How important is Android for Google?

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Graham

But if you're on Froyo (i.e. v2.2), the number of apps that won't run on your device is vanishingly small, so why is not being able to filter by version currently a problem?

Hi Graham,

It's not just the ones that won't run, but the quality of results and their accuracy.

[murraypaul]

I do find it annoying not to know in advance whether an app will take proper advantage of the resolution of my device or just run in a phone-sized box.

[Namekuseijin]

what have Google web apps to do with Android? What annoys me the most regarding the integration of these web apps in the android system is that Google Talk only accepts 1 account per device. This is nuts. GMail and others are fine, though...

That said, what pissed me off recently was knowing that iPhone battery can go on for about 2 days straight (according to a coworker). Even using almost no networking and using it just for ereading and music, I can't get my Milestone 2 to get much better than 1 day of usage. Wonder if it's something inherent to Android or just my hardware...

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

That said, what pissed me off recently was knowing that iPhone battery can go on for about 2 days straight (according to a coworker). Even using almost no networking and using it just for ereading and music, I can't get my Milestone 2 to get much better than 1 day of usage. Wonder if it's something inherent to Android or just my hardware...

Let's not start flame wars here ;-) ... and I'm not a fanboy of any company either, I just buy what serves to my needs.

But Android Os is battery hungry. The widgets and constant checks on several Social apps drain battery as crazy. I actually like all those features from Android and those are the reason why my cellphone runs it as Os, but can be a problem for people who really need better and longer battery life.

On my current one, I get over of 24 hrs of continue use without charging. I tweak it and squeezed every drop of battery using these tools: Green Power, juice plotter and the Os itself, like disable GPS, adjusting screen brightness and reducing schedule checks on my Social apps. That gives me about 24 hrs with moderate usage, including phone calls and Internet Browsing.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

what have Google web apps to do with Android? What annoys me the most regarding the integration of these web apps in the android system is that Google Talk only accepts 1 account per device. This is nuts. GMail and others are fine, though...

That said, what pissed me off recently was knowing that iPhone battery can go on for about 2 days straight (according to a coworker). Even using almost no networking and using it just for ereading and music, I can't get my Milestone 2 to get much better than 1 day of usage. Wonder if it's something inherent to Android or just my hardware...

well I think your coworker maybe stretching the truth. I can get 3 days out of my Droid X if I almost use no networking and just reading. Alot of my friends have iPhone's and there is no way your co worker is playing music, of all things and getting 3 days. Maybe very light to little use, sure i can see that. But regular day to day use I'm calling BS on this.

[Namekuseijin]

I have screen brightness very low (except when outside), have enabled no social network apps, no GPS and almost no activity besides mail checking (which doesn't do further automatic checks until you check it out). It handles about 1 day of usage.

Now, if you look at the battery specs for your Galaxy Tab, jocampo, and my Milestone 2, you see you clearly got the upper hand.

OTOH, mine is about the same as the iPhone4...

I truly believe Android is more battery hungry.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

I have screen brightness very low (except when outside), have enabled no social network apps, no GPS and almost no activity besides mail checking (which doesn't do further automatic checks until you check it out). It handles about 1 day of usage.

Now, if you look at the battery specs for your Galaxy Tab, jocampo, and my Milestone 2, you see you clearly got the upper hand.

OTOH, mine is about the same as the iPhone4...

I truly believe Android is more battery hungry.

What's the model of your phone? ... maybe we can help you more and give you more tips.

But please try Juice Plotter. It's free and will give you real data of how long is taking to charge and hold that charge. It will also show with a graphic, you battery usage with a log. That will give you a better idea of what specific app is consuming battery and when.

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by jocampo

But please try Juice Plotter.

Hmm. This is the first I've heard of Juice Plotter. I will have to give it a try.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by RainingLemur

Hmm. This is the first I've heard of Juice Plotter. I will have to give it a try.

I also recommend you Current Widget, free as well. It records current consumption over the time, in mAh. The log saves the app name so later you can match it and identify the one who is draining battery.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Let's not start flame wars here ;-) ... and I'm not a fanboy of any company either, I just buy what serves to my needs.

But Android Os is battery hungry. .

I posted an article about this a while back. Android is hungrier than the iPhone, but not by much.

Google has scientist/programmers studying the issue and hopes to release new guidelines in the near future.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Well, that could be true for developers but still I think users can't filter by rating or Android version.

