So why should you choose Android as your mobile operating system? what's the fuss about? Do I actually need a mobile operating system? What is a Smartphone? What makes them so smart anyway?....
These questions I will attempt to answer as well as a few more. If your new to mobile and curious as to what is the best choice for you, or already a fan of Android, read on.
There are a two groups of people nowadays those who are aware that technology is taking a huge evolutionary leap and those who aren't. I first want to identify those people, then explain how Android can benifit them.
First Group = StupidPhone Users
Ok let's say you own a nice little flip phone. It takes pictures and sends text messages. It can store hundreds of contacts and play different ringtones that you can download from your I.S.P. for $.99 each. It's not the latest and greatest. It's not not even a smartphone but it does what you need it to do. You've seen the commercials for the "magical" iPhone, or Verizon "Droid", or better yet my favorite the Samsung Galaxy S. (see my post A Galaxy Far Far Away ). However, it is probably too much money for the data plan, or maybe it's too complicated to use. Maybe you feel you really have no need for something like that. It's a luxury that is just not an option for whatever reason.
Here is my argument: Earlier I mentioned that technology is taking a huge evolutionary step as we speak. You may or may not be aware of it but there is a huge battle going on behind the scenes that is right now at this very minute revolutionizing the way people interact with the cloud. It started, i hate to admit, with Apple's release of the iPhone. The idea that a phone could not only log onto the web and check your email with a rudimentary user interface, but also have the ability to get reviews of restaurants, use maps and navigation and include a full web browser. That started a race between Apple, RIM(Blackberry) and another entity that was actually a collective of companies fronted by Google called the Open Handset Alliance. This race would make mobile technology grow at adm outstanding rate in just 2 years. Things are being done now on mobile devices that were never even dreamed of. why the technology was attached to phones is beyond me. My phone is rarely used to make calls. It's more of a mobile pocket sized computer. But i digress. With all that said let me explain how this can benefit those people that fall into my Dumb-phone user category. I pay about 75 bucks a month for my service alone. thats for unlimited minutes, texts and most importantly data. You may be thinking thats a crazy amount compared to your 30 bucks for minutes and texts. Heres the thing. Time is money. That old phrase is true. I can speak to my phone and it will not only pull up my quary on a map or in a web browser but it can give me turn by turn navigation to a destination virtually instantly or direct me to a web site with the best deals for an item i want to buy. My SmartPhone saves me more each month easily than I pay for service. It saves me more in both time and money.
Group 2 = TechAwareSmartPhone users.
I don't need to explain this group other than to say that they are aware and may or may not use an Android device. My point here will be to continue a bit with mobile but focus now on why Android specifically is the best choice.
Let me start by summing up the top 3 smartphone mobile operating systems:
Blackberry is made by RIM and is on nearly a dozen devices. They are very reliable. Very secure as all the data is encrypted in house by RIM, and very dull and business oriented. They have an app repository with about 50,000 applications that range from games to business tools, some free, most cost money. They have a form factor that places a qwerty keyboard under a 2.6-3.2 in, low resolution screen.Many companies insist their employees use these phones hence their wide spread use and popularity.
Next comes Apple and the iPhone which runs Apples iOS operating system. This device is in my opinion very sexy looking. very polished. I don't like the software however and by principal am adverse to Apple products on principal alone regardless of how well the products perform. This device has access to an app repository with over 200,000 applications again some free some cost money. I must mention Apple's application store is the most difficult to get approval for developers despite the large number of applications. since all of Apples phones are built by Apple and the OS is designed by Apple it is considered a "closed" system as is Blackberry's. many of Apples applications are based on social media, games with some business applications as well.
Android. This is a completely different animal. Android is not a device. There are many devices that run Android. Devices made by Motorola, HTC, Samsung, Dell, Sony/Ericson just to name some. Android is an operating system designed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance to compete with Apple and RIM. In just 2 years it has surpassed sales of both in the US for new activations in the last quarter. Android has a Linux kernel but that is mainly for controlling the underlying hardware. On top of that is an OS made with a highly optimized form of Java that uses a new VM called a Dalvik VM. That is absolutely brilliant to me. Something so easily portable as Java on the very reliable and secure framework of Linux. The best part is that its all open source. That gives geeks like me the chance to play with it. My current device is a Samsung Vibrant with a custom kernel over clocked to 1.2 Ghz and other tweaks. It is more powerful than the first gaming desktop rig I built, and the beauty is anyone can go buy the same device, be ignorant of computers and be right at home on it. Android has an application repository with 200,000+ applications. most are free. Developers need only to register for 25 bucks and include a manifest declaring what their application can access on the phone to develop software. Android can do true multitasking. Much like your desktop you can listen to music, while surfing the web and updating your Facebook status. Apple cannot do that. You can do Video calls over 3G. Apple cannot do that. Android can do many things the others can't. Much like the old Mac vs. PC wars, Android is backed by a myriad of innovative companies. All of which add to the overall rich, portable user experience.
The bottom line is that no matter who you are you can find a mobile device to suit your needs. This war is creating faster, more powerful than ever devices. I personally think everyone should look no further than Android. Their are Android devices on every carrier by many manufactures. Like our grandparents did with desktops, we can shun mobile as being too complicated or not useful or we can except the fact that yes you can live without a mobile smartphone, but I'm positive you will regret it in the near future. Right now with Android you can take your home computer, put in your pocket, give it GPS tracking and excellent voice recognition for searches, include all your music from your iPod, all your old Play Station, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and Game Boy games, all your photos, include your digital camera and while your at it throw in your high def Video camcorder and you got your Android phone...and thats just the tip of the iceburg.
