• Share
  • Sharebar
  • Share

The iPad announcement have been out for months now and still we only get alot of vaporware from the big hardware manufacturers.

The most promising have been the dell streak here. Its running Android 1.6, snapdragon and 800×480. It will be market in around USD 500

Next Huawei have their Smakit S7. Its 7 Inch Capacitive touch screen, 800×400 resolution, Android 1.6 with 3G

The you have the cheap options such as the SmartQ V7. It is resistive touch screen, 800×480 resolution. ARM11 600 MHz processor. It should cost USD 150

And Lastly the Eken M001 7 inch Tablet should be retailing at USD 100. 600×480 resolution, Android 1.6, VIA MW8505 600MHz

The problem with screen resolution

Almost all of them spot resolution of 800 x 480. That is lower than what the iPad have at 1024 x 768. Is this a big factor?

To me it is, With a 1024 x 768, you could probably display applications at higher DPI. and although you have the same screen size, you have more screen real estate.

The problem with Android 1.6

The open source advocates will point out that Android puts out more versions then the iOS. But really, if thats the case why does it take so long for the hardware manufacturers to switch from basing Android on 2.2 instead of 1.6?

As a consumer i will be thinking “Hey, 2.2. is already out, this thing looks ancient at 1.6. I am not going to buy it.”

The hardware manufacturers will sometimes give the carrot by saying that they will release the 2.2 upgrade later, but really alot of these hardware manufactuers will take a long time to do that and some wouldn’t even do it, since they have sold you the product and already earn from it.

The problem with Custom UI and Laggy Performance

In the next version of Android, Google probably will focus on improving the GUI of Gingerbread instead of adding functionality. They probably have had it with the Custom UI that HTC and all these hardware manufactuers are putting out.

The problem with these UI is that they distort the identity of the Android Device, its like having breast enhancements. It look great but deep down you know they are having it because their natural breast is not good enough.

I asked enough friends what they think of Android and iPhone and really what draws people to the iPhone is that for the freaking first time in their lives, they have a smartphone that

  1. Doesn’t lag when scrolling through list
  2. Doesn’t get laggy ui when transiting between apps and main screen
  3. Looks damn good for its UI
  4. Doesn’t need to soft reset
  5. Doesn’t need to worry about memory issues

The critics will say its not something new. Its not a new feature. To me it is a new feature. Because previously no one is able to do it. Why? Don’t ask me. Right now, Android’s listview probably doesn’t perform as well as the iOS listview.

Do note that when it comes to efficiency, alot will depend on the SDK and what the developers do with it. So really some apps lag on android is because the developers did not do a good job on it.

The problem with not having dedicated UI Controls for tablet

Right now, Android Tablet Manufacturers are just creating a Launcher that looks good on a 800×480 resolution.

However, Google, if you observe is not actively courting developers to develop for this resolution or bigger screens.

In my opinion on a 7 inch screen, the UI should afford to be different from that of a 3.5 inch smartphone.  You can put 2 list views next to each other for more efficency and productivity.

Here are some apps which shows that with greater screen real estate, you need to provide a more comprehensive SDK for it.

2 List views for Appigo ToDo

TweetDeck – Multiple List Views and Quick Access Dropdown Menu

Conclusion

For someone that really wants to see the opensource Android to succeed, i cannot imagine me switching from my iPod Touch 3G to an Android anytime soon because the applications on the iOS is much more polish and functional compare to that of the Android.

The more sub standard hardware being put out will just go about enhancing the reputation of the iPad.

Think more ugly girls make the most beautiful girl stand out more. Yes people around are jealous of her but in reality no one just measures up.

I am really looking forward to Gingerbread in Nov or Dec. Google can really do more to drive this.

Take a look at this Twitter app that Google engineers created based on some UI recommendations made at Google IO:

A quick access menu that is similar to that of iPad’s SDK

A Quick Action Menu that Google have it for Gmail but not made as a official control.