. He says Google won't realize its full vision for Android — "a handheld Internet client running on a true broadband network" — until Clearwire finishes building a new wireless broadband network, backed in part by Google's money. That's supposed to happen by next year, but even Clearwire CEO Ben Wolf is skeptical: "They say the middle of next year. I'll believe it when I see it." Notice how no one's talking about whether the Dream is actually fun to use?

A screenshot from the not-yet-launched store seems designed to appeal to wonky coders, not the mass market of non-technical buyers Google will need to attract. My guess: Google will fall all over themselves insisting it's all about developers and Freedom, until the store is ready for launch. Then they'll shove ZeDev Tools and Murderdrome aside for Bingo and FlipBook. At least with a YouTube-like rating system, there's a chance of surprise hits that aren't chosen by app store curators with a canned idea of what a smartphone is for.

Kinoma Play seems to totally take over the device's multimedia functions, hiding every trace of Windows Mobile's clunky, antiquated, menu-driven operating system.

It's also a fast search engine for multimedia content on the phone, on the Web or even on your computer via remote search. Kinoma Play works with services including YouTube, Audible, Flickr, iDisk, Live365, Orb and SHOUTcast.

I selected Flickr from Kinoma Play's list of services and signed into my Flickr account in just a few steps. My photos and those of friends were easy to browse.

A section called the Kinoma Guide compiles over 100,000 podcast episodes, radio stations, videos, live television and Webcam clips, panoramas and photos into easy-to-browse categories.

With a touch on the Menu Pod icon, users can add any media to favorites or to an "on-the-go" list. This same tool also sends multimedia to others via email.

I wish it could entirely replace the dated Windows Mobile user interface.

Kinoma is working on Symbian, Linux and even iPhone versions of its application and will release one of those versions by the end of this year.

(Photo by Kimona)

Publisher Hal Goldstein says that despite 20 million Windows Mobile phones sold in the past year, there's not enough of an ad market for Windows Mobile. Microsoft and cell-phone companies aren't willing to spend on ads in the mag. Moreover, he says, today's smartphone makers aren't like the old PDA companies — think HP — who were willing to bundle a magazine with their products. Goldstein has obviously sniffed out an iPhone accessories ad market to replace his no-longer-subsidized Pocket PC coverage.

Before, Orion told AndroidGuys that while "Google’s confidence, vision and self-assurance are refreshing and innovative," Google needs to " to appreciate and address industry fundamentals more pragmatically." Most critically, he went on to say: "Android isn’t providing unknown magic other OSes are quantum leaps behind on. In many cases their competition is ahead." Now, the updated AndroidGuys article only reads:

We were asked by Jake to remove the article as it was published. We complied with his request as we are not the type of people to put others into sticky situations over a tech blog. Jake advised that he would work with us down the road, but as of right now, the original article has been retracted. We hope you guys understand and appreciate our compliance.

Unfortunately for Orion, Google never forgets, caching everything it crawls. Orion's entire and now very newsworthy interview is below. Besides the most eye-catching quotes we picked up, what else might have offended Google?

The AndroidGuys' Scott Webster told us: " I think the whole "pragmatically" thing is what is getting Orion in hot water." Webster refers to Orion's argument that Google needs"a more proactive and direct linkage to the carrier's network and service requirement."

When we first reported on that bit of the interview, we — not experts in the field — posited that Orion meant Google needs to make Android more easily coupled to Sprint's existing newtork. MocoNews, which follows all this much more closely, disagreed; "We are guessing that the statement has more to do with revenue sharing." Webster has a different take:

I don't think it's so much revenue sharing at this point. I think it's more along the lines of getting the devices to look and feel like a Sprint or T-Mobile handset as much as possible and not a Google Android phone that is more opened up. Might be the carriers resisting the sea change. Even those in the Open Handset Alliance are still not going to like losing some of that control they have grown accustomed to. I don't think Google wants to worry about revenue just yet. They want to "get out there" in general, and deal with an end game later. Nothing concrete has been said yet regarding ads, location based advertising, adsense, etc. It's a lot of speculation at this point, but that's the bad thing... people are speculating and Google/OHA has done nothing to set the record straight.

