With Honeycomb they have built the frameworks and the UI for productivity apps. "If you build it, they will come." Just wait, you'll see. Hacker community is immaterial.
Look, I'm a fan of Apple/iPad/iOS, but the facts are, iPad is not ready for real productivity, it's a consumption device. Just try to print, or plug a USB device into it. Ooops.
Wow! Google is a genius! How in the hell did they put productivity into their OS? Oh that's right, wasn't it Eric Schmidt who said, "We have enough information about our users that we can actually tell them what to do next." (No wonder their OS is called Android. And they like to accuse Apple of being controlling.) I suppose if they know all of that, you can just set your tablet down and let it work for you? Cool! Soon enough Google won't need any actual users! /sarcasm
What exactly do you need to plug into a tablet? And what peripheral are you going to carry around with you to connect to the tablet? I think the point of using a tablet is lost on you, if you need to start plugging things into it.
My printer and keyboard are both wireless -- no need for plugs or ports.
from the presentation, whatever DED says, it is clear Honeycomb certainly offers more complexity/possibilities to users than the iPod.
Apple has mastered simplification. calling iPad an app warehouse is stupid trash talk. instead, iOS gets out of the way and allows apps to take you wherever you want to go.
whereas Google does not want to get out of the way. Google wants to be THE way you go, via the web, to capture your eyeballs for ads. Android fans are in constant denial about this manipulation - they've drunk the Google-Aide. it's Open!
for the minority of the market - 25%? - that prefers complexity/many possibilities, that's great. for the majority - 75%? - that prefer simplicity/just need limited things, it's not. so over the next few years i expect iPad will hold about 70% of the tablet market, just like the iPod does in its PMP market.
one thing iOS should take from Android is widgets, because, done right, they can greatly simplify your life - which is what iPad is all about. maybe only just a few Apple built-in widgets so the power drain is done right. almost everyone would like a totally unified inbox widget for all messages, texts, tweets, (skype) voice mails, friends posts, and whatever else that was always up to date on your home screen (Windows Phone 7 does this). many, like me, would love a single real time map widget with traffic, radar, and any locational alerts in my vicinity from other apps. perhaps one or two other widgets ... oh yeah, a connections widget with 3G data, wifi choices, bluetooth and other such settings all displayed together at once.
another thing iOS should take from Android to make it simpler is ending the mandatory iTunes setup/sync with a computer. that does stop un-technical people - the elderly in particular - from having an iPad (they can have the phone company set up their wifi/modem). sync IS good with its backup and many other tools, but ought to be optional (and wireless).
Your post is quite odd. You slam Android and then claim to want some of its most popular features. But then claim that Apple should resort to selectively enabling the feature. So basically, you think Jobs should decide which widgets you should get? That's your solution?
As for this claim that widgets drain the batteries....that's totally bogus. A simple look at any Android device's Battery Use page, would tell you that widgets use negligible amounts of power. I've got 10 widgets running on my home screens (Beautiful widgets clock, Google News and Weather, Facebook, Google Places, Power control bar, Google Scoreboard, Catch.com, Epicurious, Google Calendar, Android Market). Out of all those, only one shows up as having consumed any significant amount of battery today: 6% for Google News and Weather. And I used that on each of my half hour bus rides and I set it for a very high refresh interval and set it to pick up images too. DED has no clue what he's talking about on this point. He might have some credibility if he actually picked up an Android device once in a while.
I think it's a matter of time before Apple gives in on this one. I'll love to see the backpedalling on AI and from DED then. "Widgets don't use much battery. And they are so much easier to use. Why would you want to find and open an app anyway?"
I really don't get people who can't see the value in somebody else's innovations.
Nor do I get the criticism here....so Google didn't make Android like the iPad (and it seems that Honeycomb is the direction the rest of Android is heading) and that's bad? But they made older versions of Android like the iPhone and that's bad too? Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I guess. (Though I disagree that Android is like the iPhone.....but Apple fans pretty much think anything touchscreen with icons ripped off the iphone....so...).
A few years ago, there were videos of Bin Ladden in the mountains of Afganistan, along with videos of his men carrying a Mac laptop. Even they know what to depend on. Not a cheap Dell, Lenovo, Asus, Panasonic, Vaio, Gateway or an HP. Must be Apple's product placement people!
If Android does it, it's no big deal. If Apple does it, it's magical. Is that how this works?
If it's no big deal, why can't Apple (which does widgets on the desktop) bring it to iOS?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
Any good iOS developer could write an app that provides equivalent function.
Really? So a developer can write and submit a widget for iOS?
Equivalent function is bogus. It's either a widget or its not. Please point me to an app that has an 'equivalent function'. Find me app that display and lets you peruse service content without opening the app. I'd like to see this 'equivalent function' of yours.
Good for you. Mine aren't. Why should I have to buy a new printer and keyboard just to facilitate a new tablet in the home?
I already had a bluetooth keyboard. (But you can buy a USB adapter for the dock connecter and plug a USB keyboard to it, if that's how you roll.)
