Google puts Honeycomb AOSP release on hold

[Zero]

http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...324_269784.htm

In the great mobile-device wars, Google (GOOG) has portrayed itself as the open-source crusader doing battle against the leaders in proprietary software—Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Research In Motion (RIM:CN).

Unlike its rivals, Google makes the underlying code for its popular Android operating system publicly available, and anyone can access it and tailor it for use in mobile phones, tablets, television set-top boxes, even automobiles.

So what happens when Google decides to keep the latest version of its operating system to itself? Android fans are about to find out.

Google says it will delay the distribution of its newest Android source code, dubbed Honeycomb, at least for the foreseeable future. The search giant says the software, which is tailored specifically for tablet computers that compete against Apple's iPad, is not yet ready to be altered by outside programmers and customized for other devices, such as phones.

Slight bummer to those of us looking forward to working with HC AOSP. I can kind of understand their stance though, since HC is their point offensive on the developing tablet market.

I wonder how MS will react given that this pushed HC into a less open-source sphere (litigations!!!111one)

[Debello]

So much for open source, but isn't with holding the source code against Linux terms of usage.

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Debello

So much for open source, but isn't with holding the source code against Linux terms of usage.

It is. From what I've read so far they haven't said they WON'T release it, but rather that they were withholding release for now due to a concern that OEMs would start tossing Honeycomb onto handsets despite it not being intended for handsets. I can't help but agree their concern is valid, so I can appreciate their stance on wanting to wait a bit before releasing the code base for Honeycomb.

[Zero]

They've never cared before where their os ends up. That's kinda the whole point of open source, no?

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Zero

They've never cared before where their os ends up. That's kinda the whole point of open source, no?

Well before it was their OS appearing on phones, other phones, or more phones. They've never had multiple OS versions out there for OEMs to use. In this case I can appreciate their approach, especially from a carrier standpoint.

[Zero]

I'm confused by that statement. Android has been available in different versions and across many devices (tablets, appliances, more) practically since release.

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Zero

I'm confused by that statement. Android has been available in different versions and across many devices (tablets, appliances, more) practically since release.

Android of the Donut, Eclair, FroYo and Gingerbread varieties was designed with phone/handsets in mind. Yes you can put FroYo/Gingerbread on a tablet, but the UI and overall experience was not designed with a tablet in mind. Now they've designed an Android OS specifically for tablets, the upcoming Honeycomb OS. They're still intending for Gingerbread and future iterations of this to be specific for handsets. But now they're thinking that they want to discourage somehow the use of Honeycomb on handsets since it wasn't designed for that.

[Zero]

Yeah I understand what the design intention was but it doesn't change the fact you can shoehorn any variety of android onto almost any device. Which people have been doing for three years now. So why the sudden attention to where it's installed? Surely not because they care so much for the user experience.

BTW eclair, froyo, and gingerbread run great on tablets with proper hardware. All you need is some scaling of pixel density, which is accomplished through software. HC just does it natively but it scales down fine on smaller devices than their flagship xoom, which is probably what they want to keep from happening.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by Zero

Yeah I understand what the design intention was but it doesn't change the fact you can shoehorn any variety of android onto almost any device. Which people have been doing for three years now. So why the sudden attention to where it's installed? Surely not because they care so much for the user experience.

They cared enough about 2.2 to not give access to Google apps or Market, thats a pretty big deal.

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Zero

Yeah I understand what the design intention was but it doesn't change the fact you can shoehorn any variety of android onto almost any device. Which people have been doing for three years now. So why the sudden attention to where it's installed? Surely not because they care so much for the user experience.

But until now they've only had the 1 flavor of Android to offer. Now they have two, designed for two different purposes. So yes, now they're pausing before tossing it out into the wild and asking questions geared towards protecting the customer experience.

[Zero]

Originally Posted by Elysian

They cared enough about 2.2 to not give access to Google apps or Market, thats a pretty big deal.

And you think this has nothing to do with preventing the mass consumer from finding out that froyo works perfectly fine as a tablet OS? Or to prevent it from taking the spotlight away from their future (at the time) chrome OS/honeycomb development?

