Android platform when available here on mobiles?

corkie

Nearly five months after HTC launched the first phone based on Google's new Android mobile operating system, the company is set to do an encore.

HTC's filings with the FCC show that the company's second Android phone--so far known as HTC Magic/Sapphire--is on the way.

Second HTC Android Phone Peeks Out from gadget lab.

Any Irish networks going to provide phones running this platform? And if they are would you purchase it? And under what kind of plan?

Regards,
J.

Rsaeire

corkie wrote: »

Second HTC Android Phone Peeks Out from gadget lab.

Any Irish networks going to provide phones running this platform? And if they are would you purchase it? And under what kind of plan?

Regards,
J.

Vodafone have already picked up the HTC Magic, so it's most likely going to arrive on Vodafone Ireland at some point this year.

towel401

well if you go on ebay you can buy an android phone already. no need to wait for some network to bring out a crippled version of it

+ android is nothing to write home about. some locked down touch-screen based gimmick for google's web 2.0 services, its **** like this that gives linux a bad name

mkennedy

towel401 wrote: »

well if you go on ebay you can buy an android phone already. no need to wait for some network to bring out a crippled version of it

+ android is nothing to write home about. some locked down touch-screen based gimmick for google's web 2.0 services, its **** like this that gives linux a bad name

I'd say you could have some pretty innovative apps on it though.

For example, there's a bar-code reader app out for Android that let's you scan a product's barcode with your phone and immediately compare the prices of the product in front of you with products in surrounding area stores.
That sounds pretty cool- no other OS allows that AFAIK.

Also, i got the impression it was a very open OS- why do you say it's locked down?

Sam Vimes

mkennedy wrote: »

I
For example, there's a bar-code reader app out for Android that let's you scan a product's barcode with your phone and immediately compare the prices of the product in front of you with products in surrounding area stores.
That sounds pretty cool- no other OS allows that AFAIK.

The N95 has the bar code reader among other phones.

How does it compare prices in the surrounding area? Does it work in Ireland?

Professey Chin

mkennedy wrote: »

I'd say you could have some pretty innovative apps on it though.

For example, there's a bar-code reader app out for Android that let's you scan a product's barcode with your phone and immediately compare the prices of the product in front of you with products in surrounding area stores.
That sounds pretty cool- no other OS allows that AFAIK.

Also, i got the impression it was a very open OS- why do you say it's locked down?

Or the other one that lets you scan products then automatically searches for torrents hehe

http://i.gizmodo.com/5168515/torrent-droid-android-app-lets-you-scan-upcs-get-torrents-in-return

mkennedy

Sam Vimes wrote: »

The N95 has the bar code reader among other phones.

How does it compare prices in the surrounding area? Does it work in Ireland?

Here's a video showing how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgkSZS6o050

TBH, i'd say, like a lot of these apps (google maps, yahoo go etc) it's america-centric so not sure how it performs in Ireland (don't have the app myself btw, just seen reviews/videos- looks very cool though).

mkennedy

Ultimate Chin wrote: »

Or the other one that lets you scan products then automatically searches for torrents hehe

http://i.gizmodo.com/5168515/torrent-droid-android-app-lets-you-scan-upcs-get-torrents-in-return

Yeah heard about that as well.
Who needs the annoying buying part

Edit: Just looked at that video and that is even cooler (rights and wrongs aside).
What's with the ominous music though

I wonder can the iphone do that?
Also, the Android OS UI on that phone looks pretty decent.

towel401

mkennedy wrote: »

I'd say you could have some pretty innovative apps on it though.

For example, there's a bar-code reader app out for Android that let's you scan a product's barcode with your phone and immediately compare the prices of the product in front of you with products in surrounding area stores.
That sounds pretty cool- no other OS allows that AFAIK.

Also, i got the impression it was a very open OS- why do you say it's locked down?

most of those apps will be adware / frontends for bandwidth-eating web services. nobody is making good client side or client-server apps anymore, no money in it. sure there will be a few good opensource apps but there are lots of those for j2me / symbian too.

its locked down because you need a freaking exploit to get at the root account on your own phone, just like on the iphone. the new android phone is vodafone exclusive - not really open is it? google also have to whore themselves out to mobile networks because a lot of people still think the only way to get a phone is to buy it through a network or they are actually fooled into thinking they're getting a good deal when they sign a 12 month contract.

i also dont care much for the new touch screen based widget and glossy square icons with rounded edges interfaces that are in fashion these days. much prefer the layout on the nokia e-series phones

liamo

Vodafone's reply to my question on the HTM Magic's release :

We are planning on releasing the HTC Magic in the summer months,
however we currently do not have an exact release date.