I think this is an indirectly – widely discussed topic that many will get excited about. Ever since the launch of the Apple App Store on the iPhone. Tom, Dick and Harry had all at least written one “Hello World” app on any type of mobile platform, which we will get to that later.
Currently, Apple announced that they had hit their 10 Billionth App downloads in their iTunes App Store, which is really astonishing and it really tells a lot about the general consumer these days. The implication could just be, users want to have access to more services and tools in the least time. Given the intuitiveness of the iOS platform, even a baby would be able to figure that out – As compared to Android.
True, Android is a growing platform which many developers is on it’s rails right now. Many do not see that the Platform is still a work in progress, there are some critical bugs which is not fixed. Not to continue with the range of Android fragmentation at the moment, with users running on 1.5 Cupcake, 1.6 Donut, 2.1 Eclair or 2.2 Froyo. Don’t mention 2.3 Gingerbread, even my phone, which is just recently contracted less than 3 days ago, do not even come with that yet.
The big issue is, with so many manufacturers putting their hands into Android (And with so many different User Interfaces, such as Sense UI and TouchWiz), the performance of every Android model have to be different. How do developers deal with that?
Lets use Rovio (The developer for Angry Birds), in their early beta versions, their game used to run really well on my older HTC Hero. However, as the versions and time goes by, they had to abandon their support for older devices. If you do think about it, most of us which holds the older devices are the early adopters of the Android platform, we helped to build momentum and report back issues to the Android Bug tracker. Well, that is what developers get when the work get started a little too early.
So, the estimated lifetime of an Android device is probably less than one year, with the number of apps these days, the device that you own will probably run well for all the apps you get in the Android Market for the first few months. However, with the recent announce of the Dual Core phone in CES 2011, looks like most of our Android phone would require a quick refresh every month.
Speaking on the same note, something which I find with the iOS platform is, no matter which phone you are using. Even if you are running on the iPhone 3G, you are still able to play the exact game or run the exact app with virtually no lag or flaw. However, developers are able to limit the app on the platform the user is running (Ever seen ” This app could only be run on iOS4 or higher” ?). So that’s Apple’s side of game on their App Store.
On the quieter note, we have the other competing app platforms right now. The Nokia Ovi Store, which many believed that Nokia should’ve entered into this arena before Google Android did, is trying to market their store out to consumers. Probably more to their die-hard symbian fans which have been using them for years.
On the bright side, Windows Phone 7, which is a fresher revamp of the Microsoft Windows Mobile line, seems to be a good hit, we are seeing more applications being worked on the platform as Microsoft managed to work with some content partners before releasing their platform to the public. And if, you are not on the loop of the current tech news yet, in just 2 months, Windows Phone 7 Marketplace managed to hit 6000 applications, which is a breakneck speed for an emergent platform.
I am not going to elaborate further on the well-known Eco-System of the iPhone.
Or the quieter emerging platforms such as Meego or the defunct Windows Mobile.
Related posts:
- Jeremy’s Weblog Mobile
- Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
- A Killer Device
- HTC HD2 Review
- HTC Hero Review
Jeremy Goh
Jeremy is a friendly geek with a passion for Social Media and all things Technology/Design. When he is not obsessed with anything tech related, you can catch him emceeing, speaking in public or at Toastmasters, playing a quick game and coming out with some killer ideas! And yes, I offer Social Media Consultancy and Branding services. (more..)