Originally Posted by shrike126

But until now they've only had the 1 flavor of Android to offer. Now they have two, designed for two different purposes. So yes, now they're pausing before tossing it out into the wild and asking questions geared towards protecting the customer experience.

Ok, if you say so. Is that why they're merging their HC code back into Ice Cream (Sandwich? or whatever the hell it's called now) for mobile users now?

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Zero

And you think this has nothing to do with preventing the mass consumer from finding out that froyo works perfectly fine as a tablet OS? Or to prevent it from taking the spotlight away from their future (at the time) chrome OS/honeycomb development?

Ok, if you say so. Is that why they're merging their HC code back into Ice Cream (Sandwich? or whatever the hell it's called now) for mobile users now?

But tablets don't work perfectly fine running FroYo/Gingerbread. The OS experience is completely different. The whole reason Honeycomb was developed was because FroYo isn't suited for tablets. Merging code from Honeycomb back into Gingerbread isn't the same as just simply putting Honeycomb on phones & tablets.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by Zero

And you think this has nothing to do with preventing the mass consumer from finding out that froyo works perfectly fine as a tablet OS? Or to prevent it from taking the spotlight away from their future (at the time) chrome OS/honeycomb development?



Ok, if you say so. Is that why they're merging their HC code back into Ice Cream (Sandwich? or whatever the hell it's called now) for mobile users now?

Works isnt the same as works well.

[Zero]

Originally Posted by shrike126

But tablets don't work perfectly fine running FroYo/Gingerbread. The OS experience is completely different. The whole reason Honeycomb was developed was because FroYo isn't suited for tablets. Merging code from Honeycomb back into Gingerbread isn't the same as just simply putting Honeycomb on phones & tablets.

Have you tried running Froyo/Gingerbread on a tablet?

I've run Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, and HC on my Nook in the last week. They all work fine, after a bit of tweaking. I've also seen them run on chinese knockoff tablets, and one the ones with better hardware (like not a crapy resistive screen), they work just as well.

Merging Gingerbread and HC isn't the same as dumping HC on a smartphone but clearly google thinks some of the elements DO work. Outside of managing the pixel density scaling, there's no reason why HC can't run properly on anything less than a tablet. It's not hardware intensive (runs pretty well on my dinky e-reader), has no tablet hardware specific core functionality, nothing should lock HC to a "tablet" except some UI design - which again can be managed by scaling.

My predicition for ice cream sandwich is that it'll be HC with native scaling/zooming of some UI elements and the option to use on screen keys or hardware buttons.

[Zero]

Originally Posted by Elysian

Works isnt the same as works well.

For someone who knocks the appletards for eating up all the marketing bs they're sold, I hope the irony isn't lost on you here.

They work well, trust me. Unless your definition of working well is dictated by google bizdev vision.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by Zero

For someone who knocks the appletards for eating up all the marketing bs they're sold, I hope the irony isn't lost on you here.

They work well, trust me. Unless your definition of working well is dictated by google bizdev vision.

Theres quite a bit of difference in how Honeycomb works versus how the phone Os works. I dont need marketing to tell me that, I've used both extensively, including 2.2 in tablet form. 2.2 doesn't work well on larger screens.

[Zero]

What doesn't work well? If your tablet running Froyo still looks like a giant smartphone, you haven't modded it enough.

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Zero

What doesn't work well? If your tablet running Froyo still looks like a giant smartphone, you haven't modded it enough.

Yes I have an OEM version of Gingerbread running on a tablet. No it isn't as good an OS experience as Android's Honeycomb version.

[Zero]

In what way?

[Debello]

If I fdidnt work well then it shouldnt be in a retail product. The fact that it is in a retail product means the source code should be released.

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Zero

In what way?

Well for starters the layout is different for widgets and gingerbread apps don't always resize themselves so you can have a 7" screen showing a 4" version of Mint.com app with lots of black space around it. Also icons and buttons don't auto size so it just all looks very not cohesive.

