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If you’ve thought about picking up an Android-powered phone but found yourself turned off by the hardware choices (ahem, G1), you may soon wish to reconsider.
“Android adoption is about to explode,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, in an earnings conference call Thursday. “You have all the necessary conditions.”
Schmidt’s forecast may prove accurate with 12 Android-powered devices available in 26 countries on 32 carriers. Recent Android rumors, announcements and releases further fuel the rumble in the mobile community.
By handing out Android as an open source platform, Google aims to help manufacturers focus more time, money and energy on their hardware and specific usability for each device. Using the Android OS, there is no need to re-invent the wheel when it comes to the mobile software. Developmental resources can instead be allocated to innovation and quicker adaptation of emerging technology. This direction in mobile development does seem to create the “necessary conditions” for Android to appeal to an extremely broad range of users.
When the first Android phone, the HTC G1, was released in September 2008, some developers questioned how Google would address making the Android OS and third-party apps work smoothly with various types of hardware. Screen resolution was a primary concern among developers polled by Wired.com: How could an app designed to work with the G1’s resolution, for example, work with another Android phone sporting a different resolution?
Fortunately, the Android team at Google is working to ensure their platform is compatible with every mobile phone, specifically when it comes to screen resolution. The Android 1.6 SDK, the developer’s kit, allows a manufacturer or developer to add code in their application to conform to different handset’s resolutions. (For example, “Do this when the phone has a resolution of 320×480; do that when the resolution is larger.”) They have created three categories of resolution sizes that any given device will fall into, ensuring a single third-party app will work across all phones. There is also a “compatibility mode” developers can incorporate into their applications built prior to 1.6, aka Donut.
Excited by the Android mobile-nova? We’ve created a list of the 12 Android-powered smartphones so you can begin researching and deciding which one is best for you:
* Motorola Cliq (T-Mobile / Available October 19)
* Motorola Sholes (Verizon / Available October 30)
* Samsung Behold II (T-Mobile / Holidays 2009)
* Samsung Moment (Sprint / November 1)
* Huawei Pulse (T-Mobile UK / Available)
* HTC Hero (Sprint / Available)
* HTC Tattoo (Vodafone UK / Available)
* HTC Magic /myTouch 3G (T-Mobile / Available)
* HTC Dream/G1 (T-Mobile / Available)
* Dell Mini i13 (China Mobile / Confirmed, Release Date TBA)
* Acer Liquid (Unknown / Confirmed, Release Date TBA)
* LG GW620 (Unknown / Confirmed, Q4 2009)
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