Orion's entire, now redacted, interview:

A few weeks back we were contacted by one Jake Orion of Sprint Nextel. He advised us that he is part of the Android team over at Sprint and invited us to ask questions. We were excited to try to dig in a little bit and get some answers for our readers. We already know, more or less, what T-Mobile has planned for Android later this year. But what about the other US carrier? We wondered we could find out just a smidgen of info about our #3 provider. Conducted via email, here are the questions and answers with Jake Orion.

In a comment you left on our site, you mentioned that you were the “lead for Android at Sprint.” Can you tell us a little bit more about what that means? What is it that you do?

Product Manager of Android mobile devices. Team selects and defines next generation platforms for Sprint services.

What does the Android team look like at Sprint? How much is dedicated to the platform?

Sprint is dedicated to making game-breaking leaps forward in services and solutions to its customers. Joining the OHA is a key component in this spectrum.

Sprint has and will continue to dedicate uncompromised resources to uphold its responsibilities in the development ecosystem.

My personal experience has been very positive here, I see growing momentum and aggressive support. It is a particularly exciting time.

Are you working on any particular devices now?

All device announcements are released through controlled practices outside my purview. So my apologies, not at liberty to disclose this information.

What do you think of Android as compared to other operating systems?

Android’s solution targets the personal customer electronics (CE) space. Namely it’s made for individual user like us -not business enterprises. Its chief long term competition are the high tier ‘internet-centric’ solutions by LiMo, S60 (Nokia) and iPhone (Apple).

Windows Mobile and Blackberry RIM are mainly business enterprise focused but have a lot of presence and deployed user base. Near term they are certainly in the mix.

Okay, now we can talk about features:

When you evaluate Android’s capabilities versus its peers, it’s awfully complex to sum up. Similar to laptop specs except handset tradeoffs aren’t always dominated by cost versus performance. Handset experience fundamentals such as battery life, physical size, start-up times, interface responses, etc all need to be crafted, contrasted, and balanced.

As it stands today, Android code is nascent and thin in relative capabilities, thus it is hard to see exactly how it compares on a component by component and API by API basis (an API in simple terms are the commands programmers can use to build their applications. More APIs provide more possibilities).

In general, Android’s strength is expected in internet-centric services (browsing, web 2.0 experiences, web multimedia, mash ups etc.]. Its peers are likely to be more telephony, business enabled, and/or traditional multimedia enabled.

Note: the above is at a high level and very general. Fully appreciate these kind of statements can be more disturbing than valuable for the tech savvy reader. If so forgive me.

What’s your gut tell you about Android in the market? What kind of adoption do you see?

We are at that delicate stage where one can’t predict success rate, but can see mechanisms that may prove debilitating.

Google’s confidence, vision and self assurance are refreshing and innovative, but to be effective in this space Google will have to appreciate and address industry fundamentals more pragmatically.

Needs includes a more proactive and direct linkage to the carrier’s network and service requirements. Also, a more stable development and testability process -particularly during the time critical carrier test and debug phase.

In summary, making quality handsets requires more than just engineering prowess. Solutions need to astutely incorporate the market dependencies and the associated operational processes. If Google learns this and stays committed to the business, Android is in the running to be the majority player. It is that big of threat in the mobile arena.

You only have to watch its competitor’s recent reactions to confirm this.

What is the relationship like between carriers and handset makers?

In the USA, carriers define, purchase, warehouse, subsidize and distribute devices. The handsets makers build the devices. The style, feature set and cost is negotiated between them.