In all honesty, I did buy a new printer that was compatible with iOS, however, buying the new printer was cheaper than replacing the ink in my old printer.
New HP Printer - $69,
Ink for old Cannon Printer - $100+
LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jetz
And how do you plan on hooking up that iPad to a television/projector/monitor when you get away from your Mac?
Well if I need to hook it to an external display, then I'll use a cable for that.
Steve Jobs has other things to worry about right now. And if you look at the sales numbers, iPhone is already losing market share, and it's going to be the same with iPad.
Apple rushes premium and premium-priced products to market to cash in on new trends. It's what the company has been doing since their very first products. The market always belongs to someone else in the end.
Harvard Business School?
Yale?
Goldman Sachs?
New York Stock Exchange?
Which of the above are you associated with?
Rush in?
Microsoft sat on the tablet for years, kid. Now, everyone's rushing in to the tablet market and can't hack it.
Rush in?
Who owns the iPod market?
Rush in?
Remember RIM?
Kid, your 2 cents isn't worth 2 cents, go back and get your High School Equivalency Degree before you come back here.
We can't Google-bash when they copy what Apple does and then Google-bash again when they don't.
Sure we can! Witness this thread!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by some internet dude
I like how the article says " Googles busy new Tablet". LOL. what the article fails to understand is that you can make it as busy or nothing but a background on the desktop. But I guess its a matter of choice, something Jobs does not let his iPad sheep have.
It took Android about two years to be the number one mobile OS in the world, i'm guessing it will take Honeycomb and the following version there of even less to come out on top as the number one tablet OS.
You're either assuming that iOS 4.2 is the final release or that 5.x (6.x, etc.) won't bring anything new? PS: not a record for grammatical, spelling and syntax errors/per word of post, but you get honorable mention.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jd_in_sb
Another great DED article calling it as it is with no sugar added.
No sugar, but plenty of salt. And of course DED never cherry-picks which facts he includes and which he doesn't. But I've learned to auto-correct for his slant and always read his articles.
Similarly, there was a movie reviewer some time back, Rex Reed, whose tastes ran very counter to mine, so he was still useful as a guide, i.e., if he disliked something intensely for certain reasons, I knew I probably would.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jw915
I use an Android tablet and an iPad daily and have to say: the author doesn't know what he is talking about.
Microsoft's tablet PCs are a direct adaptation of desktop systems, with cumbersome window management, pen input, and other misfeatures. They are totally different from both Android tablets and iPads.
That much of your post is true. Bad DED!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bodypainter
if they wrap this up in a nice price, they will have a great success with it, simply because once apple is too expensive. apple has now got all the early adopters, apple fans and loyal fanbase. but that's it!
Hardly. With over 2 billion people on the net, the surface has barely been scratched.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amicablealligator
Both OS's will be extremely popular. With options and choices, consumers win. Apple will continue to drive Google to improve, and Google will drive Apple to do the same.
Within 2 years, the Android tablet userbase will surpass iOS's. And with the larger user-base, Android will draw in an increasing number of (iOS) developers.
Once everything is stabilized, Android will own the majority of the smartphone AND tablet space. But iOS will continue to serve its loyal fanbase with a very sharp and purposeful UX for its products.
Nothing will ever be "stabilized"in the tech world - the "delta" (rate of technological change) is only curving upward by the day. iPads and Droidcombs will look as quaint in 10 years as the original Mac does today.
Like, hey, wasn't there this other new Google thing called "Chrome OS"? Totally gonna change the computing paradigm? Haven't heard a word about it in months.
Quote:
Originally Posted by boeyc15
Probably true. How ever, in terms of market share, if there is not a compelling reason to 'standardize' to Android (ala windows and office), IMO Apple has a good chance to be 50% or more. I don't think they will maintain higher unless they can maintain/continue a close price comparison. If they can, watch out, they could dominate like iPod.
Given the problems of fragmentation and "forking" etc., I like Apple's chances to maintain a firm hold on the profitable part of these markets, whatever their user share.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mytdave
It's nice to see that Google didn't just blatantly copy Apple outright like M$ does.
Win Phone 7 is hardly a copy. They're late, they're getting later and may fail, but it is a fresher approach than any we've seen from them in a while.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mytdave
Looks like more fragmentation for Android OS/devices.
Big time. Could be the Achilles heel here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mytdave
Interesting article with some good info, but it does have an obvious DED spin.
Your post is quite odd. You slam Android and then claim to want some of its most popular features. But then claim that Apple should resort to selectively enabling the feature. So basically, you think Jobs should decide which widgets you should get? That's your solution?
As for this claim that widgets drain the batteries....that's totally bogus. A simple look at any Android device's Battery Use page, would tell you that widgets use negligible amounts of power. I've got 10 widgets running on my home screens (Beautiful widgets clock, Google News and Weather, Facebook, Google Places, Power control bar, Google Scoreboard, Catch.com, Epicurious, Google Calendar, Android Market). Out of all those, only one shows up as having consumed any significant amount of battery today: 6% for Google News and Weather. And I used that on each of my half hour bus rides and I set it for a very high refresh interval and set it to pick up images too. DED has no clue what he's talking about on this point. He might have some credibility if he actually picked up an Android device once in a while.
