Word: android
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...Tuesday morning, the most conspicuous absence at the New York City launch of the "Google phone" - the first mobile handset to run Google's new Android operating system - was the Google folks themselves. But about a half an hour into the event, and well into the question-and-answer session hosted by the phone's wireless carrier, T-Mobile, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page suddenly rolled onstage wearing in-line skates, blaming Manhattan traffic for both their delayed arrival and their choice of transportation. Cameramen snapped to, reporters pounded furiously on their notebooks and the crowd buzzed...
...software, and it's getting ugly among the rank and file. Apple, which has accepted then summarily rejected some apps after they've gone up, is doing a poor job of handling developer relations and is getting a reputation for being capricious. Some angry developers are already defecting to Android - the OS that powers T-Mobile's G1 and will power all successive iterations of the Google phone...
...bound to be a very long line of smartphones that will live in a wide-open ecosystem. Sure, they're crufty and ugly - as are Windows and the machines that run it - but I guarantee that they will get cheaper and better looking as more devicemakers launch their Android phones. And unlike Apple, which listens only to Jobs, these manufacturers will be listening to the market. It was not a coincidence that the very first Android phone gave users a cut-and-paste function - something that iPhone users have wanted since Day One. The tragedy, and the farce...
...sweetest part of the Dream is the Android Market - Google's answer to the Apple App Store. Whereas many Apple apps cost money (typically anywhere from $0.99 to $9.99), at launch all Android Market apps will be free. That includes BreadCrumbz, a picture-based navigation program that doesn't just give you a drawing of your route; it also includes real-world photos to keep you on track. Another interesting app, TuneWiki, is a tricked-out music player that encourages mobile karaoke by synchronizing a song's lyrics onscreen with its YouTube video. It also shows you what songs other...
...Android has several other key advantages over the iPhone operating system. While Apple takes a top-down approach to app development - the company must approve every program that makes it into its App Store - Google will allow creators to upload any application to the Android Market without its review. Sure that means some duds will make it in, but it will also allow a much more open and democratic way for favorites to evolve. Perhaps more significant, users will not be limited to a single phone or carrier for long. While T-Mobile's HTC Dream will be the first...