Gphone Plaza

While I was waiting for downloading the SDK and Eclipse for Android, I had my lunch in a Chinese Restaurant with Dim Sum - several different small dishes each with different flavor and taste.

Then I got back and installed the Android SDK, and play with it for a while. I found the development is similar to order a Dim Sum lunch - put several different dishes together to make your favorite lunch. You can put several gadgets together to form your own application. The gadgets may come from the SDK from Android, or from future user application - I am looking forward to those fancy ideas.

I need to watch out on how those gadgets can be seamlessly grouped together. One thing seems the Android development team had a very good job: each application seems not really multi-threading, but stacking on each other. This way, the memory management and event order would be simpler. Another tricky stuff is the inter-gadget OO communication, which makes application flexible and cleaner.

Hello Android. Highlights:

• What is it? A development platform for handset devices by Open Handset Alliance: www.openhandsetalliance.org
• What is the technology? Java on Linux with application framework ready to go and Eclipse for the SDK.
• What is the market strategy? Open development environment to attract free developers involvement, including an $10 mil challenge award.
• What is the opportunity for developers? To create next myspace or facebook (business-wise, not technical-wise).

For developers, the Android SDK seems provide a very good application framework for mobile applications. With the telecom world going mobile, who knows if the android can become the next big thing like MS-DOS/Windows? Some survey shows in some Asian countries people are starting moving away from PC to mobile phones.

Let’s have fun with it - stay tuned for my “Hello Android!”, the 1st application experience.

Google’s Press Release announces a new alliance and the motion of a new mobile platform — Android. Android is an open source operating system based on Linux that would be applicable on allegedly many mobile devices from handset manufacturers including HTC, LG, Motorola, and Samsung.

It would then open up quite a few opportunities for developers to extend functionalities of existing and new cell phones. The potential of mobile platforms could be realized here. Soon, multimedia on cell phones will not be limited by the poor drivers or lack of software features. Android separates the duties of cell phone manufacturers and lets them focus on hardware capabilities to compete for a common software platform.

Overall, good news for consumers and opportunities for developers, which eventually lead to more profit for manufacturers and network operators.