I think it's a matter of time before Apple gives in on this one. I'll love to see the backpedalling on AI and from DED then. "Widgets don't use much battery. And they are so much easier to use. Why would you want to find and open an app anyway?"
I really don't get people who can't see the value in somebody else's innovations.
Nor do I get the criticism here....so Google didn't make Android like the iPad (and it seems that Honeycomb is the direction the rest of Android is heading) and that's bad? But they made older versions of Android like the iPhone and that's bad too? Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I guess. (Though I disagree that Android is like the iPhone.....but Apple fans pretty much think anything touchscreen with icons ripped off the iphone....so...).
Its not the battery issue why widgets will never be on the iPad, its the data they consume. Most iPad owners are on a capped data plan which they'll definitely go over plus how can widgets on wifi only iPad a gets its updates if there's no constant data connection?
In the iPad 2, Apple will continue to do what it did really well with the iPad, maintain a simple but focused user interface.
Well that 's a sure thing, since the iPad will debut with iOS 4.x. Apple has yet to say ANYTHING about iOS 5. So, all of Android's gee-whiz features may not be anything unique.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amicablealligator
Overtime, both will be drawn closer to one another and borrow certain features. iOS will borrow Android's notifications bar, Android will borrow some of iOS's gestures, but they each will continue to maintain the above stance.
If iOS "borrows" any features from anywhere, it'll be from Mac OS X, not Android. It's too bad most Android fans don't understand that Apple also makes a full desktop OS from which iOS was born. All features that iOS gets, come from or will come from Mac OS X, not copied or "borrowed" from Android. Apple will implement features from Mac OS X as they see fit.
All of Android's so called "firsts" are nothing new to Apple. Sorry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amicablealligator
Within 2 years, the Android tablet userbase will surpass iOS's. And with the larger user-base, Android will draw in an increasing number of (iOS) developers.
Once everything is stabilized, Android will own the majority of the smartphone AND tablet space. But iOS will continue to serve its loyal fanbase with a very sharp and purposeful UX for its products.
Two things here, having a larger user base doesn't automatically equate to more developers that produce decent work. Those developers go to where the money is and time and time again, it has been shown that iOS users are more willing to pay for apps.
Also, what makes you think Android phones aren't selling well because EVERYONE needs a phone and they're subsidized? Those two things alone draw a long, heavy line between that market and the tablet market. Not everyone NEEDS a tablet, and those who may want one may not want to pay for another service contract to get one at a subsidized price.
And at full price it is going to be very hard for other manufacturers to match Apple's price. More than any other manufacturer Apple has the economies of scale on its side. After the release of iPad 2, Apple could very well keep a 16GB WiFi iPad 1 around to sell for $399, as they do with the iPhone and still make a decent profit.
Just as Google came out with a relative copy of iOS and the whole Android phone market began, but fanboys of the platform denounce everything Apple? Who's worse? Android owes everything to Apple. The entire metaphor of the touch screen smartphone is entirely the work of Apple. They made it work and sold it to the public. Android is sought out as an alternative.
There were touch screen phones before the iPhone, just not as easy to use. The current form factor of touch screen phones is would've happened with or without Apple. Stop crying about everyone copying it. I don't see anybody crying how Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, and even Apple copied Phillips form factor for flat panel TVs/monitors.
Android has no chance with Honeycomb or the following version because tablet game is different. In smartphone, Android can stuff carriers' channel with POS and let carriers distribute them, but for tablet they can't do that. Tablet is not considered as important as phone so people eager to throw money for 2nd data plan, so they must be distributed via retail store. Galaxy Tab tried but it's too late; iPad is everywhere with agressive pricing, and "failed quite smoothly" with 16% return rate.
No, there isn't a Push notification system like iOS has, if there is a Twitter widget they connect every X min and close the connection.
Edit: An app that polls the network every X min doesn't have to be running on the background, there is a system that puts an "alarm" and that wakes the needed chunk of the service to do whatever it must do.
Ahh... Interesting!
Does Android have any Push Notifications used in the system.
If not, there is a potentially huge advantage for iOS if Apple decides to implement an Honeycomb-style widget system.
A very robust PNS system is already in place and used by iOS for system apps such as mail, messaging, etc.
Not all the PNS capabilities are currently available to developers...
But, it would not be too difficult for Apple to allow third-party services such as Twitter, YouTube, etc. to post notifications to an aggregator PNS server.
Apple already provides this capability on its servers for developer's apps.
Periodically, if any notification exists for a device, all notifications are pushed to the device.
Presently, what happens at the device is limited to an alarm, a badge, a popup message (any or all).
The apps are responsible for recognizing that a Push Notification has occurred and then to download the data (messages) and taking the appropriate action -- the next time the app is opened.