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Debello

If I fdidnt work well then it shouldnt be in a retail product. The fact that it is in a retail product means the source code should be released.

It does work on the intended retail products and the SDK is available. Source code is close to done and will be released when it's ready.

[Debello]

Originally Posted by shrike126

It does work on the intended retail products and the SDK is available. Source code is close to done and will be released when it's ready.

Other than the fact that you can't use a SD card or the fact that it has no flash support.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by Debello

Other than the fact that you can't use a SD card or the fact that it has no flash support.

Wut? Flash launched last Friday, runs beautifully.

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Debello

Other than the fact that you can't use a SD card or the fact that it has no flash support.

Wait are we talking about Honeycomb or the iphone?

[Debello]

Originally Posted by Elysian

Wut? Flash launched last Friday, runs beautifully.

* I watched Best of Show on Amazon Video on Demand in hopes of performing an informal battery test. It drained the battery from 44 percent full to 15 percent full in one hour and 20 minutes. But during that time, the audio got out of sync, and then the picture froze -- and I couldn't get Flash to work properly again without rebooting the Xoom. At that point, I gave up with the battery test.

* Some other standard-definition video I tried, such as that at Bloggingheads.tv, worked reasonably well.

* I watched Glee in HD, again on Amazon, and it would play smoothly in full-screen mode for a few seconds, then sputter, then play smoothly, then sputter...

* I tried Bejeweled on Facebook; it was playable, but the animation was herky-jerky.

* Hulu, as I expected, blocks Flash Player on the Xoom.

* Google's Picnik photo editor sort of works -- I could load photos and apply effects. But the sliders that are everywhere in the interface don't function properly; I don't think they really understand touch input.

All in all, it seems to be a version of Flash that works some of the time but not always, and not always well. That's not, um, ideal. Neither is the fact that Flash isn't available at all on the iPad. But the lure of Apple's audience has prompted plenty of companies to make Flash-based stuff work on iOS devices in one way or another -- I can get Hulu (Plus), Bloggingheads, and Bejeweled on the iPad. And they all work reliably.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/22261...o_excited.html

[Debello]

Originally Posted by shrike126

Wait are we talking about Honeycomb or the iphone?

Every review has said that the SD card slot does not work and needs to be enabled with an update. Which is funny because if this was Apple or Microsoft, there would be 20 pages here explaining how it is a basic function and should have been included at launch.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by Debello

Every review has said that the SD card slot does not work and needs to be enabled with an update. Which is funny because if this was Apple or Microsoft, there would be 20 pages here explaining how it is a basic function and should have been included at launch.

You mean like the Samsung WP7 phone whose SD Card still doesn't work? Also, might I add the ONLY WP7 phone with a user replaceable SD.

If it were Apple itd never have user replaceable storage in the first place, so point is moot.

Hey, where's the 20 page thread on the WiFi issues on the new iPad? Or the same WiFi issues on the old one?

[Zero]

Originally Posted by shrike126

Well for starters the layout is different for widgets and gingerbread apps don't always resize themselves so you can have a 7" screen showing a 4" version of Mint.com app with lots of black space around it. Also icons and buttons don't auto size so it just all looks very not cohesive.

Have you tried changing LCD density? On my CyanogenMod7 build everything seems to be sized properly. I can't test Mint for you since I don't have and can't open an account tho.

Edit: I tried running mint on my 7" tab and it does run fullscreen.

[shrike126]

Originally Posted by Zero

Have you tried changing LCD density? On my CyanogenMod7 build everything seems to be sized properly. I can't test Mint for you since I don't have and can't open an account tho.

Edit: I tried running mint on my 7" tab and it does run fullscreen.

I don't have a Cyanogen version of GB to install on one of my tablets, I've gotta keep them stock with the OEM builds. So far though the Mint app is an example but I just tried it again and it still stays formatted for a smaller display. The Cyanogen 7 RC2 build I have on my EVO works great though so I know what you mean, GB clearly has its strengths. But sitting down with my Honeycomb load on a tablet vs this OEM build of GB it's just very clear one just works much better and feels like it was intended for tablets, the other should remain on phones.