I had a dream... - G Tablet General

...about Honeycomb. And it's not like I'm an Android developer or even an addict who's flashed a hundred different ROMs on his twelve different Android devices or anything. I actually just decided two days ago that I didn't want to use the stock gTablet ROM. So I don't know what the deal is with dreaming about mobile platform releases.
None of my friends are nerdy enough to appreciate this, so I was hopin' to get some love from the xda community. Love your work, by the way.

dear liveblog;
....

I dont even care about honeycomb anymore. The Froyo ROMs run extremely fast and stable. I care more about getting more games, apps, and widgets. This is the main problem with Android tablets. Not enough love in the Android market!

Point definitely taken, Mech. I really like where I'm already at with Froyo on my phone and Gtab.

Honeycomb is laggy and buggy according to reports. Froyo is stable and fast. Latest and greatest versus fast and stable. Take your pick.

Actually, Froyo was having some issues with some apps that Gingerbread does not, so I upgraded to Vegan-Tab 7.0 and haven't looked back. I don't know what Honeycomb can provide that I don't already have...

I'm going back to donut. This new fangled software is over rated

i like phone OS's. Its cool when you hold it to your ear to make a call on google voice. it gets head turns

I so feel you. Most of my dreams are about technology. At times i think there is something wrong with me. Why aren't I dreaming about lots of money or even Beautiful women? ah i mean my lovely wife who is the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world..

The major issue for me is video play back. Thats the biggest reason Im unable to leave Froyo. Then next to that is the speed. Its kind of like comparing Windows XP to Vista. As far as I can see from playing around with Honeycomb at BestBuy there is no real leap in OS. There is still so much to improve in the way of a user experience on Android. The basics are there but if you have no apps, games or widgets to install your just stairing at a wallpaper.

thebadfrog said:
I'm going back to donut. This new fangled software is over rated
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Rofl...stfu gtfo with your donut. Haha
That's funny. Donut is neither stable or latest or greatest. You're gonna kill goodintentions with that post.

Donut is perfectly stable and quite delicious. Especially when Krispy Creme is making them fresh. mmmmmmmmmmmmm....tasty. Eclair is just a fancy french donut. It just gives up at the first sign of trouble.

I'm writing off Honeycomb. There's no reason to expect it will ever go to AOSP. Google didn't want to release it because it was hacky, and they didn't want unscrupulous providers or devs trying to shoehorn it onto phones.
Ice Cream Sandwich, on the other hand, is being heralded as the merging of the two codelines. If that's the case (and we'll find out for sure within a week), there's no reason Google shouldn't put it out to AOSP. Once that's done, nobody will say two words about Honeycomb again.
So, if you're "stuck" with perfectly serviceable Froyo/GB for another four to six months, just to pull a timeframe from my nether regions, is that really such an impediment? What's in Honeycomb that's so compelling (other than support for a few tablet-specific apps)?

MechAniX.one said:
The major issue for me is video play back. Thats the biggest reason Im unable to leave Froyo. Then next to that is the speed. Its kind of like comparing Windows XP to Vista. As far as I can see from playing around with Honeycomb at BestBuy there is no real leap in OS. There is still so much to improve in the way of a user experience on Android. The basics are there but if you have no apps, games or widgets to install your just stairing at a wallpaper.
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You guys should try nightly CM7 from Cyanogen which is to me stable, faster and reliable, and gives great battery life when you combine with Pershoot's kernel.
I am running nightly Cyanogen on my phone EVO and my Gtablet. Could not be more happier for the choice I have made to go with Cyanogen.

I dont see any ROM being considered usable daily if it cant play back movies well.

