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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | reply to cdru
Re: milk it at&t So what on earth is the difference between Android, WM, Symbian and iPhone OS other than to various attempts to embrace, extend, extinguish, and monopolizing developers?
Windows Mobile OS is fine for me. My Windows Mobile phone is 5 years old, and I love it. I can compile and install my own stuff for it, its similar to Desktop Windows from API point of view, and some of Desktop Windows registry hacks work on Windows Mobile identically. | | |
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 cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:5
 ·Frontier FiOS
| said by patcat88:So what on earth is the difference between Android, WM, Symbian and iPhone OS other than to various attempts to embrace, extend, extinguish, and monopolizing developers? I can't speak to the specific details to each OS. Some have been open source from the beginning (Android), some may be truly open some day (Symbian OS), and some almost guaranteed will never be be open source (iPhone and Microsoft). Most of the OSes were designed for interoperability with with one system specifically. Android works in unison with all of the google apps (Gmail, maps, calendar, etc), Windows Mobile with office and Live.com, iPhone with...I don't know.
One of the big difference in the different phones is what it takes to be a developer. With Android, anyone can become a developer, access the OS source or SDK for free, and create their own apps, extending and embracing the application. Google might be able to change the license in the future, but since it's already been open and if they accept outside contributions to the official build that could be very difficult. You don't have to have any type of blessings from T-Mobile or Google to install your own apps. Google pulled a tethering app from their marketplace, but you can easily download it and install it form several different places on the net.
Compared to Apple's SDK that requires you to pay a minimum of $99 just to be able to develop applications. You must apply for a license and there isn't a guarantee that you'll be accepted. Plus then you have to sign a developer agreement on what you can an cannot do with your application and device. Once you have an application, but must release it through Apple's iStore after it's been cryptographically signed and have their blessing. Non-signed apps won't run on the iPhone unless it's been jail broken, officially a no-no in Apple/AT&T's eyes.
Just like with desktop PCs, choice is always good. I can choose between multiple different versions of Windows, Linux and OS-X (which has it's roots in *nix/BSD). Similarly, my phones can be based on different OSs and have features that the others don't support, or if they don't support them they may or may not be able to support them. If the iPhone didn't have any competitors, where's the incentive to be innovative?
I had a HTC Touch (aka T-Mobile Wing) for almost 3 years that was running a modified version of Windows Mobile I grabbed from XDA-Developers. It worked decent, but it was slow and had limited memory. The touch screen also wasn't sensitive (or maybe that should be too sensitive) and my fat fingers wouldn't register as presses all the time, especially on small buttons or text. The mobile version of IE also sucked on most websites. Part of these limitations were probably because of the age of the phone. But I think some of the kudgyness of some apps comes from a desktop OS that was ported to a mobile device.
After upgrading to the G1, the screen is much more responsive to my fat fingers. Navigation is easier as the screens were designed for a mobile phone, not for a desktop-look-a-like screen. I've yet to get a out-of-memory error. The browser renders pages much better and is actually usable on most websites I've been too. Android also has the ability to run applications in the background, something the iPhone has yet to figure out how to do. | |
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