[dundee] Android Adventures - and old machines!

[lug at seany.us]

----- "Lee Hughes" <toxicnaan at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> From: "Lee Hughes" <toxicnaan at yahoo.co.uk>
> To: "Tayside Linux User Group" <dundee at lists.lug.org.uk>
> Sent: Monday, 6 July, 2009 13:22:55 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
> Subject: [dundee] Android Adventures - and old machines!
>
> I've been playing around with google android 1.5sdk .. very
> interesting.
> 
> I've been looking at a new phone, and however much I look at an
> i-phone,
> I just can't get over it's a locked down piece of crap. Okay, it's
> slick, very slick,
> but I want to write apps, they might not be very good, and just say
> 'hello world'..
> but hey, there my apps, and I want to run them.!!! with out the
> overload apple saying what I can run and not run.
> 
> I was also looking at getting a separate gps device too, but android
> phones seem
> to come with FULL gps, dunno how well it functions but this certianly
> looks like an interesting app
> 
> http://www.andnav.org/
> 
> and at last, I can get away from google maps. (and get lost ;-) ). I
> like the idea
> of making my own maps, all online maps seems to be very driver
> centric, i.e cars, if you on foot or bike, you feel a bit left out!
> 
> if you want to check android out (either in a vm, or proper hardware)
> I've
> had some success with livedroid
> 
> http://groups.google.com/group/android-porting/browse_thread/thread/4a0cf72d2af842fa/3714e10cb449465e?lnk=raot
> 
> I've not worked out how to install new apps yet, I have to pretend the
> machine
> has a sd card... documentation a bit thin on the ground at the moment.
> 
> One thing I was thinking about it is using android for older laptops
> and the like,
> okay, puppy/dsl really do fill a gap, but android devices might be
> lots of fun too,
> for older machines with limited ram (64mb), where X11 just wont fit.
> 
> it's been nice playing with the platform source too, it seems very
> complete, which is a refreshing change , most embedded stuff usually
> have a few vital files missing , preventing you from compiling/porting
> easily :-(.
> 
> Eclipse setup and install was fairly straight forward, and I was up
> and writing apps quickly. If you download from eclipse, make sure you
> just grab the java one, i had compilation trouble with the Enterprise
> java eclipse.
> 
> downside (or perhaps upside) , you can't use qt or gtk toolset, so no
> direct porting
> of linux giu apps. However I think there is movement on writing native
> C apps, however the are restirected to the console at the moment.
> 
> if you get a moment I suggest you have a play!!!! it's fun!
> 
> http://developer.android.com/
> 
> 
> 
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I have been wanting to try android for a while so I will give this a go when I have some spare time for sure!

However it is my understanding that current Android phones on the market force you to submit to Google rather than Apple, which doesn't really solve the problem of Apple saying what you can and can't do.

I cannot confirm these points so some of them may be true, some of them might not. But they are things I have heard that have put me off Android:

- First off tried to get a demo of the G1 in store only to meet "Sorry, requires you to register the phone to your Google account before you can use the device. For me that is just a big no-no, I want to be in control of my personal information, not Google.

- You do not have the ultimate say in what you can and can't do. Should you wish to "play" with your phone, you will need to so via means of an exploit, which are most likely patched over the air quickly. Not to mention doing this most likely is a breach of contract on your part...

- You need to buy a developers version of the G1 to officially develop apps / run your own code.

Doesn't sound too open afterall, does it?

With that said, As soon as Wifi drivers etc. work on the Android port for a spare WM device I have, I'll give it a try! Until then I'll be using hacked apart cooked ROMs for WM... as closed as it is you get more control... for now!

If anyone can convince me that Android is not just another way for Google to dominate the planet "all your data are belong to us", please let me know! It's scary enough that Google Latitude can already broadcast my location within about 6 metres to the public using the built in GPS on phones should you dare to enable the feature.