Related

I really hope Froyo doesn't turn out to be a disappointment

Now Froyo is supposed to be a major milestone with Android, but, frankly, I think the same thing was said about Android 2.1. I don't care much for the USB tethering (because we already have that), wifi hotspot feature (because I'm not going to use it), and so on, but there are a few major points of things I'm hanging on.
Notably, the supposed performance improvement being 2-5x greater than Android 2.1 That is a big claim and, if true, then the Captivate will be completely lag free on stock. If so, the usability on this phone will just shoot straight up. The smoother transition and animation should also help this greatly.
I'm not too concerned about having Flash 10.1, but Froyo is also supposed to come with numerous other improvements. I know the browser is being updated to support some hardware features, but I hope Google is also improving the general usability of the browser. As it is now, it kind of sucks. Additionally, I also hope the Youtube app is also updated.
Nonetheless, even if all the others remain nothing more than a dream, I, at the least, hope the improvement performance/transitions/animation turns out to be something of substance.
Well, here's to September.
The Captivate has plenty of cpu power... it seems that most of the lag we are expeirencing comes with the filesystem Samsung has chosen to use and it's poor I/O performance. I'm not sure if Froyo will help too much - but I would expect that once 2.2 hits the custom ROM scene will really kick off, and hopefull somebody will implement YAFFS or whatever some of the other phones (Nexus 1, etc) are using.
We may see better battery life if the system needs fewer CPU cycles to accomplish the same tasks it's doing now.
Don't forget - we'll also receive the new kernal which should double the available RAM from 256mb in 2.1 to 512mb in 2.2 - though the system seems to currently report there is currently 325mb aviable. In either case, it will be a big increase - though I'm not really having any memory issues at the moment.
I'm trying not to get too excited for it, but it does make some impressive promises.
^ Well, Samsung does have its own customized version of Android. I'd imagine that the one they're rolling out in September will contain an improved filesystem (as I've heard that Samsung is currently aware of the issue) and, in combination with Froyo's own improvements, should do a lot to help Android perform better.
I wasn't aware of the kernel thing. I don't see how is that possible, though. The Captivate has a total of 512MB RAM, so wouldn't it need a part of that in order to operate normally?
The new kernel in 2.2 has HIMEM support and supports more than 256mb, which is what 2.1 is limited to. I'm not sure if Samsung tweaked the kernel to support the 325mb we have now or how that figure is derived, but right now we can't use all the RAM that the Captivate packs.
^ I looked up info on 'HIGHMEM' and I see what you mean now. The updated kernel supports devices with RAM greater than 256MB RAM. I thought you actually meant that the kernel will make all 512MB available for the user.
Alright, that sounds good. I guess the additional support may be why there is supposed to be increased smoothness and animation.
8525Smart said:
Now Froyo is supposed to be a major milestone with Android, but, frankly, I think the same thing was said about Android 2.1. I don't care much for the USB tethering (because we already have that), wifi hotspot feature (because I'm not going to use it), and so on, but there are a few major points of things I'm hanging on.
Notably, the supposed performance improvement being 2-5x greater than Android 2.1 That is a big claim and, if true, then the Captivate will be completely lag free on stock. If so, the usability on this phone will just shoot straight up. The smoother transition and animation should also help this greatly.
I'm not too concerned about having Flash 10.1, but Froyo is also supposed to come with numerous other improvements. I know the browser is being updated to support some hardware features, but I hope Google is also improving the general usability of the browser. As it is now, it kind of sucks. Additionally, I also hope the Youtube app is also updated.
Nonetheless, even if all the others remain nothing more than a dream, I, at the least, hope the improvement performance/transitions/animation turns out to be something of substance.
Well, here's to September.
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I totally agree with you. I couldn't care less about tethering, hotspot or Flash. I never used them and never will. I just don't need them.
The only thing I care about is the speed improvement. I don't really believe it will have 2-5x improvement boost because, well, every claim is exaggerated. But I am expecting something.
That said, I am not too optimistic though. I have tried several Droid 2 in Verizon stores. It's very disappointing. It feels rather sluggish and laggy. Even worse than the Captivate now. And apparently Engadget reviewer agrees with me.
So as much as I welcome the birth of 2.2, I am not as optimistic as others.
And final words, I don't think we'll get the update in Sept. I think Samsung will (hopefully) release it in Sept, but it will take AT&T another month or two to load their crap.
I wish I am wrong.
mwxiao said:
And final words, I don't think we'll get the update in Sept. I think Samsung will (hopefully) release it in Sept, but it will take AT&T another month or two to load their crap.
I wish I am wrong.
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Since the test roms that have come out are from Samsung and they already have AT&T crap on them, I believe its safe to assume that Samsung is making the roms for AT&T. So, there should be no extra step for AT&T to load their crap...it should come directly from Samsung.
Considering 2.2 has gotten a ton of praise from other phones that are already using it I'm sure our Froyo will be a worthwhile upgrade as well. Sure, Samsung might screw the pooch on some things again, but overall it will be better.