If Apple were to supply a set of widgets and a widget-data-retriever (or let developers do the same) -- then this would be superior to the Honeycomb implementation:
-- notifications would appear as they occur, rather than on preset poll intervals
-- the power drain would be significantly less
-- fewer connections and less bandwidth would be used
Your post is quite odd. You slam Android and then claim to want some of its most popular features. But then claim that Apple should resort to selectively enabling the feature. So basically, you think Jobs should decide which widgets you should get? That's your solution?
what's hard to understand? my point is Apple iOS and the iPad prioritize simplicity of use, limiting its possible uses as a trade off ("curated"). whereas Android Honeycomb prioritizes maximizing possibilities of use, making it more complicated to use as a trade off ("open").
take your own pick. but most consumers are not techies and so will choose simplicity. i'm a hobbyist myself, but after 25 years of fiddling with computers i've gotten tired messing with it all and want the damn things to "just work." after a 1000 or so tweaks, the thrill of bells and whistles is gone.
so i see widgets - if done well - as UI simplifiers, and think iPad should have them. and i expect Apple would indeed do them well. there is only a short list of things that would clearly benefit from widget aggregation as opposed to a dedicated app - communication services, location services, connectivity services ... what else? maybe a few more ...
likewise with not needing a computer sync. i see that as consistent with the fundamental simplification concept of the iPad.
of course, "widgets" first appeared with Apple's Tiger OS in 2005. not the same capabilities as we are talking about, but certainly the precursor of the idea (i wish Apple would stop confining them to Dashboard). MS copied them blatantly as "gadgets" in Vista. Google didn't even bother to change that name for Android's improved version. Whereas MS calls them "tiles" for WP7. but it's not like Apple has no right to use the concept.
If Android does it, it's no big deal. If Apple does it, it's magical. Is that how this works?
If it's no big deal, why can't Apple (which does widgets on the desktop) bring it to iOS?
Really? So a developer can write and submit a widget for iOS?
Equivalent function is bogus. It's either a widget or its not. Please point me to an app that has an 'equivalent function'. Find me app that display and lets you peruse service content without opening the app. I'd like to see this 'equivalent function' of yours.
If you had read my post objectively, you would have understood that it is no big deal from a technological standpoint.
I used the developer example to illustrate that there is no difficult programming being done.
Certainly Apple does not currently allow this.
Also, Apple, currently, has no equivalent to what Honeycomb Widgets offer.
There could be several reasons for this -- but I don't believe it is related to the difficulty.
In a later post I describe how Apple or a third-party developer could use expanded PNS (Push Notification services) to deliver an equivalent, if not superior, implementation.
I think Apple should consider this for some uses of the iPad and iPhone.
Also, Apple, currently, has no equivalent to what Honeycomb Widgets offer.
There could be several reasons for this -- but I don't believe it is related to the difficulty.
In a later post I describe how Apple or a third-party developer could use expanded PNS (Post Notification services) to deliver an equivalent, if not superior, implementation.
I think Apple should consider this for some uses of the iPad and iPhone.
well, there might be hope even now. if Apple were going to provide its own group of widgets for iPad2 (you would be able to select what notifications/services/info to push/aggregate for a given kind of widget in its app settings), there would be no hint of that in the 4.3 OS beta. it would be something that got unveiled as a surprise at the launch announcement, like iBooks was. i'm sure the launch event is coming sometime this month ... so we'll know soon.
I'm tempted to buy an Android tablet just to annoy DED.
I think you would only be annoying yourself.
This one article is paying this months bills for AI. Keep the Android fans focus and there's money to be made on an Apple lover site! I still swoon over how ironic that really is.
Daniel, you did your job well with this one. I found it an enjoyable read, and you get the hits. Top notch!
I actually felt the need to register so I could reply to this.
I fail to believe that Apple customers who have above average income and hopefully above average IQ are incapable of assessing a competing product from a neutral, non-biased perspective. Seriously people!
This article omitted the "buy on the web automatically downloaded to phone" aspect of the web Android Market. You might love iTunes, and connecting your iPhone via USB, but surely you can see that there might be some merit in browsing on your computer and having it appear on the phone automatically? It's a good feature, which is why the author chose to omit it.
Similarly, this is a laughable pot shot:
"The difference is that Apple's web store links to iTunes for purchases, which can be made via credit cards (since 2008); Google still only accepts its own Google Checkout for payments."
How is registering for an iTunes account and adding your credit card details any different from registering for a Google Checkout account and adding your credit card details? How do you think you pay via Google Checkout if it isn't via a card?! Come on!
Caveat: massive Apple fan since 2003.
Likes reading objective news and forming his own opinion.
So I'm guessing you don't own an iPad. Once you set it up, you can buy anything you want and it downloads directly to the iPad. Your computer will never know about it unless you sync. You can set it up and never sync it. Just keep downloading away....
Comments
With Honeycomb they have built the frameworks and the UI for productivity apps. "If you build it, they will come." Just wait, you'll see. Hacker community is immaterial.