Open access (building a device to work on a network without requiring a carrier’s consent) is not a practical reality (yet). This is not a technical limitation, it’s a business one. Non-subsidized products simply can’t compete in mainstream markets segments.

As an aside; carriers have an array of services their customers enjoy and are dependent on. A carrier’s obedience to the customer means it needs to include its services on new operating systems (like Android). This is costly. Carriers and handset OEMs can not practically support every OS. This is another reason why a carrier’s backing of a new OS like Android is essential to market adoption. Same holds true for the handset OEMs.

Is there anything being done different with members of the Open Handset Alliance?

Nothing strikingly unique.

A common (mis)conception is that Android will be “free software with revenue from ads” as the business model. Care to shed any light on that?

True cost is complex. I am not a handset maker and prefer not to comment.

From what you can tell, are you guys “branding” your device around your services? Adding/removing anything from Android?

Exciting stuff is expected here, stay tuned to Sprint. Will reach out as soon as prudent.

How long have you been working on Android?

I personally have only been working Android since Sprint announced

participation in the OHA. That date was 11/05/2007

Realistically, when do you expect to ship Android devices?

There is no reason to suspect the press releases are inappropriately misleading and/or overly optimistic. Track records between press releases and actual device ship dates in the industry are pretty consistent and Android should be no exception.

Is there anything that people don’t know about Android in general?

People seem to have the right idea, but here are three matters to set our expectations: (1) Android has stiff, astute competition that is reacting to its plan (2) Android isn’t providing unknown magic other OSes are quantum leaps behind on. In many cases their competition is ahead. (3) Android’s strength as an internet-centric device is wildly exciting, however, mobile devices that render the internet experience like that of a desktop are going to be higher-end devices for the foreseeable future (5+ years). This is due to a myriad of technical and business reasons.

Please exercise caution with the above, none of it is says Android will have little value, far from it. Its potential is exceptional and the possibilities invigorating. I encourage Google and applaud Android’s already impressive technical achievements.

Important aside: perhaps more importantly from an industry standpoint, Android/Google is arguably at the fore of a revolution in mobile business models, open access policies, and internet services. Credit can be a touchy subject, but truly Google’s temerity and vision deserves accolades here. Google’s actions are changing the landscape to an unprecedented level.

The typical consumer is not going to care about open source, installing new apps, tweaks, etc. They simply want a cool phone with neat features. Is Android going to give people that?

You are very correct and well said. Android by itself can’t really drop one’s jaw in awe by its lonesome. It’s an operating system, it needs a data pipe, applications and back-end servers to impress.

Thankfully, Android on Sprint or Clearwire’s superior high speed network along with powerful services (eg TV, music, GPS, push-to-talk, IM etc.) puts all the pieces in place. It’s the perfect storm. Here we see a V12 engine getting fed high octane fuel in a Lamborghini chassis on a high performance race track. Know I said this three different ways but this is worth getting excited about. Some real exciting stuff is coming you have never seen before -buckle up.

Android Guys, hope this helps. I read your web site regularly and am consistently impressed with your quick and insightful material. My thanks to you all!!

By the way, Sprint is always looking to hear from its customers and exchange

ideas — feel free to email me. Your opinion and ideas really count.

[redacted]

Thanks again to Jake for taking the time to answer our questions. We hope he stops by again down the road to share anything new and exciting on the Sprint/Android front!

(Photo by traviscrawford)

If the main reason you have a BlackBerry is to check your email across multiple accounts (let’s say work & personal), don’t even think about switching. You will be disappointed.

The iPhone is clearly a 2-handed device. I got pretty good at getting around my BlackBerry with one hand…don’t see that happening any time soon on the iPhone.

Long time BlackBerry users know you can also hold down on a letter to capitalize it and configure multiple dictionaries and shortcuts (so if you type a word or phrase often you can enter it into the dictionary to autocomplete). Someone please come up with a way to port TextExpander to the iPhone and you can name your price.