This isn't Windoze, how can an upgrade be disappointing?
Bring on the Froyo!
cappysw10 said:
This isn't Windoze, how can an upgrade be disappointing?
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I am sure an update is always good. But if it doesn't meet the high expectations, it will be a disappointment. And I think the expectations are pretty high.
mwxiao said:
That said, I am not too optimistic though. I have tried several Droid 2 in Verizon stores. It's very disappointing. It feels rather sluggish and laggy. Even worse than the Captivate now. And apparently Engadget reviewer agrees with me.
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Whoa, looks like I was a bit outdated. I actually hadn't realize Motorola's Droid 2 was using Froyo already (I still thought the Nexus One was the only phone that had it ).
Regarding the September release, I actually thought it was taking until September because Samsung is currently modifying all of their Froyo ROMs for each individual smartphone/carrier. After all, Froyo has technically been released already, so why else is Samsung taking until September to officially release it to all of their handsets?
glio1337 said:
Considering 2.2 has gotten a ton of praise from other phones that are already using it I'm sure our Froyo will be a worthwhile upgrade as well. Sure, Samsung might screw the pooch on some things again, but overall it will be better.
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That's just the thing, though. As I said, prior Android releases have garnered praise too. Eclair has gotten praise and was said to improve hardware performance, have a better browser UI, improved virtual keyboard, and so on. Of those three, I think the only one I would agree has truly improved is the virtual keyboard (I think the Android keyboard works very well on Eclair). The other listed improvements? Not so much.
Of course, Froyo will be better overall, but I just hope it's actually a milestone release with the proclaimed changes making a big difference instead of just steadily updating the platform with people telling me afterwards to wait for Gingerbread.
When reviews from places like Gizmodo, Engadget, Boy Genius etc say that they think 2.2 is a worthy step up from 2.1, I tend to take it as truth.
Regardless of any of that, all of the goodness from 2.2 is dependent on Samsung/ATT because they have the power to muck it up badly as they did with 2.1.
glio1337 said:
When reviews from places like Gizmodo, Engadget, Boy Genius etc say that they think 2.2 is a worthy step up from 2.1, I tend to take it as truth.
Regardless of any of that, all of the goodness from 2.2 is dependent on Samsung/ATT because they have the power to muck it up badly as they did with 2.1.
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Really? I find engadget and gizmodo to be awful at everything but aggregating news. Their opinions are always so uninformed and seem to be governed by whatever the fashionable opinion at the time.
Their product reviews are pretty good, or at the very least talk about the things most people would care about.
8525Smart said:
After all, Froyo has technically been released already, so why else is Samsung taking until September to officially release it to all of their handsets?
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Samsung needs to customize it for its hardware and put on Twisted-Wiz UI. It's slow.
That's just the thing, though. As I said, prior Android releases have garnered praise too. Eclair has gotten praise and was said to improve hardware performance, have a better browser UI, improved virtual keyboard, and so on. Of those three, I think the only one I would agree has truly improved is the virtual keyboard (I think the Android keyboard works very well on Eclair). The other listed improvements? Not so much.
Of course, Froyo will be better overall, but I just hope it's actually a milestone release with the proclaimed changes making a big difference instead of just steadily updating the platform with people telling me afterwards to wait for Gingerbread.
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I don't believe a 0.1 upgrade will be considered as milestone. We will definitely see speed improvement. But it's normal for every update. You always wait for the next update. It's always snappier.
glio1337 said:
When reviews from places like Gizmodo, Engadget, Boy Genius etc say that they think 2.2 is a worthy step up from 2.1, I tend to take it as truth.
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Of cause it's gonna be a worthy update. It's always worthy to upgrade to the next version. The question is, is it going to be as dramatic as they claimed? Personally, I don't think so.
cappysw10 said:
This isn't Windoze, how can an upgrade be disappointing?
Bring on the Froyo!
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Gotta love windows haters...
Any way, I cannot wait for froyo because I want to be able to move apps to the SD, to use flash without having to use Skyfire and using the extra memory should help too.
Plus I am expecting a TON of ROMs when it comes out so slowly but surely they phone would be maximize.
shaolin95 said:
...be able to move apps to the SD...
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Quoted for truth
I am more looking forward to an official lag fix and GPS fix moreso than Froyo.
I just read somewhere that JIT was written for the snapdragon processors and that while it may give us a little performance it wasn't really written for the hummingbird processor in our phones...so the chances of Samsung rewriting it just for us is probably very slim
The claims of 2-5x performance increase do seem hard to believe, but I believe these figures came from actual testing on the Nexus One running 2.2. Of course, I think we all know how reliable benchmarks are...
September is only a few hours away... where is our Froyo!!