Look, I'm a fan of Apple/iPad/iOS, but the facts are, iPad is not ready for real productivity, it's a consumption device. Just try to print, or plug a USB device into it. Ooops.
Wow! Google is a genius! How in the hell did they put productivity into their OS? Oh that's right, wasn't it Eric Schmidt who said, "We have enough information about our users that we can actually tell them what to do next." (No wonder their OS is called Android. And they like to accuse Apple of being controlling.) I suppose if they know all of that, you can just set your tablet down and let it work for you? Cool! Soon enough Google won't need any actual users! /sarcasm
What exactly do you need to plug into a tablet? And what peripheral are you going to carry around with you to connect to the tablet? I think the point of using a tablet is lost on you, if you need to start plugging things into it.
My printer and keyboard are both wireless -- no need for plugs or ports.
from the presentation, whatever DED says, it is clear Honeycomb certainly offers more complexity/possibilities to users than the iPod.
Apple has mastered simplification. calling iPad an app warehouse is stupid trash talk. instead, iOS gets out of the way and allows apps to take you wherever you want to go.
whereas Google does not want to get out of the way. Google wants to be THE way you go, via the web, to capture your eyeballs for ads. Android fans are in constant denial about this manipulation - they've drunk the Google-Aide. it's Open!
for the minority of the market - 25%? - that prefers complexity/many possibilities, that's great. for the majority - 75%? - that prefer simplicity/just need limited things, it's not. so over the next few years i expect iPad will hold about 70% of the tablet market, just like the iPod does in its PMP market.
one thing iOS should take from Android is widgets, because, done right, they can greatly simplify your life - which is what iPad is all about. maybe only just a few Apple built-in widgets so the power drain is done right. almost everyone would like a totally unified inbox widget for all messages, texts, tweets, (skype) voice mails, friends posts, and whatever else that was always up to date on your home screen (Windows Phone 7 does this). many, like me, would love a single real time map widget with traffic, radar, and any locational alerts in my vicinity from other apps. perhaps one or two other widgets ... oh yeah, a connections widget with 3G data, wifi choices, bluetooth and other such settings all displayed together at once.
another thing iOS should take from Android to make it simpler is ending the mandatory iTunes setup/sync with a computer. that does stop un-technical people - the elderly in particular - from having an iPad (they can have the phone company set up their wifi/modem). sync IS good with its backup and many other tools, but ought to be optional (and wireless).
Your post is quite odd. You slam Android and then claim to want some of its most popular features. But then claim that Apple should resort to selectively enabling the feature. So basically, you think Jobs should decide which widgets you should get? That's your solution?
As for this claim that widgets drain the batteries....that's totally bogus. A simple look at any Android device's Battery Use page, would tell you that widgets use negligible amounts of power. I've got 10 widgets running on my home screens (Beautiful widgets clock, Google News and Weather, Facebook, Google Places, Power control bar, Google Scoreboard, Catch.com, Epicurious, Google Calendar, Android Market). Out of all those, only one shows up as having consumed any significant amount of battery today: 6% for Google News and Weather. And I used that on each of my half hour bus rides and I set it for a very high refresh interval and set it to pick up images too. DED has no clue what he's talking about on this point. He might have some credibility if he actually picked up an Android device once in a while.
I think it's a matter of time before Apple gives in on this one. I'll love to see the backpedalling on AI and from DED then. "Widgets don't use much battery. And they are so much easier to use. Why would you want to find and open an app anyway?"
I really don't get people who can't see the value in somebody else's innovations.
Nor do I get the criticism here....so Google didn't make Android like the iPad (and it seems that Honeycomb is the direction the rest of Android is heading) and that's bad? But they made older versions of Android like the iPhone and that's bad too? Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I guess. (Though I disagree that Android is like the iPhone.....but Apple fans pretty much think anything touchscreen with icons ripped off the iphone....so...).
My printer and keyboard are both wireless -- no need for plugs or ports.
Good for you. Mine aren't. Why should I have to buy a new printer and keyboard just to facilitate a new tablet in the home?
And how do you plan on hooking up that iPad to a television/projector/monitor when you get away from your Mac?
So that Google can tailor ads just for you!!
Just wait till WebM then we'll know the King of the Castle "ALL MINE.. ALL MINE!"
And like good droges you'll love it!
PS
Daniel -- Dan should be called
"Dan Dare" after the best comic hero EVER and a great visionary author (?) that was the first Steve Jobs if only in imagination!
You know there is a world outside USA, don't you?
I really have to laugh.
A few years ago, there were videos of Bin Ladden in the mountains of Afganistan, along with videos of his men carrying a Mac laptop. Even they know what to depend on. Not a cheap Dell, Lenovo, Asus, Panasonic, Vaio, Gateway or an HP. Must be Apple's product placement people!
But, that's not as big a deal as it appears!
If Android does it, it's no big deal. If Apple does it, it's magical. Is that how this works?
