Android apps development

[Lew]

When I got a PPC machine and a Linux machine, I thought I would be able to
gain portability with Java apps.. but that was a mirage.. the only machine I
own where Java works is XP pro. I don't get why Android can't run Java well.
I tis pretty silly from my view.

Are you saying that Java doesn't work on Linux, IBM mainframes, Solaris,
Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server, BSD, Mac or Android, or that you
don't own those machines? Because it does work on all those platforms.

The version of Java on Android is not the desktop version. So? How does Java
not work on Android?

You don't "gain portability" by writing in Java for all definitions of
"portability". If you had the wrong idea of what portability is, that ain't
Java's fault, sport. That's your fault.

What kind of portability did you want that you did not get? Don't Java 5
desktop programs work on all Java 5 and 6 desktop platforms? What are you
doing wrong that you are whining is Java's fault?

 

[Roedy Green]

I don't get why Android can't run Java well.
I tis pretty silly from my view.

Android is a Java variant. I don't think it was ever intended to run
off-the-shelf Java Apps. From the quick exploration I did, it does
not even support AWT, SWT or Swing.

It would probably be safest to think of it as in the Java family, and
marvel every time you find they work identically.
--
Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products
http://mindprod.com
Politicians complain that Kindles and iBooks are killing jobs by
destroying the paper book industry. I see it that they have create a way
to produce books for less than a third the cost without destroying forests
and emitting greenhouse gases in the process. They have created wealth.
They are encouraging literacy and cutting the costs of education.

 

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

From the quick exploration I did, it does not even support AWT, SWT or
Swing.

That’s right. Desktop-oriented GUIs are a waste of time on an ultramobile
device, as Microsoft found out with Windows Mobile.

 

[Dirk Bruere at NeoPax]

That’s right. Desktop-oriented GUIs are a waste of time on an ultramobile
device, as Microsoft found out with Windows Mobile.

Only this year.
A bit down the line and Tablets will be as powerful as today's desktop.

 

[Roedy Green]

Only this year.
A bit down the line and Tablets will be as powerful as today's desktop.

The Blackberry Playbook has a dual core 1 GHz CPU and 1 Gig RAM. It
was not that long ago that was a respectable desktop.
--
Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products
http://mindprod.com
Politicians complain that Kindles and iBooks are killing jobs by
destroying the paper book industry. I see it that they have create a way
to produce books for less than a third the cost without destroying forests
and emitting greenhouse gases in the process. They have created wealth.
They are encouraging literacy and cutting the costs of education.

 

[Dirk Bruere at NeoPax]

MMmmmm, I don't know about that, I think it will probably take a little
longer than 6-8 months. I'd predict that by the start of 2012, tablets
*will* have made some advances, but they won't have gone that far yet.

Keep in mind that mobile devices with dual-core CPU's are still the
exception, not the norm, and if you can find a tablet into which you can
put 4GB of RAM, please let me know, I'll go buy one...

Almost all the Honeycomb Tablets will be shipping with dual core ARM at
1GHz (Tegra 2) and 1GB RAM. The Tegra roadmap I have seen projects a 75x
increase in performance over the next 4 years (inc the graphics).
http://blogs.nvidia.com/2011/02/teg...-chip-worlds-first-quadcore-mobile-processor/


"While demonstrating Project Kal-El was exciting, we also gave a glimpse
of our roadmap here at MWC. It includes Projects codenamed Wayne, Logan,
and Stark, coming out in a steady one-year cadence over the next three
years. You might well ask, What on earth can be done with nearly 75x
improvement in performance over Tegra 2 that Stark will provide in 2014? "

 

[Lew]

Almost all the Honeycomb Tablets will be shipping with dual core ARM at 1GHz
(Tegra 2) and 1GB RAM. The Tegra roadmap I have seen projects a 75x increase
in performance over the next 4 years (inc the graphics).
http://blogs.nvidia.com/2011/02/teg...-chip-worlds-first-quadcore-mobile-processor/


"While demonstrating Project Kal-El was exciting, we also gave a glimpse of
our roadmap here at MWC. It includes Projects codenamed Wayne, Logan, and
Stark, coming out in a steady one-year cadence over the next three years. You
might well ask, What on earth can be done with nearly 75x improvement in
performance over Tegra 2 that Stark will provide in 2014? "

I truly hope these guys contacted the various comic-book, er, graphic-novel
publishers for those trademark rights.

 

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

Only this year.
A bit down the line and Tablets will be as powerful as today's desktop.

Tablets are a different kettle of fish again. Look at Microsoft’s attempts
to transplant the regular Windows desktop UI onto them—doesn’t work.

 

[Nigel Wade]

Only this year.