Thoughts on Android.....

As CES nears i began to thing about what phone will i upgrade to. I am using a Droid Eris with 2.2 right now and its becoming out of date. So like many of you I have been to look at upgrades and what I want to get. Then I thought.....do you have to root your android to enjoy it? I know you can wait for new software, but it seems that the hardware is moving aso quick that your phone will be "out of date" within a few months if you don't root it. EOL for the Eris was Mayish of 2010....not a long life for a phone that was released in November of 09. So I have looked elsewhere. I am looking for Verizon to show a WP7 device at CES and the iPhone to follow after that. What are you thoughts? Do you need to root your phone to enjoy it? Do you feel that Android is the "rebel" of the Smartphone world?
-56K
The myTouch 4G from T-Mobile is an awesome phone. 768MB of RAM, 1Ghz. processor. It's very fast and responsive. You would not be disappointed.
Oh and let me say I am on Verizon and not looking to leave the Big Red V.
56K said:
Oh and let me say I am on Verizon and not looking to leave the Big Red V.
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Sorry. I can't stand V. I left them years ago and never looked back. Good luck.
Sent from my MT4G on America's largest 4G network!
i had a Nexus One and EVO prior to getting my DroidX. which is very unfriendly towards custom roms and other hacking fun.
needless to say i miss the Nexus and EVO immensely, half the fun for me was flashing custom roms and tinkering with stuff.
I agree it is fun messing with the Eris, but then i thought, what if my next phone I don't want to hassle with flashing roms, fixing things, and what not. Also My biggest issue with the software is not the software at all, its the app developers. It seems like it is 100% iOS4 first, Android second. I also like the intergration of Xbox Life with WP7.
My thought is this. You must root your phone if your a phone junky. Other wise we would all get bored quickly. There isn't enough high quality apps to keep me from rooting and changing things on the phone. Also I feel like I need to change phones at least once a year or I'm not happy lol.
Sent from my shoe, I mean....Epic shoe... I mean Samsung Epic! http://mobilehighway.blogspot.com/
See that is my issue, i am not sure if I want to root my next phone. I like it, but sometimes it sucks. I am a phone once a year kinda guy. I might check out the WP7 when they come out on the the V......
56K said:
I agree it is fun messing with the Eris, but then i thought, what if my next phone I don't want to hassle with flashing roms, fixing things, and what not. Also My biggest issue with the software is not the software at all, its the app developers. It seems like it is 100% iOS4 first, Android second. I also like the intergration of Xbox Life with WP7.
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I came from the Hero. I'm on a vibrant now, and loving it. There is a app on Android for adding removing and messaging Xbox live friends. Pretty much the same thing on WP7, minus the points you earn playing games.
I had no reason to root my phone but I couldn't resist the urge.
Now now. There is no reason to do something that drastic. Stay with Android. Lol
Sent from my shoe, I mean....Epic shoe... I mean Samsung Epic! http://mobilehighway.blogspot.com/
56K said:
See that is my issue, i am not sure if I want to root my next phone. I like it, but sometimes it sucks. I am a phone once a year kinda guy. I might check out the WP7 when they come out on the the V......
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What's your beef with rooting? It's not like it's a difficult process, and it opens up so many options for you. It honestly doesn't make any sense to me to not root.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
TheBiles said:
What's your beef with rooting? It's not like it's a difficult process, and it opens up so many options for you. It honestly doesn't make any sense to me to not root.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
No beef with rooting at all, but that is my point, do you have to root to enjoy your android? I know it ipens options but the developers from the big apps are slow to the android game.....
I don't think you have to root to enjoy a device, but for me, it allows me to enjoy it more. Why wouldn't you root? I like trying out different ROMs and tinkering with stuff and overclocking. Apps are fine, but those are only part of the fun for me.
bnrbranding said:
I don't think you have to root to enjoy a device, but for me, it allows me to enjoy it more. Why wouldn't you root? I like trying out different ROMs and tinkering with stuff and overclocking. Apps are fine, but those are only part of the fun for me.
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Click to collapse
That's my point i guess. I'm an app guy, i like apps, want the latest apps, and U just don't feel i can get that with Android.
The Xbox Live integration looks really nice so again when the verizon WP7 comes out I may look at it.
Something that has bothered me is the fragmentation of the Android OS. There are some devices, that are not that old running 1.5 and 1.6, some on 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3.....you get my drift.
56K said:
That's my point i guess. I'm an app guy, i like apps, want the latest apps, and U just don't feel i can get that with Android.
The Xbox Live integration looks really nice so again when the verizon WP7 comes out I may look at it.
Something that has bothered me is the fragmentation of the Android OS. There are some devices, that are not that old running 1.5 and 1.6, some on 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3.....you get my drift.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does the fragmentation bother you if you're rooted? Any device with a decent community will have the latest OS.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
TheBiles said:
How does the fragmentation bother you if you're rooted? Any device with a decent community will have the latest OS.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I agree but it seems that the Android devices are so spread out that it gives the developers hell. For example look at Angry Birds. They are developing 2 versions for "one" OS.
(Wall of text approaches)
About Rooting:
I don't have to be rooted but I definitely enjoy the phone more because I am. I don't have to pay additional tethering fees to my carrier because rooting allows me to do this for free. I don't have to wait for carriers to send an OTA of the next version of Android because my rooted phone allows me to upload ROMs made by the awesome devs we have here at XDA.
About Apps:
Android's marketshare is rising exponentially. I am definitely seeing more application development for the platform and a lot of popular iPhone apps being ported over as well. I admit that Android's Marketplace isn't as intuitive as the App Store but it is getting better. I recommend checking out Appbrain if you want a better market experience on Android.
About Fragmentation:
Its openness is a double-edged sword in my opinion. Openness allows a multitude of different products to be running your OS but it also causes fragmentation because of all the skins manufactures choose to run on top of it. Take a look at the Motorola Droid, it runs Stock Android and it received Eclair and Froyo relatively fast because of it. Now take the Galaxy S series running a Touchwiz version of Android, all of these devices were released this year and have none have received Froyo when the Motorola Droid was released last year and does have Froyo. 95% of typical android users probably don't know what version of Android they are running anyway so it could be that manufactures aren't putting it as high priority because their customers don't care. 2.2 to 2.3 isn't a very big leap outside of aesthetics.
Good post. I only started this thread to get some good conversation.. I am not against rooting, against Android, against iOS, or WP7. I just like to keep my options open.
^ we understand.
The fragmentation argument is nonsense. Any good developer will tell you its no different than developing for a PC. With a PC you have a infinite amount of hardware combinations same as Android.
vetvito said:
^ we understand.
The fragmentation argument is nonsense. Any good developer will tell you its no different than developing for a PC. With a PC you have a infinite amount of hardware combinations same as Android.
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Click to collapse
Good Point.

