Android

The mobile platform sponsored by as part of the Open Mobile Alliance, evolved from their 2005 acquisition of the company with the same name.

Resources

Category Date Link Notes
Apps 2023-09 Simple Mobile Tools

a set of simple, open source android apps for common tasks (great if you need, say, a plain file manager or gallery app for a gimped version of Android)

2023-01 Shelter

An app to activate MDM/Android Work Profiles and easily segregate and limit troublesome applications.

androrat

A remote administration and tracking solution for Android devices.

2012-06 Connectbot

A pretty good SSH client that almost works perfectly with a hardware keyboard.

Development 2014-06 scaloid

A Scala library for Android development

2012-08 From Zero to Boot-Porting Android to your ARM platform

A handy overview.

2012-06 Android Development on the Command Line

Probably the sanest way to do it.

2011-10 Speeding up the Android emulator

or sidestepping it altogether…

Ports 2024-01 Bliss OS

an Android-based OS for x86 PCs

Tools 2019-12 scrcpy

ADB screen mirroring

2013-02 HoRNDIS

A Mac OS X driver for using USB tethering to Android devices.

UI 2018-08 CrunchyCalendar

source code component for a modern calendar view

2011-02 Native android icons in vector format

Useful for a number of purposes.

Timeline

Some of the news coverage from the early years of Android:

Date Link Notes
2010-06 Google Android 2.2 (Froyo) comes to Nexus One

Not that exciting.

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for Android Gets Official

If that is your thing.

Yep, the iPhone runs Android 2.2, too

Still unusable, basically.

Android 3.0 Gingerbread getting revamped UI, Froyo living on for lower-end phones?

A bigger chunk for the fragmentation advocates.

2010-05 Google fails to revolutionize the cellphone market

Told you it wasn’t that simple to just sell phones online…

Speedy Android 2.2 hits with tethering, push framework, more

A better overview.

Everything You Need to Know About Android 2.2 (Froyo)

A pretty comprehensive overview

Is Android Really Outselling Apple?

Hardly a surprise if you take into account that there is only one Apple.

Flash For Smartphones Is Finally Here, And It Is Terrible

Ha.

The Verdict On Android 2.2 "Froyo"-It's Sweet

It does look nicer.

Android 2.2 Tethering Hotspots

More features, less battery life.

Froyo Speed Test

Faster without Flash.

Android 2.1 becomes most used version, just in time to be obviated by Froyo

More statistics.

iPhone 3G's Android port is ready to download

a fully charged iPhone running Android will last only an hour or so.

Is Android fragmented or is this the new rate of innovation?

in a nutshell, Google won’t admit to fragmentation of user experience.

2010-04 5 Things Google Must Do to Make Its Tablet Competitive

Oh ffs. The thing doesn’t even exist yet, and they’re pontificating already?

Jobs detects an imbalance in the force

Gotta love stats. One little thing, though - Android apps are more likely to be free and ad-driven, so anything coming from an ad server isn’t necessarily a good market penetration metric for a platform.

Flash Support in Android 2.2

Oh, the enthusiasm.

Nexus One launches on Vodafone UK this Friday, April 30

There you go, mate.

Yes they can (potentially kick Apple's ass)

Don’t think so, but it’s sure going to be interesting to watch them try…

2010-02 Google makes biggest gain in smartphone market share

More pretty charts (US-centric, therefore meaningless). The difference here is that there are umpteen versions of Android devces and far fewer of other platforms…

Nexus One could be more Environment Friendly

Why add the charger instead of replacing it?

Google reduces its Nexus One termination fee

Interesting.

Nexus One gets a software update, enables multitouch (updated with video!)

Will it change anything?

Nexus One 3G problems persist after update — is it a design problem?

Oh, yeah, sure. Like baseband firmware fixes poor coverage.

New Nexus One ROM leaks, fixes more radio issues?

Another try, I guess…

Nexus One coming to Vodafone UK in April, says Telegraph

No comment

2010-01 Android 2.1 SDK

About time.

On-duty with the Nexus One-form factor, battery, Android

An odd review.

Google learning that users want real support for Nexus One

Learning can be painful.

Google's biggest announcement was not a phone, but a URL

I find it amazing that they’d write this much about ordering a phone online on a third-party store, but that’s the US mobile market for you.

