Want to Write Apps for the eDGe?

(retracted)

Worth getting "Professional Android 2 Application Development - Wrox " just for the cover ! I'll be back.....

I recommend getting started on programming stuff for Android that simply runs on the eDGe's LCD screen.

As strictly a "user", I can't agree with you more. I'd love for the UI to move away from the "phone interface" (all those pop ups and hidden menus) and move to accessible buttons/buttons with drop downs on menu toolbars for commonly used functions.

For example, an app switcher button with a drop down list of open apps on the home screen or a customizable toolbar in "docs to go" for instance for those everyday operations like selecting type, font attributes, copy/paste.

Get busy guys!

Originally Posted by aidren

As strictly a "user", I can't agree with you more. I'd love for the UI to move away from the "phone interface" (all those pop ups and hidden menus) and move to accessible buttons/buttons with drop downs on menu toolbars for commonly used functions.

For example, an app switcher button with a drop down list of open apps on the home screen or a customizable toolbar in "docs to go" for instance for those everyday operations like selecting type, font attributes, copy/paste.

Total tangent and apropos (no pun intended) to nothing, but this complaint reminds me of a very heated discussion on a Star Trek newsgroup 15-20 years ago. Basically, we were debating whether or not the LCARS-style user interface (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lcars) would be practical. Some (including myself) argued against what you're calling "the phone interface" as being suboptimal, whereas the true Trekkie loyalists insisted that it was more efficient, just required more training and dedication from the user (which a para-military organization like Starfleet would be expected to provide).

Which I find funny, because the two competing ideas persist to this day only now in the real world. And it wouldn't surprise me if someone posting or lurking in the newsgroup is now part of the design team working on Android, iPhone OS, etc. (it takes a special kind of geek to go into programming as well as have a lengthy, heated discussion of the relative user-friendliness of a UI from a fictional universe. Yet, for the most parts, that's who is designing our new technological infrastructure.

I think this thread is in danger of serious derailment... (It's tempting to argue UI design!)

Sorry, Boris! That wasn't my intention.

Walt, feel free to start a new thread titled "Ideas for a better UI for new apps for the eDGe" or something. I think it would be a good discussion to get potential software developers to think a bit outside the box, and perhaps revolutionize Android on large screen devices.

I'll leave this to you developers....

I'm definately interested and will probably be doing some Android stuff soon. However, the time frame you mention for the SDK seems way too far off and I have to say I am a little dissapointed.

Anyways, I will doing some Android programming pretty soon. I've done Blackberry (used J2ME) and Windows CE and started on iPhone (I will probably do some of that still.) I've developed in Java (not just J2ME) so I figure the learning curve shouldn't be too bad for me.