Droid Apps, you gotta have!

The end of 2011 and the beginning or 2012 have been pretty big in the android sphere. AT&T – Denied The best news for those of us that are using T-mobile was the non sale to ATT. During my time on ATT there always seemed to be a billing error. I know that not everyone has the same bad experience I had with them but I do not wish to return. ATT was also the last company to roll out android phones, the last to let you download apps from Amazon, and during my time there they would never unlock my phone so that I could change out my sim card when I was traveling to escape the high cost of calling when overseas. Things may have changed; I have many people I know in my area who get terrible coverage out here in the southwest though. That is still the same.

Googlrola

Elsewhere, there is still the sale of Motorola to Google. This was approved by the boards of both companies. WE have yet to hear what the US Justice department feels about the sale though, like the sale of T-mobile to ATT they could feel that it leaves the market with too little competition and weigh in against the sale. It looks like the whole point of Google making the purchase is to get the patents that are owned by Motorola. This would give them access to more than 17,000 patents that they may well need in the ever present legal battles with Apple.

  

    

    

      Google Android 2.3 10" PC Tablet Superpad Camera 4GB HDMI GPS Keyboard Bundle

      US $170.95  (0 Bid)

      Auction Ends: Friday Jan-27-2012 15:22:06 PST

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      Google Android 2.3 8GB ZT280 PC Tablet 10" Capacitive Computer HDMI WiFi

      US $209.95  (0 Bid)

      Auction Ends: Friday Jan-27-2012 15:22:16 PST

        | Watch this Item
    
  

Apple Topples – Samsung Rules

Another big news item to end 2011, Apple was no longer the best selling phone for the massive holiday sales season. The honors for the number one selling phone this Christmas season went to Samsung with the Galaxy S II. What does this mean for Apple? They fell from grace once before, will it happen again.

Closed IOS versus (mostly) Open Android

The closed platform of IOS keeps users safe, gives them a consistent user experience across all of their devices and their apps, but it also limits how useful the device can be. Apple has taken the most powerful mobile device ever created and effectively hobbled it. This has given android device makers a chance to challenge the Apple dominance. Androids abilities will soon far outpace those of IOS. Already Android has far more useful apps created as opposed to IOS. The most popular IOS downloads are games, and the phone itself is controlled by a jukebox application on from the computer. Nothing wrong with that but it does limit the things that developers can do for the Apple. It was hoped by many developers that the SDK released by apple would address some of those concerns but it was unfortunately sorely lacking in allowing increased functionality. So Apple will begin to languish just as the Android platform begins to really pick up steam.

The Future?

I feel that 2012 will be the year that Android truly dominates in the phone market. The release of ICS 4.0 brings the OS now on par with IOS. As they release software upgrades in smaller more incremental steps, new functions are added more quickly and the real holdup is often waiting for the carriers and the manufacturers to push out the software upgrades to the customers’ devices.

I look forward to a big year in the app market!