Android’s revolution has just started …
Jun 21, 2010 Android, Computer Programming, Linux stuff
It is amazing but if anyone of us were told how big Android’s smart-phone offerings will explode in 2010 nobody would take it seriously. Just few weeks after iPhone4 spectacular announcement by Steve Jobs and company (of course the device is not still available until June 24th and only for those eager to make the big waiting lines) AT&T has readily available its brand new HTC Aria for 130 after rebate and has also announced that Samsung Captative is coming up preceding the Samsung big bang announcement at NY this Jun 29th! So what is interesting is that Android’s smart-phones ranges from many different sizes and vendors including a wide range of pricing which would suggest that they will be targeting a wider spread of potential customers as compared with the few willing or able to pay for prices at the high end of the spectrum.
Competition is good and seriously it is getting darn good! A list of Android’s devices is somewhat kept up to date at wikipedia. Besides HTC and Motorola that has been front runners so far but the big players in the low end of wireless devices such as LG and Samsung are emerging with very appealing and affordable options for the rest of us. On top of that PC maker’s such as ACER and DELL are also aggressive with their hybrids smart-phone/entry tablet devices…
At Verizon you can get an Android phone staring from 49.99 (LG Ally) up to HTC Droid incredible for 199.99. But as incredible as it sounds Verizon is already making space for the newest Motorola Droid X which is aiming to compete front to front with HTC EVO 4G and the so expected iPhone4. Thanks there are options and many of them. Similar offerings from other wireless carriers are coming as well, so an smart-phone for everyone seems likely the future to be.
On the Nokia front of course this is not Android but Symbian OS based the Nokia N8 has been also announced and looks pretty promising if price point . Palm is getting stuck with the Palm Pre and Pixi offerings and it does not sounds like there will be anything new before HP’s take over gets completed. We can not rule out neither Nokia or Palm since they share of the overall wireless market is still strong.
But if you are a hard core developer and aiming for trying Android SDK to create Android Apps then you 
may be waiting just like me for a discounted Nexus One or an Android Development phone, yes these smart-phones are not leading edge in regards to feature set and they are not subsidized unless you want to get engaged with T-Mobile which is not the most appealing option in the USA northwest at least for me. Getting a development friendly device means it is hardware unlocked, it features a plain boot loader which usually means you can upgrade to the latest Android release as soon as it gets available and you may be able to run not signed apps to test them before you get them up to Android Market or any other distribution way you may choose.
I have to say it again, seems to me that there is no better time for a software engineer to be get into the “Apps” software development wave, just choose a couple of targets to start with and get ready to amaze the millions of potential user’s that are awaiting for your next “App”.