[Q] IceCream Sandwich and Xoom

I'm just curious but since ICS is coming, what does that mean for us? All I've heard is another UI overhaul for phones to give them more honeycomb, but what do we get? If Hardware Acceleration is in then I would be happy, but there doesn't seem to be anything in it for us tablet users.
Unless I'm missing something.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393797,00.asp#fbid=eHhpmAndRdICant really say kinda early..heres something I found but still unsure
I hope it means an update and AOSP!!
Not sure what the link was for...... Didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. Sorry. But I'm just not sure if I would be excited about ics on my Xoom.
Imma say that it will be on the original Xoom's without a doubt. I read in an article that ICS will be able to run on older devices, thus it's almost a guarantee the Xoom will see it officially. Annnnd for some reason it does not... have no fear, as the devs will be here to solve that problem! The OG Droid was left out of the update loop awhile back because newer models replaced it, but we still have the most current updates on it thanks to the brilliant devs. Just gotta have some faith in your XDA community, and they will figure something out.
But again, I think the OP wants to know (...like I also do) what's the big improvement gonna be?
As I stated on another recent post, the big deal for me as I see it is that (presumably) the SC for HC will be released and then the ROM goodness will follow. But if it's anything like what happened with Froyo, etc, the Honeycomb custom ROMs will kick the stock Icecream Sandwichs' ass.
-No?
Psychokitty said:
But again, I think the OP wants to know (...like I also do) what's the big improvement gonna be?
As I stated on another recent post, the big deal for me as I see it is that (presumably) the SC for HC will be released and then the ROM goodness will follow. But if it's anything like what happened with Froyo, etc, the Honeycomb custom ROMs will kick the stock Icecream Sandwichs' ass.
-No?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for being the only reply actually related to my post, but Google had stated a long time ago that the SC for hc will never be released as the SC for ics will be released instead. But since phones will get more hc goodness, what do we get?(which is the main question in the topic)
I think at this point, it's a wait-and-see kind of thing.
But I think finally having the source code is the biggest news here. I think it will be the dawning of a golden age for the XOOM, so to speak.
Also, one advantage to the phone side getting lumped in to the same OS is that we will see a boost in apps that are tablet optimized since the devs will be able to work all of it into one .apk instead of focusing on two separate projects.
These are the two things I'm personally looking forward to the most as far as the tablet side goes.
Of course, it would be nice to be surprised, too.
kenfly said:
Thanks for being the only reply actually related to my post, but Google had stated a long time ago that the SC for hc will never be released as the SC for ics will be released instead. But since phones will get more hc goodness, what do we get?(which is the main question in the topic)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I think, since ICS will be open source, we will get additional development for the Xoom, beyond the wonderful feature additions and enhancements we have gotten with the limited HC.
Don't you think so?
From my understanding, Ice Cream Sandwich is an over haul for phones to bring out an honeycomb interface while allowing for tablet support as well and it will be more controlled by the king them self, Google.
What this means? All android devices will now be updated at the same time as it'll be more tightly integrated which means developers will need to start just making widgets for there own devices instead of a completely different interfaces like they do today. In a way, it'll be exactly what Honeycomb tablets are today (if you look at all the honeycomb tablets that's out, the interface is the same, only differences is that others will have widgets and/or wallpapers designed just for there tablets (i.e., samsung has the touchwiz) but can be upgraded all the same).
This is supposed to be more more uniform support and faster updates.
Will this go into effect right away? Probably not since the manufacturers will still need to make to update go through but we should also expect to see faster updates as well (there's still a lot of users out there still waiting on Gingerbread releases for there devices so with this making it more uniformed should allow for faster releases).
This is only from what I've heard, though.
This is from a PC World article this morning:
Although Google has kept its cards close to its vest about ICS, a number of things have been reported about it.
Widgets will be richer and resizable, as they are in the tablet version of Android.
More multitasking will be added to the system and the OS will be open source.
The system will be tailored to take advantage of devices that use the Texas Instrument's OMAP chip.
As with any Android upgrade, what Android devices will be eligible for the new system will remain with the manufacturers, but two good bets for the upgraded OS are the Samsung Nexus S and the Motorola Xoom.
---
I think it is important to understand one thing about ICS. It is intended to reunify the OS on all device types (like iOS). What this means for tablet (and conversely smartphone) users is that app development will improve and we will get better apps. These apps will make it easier to share functions between your tablet and your smartphone.
We would have found out more next Tuesday, but the announcements for ICS have been postponed. The postponement was for a good reason though. We still don't know what the reschedule date will be, other than sometime this month.

Is ICS going to be worth it?