The BlackBerry will always have better battery management simply because said battery can be removed. Afraid of losing juice? Just carry an extra battery.

Orion also says Google needs "a more stable development and testability process." That's a common complaint among Android developers — and it's one Google plans to continue ignoring. According to Silicon Alley Insider, responding to one particularly virulent forum thread, one Google engineer wrote: "those posts aren't falling on deaf ears, they're typically falling in the wide-open ears of people whose hands are tied and whose mouths are gagged.”(Photo by traviscrawford)

First, in my tests, the iPhone 3G’s battery was drained much more quickly in a typical day of use than the battery on the original iPhone, due to the higher power demands of 3G networks. This is an especially significant problem because, unlike most other smart phones, the iPhone has a sealed battery that can’t be replaced with a spare.

Second, Apple’s exclusive carrier in the U.S., AT&T Inc., has effectively negated the iPhone’s upfront price cut by jacking up its monthly fee for unlimited data use by $10. Over the course of the two-year contract you must sign to get the lower hardware prices, that adds $240, overwhelming the $200 savings on the phone itself. If you want text messaging, the cost rises further. With the first iPhone, 200 text messages a month came free. Now, 200 messages will cost $5 a month, or another $120 over the two-year contract.

To us, the details seem obvious. New Macs always have better speakers and better cameras, don't they? But perhaps the rumor's very obviousness lends it more credibility. You have exactly 37 days to discuss, oooh and ahhh about it. (Photo by Andrew*)

• The most heavily used data function on the iPhone is reading (but not writing) email.
• More than 75 percent of iPhone users say it has led them to do more mobile browsing.
• About 40 percentof iPhone users say the iPhone has trouble displaying some websites they want to visit.
• About 50 percent of iPhones replaced conventional mobile phones, 40 percent replaced smartphones, and 10 percent replaced nothing. Among conventional phones, Motorola Razr was the phone most often replaced. Among smartphones, Windows Mobile and RIM BlackBerry models were most often replaced.
• 28 percent of iPhone users surveyed said strongly that they often carry their iPhone instead of a notebook computer.
• About half of iPhone users are under age 30 and about 15 percent are students
• The iPhone has increased its users' monthly mobile phone bills by an average of 24% percent, or $228 extra per year.
• Almost half of iPhone users changed carriers when they got the iPhone.
• The iPhone has probably increased AT&T's gross service revenue by about $2 billion per year.

(Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)

The loss of Bell was apparently so intolerable to Jobs that Palm hasn't dared announce his hire publicly, though he's listed on the company's management page, and SEC filings reveal he's received stock in the company. A Palm spokeswoman says the company hasn't announced any new hires recently. That strikes me as an unlikely reason: The company is desperately in need of some good news, and wooing a top executive from Palm's most lethal rival in the smartphone market would seem to qualify.

Apple has been selling phones in the U.S. since June, and in parts of Europe since November. Apple's negotiating with carriers in China and Japan. If Apple can roll out in those tech-obsessed countries during 2008 — and analysts expect they will — Apple should soundly beat the 10 million goal. The next hurdle? Jobs hasn't said anything in public, but the so-called "whisper number" being passed around Wall Street is 50 million phones by 2009. In June, had Jobs floated that number, it would have seemed like a fantasy. If he were to float it at Macworld next month, it would strike most listeners as plausible. A reality distortion field, indeed. (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)

Sources told the Journal Rubinstein plans to develop a new Linux-based software platform to run apps on all of Palm's devices before the end of next year. And Rubinstein seems comfortable with addition by subtraction. The Journal says he "cleaned house" within a month of his arrival last summer. Still, the timing is tough for Palm engineers. "What a holiday gift," our source writes. "We're supposed to be told about severance tomorrow."

Because an unspecified product didn't meet with a carrier's approval. Palm blames the misstep for a $30 million hit to this quarter's projected revenues). Rubinstein's influence may take years to find its way into actual phones. No consolation for those without jobs in the short term.

