What's so fantastic about Android ?

[keale]

Oh did I mention overclocking capabilities? and playing unlicensed music

 

[kajata]

Oh did I mention overclocking capabilities? and playing unlicensed music

Can't any smartphone with a music player play unlicensed music?

 

[The Dark Lord]

Oh did I mention overclocking capabilities?

It's nice to have the ability but in real life I never noticed much of a difference so I just put it back to stock. You can also undervolt (if you install a kernel which supports it, of course) which will give you a little more batter life

and playing unlicensed music

????

I am pretty sure that the iPhone can play any MP3 or AAC (and probably others) as long as there is no non-iTunes DRM.

But since you mentioned music, I can stream all of my music (like 10,000 songs) to my Android phone via Google Music. For free.

 

[zooterkin]

Sure, but the "walled garden" approach isn't all downside. For a certain segment of the population I'd argue it actually makes more sense.

Yes, and that is quite a large segment, which accounts for Apple's commercial success. Apple limit the scope of the problem, and are therefore able to deliver something that is very slick and consistent across a range of applications, and that is more than good enough for a lot of people.

 

[Alareth]

And, for the record, I love my Epic 4G Touch (Sprint's version of the Galaxy S II.) The new AT&T Skyrocket is GSM/LTE version

 

[TheL8Elvis]

And, for the record, I love my Epic 4G Touch (Sprint's version of the Galaxy S II.) The new AT&T Skyrocket is GSM/LTE version

This is a problem I have with the android manufacturers, so I guess less with android itself, although I think it reflects (poorly) on 'Joe users' view of android.

Apparently, I gather from the post, the Epic 4G touch, the Galaxy SII and the ATT Skyrocket are all the same phone ? That's crazy. I would think all this re-branding for different carriers makes it more difficult for the average user to choose a phone.

In the US, samsung apparently has 52 android phones ? Maybe I'll get flamed for this - but isn't there such a thing as too much choice ? Isn't some of apples success linked to a more limited number of choices ?

 

[Fishstick]

Isn't some of apples success linked to a more limited number of choices ?

Different audiences. A similar proposition was posted earlier:

Yes, and that is quite a large segment, which accounts for Apple's commercial success. Apple limit the scope of the problem, and are therefore able to deliver something that is very slick and consistent across a range of applications, and that is more than good enough for a lot of people.

 

[The Dark Lord]

Samsung by itself sold about as many smartphones as Apple in 2011.

I certainly think that choosing between Samsung's different options is better than choosing between Apple's choice of the shatter prone new model with a small screen, the shatter prone old model with a small screen, and the even older model with a small screen.

 

[Alan]

Android gets along better with my PC, as my PC runs Linux and Apple doesn't support a version of iTunes for it.

 

[Alareth]

This is a problem I have with the android manufacturers, so I guess less with android itself, although I think it reflects (poorly) on 'Joe users' view of android.

Apparently, I gather from the post, the Epic 4G touch, the Galaxy SII and the ATT Skyrocket are all the same phone ? That's crazy. I would think all this re-branding for different carriers makes it more difficult for the average user to choose a phone.

In the US, samsung apparently has 52 android phones ? Maybe I'll get flamed for this - but isn't there such a thing as too much choice ? Isn't some of apples success linked to a more limited number of choices ?

The Epic 4G Touch is a larger version of the Galaxy S II with more memory and a higher capacity battery exclusive to Sprint. AT&T has the regular Galaxy S II while the Skyrocket will be similar to the the larger Sprint version

 

[TheL8Elvis]

Samsung by itself sold about as many smartphones as Apple in 2011.

That's pretty damn impressive .... for apple. A company that never made a phone 5 years ago. And think, it took Samsung more than 50 models to beat Apples 3 models of iphone. And samsung is losing money while doing it too ! But, oh yes, this phone is not about apple or samsung.

I certainly think that choosing between Samsung's different options is better than choosing between Apple's choice of the shatter prone new model with a small screen, the shatter prone old model with a small screen, and the even older model with a small screen.

So far the best 2 things about android seem to be

1) choice
2) not apple

That's fair.