I know that many are excited about the 'sweetness' of ICS that's suppose to drop this month. I did have a TF Prime for 2 weeks (returned it due to issues). I miss the shiny svelte tab for sure, but it had way too many issues to deal with. No thx on being a BETA tester for ASUS unless they decide to send me a tablet for free.
Anyway it seems we've been hearing/talking about ICS for ages now (in fact it's only been 9 months or so I'd guess). When details where finally released on it, I admit I was somewhat disappointed.
Sure for people on Gingerbread, ICS is a huge step forward, but for all of us that have been using HC for up to nearly a year now, it didn't seem to offer that much.
Looking over wikipedia the only thing that I see that gets me excited is Hardware Acceleration of the UI, just about every other feature either exists in HC, is available in apps, or makes little difference to those of us using a TF101 (IMHO).
Now i will admit that once the Dev's create a stable ROM I'll drop that onto the device but I'm just not that excited for a new font. I do think that ICS being both a tablet and phone OS is good going forward for app development, and we should see those advantages play out over time in a more stable environment as well as more available apps, but as it stands currently I'm just not that excited for ICS.
I just looked at Platform stats;
Cupcake 0.6%
Donut 1.0%
Eclair 7.6%
Froyo 27.8%
Gingerbread 58.6%
Honeycomb 3.4%
Ice Cream Sandwich 1.0%
Talk about different user experiences ....WOW....I wish that Google could somehow shut down everything prior to Gingerbread, and force everyone up, with at least 37% of devices using these long outdated OS versions, it's no wonder that we constantly hear the 'fragmented' comment about Android.
I'm not sure what kind of ground breaking innovative features you were expecting in ICS. Although I agree that some of these features are available with third party apps, I believe your average everyday user will benefit from having them built in rather than needing to search through the market once they hear of some feature they would enjoy. You have to remember that we are almost surely the minority of overall Android users here on XDA compared to the general public, as we are more comfortable tinkering with our devices than others. And anything that can bring Android tablets closer to on par with the iPad, currently at the top of the tablet world, is a benefit to the Android platform and is "worth it."
As far as the fragmentation goes, I don't think the different OS versions you mentioned are what most people refer to as the "fragmentation" of Android. Rather, it is the manufacturers skin (HTC's Sense, Motorola MotoBlur, etc.) of each platform, which can be confusing to common users when switching between them. However, this is part of the beauty of Android; users can pick which skin suits them best, or as power users such as those of us on XDA can do, change the Android software if we like the hardware of the device but don't care for the software. Granted, more to your point, most iPhone users are probably on IOS 4 or above compared to those on Gingerbread or above, although I can't verify this fact with a quick Google search.
IMHO, I'm more excited to see CyanogenMod 9 on the TF101 than ICS in general. I've been a loyal user of Android Revolution HD, but I'm looking forward to see what the CM team has to offer in regards to the options/customizations available seen in every other CM ROM (AR is based on stock TF101 ROM, with plenty of enhancements of course).
If you would have tried out paulburton's ICS port you would see the truly immense differences that it brings. Honeycomb was not a finished product on is release and was only pushed out to compete with the iPad so there were a lot of things wrong with it. Now with ICS we will have a smother experience along with greater uniformity. The promise of CM9 is just the icing on the cake
Yeah I'm looking forward to CM9 on the TF101 as well...I did try out an Ipad2 after i returned my Prime. I didn't find much that i could criticize about the device ( other then price)....the thing was solid and just worked (which is more then i can say about the Prime)....I'm looking forward to the MeMo hopefully by then ICS will have been patched up to a level that makes it robust. The padphone as well looks good (and being able to use this dock is sweet)...but i do wonder if it will even make its way to NA
As for expectations for ICS....I don't know maybe I thought we'd see something revolutionary....like User profiles....more support for external devices like DVD drives... native printer support
surroundedbytrees said:
Yeah I'm looking forward to CM9 on the TF101 as well...I did try out an Ipad2 after i returned my Prime. I didn't find much that i could criticize about the device ( other then price)....the thing was solid and just worked (which is more then i can say about the Prime)....I'm looking forward to the MeMo hopefully by then ICS will have been patched up to a level that makes it robust. The padphone as well looks good (and being able to use this dock is sweet)...but i do wonder if it will even make its way to NA
As for expectations for ICS....I don't know maybe I thought we'd see something revolutionary....like User profiles....more support for external devices like DVD drives... native printer support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol its a mobile OS not linux..
blickmanic said:
lol its a mobile OS not linux..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its virtual machine on top of linux so most of what he is saying could be done but would obviously be cm based or aosp done by our devs
User profiles are available already theres a root app that creates partitions for each profile or user
Printer support i know through bluetoth theres a couple apps for it but nothing native or other than wifi/bluetooth
Im just saying its good to dream and in this guys case both the things he mentioned are do-able
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
I wouldn't mind being able to print web pages and graphics from the tf on my wifi printer.
luna_c666 said:
