Wireless Archive

Engadget is one of the first large sites to review the OnePlus One.

At this point, you really have to wonder why you would want to shell out twice as much for a Samsung or an HTC. Lack of an SD card slot becomes a moot point with the OnePlus One, as the version with 64 GB of storage is only $349. I obviously haven't used it yet, but from all the information that's out there, the OnePlus One and the Find 7/7a really seem to be the best Android flagships of the year.

I feel like a broken record at this point, but if I were Samsung or HTC, I'd be very, very afraid of these Chinese manufacturers.

The Moto 360 will be crucial. It looks amazing, and Android Wear looks like the smartwatch concept done right. If it all clicks, Motorola (and hence, Google) will have a hit on their hands.

Sure.

As it turns out, Nokia developed an internet tablet all the way back in 2001. It was called the Nokia M510, several thousand units were made, and it was functional. Sadly, market research showed that consumers were not yet ready for a device like this, and so the project was cancelled. It had a 800x600 display, ran EPOC (Symbian), and sported wifi. The stories are in Finnish, and since I don't speak Finnish, I had to rely on Google Translate (as a translator, this made me feel dirty).

Now that Nokia's devices division is essentially dead, it wouldn't surprise me to see more of these stories to come out. There must be some truly outrageous stuff locked away at Nokia.

Interested in the Nokia X, but not the horrible Frankendroid Nokia cooked up? Good news - stock Android has been ported to the Nokia X. Everything works, it's stable - but it is, like Nokia Frankendroid, only Android 4.1.2.

There are better Android phones for the money, but it's still great that the Nokia X gets a taste of proper Android (via!).

While the market will deem the Galaxy S5 the best Android flagship of the current crop of phones, I personally think it's this one. However, if the major Chinese manufacturers manage to get Google Play editions, I honestly would see no reason for anyone to avoid them. Chinese OEMs like Oppo offer the same (or better) specifications, have top-notch build quality, and usually sport great community support - but at half the price.

This doesn't exactly look like smart business for a company in trouble, but alas, I am no CEO. Who knows - maybe it's the brilliant move that will save BlackBerry.

More likely - it is not.

Jolla has released the first builds of Sailfish OS for the Nexus 4. Installation isn't exactly easy, and the builds are far, far from complete or stable (the display is even watermarked to say as such), but it does constitute Sailfish' first steps beyond the Jolla phone.

Take note of all the disclaimers - and if you're okay with taking the plunge, have fun.

Fantastic article about design on Android by Cennydd Bowles, design lead at Twitter.

The evidence is out there for all to see. Android developers - developers who are Android-focused instead of iOS-focused - come up with absolutely beautiful Android applications all the time. I have no doubt that it's harder to do so on Android than it is on iOS, but the cold and harsh truth is that there are also a hell of a lot more Android users and devices out there. If your iOS application requires two full-time developers, is it really fair to expect your Android application to require the same, even though the user base is four to five times as large?

A translation consisting of 3000 words takes me about a work day. A translation of 12000 words takes me four work days. None of my clients expects me to translate 12000 words in the same amount of time as 3000 words without a serious degradation in quality.

Bowles also dives into the argument that Android users are less willing to pay than iOS users.

If you are an iOS developer, and you port your Android application over as a side-project, is it really so surprising that Android users aren't buying your application? Could it simply be that your potentially poor iOS-to-Android port simply isn't even worth paying for? If you do not develop and design with Android's strengths in mind, Android users won't be as willing to pay as your iOS users, the platform whose strengths you do develop and design for.

I translate English into Dutch, and since this is my speciality, I'm pretty good at it and my clients are willing to pay good money for my services. I could also translate German into Dutch, but since my German isn't nearly as good as my English, my clients aren't going to pay for it. I can translate German into Dutch just fine, but the quality will be far less than my English-to-Dutch translations.

Even then, Android's userbase is far larger than iOS', so even if only 50% of your Android users pay, and 100% of your iOS users (unlikely figures), Android still provides a more worthwhile revenue stream.

Still, the core issue is that Android is a different platform and ecosystem than iOS, with different strengths and weaknesses, and as such, requires different talents and mindsets. Translating English is different than translating German. I realise that. Developers should realise the same, and understand that being a good iOS developer does not make you a good Android developer - or vice versa.

Early last year, Oppo was (one of?) the first company to ship a phone with a full HD display, on its Find 5. I bought one, and it became one of my favourite smartphones - a small Chinese company building phones with top-notch build quality, high-end (at the time) specifications, packaged in a distinctive and minimalist design.

A new year, and a new barrier to break - Oppo announced the successor to the Find 5 today. They call it the Find 7, and it ups the display game to crazy levels: it packs a 5.5" 2560x1440 (!) display, the first of its kind on a phone (again, it could be one of the first). I honestly have no idea if it makes any sense whatsoever to have such a crazy display on a phone. Will it really make a noticeable difference over current full HD displays? I doubt it.

It further boasts a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, and a 3000mAh battery. There's also a Find 7 'lite', which has a more traditional 1080p display, a slightly slower processor, and 2GB RAM. Unlike the Find 5, the Find 7 has a two features which I know will appeal to many OSNews readers: a removable battery and an SD card slot. Both of these features were added after requests from users.

Design-wise, the Find 7 loses some of the straightforward simplicity that I like so much about the Find 5; the phone is busier and messier, and the version with the crazy display has this fake carbon weave on the back that crosses into Samsung-tacky territory. The fancy elongated notification LED at the bottom is a nice touch, though.

All in all, the Find 7 is yet another noteworthy product from a Chinese manufacturer, and further proof of my conviction: Samsung, HTC, and other established players should be worried. I don't think Apple will care much, but Android manufacturers should take note.

How large is the demand for Android phones made by Nokia? Well, if China is any indication, it's pretty big: Nokia announced today that it has had 1 million pre-orders in China alone. The more of these things sell, the larger a pickle it'll put Microsoft in.

So yeah, I hope Nokia sells lots of them.

Nice detailed video about all the new stuff in the first non-beta release, Sailfish 1.0. It'll be released next week.

I wonder what will happen if Google were to resort to the same illegal tactics that Microsoft used to force OEMs into not dual-booting BeOS back in the day.

In the end, I'm just filing this one under 'poetic justice'. Shoe's on the other foot now, Redmond.

Two things stand out while reading the linked article and watching the video. First, just how unremarkable it all looks and functions. It could easily be mistaken for a Samsung Android device if you squint a bit. This is, perhaps, not surprising, considering the TouchWiz influences. Second, and perhaps more surprisingly, just how snappy, complete, and ready-to-go it all seems to be. Despite the obviously sparse application store, this could easily be sold to consumers right now.

I wonder what the future will hold for Tizen. I'm sure the recent agreements between Google and Samsung preclude the operating system from actually shipping on prominent devices, but I wonder if such a moratorium also applies to limited availability phones and tablets in specific markets.