The Gingerbread rumor is beginning to make its way around the web. One blurry photograph and one blurry video. Oh, then there that brief bit regarding native support for video chat and Google Voice finally adding support for true VoIP calling. It is all wrapped up together with a mention of Google’s claim to be focused on the UI. None of these things can actually be seen in the video.
In fact, these leaked images look exactly like the stock UI on Froyo, except for the tail end of the video adding a bit of animation to dazzle the transition of the OS into sleep mode, nothing that would make Android indispensable to a prospective buyer.
Google adding functionality, that I believe. Back on Sept 4th I did a little deductive reasoning and made the prediction for VoIP support with an article I published on Technorati. Adding native support for video chat also makes a lot of sense. After all, Android is built by committee through the Open Handset Alliance, and one thing video chat needs to be successful, beyond any particular phone, is interoperability. It doesn’t matter if its the EVO or the iPhone 4, success in this area goes beyond the needs of a single device if it wants to meet the needs of the consumer.
I own an Android, and I have friends who own Androids as well, but I also have friends that own iPhones. If video chat is being integrated into Androids core, and the idea makes a lot of sense, lets hope it is a solution, not just for Android, but for everyone. Even Apple, with its unquenchable thirst to control its platform, understood the success of video chat depends upon relinquishing control of the underlying technology and made Facetime an open source project.
Now if Android somehow supports Apple’s own Facetime project at the core of the OS, then the smartphone market is going to get really interesting. Especially with Windows 7 Phone being released. Microsoft might have a solid OS in its new platform, but it is already going to be playing catch up in functionality just to gain market share, video chat only adds to the burden. RIM and Nokia will find themselves with the same dilemma, adapt or be destroyed.
Again I am speculating, but Google has never shied away from open source. Thinking Apple’s Facetime could find support inside Gingerbread is not a huge stretch. Of course, Microsoft, RIM, and Nokia can all adapt, its just there is nothing out there even to hint video chat is on anyone else’s to do list.
Yes, video phone chat is actually old hat. For decades its been the staple of the imagination rather than reality. The bottom line is that its never really been feasible at a capacity to make it worth adopting. Even the attempts a few short years ago lacked more than just the infrastructure to seriously make it a staple of today’s technology appetite. With the ever decreasing cost of hardware, cameras being integrated into a smartphone platform represent a small cost. This new transition of smartphones becoming the new PC just makes it that much easier to update and port the functionality onto even better hardware solutions as they become available. Being able to present these features through a singular technology like Facetime in a platform agnostic format could give it legs.
Now if all this sounds unreasonable because Steve Jobs has been quoted slamming Android, even ranting beyond the facts, then here are a few things to consider. Android adding video chat support that works with Facetime would stroke Steve’s ego. Even though Apple and Google are competitors in the mobile space, Nokia, RIM, and Microsoft represent three common enemies. In the wisdom of Sun Tzu, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” iOS and Android both represent the future of smartphones and have momentum. Nokia and RIM both have huge shares of the market on a worldwide scale and even if Microsoft’s new WP7 is late to the game, you can’t just ignore Microsoft even with Steve Balmer at the helm. Two platforms capable of working together not only gives consumers a choice, strategically it also takes away other options until they catch up.
Now about that Gingerbread UI. Personally I think Android’s vanilla flavoring is just fine for the most part. I expect Gingerbread to be a bit of refinement, adding a bounce effect when scrolling through menus or home screens, possibly unifying the icons to better blend together. All the elements that make it feel “finished.” Now all this would be nice, I guess, but I what is really on my wish list is a far better form of copy and paste.
I am sorry but in the places I leave a link I am always aware of the content of the article and only leave a related link. That’s not spam. In almost all cases leaving a link in the comments has a no follow attached to it, by the design of the blogging software. Spam would be me making unrelated comments with unrelated links. Third, in every case, the owners of a site have the option of whether or not my comment, link included, have the right to moderate whatever is posted, meaning they can decide if my comment is published or not.
Android Gingerbread Rant on Rumors
The Gingerbread rumor is beginning to make its way around the web. One blurry photograph and one blurry video. Oh, then there that brief bit regarding native support for video chat and Google Voice finally adding support for true VoIP calling. It is all wrapped up together with a mention of Google’s claim to be focused on the UI. None of these things can actually be seen in the video.
In fact, these leaked images look exactly like the stock UI on Froyo, except for the tail end of the video adding a bit of animation to dazzle the transition of the OS into sleep mode, nothing that would make Android indispensable to a prospective buyer.
Google adding functionality, that I believe. Back on Sept 4th I did a little deductive reasoning and made the prediction for VoIP support with an article I published on Technorati. Adding native support for video chat also makes a lot of sense. After all, Android is built by committee through the Open Handset Alliance, and one thing video chat needs to be successful, beyond any particular phone, is interoperability. It doesn’t matter if its the EVO or the iPhone 4, success in this area goes beyond the needs of a single device if it wants to meet the needs of the consumer.
I own an Android, and I have friends who own Androids as well, but I also have friends that own iPhones. If video chat is being integrated into Androids core, and the idea makes a lot of sense, lets hope it is a solution, not just for Android, but for everyone. Even Apple, with its unquenchable thirst to control its platform, understood the success of video chat depends upon relinquishing control of the underlying technology and made Facetime an open source project.
Now if Android somehow supports Apple’s own Facetime project at the core of the OS, then the smartphone market is going to get really interesting. Especially with Windows 7 Phone being released. Microsoft might have a solid OS in its new platform, but it is already going to be playing catch up in functionality just to gain market share, video chat only adds to the burden. RIM and Nokia will find themselves with the same dilemma, adapt or be destroyed.
Again I am speculating, but Google has never shied away from open source. Thinking Apple’s Facetime could find support inside Gingerbread is not a huge stretch. Of course, Microsoft, RIM, and Nokia can all adapt, its just there is nothing out there even to hint video chat is on anyone else’s to do list.
Yes, video phone chat is actually old hat. For decades its been the staple of the imagination rather than reality. The bottom line is that its never really been feasible at a capacity to make it worth adopting. Even the attempts a few short years ago lacked more than just the infrastructure to seriously make it a staple of today’s technology appetite. With the ever decreasing cost of hardware, cameras being integrated into a smartphone platform represent a small cost. This new transition of smartphones becoming the new PC just makes it that much easier to update and port the functionality onto even better hardware solutions as they become available. Being able to present these features through a singular technology like Facetime in a platform agnostic format could give it legs.
Now if all this sounds unreasonable because Steve Jobs has been quoted slamming Android, even ranting beyond the facts, then here are a few things to consider. Android adding video chat support that works with Facetime would stroke Steve’s ego. Even though Apple and Google are competitors in the mobile space, Nokia, RIM, and Microsoft represent three common enemies. In the wisdom of Sun Tzu, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” iOS and Android both represent the future of smartphones and have momentum. Nokia and RIM both have huge shares of the market on a worldwide scale and even if Microsoft’s new WP7 is late to the game, you can’t just ignore Microsoft even with Steve Balmer at the helm. Two platforms capable of working together not only gives consumers a choice, strategically it also takes away other options until they catch up.
Now about that Gingerbread UI. Personally I think Android’s vanilla flavoring is just fine for the most part. I expect Gingerbread to be a bit of refinement, adding a bounce effect when scrolling through menus or home screens, possibly unifying the icons to better blend together. All the elements that make it feel “finished.” Now all this would be nice, I guess, but I what is really on my wish list is a far better form of copy and paste.