Google have a made big step in the right direction, ten years ago Bill Gates promised us a Windows version running on every appliance, Android looks closer then Windows Mobile to achieve that goal.
Android looks like a good platform for small devices, it runs on a linux kernel (which makes it cheap), and the application layer is implemented in a Virtual Machine (Which makes it more stable and secure).
We shouldn't try to compare netbooks applications to desktop applications. Netbooks should come cheap, which mean they are down on resources, but on the other hand they can come with features that are missing on a desktop (3G embedded card e.g.). Its a matter of time until Android devices would be Office enabled (If the S60 can do it, then Android for sure) which is for me a big hurdle that Google needs to cross. Other then that its all a matter who can come up the right applications that will make the netbooks a valid market (A lack of applications is what drove down the Tablet PC market, in my view anyway).
One more thing, since the Android API is Java like and straight forward (my opinion again), the amount of web based applications converted into native code is currently one of the main drives for building Android applications. As cool as it is this is not enough to make the Android ground braking platform.
I've been thinking for a while now that netbooks should come with their own App Store-style arrangement, because a specific environment for small, simple, low-resolution-optimised apps would be a big boon. So I guess Android fits that bill... I don't think it's anywhere near mature enough to use at the moment though, but it's a step in the right direction.
Now, how about those other embedded devices... Android on my fridge and in my car's dashboard perhaps...
I like Android a lot for mobile phones, and could definitely see it running in other embedded environments, but wonder if it's a little bit underpowered for something like a netbook. With Linux, you get stuff like The Gimp, OpenOffice... real applications rather than 'Google Apps'. They probably don't run so fast on those small boxes, but at least they're running locally.
There's no reason why such a netbook couldn't have such apps. There's already a Java port of OpenOffice called NeoOffice. My understanding was that most of it was done through a transliteration of the OpenOffice code.
I think most users want something like a Google managed Android netbook. Just give them something that works, where they don't have to worry about compatibility issues, DLL hell, viruses, and malware. The vast majority of users would love that.
Yes, but Android doesn't use straight up Java, especially in terms of its GUI code.
I could see the appeal of the 'slimmed down' system, but I suppose we'll have to see what sorts of apps are created for Android, whether they're useful in something that's significantly different in terms of form factor. Good apps should be able to handle it, but it could be that what's good for a quick whirl on the phone is seen as a not so serious app for a computer that people actually sit down to use.
What is cool about it is it shows how cool Android is, and how people will end up doing innovative things with it.
The only real issue with netbooks is the lack of ram. Who decided that 512mb was fine for most configurations?
However the 1.6GHz Atom processor is fast enough to handle full screen flash video. Mine currently has 1Gb of ram and can run Eclipse plus the Android emulator at a pretty good speed. Compilation is noticeably slower than my MBP, but that's about it.
Presumably you could lift that out of Android and hack it into a regular Linux system. Granted, it's probably better integrated with Android, though.
The problem with running "other code" (Open Office, for example), is that all graphics have to go through the Android interface - the whole GUI is done with Java/Dalvik. That might make it difficult to integrate other programs.
I think a netbooks's screen is too small to use it as a convential desktop.
This just got me thinking. If Apple is rumored to launch a Netbook and a Ipod Touch with a bigger screen, maybe they are going to launch both in the same device. That is, Apple's netbook and the new bigger Ipod touch will be one.
Something like the new OLPC prototype, with a virtual keyboard on the other screen. It would be the Nintendo DS killer.
Except a DS is already 4 years old (nearing the end of it's lifecycle). In the next year or two, Nintendo will just release something new (not just another rehash); especially if Apple keep closing in on the handheld games market. Maybe the next gen Nintendo handheld killer...
I have to say, Android's sandboxed environment could be a big step up from the home-grown Linux sandboxes that Asus et al. currently ship with their netbooks.
I won't be carrying around a Netbook until the form factor is a touch-screen tablet. I'd much rather carry around my full-featured 13" MacBook until then... The extra inches is hardly a burden on my shoulder.
Android looks like a good platform for small devices, it runs on a linux kernel (which makes it cheap), and the application layer is implemented in a Virtual Machine (Which makes it more stable and secure).
We shouldn't try to compare netbooks applications to desktop applications. Netbooks should come cheap, which mean they are down on resources, but on the other hand they can come with features that are missing on a desktop (3G embedded card e.g.). Its a matter of time until Android devices would be Office enabled (If the S60 can do it, then Android for sure) which is for me a big hurdle that Google needs to cross. Other then that its all a matter who can come up the right applications that will make the netbooks a valid market (A lack of applications is what drove down the Tablet PC market, in my view anyway).
One more thing, since the Android API is Java like and straight forward (my opinion again), the amount of web based applications converted into native code is currently one of the main drives for building Android applications. As cool as it is this is not enough to make the Android ground braking platform.