Put the Nexus on Verizon or AT&t (using their 3g band) and it'd be more successful, at least here in the U.S I believe the Nexus 1 is still the only phone running froyo 2.2.2 instead of 2.2.1? I'm not 100 percent on that though
Angry Birds is king of the world, though. It's a special case; if everyone could pull millions in advertising on Android, then sure it would be less of a problem. (And even the Angry Birds devs, IIRC, had some problems with fragmentation.) Otherwise, 'Android users get their apps for free' isn't going to be a big draw for devs. Believe me, I certainly don't think the Blackberry market is 'better' - but that's the point. Things like revenue to draw devs, or availability of apps, etc., should be much less of an issue considering the market share. And come on man; you can downplay Netflix if you want, but it's a little silly to try and act like 'nobody cares' about something like that. (I'm not even going to bother to pick apart that horrid 'all their movies are old' angle ) I understand if you are a fan of Android, and it is a very good mobile OS, but there are some very real issues (as all the mobile OSes are going to have) that are a substantial point of discussion.
Oh I do agree. I can see how coding for different processors, screen sizes/resolutions, OS versions can pose a problem for developers. Just saying I don't think that this problems will be big enough to kill Android off. Developers have been adapting to this and will continue to (even if it means certain phones don't get certain apps/features, ie. flash. This is a consequence of you getting what you paid for). I like the variety which Android offers, feels that it delivers something for every different type of person. Because of this, Android is really taking over the smartphone market and this will force developers to develop apps for it (like they have been). My point was this whole argument is being blown out of proportion. Even Netflix is delivering a solution in which high end phones can run their software (this can be seen through the Netflix app which will be available on the upcoming LG Revolution among other upcoming phones. The old movies comment was saying that I personally don't care too much for a Netflix app, tho I am sure that there are many people who love watching old movies). What I am saying is that I don't think it has been as major of a problem as everybody is making it out to be. The app market currently has over 150k apps and is growing fast which is highly impressive for a platform that has only been out since late 2008 and relevant since late 2009. Me pointing out Angry Birds success was to debate your point about Android's app market revenue being low (saying that I doubt that the revenue figures you pointed out included advertising from free apps which Android has an abundance of and revenue potential is limitless).
As for lacking Netflix, this a real fragmentation issue. The fact that my Nexus S will not get it is very disappointing. I can understand that a lot of people will not be watching movies on their phones, but even the new Honeycomb tablets like the Xoom will not be getting it. Netflix on tablets is a must IMO. A lot of the 150k apps in the app market are stuff like widgets, launchers, themes, and apps for people who are rooted. In regards to the app market revenue, even if that potential is there, I am still not seeing the big game developers moving over. I was watching the Honeycomb presentation Google held a couple weeks ago and could not believe they announced that Tap Tap Revenge would soon be coming to Android. You would think the developer with a huge hit game like that on one platform would be all over porting it to Android. Words with Friends for Android finally came out last week, but it's still inferior to the iOS version. In fact, they don't even have a paid, no ad version available. Piracy is a huge problem with the app market.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/31/google-tightening-control-of-android-insisting-licensees-abide/ Google might take control finally.
White Nexus S with AT&T 3G bands now available http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-nexus-s-att-radio-shows-retailers-online-catalog http://pages.samsung.com/ca/nexuss/English/ I'm guessing it's a white import from Canada, I think Rogers uses AT&T's 3g band. I'm not sure.
http://www.droid-life.com/2012/01/0...r-is-a-requirement-for-android-market-access/ This is big. Going forward, phones running 4.0 must keep certain elements if they want to keep access to the android market. The article mention how this will also help with getting updates in a timely manner
Speaking of Holo, is there a black theme for phones w/o ICS? Also a browser that forces white text and a black background? AMOLED baby.
If I'm understanding that correctly, I think it means the option is there, but Google (rightly so?) isn't going to force anyone to use those elements. So the carriers' skins are still going to be prevalent, I'd imagine. And wouldn't it also be up to the app developers to decide to use Holo or not? Couldn't, say, the HTC skin still be used on certain apps on HTC phones while some 3rd party developers decide to use Holo? On the surface, that seems like it could actually hurt consistency...
The issue is this "arms race" that's occuring among the android manufacturers. Competition is great and all, but they really need to slow it down. When you're stuck in a 2 yr contract, the last thing you want to hear is that your device is outdated/won't be supported anymore merely months into that contract. It's sad that there will be phones released less than year ago that won't get ICS.
You're correct, I was reading droid-life on the go and didn't look into it further. The Verge has it's article up explaining.
I'm excited about an ICS mod in the works for the Nook Color (can't even wait for the TP version). If it's smooth on the Nook, it should be as/more smooth(er) on your 1 yr old phone.
that is a good move as most of the custom skins made by android are crappy anyway besides HTC's Sense but even that is feeling dated.
especially with ics. With previous android versions it may have been a decent idea to skin the os since vanilla android was not aesthetically pleasing. However, ICS changes that. There is no need for skinning android since 4.0 is quite beautiful.