The writing had been on the wall for many years, Microsoft just chose
bury their heads in the sand, presumably thinking their monopoly of the
desktop would carry them through. It's only really since the iPhone
eclipsed the rest of the smartphone market, and caused it to wake up,
that Microsoft actually thought they might need to do something.

A bit down the line and Tablets will be as powerful as today's desktop.

It's not about power, it's simple ergonomics. You can't operate a device
with megapixel resoultion using a fat-finger. Windows Mobile requires a
stylus, and that's not practical or desirable.

A desktop GUI designed for operation by mouse/pointer and keyboard ain't
going to work on a finger driven display. It requires a complete
rethink, and redesign of the human interface. That's what Apple did, and
got right, whilst Microsoft failed to do anything.

 

[The Frog]

Nigel Wrote:
'A desktop GUI designed for operation by mouse/pointer and keyboard
ain't
going to work on a finger driven display. It requires a complete
rethink, and redesign of the human interface. That's what Apple did,
and
got right, whilst Microsoft failed to do anything.'

That pretty much sums it up right there. The power is useless without
the ability to actually work with it. The nearest thing in the desktop
world to tablet apps is some touchscreen apps (mostly seen in Retail
POS systems it seems). Convergence of the design methodologies of
desktop and tablet apps may not be possible. This means of course that
a new skillset needs to be developed to create great user interfaces
for tablet type devices to do the same job that is being done with
keyboard and mouse on a desktop. This is not a trivial challenge in
itself, and added to this is the user expectation that working with a
tablet is 'lighter and easier', and added to that again are issues
surrounding portability and limited resources. Its not so straight
forward to jump from one skillset to the other.

There is a company is China (go figure) that produces tablets to
order. The group is called Seewor Tech (www.seewortech.com). If you
are looing for a custom research or development tablet perhaps they
might help. I have not used them myself yet, but intend to around the
middle of this year when I get a few spare minutes to actually figure
out what I want. Hope that helps anyone looking for custom stuff.
There are probably other groups similar to this too of course, I only
mention this as it is one I found in my random stublings around the
net and is not intended in any way as an endorsement of them as a
company.

Cheers

The Frog

 

[Dirk Bruere at NeoPax]

I said,


Dirk replied,

** will be **

how many are out there now? Not being argumentative, it's a serious
question, I haven't kept close tabs on the market (pun intended).

I'm using one with Tegra 2 and 512GB running Android 2.2 for development

 

[Dirk Bruere at NeoPax]

Tablets are a different kettle of fish again. Look at Microsoft’s attempts
to transplant the regular Windows desktop UI onto them—doesn’t work.

Like in browsers, the bloated MS bureaucracy has been caught totally off
guard. The fact that they are PAYING Nokia billions to run their
offering shows how panicked they are.

 

[Dirk Bruere at NeoPax]

The writing had been on the wall for many years, Microsoft just chose
bury their heads in the sand, presumably thinking their monopoly of the
desktop would carry them through. It's only really since the iPhone
eclipsed the rest of the smartphone market, and caused it to wake up,
that Microsoft actually thought they might need to do something.


It's not about power, it's simple ergonomics. You can't operate a device
with megapixel resoultion using a fat-finger. Windows Mobile requires a
stylus, and that's not practical or desirable.

A desktop GUI designed for operation by mouse/pointer and keyboard ain't
going to work on a finger driven display. It requires a complete
rethink, and redesign of the human interface. That's what Apple did, and
got right, whilst Microsoft failed to do anything.

Well, an idea that is at least 15 years overdue is something I saw and
used at a trade show around 1991. It was called (IIRC) an "eyephone". A
projector that fitted over one eye, about the size of a pack of chewing gum.

Somebody is going to bring out a phone or Tablet with a megapixel
version of that. It will be hailed as revolutionary.

 

[Dirk Bruere at NeoPax]

How many Honeycomb Tablets, I meant. I know there are a few out there,
but am not sure how many others -- if any -- have hit the market in the
past couple months.

Well, I hear that getting on for 100 are due to be released over the
next few months, almost all from Chinese companies.

I have seen 2 recently, apart from Xoom

 

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

Well, I hear that getting on for 100 are due to be released over the
next few months, almost all from Chinese companies.

Honeycomb still seems to be a work in progress. Like the whole tablet
market, really. Several vendors have persisted with releasing tablets
running 2.x versions of Android, in spite of Google’s admission that these
versions are not suited to tablets. (Contrast Microsoft’s strict control
over Windows Phone: you can’t build a tablet running that, and that’s that.)

And people have bought them. There have been some remarkable products coming
in under the radar, like the discovery that the Nook Color is so easy to
root, you just put a custom OS on the SD card and it will automatically boot
from that. On top of which, B&N released an official software update to make
it more explicitly Androidish.

In short, if you only keep your eye out for big names and big ad campaigns,
you’re going to miss the real innovation.