If it's no big deal, why can't Apple (which does widgets on the desktop) bring it to iOS?
Any good iOS developer could write an app that provides equivalent function.
Really? So a developer can write and submit a widget for iOS?
Equivalent function is bogus. It's either a widget or its not. Please point me to an app that has an 'equivalent function'. Find me app that display and lets you peruse service content without opening the app. I'd like to see this 'equivalent function' of yours.
Good for you. Mine aren't. Why should I have to buy a new printer and keyboard just to facilitate a new tablet in the home?
I already had a bluetooth keyboard. (But you can buy a USB adapter for the dock connecter and plug a USB keyboard to it, if that's how you roll.)
In all honesty, I did buy a new printer that was compatible with iOS, however, buying the new printer was cheaper than replacing the ink in my old printer.
New HP Printer - $69,
Ink for old Cannon Printer - $100+
LOL
And how do you plan on hooking up that iPad to a television/projector/monitor when you get away from your Mac?
Well if I need to hook it to an external display, then I'll use a cable for that.
Steve Jobs has other things to worry about right now. And if you look at the sales numbers, iPhone is already losing market share, and it's going to be the same with iPad.
Apple rushes premium and premium-priced products to market to cash in on new trends. It's what the company has been doing since their very first products. The market always belongs to someone else in the end.
Harvard Business School?
Yale?
Goldman Sachs?
New York Stock Exchange?
Which of the above are you associated with?
Rush in?
Microsoft sat on the tablet for years, kid. Now, everyone's rushing in to the tablet market and can't hack it.
Rush in?
Who owns the iPod market?
Rush in?
Remember RIM?
Kid, your 2 cents isn't worth 2 cents, go back and get your High School Equivalency Degree before you come back here.
We can't Google-bash when they copy what Apple does and then Google-bash again when they don't.
Sure we can! Witness this thread!!
I like how the article says " Googles busy new Tablet". LOL. what the article fails to understand is that you can make it as busy or nothing but a background on the desktop. But I guess its a matter of choice, something Jobs does not let his iPad sheep have.
It took Android about two years to be the number one mobile OS in the world, i'm guessing it will take Honeycomb and the following version there of even less to come out on top as the number one tablet OS.
You're either assuming that iOS 4.2 is the final release or that 5.x (6.x, etc.) won't bring anything new? PS: not a record for grammatical, spelling and syntax errors/per word of post, but you get honorable mention.
Another great DED article calling it as it is with no sugar added.
No sugar, but plenty of salt. And of course DED never cherry-picks which facts he includes and which he doesn't. But I've learned to auto-correct for his slant and always read his articles.
Similarly, there was a movie reviewer some time back, Rex Reed, whose tastes ran very counter to mine, so he was still useful as a guide, i.e., if he disliked something intensely for certain reasons, I knew I probably would.
I use an Android tablet and an iPad daily and have to say: the author doesn't know what he is talking about.
Microsoft's tablet PCs are a direct adaptation of desktop systems, with cumbersome window management, pen input, and other misfeatures. They are totally different from both Android tablets and iPads.
That much of your post is true. Bad DED!!
if they wrap this up in a nice price, they will have a great success with it, simply because once apple is too expensive. apple has now got all the early adopters, apple fans and loyal fanbase. but that's it!
Hardly. With over 2 billion people on the net, the surface has barely been scratched.
Both OS's will be extremely popular. With options and choices, consumers win. Apple will continue to drive Google to improve, and Google will drive Apple to do the same.
Within 2 years, the Android tablet userbase will surpass iOS's. And with the larger user-base, Android will draw in an increasing number of (iOS) developers.
Once everything is stabilized, Android will own the majority of the smartphone AND tablet space. But iOS will continue to serve its loyal fanbase with a very sharp and purposeful UX for its products.
Nothing will ever be "stabilized"in the tech world - the "delta" (rate of technological change) is only curving upward by the day. iPads and Droidcombs will look as quaint in 10 years as the original Mac does today.
Like, hey, wasn't there this other new Google thing called "Chrome OS"? Totally gonna change the computing paradigm? Haven't heard a word about it in months.
Probably true. How ever, in terms of market share, if there is not a compelling reason to 'standardize' to Android (ala windows and office), IMO Apple has a good chance to be 50% or more. I don't think they will maintain higher unless they can maintain/continue a close price comparison. If they can, watch out, they could dominate like iPod.
Given the problems of fragmentation and "forking" etc., I like Apple's chances to maintain a firm hold on the profitable part of these markets, whatever their user share.
It's nice to see that Google didn't just blatantly copy Apple outright like M$ does.
Win Phone 7 is hardly a copy. They're late, they're getting later and may fail, but it is a fresher approach than any we've seen from them in a while.
Looks like more fragmentation for Android OS/devices.
Big time. Could be the Achilles heel here.
Interesting article with some good info, but it does have an obvious DED spin.
Ya'think?!?