I wouldn't mind being able to print web pages and graphics from the tf on my wifi printer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have a look in the market. There are printing apps from canon for example.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
I've tried the HoneyComb on a variety of Android tablets (transformer, Toshiba thrive, galaxy tab 10.1, acer, and some others), and it seems laggy: scrolling the home screen left and right lags when doing it fast. is ICS better and faster on the original transformer (for those who tried the ports)?
I'm planning on getting an EEE Transformer (not Prime) soon, before they get out of the market. Already it got sold out in 2 local shops who put them on promotion, preparing for the prime. I might find the base 16GB Wifi only for around €350.
towlie288 said:
Have a look in the market. There are printing apps from canon for example.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All android printing apps are printer dependent. Android has no printing layer. I think this is ridiculous. Android has much more potential for being a desktop replacement than iOS (I use it for 90% of the tasks I use my MacBook Pro for) but there is no printing layer.
Cheers!
-M
Xda member since 2007
For the whiny little snots who don't think the TF101/HC is fast enough or must always have the latest versions, ICS ought to be worth it. Everything else is just evolution like Froyo -> Gingerbread. Worth it but not a game killer as long as stuff works. I prefer ICS to HC the same as I prefer GB to Froyo.
On the Prime I really noticed the speed difference in ICS, but was already 250% satisified with the TF101 speed under HC (which isn't all that different from the Prime on HC IMHO).
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
im an update junkie first and foremost but i am eager for ics for other reasons as well. CM9 is awesome. But a stable release allows custom roms to pick out the latest working code. Even a semi stock but optimized rom with custom oc kernel is great.
Spidey01 said:
but was already 250% satisified with the TF101 speed under HC (which isn't all that different from the Prime on HC IMHO).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing that you must have notice was the browser speed. It lags terribly on HC during loading of the page, but from what I read it also lags on ICS sometimes, so I don't know if the update will be worth it.
towlie288 said:
Have a look in the market. There are printing apps from canon for example.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm..thanks! I never even thought to look in the market, i have a canon pixma mp495, which is listed under compatible printers with the app Canon EPP, so maybe it will work
I'll let you guys know if it is worth it. (replacing more and more functions of my laptop daily this transformer is)
Edit;
Wow. Just what i was looking for scan and print! Nice..
Brother Printer App available too
luna_c666 said:
Hmmm..thanks! I never even thought to look in the market, i have a canon pixma mp495, which is listed under compatible printers with the app Canon EPP, so maybe it will work
I'll let you guys know if it is worth it. (replacing more and more functions of my laptop daily this transformer is)
Edit;
Wow. Just what i was looking for scan and print! Nice..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a brother wifi printer and there is a nice app for it. It has been updated several times since I first downloaded it. I have it on my tf and my captivate. It has helped me greatly.
For example, yesterday I picked up my daughter after work and went home. She fell asleep about 15 minutes before we got home. And, we were planning on going to dinner because we had a coupon. So, I pulled in the driveway, left the car running, let my cappy connect to my wifi and printed the coupon from my phone. My wife grabbed it and joined us in the car while my daughter continued to sleep peacefully.
I never thought a smart phone could help my daughter get a better nap until yesterday.
Magnesus said:
The only thing that you must have notice was the browser speed. It lags terribly on HC during loading of the page, but from what I read it also lags on ICS sometimes, so I don't know if the update will be worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Opera Mobile has been my daily browser on each, so I can't say that I noticed much. Page loading in the stock still tends to be slow. What is different on the Prime, is how much faster/smoother the ICS UI is compared to HC on the Prime. I'm almost tempted to hit the force GPU rendering option in Settings -> Developer Options, just to see how wide spread it can be.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
surroundedbytrees said:
I just looked at Platform stats;
Cupcake 0.6%
Donut 1.0%
Eclair 7.6%
Froyo 27.8%
Gingerbread 58.6%
Honeycomb 3.4%
Ice Cream Sandwich 1.0%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should see Apple's OS fragmentation, it's MUCH worse than that. Steve Jobs was a liar when we told the world of Android fragmentation.
Fragmentation plagues any device with frequent OS changes..I'm still on Windows XP on one PC, windows Vista on two of them, and Win7 on another PC..also, my wife has gingerbread on her phone, I have honeycomb on my tab, and ICS on my (identical model to my wife's) phone. Eh..any technology that becomes so quickly updated and made obsolete so easily will create such fragmentation..people can't always afford to upgrade just because their device is replaced with a new model, some people just don't like change even when OS updates are available. This is also exacerbated when the old OS will not run on older devices thus updates are not possible for many people who would like to have them. Perhaps ICS will run for a while until Jelly Bean comes out and allow old froyo and GB devices to leave the market and consumers retire them, and more devices will be consolidated on Android 4.x- will certainly make developing cross-platform apps easier to achieve.
Of course, now that I have ICS, I can't wait to see what JB is going to add to my device..
Yes it will. Because of this: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.android.chrome - I want ICS NOW!