Google at the crossroads - a review of the Nexus One

Pretty detailed and comprehensive review, as always.

In the First Week, Google May Have Sold 20,000 Nexus One Phones

Comparing 20K against 1.6 million iPhones on the first week is a bit unfair considering the way it’s sold.

Google Charges ETF For Nexus One On Top of Carrier’s

Interesting. More here and here.

Google Isn’t Targeting iPhone Users; It’s Targeting Everyone Else (Maybe)

Much ado about nothing in particular, basically.

Google Phone Unveiled Today

A coherent list of specs, although there are plenty of meaningless stats bolted on to beef up the article.

Nexus One - $174 Cost to Build

About the same estimated production cost than a 3GS, except that Apple has likely done a better bulk deal on parts… Also, nice comparative tables.

Google Nexus One hands-on, video, and first impressions

Not an iPhone killer. Hardly capable of killing a fly, apparently.

Nexus One review

not much in terms of review, actually.

Google’s Nexus One is official

$529 unlocked, shipping to the US, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong, or with a two year T-Mobile US contract for $179. There go a lot of pipedreams about it being sold direct to the public at “astonishingly low” prices.

Nexus One teardown reveals 802.11n WiFi and FM transmitter

This teardown mania is somewhat fun, but one wonders how long it will take until people realise that only a very small minority of what is “unearthed” is news…

Vodafone promises Nexus One ‘in a few short weeks’

And this is probably where I stop keeping track of this particular device…

T-Mobile makes mention of 3G issues with Nexus One, hopes to have ‘more information’ soon

Here’s to some heroic debugging.

T-Mobile gives reps troubleshooting tips for Nexus One’s 3G issues

Looks like a baseband issue alright.

Google - Nexus One 3G issues result of poor coverage, bugs; patch possibly within a week

Wouldn’t be surprised if it was a baseband upgrade.

State of the Art - Google Shakes but Doesn’t Upend the Cellphone Market - NYTimes.com

Pogue doesn’t seem terribly impressed.

Google’s Nexus One is no iPhone - and that’s OK

A more balanced review.

Nexus One Phone

Hilarious video review.

2009-11 Droid Doesn’t - It’s Not Ready For Prime Time · Alsop Louie Partners

A month later, reality calls.

Exchange Access for Droid - $15 Extra Per Month

Wow.

Verizon Droid Gets Early Reviews

A nice summary of the reviews so far.

Analyst estimates 100,000 DROID smartphones sold in first weekend

It isn’t the RAZR, but it’s a decent figure.

Motorola Droid torn down despite desperate cries of ‘no disassemble’

Worth looking at.

Stats show Motorola Droid is the new elephant in the Android room

I’m still wary of stats (local copy of PDF), but I hear it’s selling pretty well indeed.

Droid Does… only have 256MB of storage for apps

Now that’s gotta be… Useful.

Andy Ihnatko on Verizon Droid “iDon’t” ads - baloney (mostly)

Yep.

2009-10 Android 2.0 Highlights

The e-mail client looks nice, but I’m curious as to usability.

The Droid Has Landed…Unboxed! Plus a Few Facts

Nothing to worry about except that it’s the start of a trend.

Android, not iPhone, is Bigger Symbian Challenger Says Gartner

Not rocket science, but a bit exaggerated, since nobody can really look that far into the future in this industry.

Droid to be Verizon's Android Product Line, Not a Single Phone

Now this is a clever move.

Android 2.0 is Official - Quick Contacts Look Nice

This is just what I think is needed in oh, so many other places.

Droid Launches Nov 6 Priced To Match iPhone

The price matching approach is interesting, but then again in the US handset prices don’t work quite the same way as in Europe.

Android Phones Get Free Turn-By-Turn Directions

Best overview yet

Verizon Droid Phone - Nov 6th, $199

A pretty decent feature set overview.

Verizon's Droid is a series, not just a phone; Droid Eris coming from HTC

Let’s see how this pans out. I’m quite curious, actually, to see if Verizon can pull this off in the sense of generating genuine buzz around an operator-specific set of Android devices.

Google adds free turn-by-turn navigation, car dock UI to Android 2.0 (video)

The quip about an Apple version is not to be missed.

Google Navigation video hands-on - you want this

Looks nice indeed, but let’s wait to see how well map caching works.