Both now seem to be available for users in the web market. There's a 'filter by device' setting as well as 'filter by popularity'.

Let's hope this gets added to the app as well soon, though I must admit I use the web version most of the time now for searching for apps and remote installing. And you could always use the web version rather than the app on your android device anyway, particularly if you've got the screen area of a tablet.

Graham

[anabolina]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Let's not start flame wars here ;-) ... and I'm not a fanboy of any company either, I just buy what serves to my needs.

But Android Os is battery hungry. The widgets and constant checks on several Social apps drain battery as crazy. I actually like all those features from Android and those are the reason why my cellphone runs it as Os, but can be a problem for people who really need better and longer battery life.

On my current one, I get over of 24 hrs of continue use without charging. I tweak it and squeezed every drop of battery using these tools: Green Power, juice plotter and the Os itself, like disable GPS, adjusting screen brightness and reducing schedule checks on my Social apps. That gives me about 24 hrs with moderate usage, including phone calls and Internet Browsing.

I loaded up a new ROM on my phone with the intent that it be less battery hungry since my HD2 was getting maybe12-18 hrs. I'd take it off the charger in the morning and it would almost be out of power by the time I went to sleep. The new ROM got 2-2.5 days easy with using the phone maily for calls with some apps downloaded and some music and reading books on it at lunch. Then I started taking away some of the battery settings and realized why the battery usage was so low.

I can't remember all the settings I've changed for better performance, but the biggest change was within the setcpu program. It was set on battery-save and spent most of it's time in the 400-500 mhz range. Fast enough for most stuff, but not for games My phone is now set on performance and overclocked to 1.2 mhz ;-) and now I get about a day and a half with moderate usage and it goes away really quick in games.

[RockdaMan]

Consortium led by Apple buys Nortel's patents for $4.5 billion
Google's Android operating system is the big loser as 6,000 patents fall into enemy hands

In the largest exchange of intellectual property rights in the Internet age, a powerhouse consortium led by Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) has agreed to buy from the bankrupt Nortel Corp. access to more than 6,000 patents covering key telecommunications technologies, from Internet services to wireless data networking.

"No major industry player is as needy in terms of patents as Google," wrote FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller after Nortel announced the results of the sale late Thursday. "There are already 45 patent infringement lawsuits surrounding Android, and makers of Android-based devices have to pay royalties to dozens of right holders."

In January Mueller called Android a "suit magnet," and subsequent events have proved him right. He summarized the latest round of litigation and licensing agreements in an analysis published earlier this week.

"In light of Android's patent problems it's surprising that Google didn't outbid everyone else," he wrote Friday. "It could have afforded more than $4.5 billion but it doesn't appear to be truly committed to Android."

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/...r-4-5-billion/

[RockdaMan]

Financial Times:

Kasim Alfalahi, chief intellectual property officer at Ericsson, said: “The Nortel patent portfolio reflects the heritage of more than 100 years of its R&D activities and includes some essential patents in telecommunications and other industries. We believe the consortium is in the best position to utilise the patents in a manner that will be favourable to the industry long term.”

Analysts said the deal is a blow to Google, which bid $900m for the patent rights in April. The internet company needs better intellectual-property defences for its widely used Android smartphone software, as technology companies become increasingly litigious in their application of patent rights as a form of competition.

Google said in a blog post explaining its bid in April that the recent “explosion” in patent litigation “threatens to stifle innovation”
.
“Google is a relatively young company, and although we have a growing number of patents, many of our competitors have larger portfolios given their longer histories,” it wrote.

In a statement on Friday, Kent Walker, senior vice-president and general counsel at Google, said: “This outcome is disappointing for anyone who believes that open innovation benefits users and promotes creativity and competition. We will keep working to reduce the current flood of patent litigation that hurts both innovators and consumers.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d5d19b16-a...#axzz1QraNuang

[RockdaMan]

At the auction for Nortel Networks' wireless patents this week, Google's bids were mystifying, such as $1,902,160,540 and $2,614,972,128.

Math whizzes might recognize these numbers as Brun's constant and Meissel-Mertens constant, but it puzzled many of the people involved in the auction, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation on Friday.

"Google was bidding with numbers that were not even numbers," one of the sources said.

"It became clear that they were bidding with the distance between the earth and the sun. One was the sum of a famous mathematical constant, and then when it got to $3 billion, they bid pi," the source said, adding the bid was $3.14159 billion.

"Either they were supremely confident or they were bored."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...76104L20110702