Development Apple Calls Android Tablets 'Vapor' - and It Isn't Just Hot Air

Apple Calls Android Tablets 'Vapor' - and It Isn't Just Hot Air- PC Magazine

Tim Cook, acting CEO of Apple calls all upcoming Android tablets 'vaporware'. Although I do not particularly care about PC Magazine's heavily biased Apple coverage, the news article does make some interesting points.

I don't disagree with them. The fact is, the iPad is a slick device and just works quite well. It is responsive, has tons of apps, a great UI and is well built. Android tablets, on the other hand are always underwhelming. The truth is, they are using an OS that was completely designed to run on a cell-phone - and it shows. That is one of the negatives I first experienced with the Edge. I thought the OS choice was terrible. Too bad they just didn't use Ubuntu with a custom UI.

Thanks for sharing the article. It sounded like CES was flooded with tablet prototypes (not just from that article but from other stuff I read) and as I just wrote in another thread about the Viewsonic tablet, not a lot of them live up to public expectations and they might be stretching it a bit to say it runs Android 2.2 since it apparently runs Viewsonic's own build of Android 2.2.

But why we should hope that some really do make it is for the benefits of community. My N810 is still a fabulous bit of hardware. The screen and the speakers are excellent. I've had far less trouble with its wifi connection than an iPod Touch. It has ports and SD expansion. It has a physical keyboard and kickstand so that it's sitting on the table beside me right now as I'm on my laptop. (Touch can't do that.) It had an active linux community writing apps for it and a very helpful forum like this one for the N series tablets.

But, very quickly Nokia abandoned the operating system and the community moved on, being of course the type to want to play with the newest thing. The community for the N700/800/810 is like a ghost town and many apps I used in my first year or two of ownership are no longer supported and some are no longer even compatible. (eg all the old, original twitter apps are no good since twitter made changes to their APIs and there aren't any developers working on twitter clients for my OS)

Frankly, the only thing that I use my old, first gen iPod touch for is games. I don't even listen to music on it because I like the click wheel of the 5th gen. iPod touch (my first iPod by the way -- before I had a Creative Zen Vision M that was in many ways superior to the iPod, but it couldn't synch with mac, so I'd have to run parallels and proprietary software to upload music... it got too clunky. But in just about every other way hardware/spec-wise, it beat the iPod.) I hate the onscreen keyboard, so I might check email in a pinch, but I never respond from the Touch. it's funny how the N810 *seems* outdated in comparison just because there's no one left maintaining apps. But when I try to do anything on the N810 with the apps that still run, it's just so obvious how much more powerful a device it is. In terms of pdf annotation, it still does more than even the iPad can, let alone the iPod touch. All it's missing is a community.

As I've said, I'm not sure what the whole deal is with not releasing the edge's SDK to developers, but I've seen what a lack of a volunteer development community did to the N810. I just hope this flooding of half-baked Android tablets that aren't ready for prime time doesn't encourage people to move on to something else, leaving us without the chance for improvement.

Hmmm...I read that story and immediately thought: dueling media relations dudes out to secure their profit margins and stock prices. Contrast that story with this one from today's Wall Street Journal, "In the Long Run, Apple Will 'Bow to Android Reality'."

Both articles make good points, but I couldn't help but think the Apple story sounded like bluster from the big dog on the block. As Apple CEO Tim Cook put it, "The next generation of Android tablets, which is what you discussed primarily at CES—there's nothing shipping yet…Generally they lack performance specs, they lack prices, they lack timing, and so today they're vapor." Well, all those things are dependent on one thing: cold, hard cash. Something Apple has in abundance that its small, mostly start-up competitors lack. Go figure.

The real story is which of those start-ups is managed well enough that it'll have the cash flow and relationships with its subcontractors to get to the finish line with its deliverables without alienating customers with unfilled promises. Apple can afford to be secretive until the last minute because it already has HUGE brand identity and core users by the millions. But if Android, which people are buying more of than iOS because its cheaper and has a wider array of products, can sustain its current growth even for a little while longer, it will assume the lead.

And then, as the professor said, "The open system has always won. Always.

More troubles for Android:

Summary:

"Google copied Oracle's Java code, pasted in a new license, and shipped it."

"Now, we've long thought Google's odd response to Oracle's lawsuit seemingly acknowledged some infringement, so we doubt this is a surprise in Mountain View, but we're guessing handset vendors aren't going to be so thrilled -- especially since using Android has already caused companies like HTC and Motorola to be hit with major patent lawsuits of their own. "

Oops: Android contains directly copied Java code, strengthening Oracle's case
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/21/o...strengthening/

Haha. Now that's just dumb. Google doesn't have a compliance team? There should be an entire floor of those folks, between FCC, GPL, and all the other issues.

Haven't all the other companies just paid up though, once it became clear they were just dead wrong?

Google has the money to pay Oracle (if that is what Oracle is after) but it may alter how "free" Android is. Ultimately, I don't want this to turn into a case where all companies must cease distribution of Android devices until this is resolved. That will hurt a lot of companies.

If Motorola has the money, Google definitely does. Let's hope they admit they're wrong (or settle) and pay up.

As expected from Engadget these seem like baseless accusations:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/o...n-android/2162

and
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/n...moking-gun.ars

Originally Posted by StevenP

More troubles for Android:

Summary:

"Google copied Oracle's Java code, pasted in a new license, and shipped it."

"Now, we've long thought Google's odd response to Oracle's lawsuit seemingly acknowledged some infringement, so we doubt this is a surprise in Mountain View, but we're guessing handset vendors aren't going to be so thrilled -- especially since using Android has already caused companies like HTC and Motorola to be hit with major patent lawsuits of their own. "

Oops: Android contains directly copied Java code, strengthening Oracle's case
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/21/o...strengthening/

That's kind of funny how the wrong informaiton can pass around so easily. Thanks of posting those links.

Originally Posted by fgruber

As expected from Engadget these seem like baseless accusations:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/o...n-android/2162

and
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/n...moking-gun.ars

Poor Florian. He's not a lawyer or a developer (though he plays one on TV), and it appears he's not a good journlaist either. Fact. Check.

The update on the file adds additional confusion as it tries to differentiate between the technical issues and the legal ones. (http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/21/a...ment-whats-go/). It may ultimately come to a question of "Infringement - yes but how much damage?

You could try and read the Groklaw http://www.groklaw.net article 'How Not to Get Snookered by Claims of "Proof" of Copyright Infringement' for an extremely good run down on the legal aspects as well as a good general guide.