Motorola DROID first hands-on! (update - video, impressions, more pics)

I can’t figure out why these people keep wasting space in hardware keyboards.

Google Releases Android 2.0 SDK

But the UI guidelines are still a bit on the loose side.

Android thoughts two years later

Well worth reading through, and mirrors my own views. One to re-visit a few years from now indeed.

2009-09 Android 1.6 SDK is here

Well, at least compatibility is assured.

Some News from Android Market

It took them this long to add screenshots to apps in the Market?

Cyanogen

Modified firmware for some devices. Just had to happen.

Android Battle

A nice summary table of devices

2009-08 The Android Opportunity

Mostly agree, although this is too US-centric for it to be considered the whole truth.

2009-06 Adobe demos Flash on the HTC Hero

This is going to be interesting to watch.

HTC Hero running Android and Sense UI leaks from HTC's own website

Flash turns out to not be that exciting. Or useful. Plus the phone is plain ugly, and a lot thicker than what the first shot makes it look.

HTC Hero hands-on

Flash, keyboard and ruminations

2009-04 Introducing home screen widgets and the AppWidget framework

An interesting tech note on how Android handles home screen widgets.

Some Fun Facts About The Google Phone

Interesting stats about usage patterns.

Vodafone Spain first to launch HTC Magic

Loads of fun for various reasons.

Vodafone suggests future Android phones could have less Google

People keep confusing the platform with the services.

2009-03 HTC black Magic (Sapphire) hands-on - a Vodafone exclusive

Very few decent shots

HTC Magic hands-on

A few more shots

2009-02 Android Market update - support for priced applications

Using Google Checkout, of course.

TeleNav Does Turn-By-Turn on Android

Apparently US-only, which is a pity.

Android Market - Open for Business

A very nice (if shallow) analysis that bunches together some interesting tidbits of info.

HTC Magic first eyes-on!
HTC Magic in-depth hands-on, with video!
HTC Magic is official, bringing Android to Vodafone sans keyboard

And after adding these links, this page now merits a direct, obvious, reference to my disclaimer.

Google blocks paid apps for unlocked G1 users

Interesting hint of fragmentation.

2009-01 Android netbooks on their way, likely by 2010

Dubious in both title and subject matter (we’ve known that Android could be made to run on PCs for a good while now.

2008-12 Huawei powers up its Android plans

For Q3 2009. Let’s see what they come up with.

Unlocked Android - $399

Development samples, available for purchase.

Open Handset Alliance announces 14 new members

including Sony Ericsson and Vodafone. Most people missed this last bit, which is fun.

AD IV - Programming Newbie

Tim Bray lists a few interesting resources for new developers

2008-11 Worst. Bug. Ever.

Although this was fixed fairly quickly, it is the perfect example of why mobile phones aren’t exactly trivial to “improve upon” using today’s technology.

2008-10 Android is now Open Source

Let’s see if someone will port this to Intel and get it running on a netbook…

First T-Mobile G1 user review

Not particularly gushing.

Almost Human - a review of Google's Android G1 phone

Good reading - a thorough appraisal.

Over 260 images and 5 videos of the T-Mobile G1 Google Android device

A tad overkill, but interesting nonetheless.

The Google Phone Review - What I Love Hate About T-Mobile G-1

Om Malik weighs in.

T-Mobile G1 Google Android Phone Review
Google answers the iPhone

Walt Mossberg’s take.

HTC Dream T-Mobile G1 (black) Smartphone review
iPhone vs T-Mobile G1

A short comparison.

Android Phone Teardown

How weird is it that this is in Japan?

T-Mobile G1 review
T-Mobile G1 review

Engadget’s lengthy two-part article

T-Mobile G1, a hands-on introduction to the first Android phone

Some interesting videos

Review of the T-Mobile G1 Google phone

Pretty comprehensive gallery.

State of the Art - A Look at Google's First Phone

David Pogue weighs in.

What Android Can Learn From the iPhone - It's the Software, Stupid.

Brilliant title.

2008-09 Google shows off masked Android handset

About a year later, one of the first sightings of actual hardware (but running over Wi-Fi. I don’t get the “masked” bit, though - the hardware’s pretty obvious.

Video - Android walkthrough on T-Mobile G1

A few demos

2007-11 Android SDK

Includes plenty of links to videos and reference information

Wikipedia

Background info

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