Sony vs ICS: is ICS heading to the same buggy fate as iOS 5

I wrote this after reading Sony's developer blog about the pros and cons of ICS and reflecting on my personal experience with several ICS ROMs on my Sensation. What I've come to realize is that ICS lacks the stability of GB and many things don't work. As Sony has pointed out, there is a huge structure difference between the 2 versions of Androids, and ICS is the more resource intensive one. Consistently, my battery on ICS is always poorer than on GB, including on idle. What really bugs me is that many basic functions such as video hardware acceleration malfunctions, my videos now become choppy and looks weird. If you manage to get your hands on a HTC One X, you can try watching a youtube HD 1080 mp4 on it and see how blurry the video rendering has become. At the same time, on ARHD ROM, there is the problem with wifi auto turning on, some sound problems as well.
All in all, this reminds me of the public outcry when iOS 5 was released and it was full of bugs. I am fully aware that ICS is a major update, thus bugs are inevitable, but I can't help feeling that ICS is not polished enough, or at least it needs some major public testing before officially released. I don't think there were as much problems of upgrading from Froyo to Gingerbread.
This is just my own opinion as an end user rather than someone with programming knowledge. I haven't managed to find any functions that is exclusive to ICS that GB lacks and I also don't see much value added by upgrading to ICS. Can I anyone enlighten me on this topic? What are the practical benefits of upgrading to ICS?
Face unlock?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
DangKid said:
Face unlock?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Face unlock is not really useful at all. I think most people will just stick with other methods like PIN lock instead.
huy_lonewolf said:
I wrote this after reading Sony's developer blog about the pros and cons of ICS and reflecting on my personal experience with several ICS ROMs on my Sensation. What I've come to realize is that ICS lacks the stability of GB and many things don't work. As Sony has pointed out, there is a huge structure difference between the 2 versions of Androids, and ICS is the more resource intensive one. Consistently, my battery on ICS is always poorer than on GB, including on idle. What really bugs me is that many basic functions such as video hardware acceleration malfunctions, my videos now become choppy and looks weird. If you manage to get your hands on a HTC One X, you can try watching a youtube HD 1080 mp4 on it and see how blurry the video rendering has become. At the same time, on ARHD ROM, there is the problem with wifi auto turning on, some sound problems as well.
All in all, this reminds me of the public outcry when iOS 5 was released and it was full of bugs. I am fully aware that ICS is a major update, thus bugs are inevitable, but I can't help feeling that ICS is not polished enough, or at least it needs some major public testing before officially released. I don't think there were as much problems of upgrading from Froyo to Gingerbread.
This is just my own opinion as an end user rather than someone with programming knowledge. I haven't managed to find any functions that is exclusive to ICS that GB lacks and I also don't see much value added by upgrading to ICS. Can I anyone enlighten me on this topic? What are the practical benefits of upgrading to ICS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel the exact same way as you about ics vs its predecessors... I currently use a optimus 2x handset and came from a se x10i. I always viewed sony as a bit behind the rest when it came to software/hardware releases, but after using the two handsets mentioned above, I now realise that se just spent a bit more time to release a better all round experience for their customers.
I have always run cm7 on them both and been happy, now ics is out I have been trying it out... and I am sadly very unhappy with it. I know that rom development takes time. so I used a friends stock nexus s for a few days, and its was even worse due to lack of root among other things. I will always stick with android, but at the moment ics is far from anything I would like to use.
kemmo123 said:
I feel the exact same way as you about ics vs its predecessors... I currently use a optimus 2x handset and came from a se x10i. I always viewed sony as a bit behind the rest when it came to software/hardware releases, but after using the two handsets mentioned above, I now realise that se just spent a bit more time to release a better all round experience for their customers.
I have always run cm7 on them both and been happy, now ics is out I have been trying it out... and I am sadly very unhappy with it. I know that rom development takes time. so I used a friends stock nexus s for a few days, and its was even worse due to lack of root among other things. I will always stick with android, but at the moment ics is far from anything I would like to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I definitely agree with you. You probably have to wait until CM9 becomes official.
hmmm, not sure about other phone makers. My experience with custom rom ics is good. Undeniable when I first flashed the early version of ICS custom rom, it gives me nightmare with many things not working. But after the great custom rom developer put their priceless efforts to solve the issues, it is quite stable for the latest build right now. Haven't face any frustrating issues using it during working days or weekends.
ics on evo is getting better and better as each day passes. it started out super buggy but getting stable. still prefer gb tho
I have no problem with but a few apps that aren't compatible which makes my tablet reboot.
huy_lonewolf said:
I can't help feeling that ICS is not polished enough, or at least it needs some major public testing before officially released. I don't think there were as much problems of upgrading from Froyo to Gingerbread.
This is just my own opinion as an end user rather than someone with programming knowledge. I haven't managed to find any functions that is exclusive to ICS that GB lacks and I also don't see much value added by upgrading to ICS. Can I anyone enlighten me on this topic? What are the practical benefits of upgrading to ICS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pure ics runs fine. its fast, battery is good if not great, gb compared to the overall feeling and handling of it is a hackjob. its not about functions, of course gb can do everything that ics can, did you seriously think it'd do more? its still a phone after all and the hardware didn't change that much, but the sum is more than its parts and ics - for the first time on android - is what i would call a mature os. adoption is a nightmarish clusterfuck because manufacturers and providers alike are out there insisting to disfigure it, push fragmentation because they are lusting after revenue and your money. of course its slow now, full of bugs and looks like crap - what do you expect, they didnt simply write modular extensions as they've could, they made dead sure you won't be able to de-install it by cracking up the framework whatever the cost and stuffing their rotten bloat into the poor thing.
the practical benefits? if you own a nexus you'll experience a modern, sleek operating system that is definitively a step into the right direction. something that feels good, looks good and operates like putty in your hands. on every other system you are f****d. call it "ics" what they've dished out but you're fooling yourself. gb is probably better than that indeed. and if you're fed up with the good ole' fragmentation game all together simply do not buy sony, samsung, htc or whatever, buy nexus where android is allowed to be itself.
molesarecoming said:
pure ics runs fine. its fast, battery is good if not great, gb compared to the overall feeling and handling of it is a hackjob. its not about functions, of course gb can do everything that ics can, did you seriously think it'd do more? its still a phone after all and the hardware didn't change that much, but the sum is more than its parts and ics - for the first time on android - is what i would call a mature os. adoption is a nightmarish clusterfuck because manufacturers and providers alike are out there insisting to disfigure it, push fragmentation because they are lusting after revenue and your money. of course its slow now, full of bugs and looks like crap - what do you expect, they didnt simply write modular extensions as they've could, they made dead sure you won't be able to de-install it by cracking up the framework whatever the cost and stuffing their rotten bloat into the poor thing.
the practical benefits? if you own a nexus you'll experience a modern, sleek operating system that is definitively a step into the right direction. something that feels good, looks good and operates like putty in your hands. on every other system you are f****d. call it "ics" what they've dished out but you're fooling yourself. gb is probably better than that indeed. and if you're fed up with the good ole' fragmentation game all together simply do not buy sony, samsung, htc or whatever, buy nexus where android is allowed to be itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I can understand what you mean, but I still prefer HTC Sense to stock Android (including ICS) as there are many features that the Galaxy Nexus lacks (Internet-pass-through and text reflow in browser). Moreover, if I want pure ICS, I can just install a custom ROM on my Sensation. I will be installing custom ROM anyway, so fragmentation is not my problem as well. My bug with ICS is this: ICS is specifically optimized for TI OMAP 4 (which is the worst SOC I can think of for my phone compared to Snapdragon S3 or Samsung Exynos) and currently all of my devices running ICS (HTC Sensation, HTC One X, ASUS Transformer Prime) have video rendering problem when hardware acceleration is on (either the videos become choppy (snapdragon S3) or blurry (Tegra 3)). No other version of Android I have used has this many problems when it was launched.

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