Posted on 07/21/2010 12:22:30 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
You have to hand it to Motorola; as little as a year ago their future looked bleak. Android was still in its infancy and lacking polish, mainstream devices running it were few, and there weren’t public or visible signs of any forthcoming devices which would challenge the dominance of BlackBerry or iOS, especially from Motorola.
A few months later, they launched the Motorola Droid, and a few months after the floodgates opened up - out has poured a steady stream of relatively polished devices running Android 2.x.
It’s been breakneck almost, with new flagships every 3 months on average - the latest is Motorola’s Droid X on Verizon - henceforth just 'X.'
You also have to hand it to Verizon for getting its act together. Previously, they were infamous for crippling device hardware and OSes - the Touch Pro notoriously lacked an entire row of keys, and half the RAM. Their smartphone lineup also used to consist entirely of BlackBerries and Windows Mobile devices. That’s all changed.
Since the first Motorola Droid, they’ve been probably the single most vocal proponent of Android, embracing and billing their lineup of “Droids” as serious iPhone alternatives. The unique combination of being the largest carrier and the largest 3G footprint (and the perception of having above average coverage) has resulted in massive growth of the Android platform. That’s definitely a turnaround for two giants.
Eight months after launch, the Motorola Droid is now a relatively old piece of kit. It’s amazing how fast the market is moving - the fact that an 8 month old handset is now obsolete is a testament to just how breakneck this pace is.
(Excerpt) Read more at anandtech.com ...
Study up before you get anything....I have been down two wrong paths now.
The Vibrant will be powered by Android 2.1 with Samsung’s TouchWiz 3.0 user interface.
Intrinsity tech is in the latest Samsung chips, and Samsung fabs the Apple A4, too. In fact, the A4 looks a lot like a tweaked version of the Samsung Hummingbird chip that's in your wife's phone. Sorry, she doesn't have the fastest processor.
However, her phone will run slower than an iPhone until your carrier releases Android 2.2. Much of Android's slowness, and a reason why the iPhone beats all Android phones in the benchmarks, is because Android apps run in a Java virtual machine, and Android didn't implement JIT compiling (a major speed booster) until 2.2.
Anyway did find this review at Anantech also:
A Taste of Froyo: Google Android 2.2 Explored
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Saumitra Bhagwat on 6/23/2010 1:03:00 AM
Since last year, the Android platform has seen a string of sugary, feature-filled updates starting with Cupcake (v1.5), followed by Donut (v1.6) and finally Éclair (v2.0/2.1) in November 2009. Each release has effectively addressed bugs and has introduced several new features like UI tweaks, Exchange support, HTML5 support and so on. Android v2.2 continues the tradition of the confectionary-themed nomenclature and is codenamed “Froyo”; short for Frozen Yogurt if you didn't know. The new features and improvements in Froyo aren’t exactly groundbreaking by themselves, but in the grand scheme of things, they’ve made Android an extremely refined, usable and robust OS that is a real alternative to other mobile operating systems out today. Couple this with manufacturers like HTC churning out some seriously capable hardware and you’ve got the best version of Android to date. Read on for the full review!
Android 2.2 isn't officially available on any device today. The only things floating around are leaked builds that aren't final. The closest you can get is the leaked Android 2.2 build available for the Google Nexus One on T-Mobile. It is feature complete and polished enough to upgrade as if it were final. Even AT&T Nexus One users don't have a simple path to upgrading yet - without rooting. In the coming months we expect to see the major Android devices get 2.2 (e.g. the Nexus One and the Motorola Droid) while towards the end of the year HTC users will finally be able to jump on board.
This staggered deployment is an unfortunate side effect of Google's Android customization strategy that allows handset vendors to ship with their own customized versions of the OS. While that's great for differentiation, it also means that there will be an inevitable delay between when a major OS revision is released and when it'll be implemented across the board. That being said, it is part of the Android appeal.
OMAP Bump!
Android 2.2 Froyo FRF72 Now Available Directly from Google
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by sm on Jun.22, 2010,
Nexus One owners can now get the latest pre-release Froyo serving directly from Google. This is a rapid follow-up to version FRF50 that was leaked just a couple of weeks ago, appearing on XDA. All signs are pointing to an imminent official release.
What’s coming in Froyo?
If you are the adventurous kind you can easily install this latest version without rooting your phone. The file name of the update (signed-passion-FRF72-from-FRF50) suggests that you can only install FRF72 over FRF50 though. I cannot confirm this since I had already flashed my N1 to FRF50 and the update to FRF72 was easy as always.
The performance improvement is noticeable. My battery seems to last longer as well – no more inter-day topping off required. However, my favorite new feature by far is WiFi tethering. No more hunting for free WiFi, just turn your phone into your private hotspot. I’m very curious to see how and if the major carriers (Verizon & ATT) are going to embrace this. New bandwidth capping plans seem to indicate that they are already preparing for this feature.
****** Proceed at your own risk – all the usual warnings and disclaimers apply ******
I’ll take your advice.
Just curious, what processor is faster?
I just got home, my wife has her new Vibrant.
It is night and day better than my phone. I’m going to have phone envy for a year.
The screen is spectacular!
I know it will be better with the upgrade to Android 2.2 but the thing is FAST now.
That was one of the most giddy, drooling paid advertorials I’ve ever read. And people talk about Apple fanboys, lol.
Really?
Yes, really. Especially considering what followed that bit of prolonged wanking from way back in February ... the Microsoft Kin, what a flop. Sold less that a thousand nationwide before being pulled in humilation. Same social networking weirdness on the Kin as was slavered in this advertorial.
We don't know enough details, but on paper they're almost the same design so should be pretty close in performance. They run at the same speed, the CPU cores on the chips are pretty much the same (Intrinsity/Samsung Cortex A8), and I think the GPU is the same. The main difference is the arrangement and connection of components on the chip. For example, I heard Apple pumped up the memory bandwidth and added cache. I don't think Apple's purchases of Intrinsity and PA Semi were long enough before the iPhone/iPad to make significant Apple-directed contributions.
But the fact that iOS apps compile native and Android compiles Java bytecode hurts the performance of any current Android phone. OS X also has a lot of GPU-accelrated functions, like for animations (moving things on the screen, fades, flips, etc.) developers leverage the Core Animation library, which is automatically GPU-accelerated.
Just my guess, an iPhone should be a bit faster than a Hummingbird Android phone. That gap should narrow after the Android phones are upgraded to 2.2 with JIT compiling (but note that you get JIT at the expense of memory and storage space).
I can't see how it's appealing to wait months after an OS release for your carrier to finally get around to updating your phone, if they do at all. Remember, I say that as an Android user.
That’s one down, two months after the OS release. And that’s an easy one because it’s Google’s own pretty stock Android setup. You’ll have to wait a bit longer for other phones like HTC’s since those are quite customized with things such as HTC Sense.
I do know it has a newer GPU with better performance than the motorolla or apple phones.
I thought that the iphone 4 ran the CPU slower than 1 ghz. I read that on a tech blog, so if you have a better source of info, I wouldn’t disagree with you.
I have read that there will be a big difference between android 2.1 and 2.2.
“Especially considering what followed that bit of prolonged wanking from way back in February “
??????
BTW, next time, have the consideration to ping me.
“the Microsoft Kin, what a flop.”
????
Never owned a microsoft phone of any flavor, never wanted one.
We do own 3 ipod touchs, 1 ipod clasic, 2 ipod nano’s and an apple laptop, I’m still not sure why you have a burr up you butt.
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