Though this could be attributed to the ease of use of the iPhone's browser, it is still significant. A product on the market less than 6 months is used to browse the Web 50 percent more than Windows Mobile which has been around for years. Look for holiday iPhone sales numbers to be announced at Macworld San Francisco in January — and then we'll find out just how well the iPhone really sold. Until then, browser numbers serve as a good proxy for telling us how much it's used. (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)

• First post: "Everyone knows the POSIX standard for time_t leaves timezone translation to the application developer. Therefore it is not surprising to me that I missed my Monday status meeting by an hour and have been demoted to desktop support."
• Second post: "You fail to mention that the BlackBerry can be easily upgraded to handle the new DST rules correctly. Simply download patch 08MAR424.7 from RIM's FTP server. Then, using a #12 Torx wrench and a standard size 000 sprotchel, replace the JPROM chip with an unlocked black-market model readily available on eBay despite the fascists at the FCC. The entire process takes less than three hours."
• Third: "My iPhone works just fine. Valleywag ignores the Apple community at its own peril."

• Apple closed at $161.45 with a market cap of $140.4 billion. That's just short of Nokia's $143.77 billion .
• Google shares ended the day at $594.05.
• Research In Motion rocketed up almost 13 percent to $113.37 after solidly beating expectations.

Were you actually looking forward to the release of the Foleo, Palm's underpowered Linux laptop meant to be a companion to its Treo smartphones? Crushed that it was cancelled? Relive the Foleo's brief glory days thanks to this clip of Jeff Hawkins demonstrating the device on AllThingsD.com.

Palm CEO Ed Colligan, a longtime associate of Hawkins, blogged the news yesterday, less than two weeks after Engadget editorial director Peter Rojas demanded the Foleo's cancellation — a screed for which Colligan, masochistically thanked Rojas. (I'm not sure whether that says more about Rojas's influence, or Palm's weakness.)

The company is now in a tight spot. The organizer market continues to dwindle perilously; the smartphone market has been roiled by the advent of Apple's iPhone; and the Foleo, Palm's supposed third product category, a shimmering mirage on which Wall Street types could pin their hopes for growth, has been revealed as an illusion.

Colligan, however, included a sop for Hawkins. And, perhaps, for the most optimistic of investors. He's promised to keep developing the Foleo, this time on a new software platform Palm has in the works for its smartphones. I can't see it happening, though. The Foleo was always a stopgap measure, a product for the here and now , meant to ease the pain of using a smartphone's tiny keyboard and screen until laptops get lighter or smartphones get more powerful. Apple fanatics will tell you that that day has arrived, in the form of the iPhone. I'm not convinced of that. But the future path of handheld, connected devices is clear — and no one, save perhaps Jeff Hawkins, sees a device like the Foleo as part of it.

RIM has a proprietary operating system for its BlackBerry smartphones; it also sells email server software for corporate sysadmins to install, and a "push" subscription service that links the phones and the servers together. Microsoft, meanwhile, makes a Windows Mobile operating system for phones manufactured by others, and has added BlackBerry-like "push" features to its own Exchange email software.

One can debate the technical merits of the products, but on a high level, what's important to note is that much of what Microsoft and RIM do is duplicative and incompatible. Shelling out for a takeover premium on top of RIM's already-lofty $47 billion market cap would get Microsoft what, exactly? A proprietary operating system for smartphones, and proprietary email software incompatible with its current product lines. On top of that, Microsoft would spend — no, waste — years rearchitecting either its current software or RIM's to make it even vaguely functional. Oh, and some easily commoditized hardware designs.

Hardly worth the price, and by the time Microsoft made it all work, RIM's supposedly devoted BlackBerry customers would have moved on to other phone models. Chalk this one up to late-August boredom on Wall Street's trading desks, and the facile imaginations of business analysts who aren't interested in the pesky details of how technology actually works.