And the world will end on 2.012
It will be fanboys against fandroids
Your post is quite odd. You slam Android and then claim to want some of its most popular features. But then claim that Apple should resort to selectively enabling the feature. So basically, you think Jobs should decide which widgets you should get? That's your solution?
As for this claim that widgets drain the batteries....that's totally bogus. A simple look at any Android device's Battery Use page, would tell you that widgets use negligible amounts of power. I've got 10 widgets running on my home screens (Beautiful widgets clock, Google News and Weather, Facebook, Google Places, Power control bar, Google Scoreboard, Catch.com, Epicurious, Google Calendar, Android Market). Out of all those, only one shows up as having consumed any significant amount of battery today: 6% for Google News and Weather. And I used that on each of my half hour bus rides and I set it for a very high refresh interval and set it to pick up images too. DED has no clue what he's talking about on this point. He might have some credibility if he actually picked up an Android device once in a while.
I think it's a matter of time before Apple gives in on this one. I'll love to see the backpedalling on AI and from DED then. "Widgets don't use much battery. And they are so much easier to use. Why would you want to find and open an app anyway?"
I really don't get people who can't see the value in somebody else's innovations.
Nor do I get the criticism here....so Google didn't make Android like the iPad (and it seems that Honeycomb is the direction the rest of Android is heading) and that's bad? But they made older versions of Android like the iPhone and that's bad too? Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I guess. (Though I disagree that Android is like the iPhone.....but Apple fans pretty much think anything touchscreen with icons ripped off the iphone....so...).
Its not the battery issue why widgets will never be on the iPad, its the data they consume. Most iPad owners are on a capped data plan which they'll definitely go over plus how can widgets on wifi only iPad a gets its updates if there's no constant data connection?
In the iPad 2, Apple will continue to do what it did really well with the iPad, maintain a simple but focused user interface.
Well that 's a sure thing, since the iPad will debut with iOS 4.x. Apple has yet to say ANYTHING about iOS 5. So, all of Android's gee-whiz features may not be anything unique.
Overtime, both will be drawn closer to one another and borrow certain features. iOS will borrow Android's notifications bar, Android will borrow some of iOS's gestures, but they each will continue to maintain the above stance.
If iOS "borrows" any features from anywhere, it'll be from Mac OS X, not Android. It's too bad most Android fans don't understand that Apple also makes a full desktop OS from which iOS was born. All features that iOS gets, come from or will come from Mac OS X, not copied or "borrowed" from Android. Apple will implement features from Mac OS X as they see fit.
All of Android's so called "firsts" are nothing new to Apple. Sorry.
Within 2 years, the Android tablet userbase will surpass iOS's. And with the larger user-base, Android will draw in an increasing number of (iOS) developers.
Once everything is stabilized, Android will own the majority of the smartphone AND tablet space. But iOS will continue to serve its loyal fanbase with a very sharp and purposeful UX for its products.
Two things here, having a larger user base doesn't automatically equate to more developers that produce decent work. Those developers go to where the money is and time and time again, it has been shown that iOS users are more willing to pay for apps.
Also, what makes you think Android phones aren't selling well because EVERYONE needs a phone and they're subsidized? Those two things alone draw a long, heavy line between that market and the tablet market. Not everyone NEEDS a tablet, and those who may want one may not want to pay for another service contract to get one at a subsidized price.
And at full price it is going to be very hard for other manufacturers to match Apple's price. More than any other manufacturer Apple has the economies of scale on its side. After the release of iPad 2, Apple could very well keep a 16GB WiFi iPad 1 around to sell for $399, as they do with the iPhone and still make a decent profit.
Just as Google came out with a relative copy of iOS and the whole Android phone market began, but fanboys of the platform denounce everything Apple? Who's worse? Android owes everything to Apple. The entire metaphor of the touch screen smartphone is entirely the work of Apple. They made it work and sold it to the public. Android is sought out as an alternative.
There were touch screen phones before the iPhone, just not as easy to use. The current form factor of touch screen phones is would've happened with or without Apple. Stop crying about everyone copying it. I don't see anybody crying how Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, and even Apple copied Phillips form factor for flat panel TVs/monitors.
No, there isn't a Push notification system like iOS has, if there is a Twitter widget they connect every X min and close the connection.
Edit: An app that polls the network every X min doesn't have to be running on the background, there is a system that puts an "alarm" and that wakes the needed chunk of the service to do whatever it must do.
Ahh... Interesting!
Does Android have any Push Notifications used in the system.
If not, there is a potentially huge advantage for iOS if Apple decides to implement an Honeycomb-style widget system.
A very robust PNS system is already in place and used by iOS for system apps such as mail, messaging, etc.
Not all the PNS capabilities are currently available to developers...
But, it would not be too difficult for Apple to allow third-party services such as Twitter, YouTube, etc. to post notifications to an aggregator PNS server.
Apple already provides this capability on its servers for developer's apps.
Periodically, if any notification exists for a device, all notifications are pushed to the device.
Presently, what happens at the device is limited to an alarm, a badge, a popup message (any or all).