 

[mikeyx]

In the realm of smart phones and tablets, the two biggest players right now are Google and Apple, with Android and iOS operating systems respectively.

Since we already have a thread going about why apple is so fantastic, I thought maybe we should have a similar thread about why android is so fantastic, so all the Fandroids could have the opportunity to talk up thier OS.

Obviously, android is doing very well in the mobile phone market, in the us and worldwide. Not so much in the tablet market.

So why is android great ? Google to, I suppose, since the parts of android that make it great ( the google apps) aren't open source, I think that's fair to include Google.

And although I am an apple fanboy - I think its worth noting my android experiences:
I just installed the CM9 alpha2 (Ice Cream Sandwich (4.03) on my touchpad, and am impressed with the update (versus CM7).
The changes make the OS much more usable, in my opinion.

I've also owned:
pandigital novel - rooted & running 2.0 (now broken)
nook color - rooted & running 2.2/3 (sold)
huawei ideos phone - rooted & ran numerous custom roms (sold)
Nook simple touch - rooted & running 2.1

Android isnt owned by the evil and insidious Apple corporation.....

 

[TheL8Elvis]

So far the best 2 things about android seem to be

1) choice
2) not apple.

Android isnt owned by the evil and insidious Apple corporation.....

Hmmm. Maybe I should reverse 1 and 2.

 

[The Dark Lord]

That's pretty damn impressive .... for apple. A company that never made a phone 5 years ago.

Please. Before 2010, Samsung's marketshare in smartphones was minuscule. Since the release of the Galaxy S in the summer of 2010 it has exploded, growing much faster than Apple.

And think, it took Samsung more than 50 models to beat Apples 3 models of iphone.

I thought that Samsung offering lots of choice was a disadvantage and Apple offering little was an advantage. Is it the other way around now?

And samsung is losing money while doing it too ! But, oh yes, this phone is not about apple or samsung.

Did you even bother to read the article? First, it isn't losing money. Its profits were down. Huge difference. Second, profits for its mobile division were up while profits in other divisions were down.

So far the best 2 things about android seem to be

1) choice
2) not apple

That's fair.

I would also add that it's open source and so can be modified in however you like (if you know what you're doing of course, otherwise use the work of others), and it doesn't attempt to force you into a walled garden.

 

[TheL8Elvis]

Yes, I should not have said losing money, I did skim the headline too quickly

 

[keale]

Can't any smartphone with a music player play unlicensed music?

Not sure but i tried it on an iphone and it wouldnt let me an error message cam up and said something like we know this music is unlicensed and wouldnt let me play it. Dunno

 

[mikeyx]

Yes, and that is quite a large segment, which accounts for Apple's commercial success. Apple limit the scope of the problem, and are therefore able to deliver something that is very slick and consistent across a range of applications, and that is more than good enough for a lot of people.

that segment is stupid.

 

[Lamuella]

Large parts of it are open source, so it means you've got an awful lot of people tinkering with it to make it better.

It's not platform dependent, so there's an awful lot of people trying it out on different systems, which means there's a great range in terms of price and functionality, increasing the chances of there being one that suits your needs and your wallet.

Basically, it does what I want it to do and does it in an inexpensive and fun way.

 

[TheL8Elvis]

Not sure but i tried it on an iphone and it wouldnt let me an error message cam up and said something like we know this music is unlicensed and wouldnt let me play it. Dunno

Really ?

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

 

[TheL8Elvis]

Large parts of it are open source, so it means you've got an awful lot of people tinkering with it to make it better.

Hmm. I mostly agree. It is my understanding that android really doesn't accept much back in the way of community contributions or patches, so I think that that really limits the amount of 'better' you get out of being open source for most people.

Now, for the community that is using custom ROMs like CM, that opensource is much more important, and the cool changes do make it into that. I am definitely benefiting from that, running cm9 on my touchpad.

It's not platform dependent, so there's an awful lot of people trying it out on different systems, which means there's a great range in terms of price and functionality, increasing the chances of there being one that suits your needs and your wallet.

Basically, it does what I want it to do and does it in an inexpensive and fun way.

The amount of hardware it can be made to run on is indeed impressive, and the varying price and functionality is indeed a good thing.