The apps are responsible for recognizing that a Push Notification has occurred and then to download the data (messages) and taking the appropriate action -- the next time the app is opened.
If Apple were to supply a set of widgets and a widget-data-retriever (or let developers do the same) -- then this would be superior to the Honeycomb implementation:
-- notifications would appear as they occur, rather than on preset poll intervals
-- the power drain would be significantly less
-- fewer connections and less bandwidth would be used
Your post is quite odd. You slam Android and then claim to want some of its most popular features. But then claim that Apple should resort to selectively enabling the feature. So basically, you think Jobs should decide which widgets you should get? That's your solution?
what's hard to understand? my point is Apple iOS and the iPad prioritize simplicity of use, limiting its possible uses as a trade off ("curated"). whereas Android Honeycomb prioritizes maximizing possibilities of use, making it more complicated to use as a trade off ("open").
take your own pick. but most consumers are not techies and so will choose simplicity. i'm a hobbyist myself, but after 25 years of fiddling with computers i've gotten tired messing with it all and want the damn things to "just work." after a 1000 or so tweaks, the thrill of bells and whistles is gone.
so i see widgets - if done well - as UI simplifiers, and think iPad should have them. and i expect Apple would indeed do them well. there is only a short list of things that would clearly benefit from widget aggregation as opposed to a dedicated app - communication services, location services, connectivity services ... what else? maybe a few more ...
likewise with not needing a computer sync. i see that as consistent with the fundamental simplification concept of the iPad.
of course, "widgets" first appeared with Apple's Tiger OS in 2005. not the same capabilities as we are talking about, but certainly the precursor of the idea (i wish Apple would stop confining them to Dashboard). MS copied them blatantly as "gadgets" in Vista. Google didn't even bother to change that name for Android's improved version. Whereas MS calls them "tiles" for WP7. but it's not like Apple has no right to use the concept.
If Android does it, it's no big deal. If Apple does it, it's magical. Is that how this works?
If it's no big deal, why can't Apple (which does widgets on the desktop) bring it to iOS?
Really? So a developer can write and submit a widget for iOS?
Equivalent function is bogus. It's either a widget or its not. Please point me to an app that has an 'equivalent function'. Find me app that display and lets you peruse service content without opening the app. I'd like to see this 'equivalent function' of yours.
If you had read my post objectively, you would have understood that it is no big deal from a technological standpoint.
I used the developer example to illustrate that there is no difficult programming being done.
Certainly Apple does not currently allow this.
Also, Apple, currently, has no equivalent to what Honeycomb Widgets offer.
There could be several reasons for this -- but I don't believe it is related to the difficulty.
In a later post I describe how Apple or a third-party developer could use expanded PNS (Push Notification services) to deliver an equivalent, if not superior, implementation.
I think Apple should consider this for some uses of the iPad and iPhone.
Also, Apple, currently, has no equivalent to what Honeycomb Widgets offer.
There could be several reasons for this -- but I don't believe it is related to the difficulty.
In a later post I describe how Apple or a third-party developer could use expanded PNS (Post Notification services) to deliver an equivalent, if not superior, implementation.
I think Apple should consider this for some uses of the iPad and iPhone.
well, there might be hope even now. if Apple were going to provide its own group of widgets for iPad2 (you would be able to select what notifications/services/info to push/aggregate for a given kind of widget in its app settings), there would be no hint of that in the 4.3 OS beta. it would be something that got unveiled as a surprise at the launch announcement, like iBooks was. i'm sure the launch event is coming sometime this month ... so we'll know soon.
I'm tempted to buy an Android tablet just to annoy DED.
I think you would only be annoying yourself.
This one article is paying this months bills for AI. Keep the Android fans focus and there's money to be made on an Apple lover site! I still swoon over how ironic that really is.
Daniel, you did your job well with this one. I found it an enjoyable read, and you get the hits. Top notch!
I actually felt the need to register so I could reply to this.
I fail to believe that Apple customers who have above average income and hopefully above average IQ are incapable of assessing a competing product from a neutral, non-biased perspective. Seriously people!
This article omitted the "buy on the web automatically downloaded to phone" aspect of the web Android Market. You might love iTunes, and connecting your iPhone via USB, but surely you can see that there might be some merit in browsing on your computer and having it appear on the phone automatically? It's a good feature, which is why the author chose to omit it.
Similarly, this is a laughable pot shot:
"The difference is that Apple's web store links to iTunes for purchases, which can be made via credit cards (since 2008); Google still only accepts its own Google Checkout for payments."
How is registering for an iTunes account and adding your credit card details any different from registering for a Google Checkout account and adding your credit card details? How do you think you pay via Google Checkout if it isn't via a card?! Come on!
Caveat: massive Apple fan since 2003.
Likes reading objective news and forming his own opinion.
So I'm guessing you don't own an iPad. Once you set it up, you can buy anything you want and it downloads directly to the iPad. Your computer will never know about it unless you sync. You can set it up and never sync it. Just keep downloading away....