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" Dozens of Android models distributed across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung, Asus and others have been driving volumes." The Ki

by JCB_K 15y ago

" Dozens of Android models distributed across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung, Asus and others have been driving volumes." The Kindle Fire really shouldn't be counted as an Android device. What's next, a press release stating Linux hits an all-time high market share, running on devices such as the Mac, iPhone, all Android phones and the Raspberry Pi?

CrazedGeek 15y ago
Why not? Strip away the minor UI changes Amazon made and it's just a 2.3 tablet.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- technoslut 15y ago
  Neither Google nor Amazon consider the Fire an Android tablet.
  - haridsv 15y ago
    That is mainly due to the difference in bundled market.
bad_user 15y ago
First of all - the world should acknowledge that Linux, the underdog, does power dozens of millions of Android devices. Also, customers would probably not hold their Kindle Fires right now if it weren't for Android. Developing an OS is an awful lot of work. And while Amazon's intentions are to fork Android, I'm pretty sure they'll come to their senses and just treat their version as a branch. They'll still insist on having their own curated app store and their own browser of course, but it will be an Android device nonetheless.
- Tyrannosaurs 15y ago
  That's true but by the same logic the Mac is a Free BSD device. That's a technically correct description but in terms of understanding the market it's not that useful. The issue with the Fire is that it's forked, that there may be future compatibility issues, that it will never officially become an ICS device and that those things may hold Android back in may ways (for instance app developers always having to work to a low baseline to access the Fire users as a potential market). So yes it's an Android tablet but it's one that may be a mixed blessing for Android and deserves some subtlety in the distinction.
  - bad_user 15y ago
    It remains to be seen, but I think Amazon will shoot itself in the foot if they won't keep up with the latest versions, simply because some developers will ignore the Kindle Fire because of this (while some will do as you say). I'm seeing this "fork" more like that of Debian and Ubuntu: different software bundled by default, different repository, different philosophies and policies, different management, overlapping user-base, but for practical purposes, they aren't that different.
    - Tyrannosaurs 15y ago
      One breakdown I saw suggested that of the 39%, 24% was Kindle and Nook (that's an absolute 24%, not 24% of the 39%). That's a massive percentage of the market to ignore as a developer.
      - fpgeek 15y ago
        The percentage of the market looks quite different if a developer is targeting phones as well as tablets.
      - bad_user 15y ago
        That was for tablets, right? I'm not surprised considering how shitty the Android tablets have been. But developers are targeting the phones first, tablets second, because a phone is always in your pocket, always online and everybody needs a phone. In December Google reported 700,000 activations per day. In 2010 alone there were 67 millions of Android devices sold, with the total number of mobile phones sold being measured in the hundreds of millions. So Kindle Fire does great as far as tablets go, but it can't compete in numbers with Android phones and Android phones are targeted first, unless you're talking about stuff like interactive eBooks that really need the bigger screen. I'm also seeing this happening on iPhones and iPads. Unless an app really needs the bigger screen, then the iPad is a second class citizen to the iPhone.

by JCB_K 15y ago

CrazedGeek 15y ago

Why not? Strip away the minor UI changes Amazon made and it's just a 2.3 tablet.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
technoslut 15y ago
Neither Google nor Amazon consider the Fire an Android tablet.
- haridsv 15y ago
  That is mainly due to the difference in bundled market.

bad_user 15y ago

First of all - the world should acknowledge that Linux, the underdog, does power dozens of millions of Android devices. Also, customers would probably not hold their Kindle Fires right now if it weren't for Android. Developing an OS is an awful lot of work. And while Amazon's intentions are to fork Android, I'm pretty sure they'll come to their senses and just treat their version as a branch. They'll still insist on having their own curated app store and their own browser of course, but it will be an Android device nonetheless.

Tyrannosaurs 15y ago
That's true but by the same logic the Mac is a Free BSD device. That's a technically correct description but in terms of understanding the market it's not that useful. The issue with the Fire is that it's forked, that there may be future compatibility issues, that it will never officially become an ICS device and that those things may hold Android back in may ways (for instance app developers always having to work to a low baseline to access the Fire users as a potential market). So yes it's an Android tablet but it's one that may be a mixed blessing for Android and deserves some subtlety in the distinction.
- bad_user 15y ago
  It remains to be seen, but I think Amazon will shoot itself in the foot if they won't keep up with the latest versions, simply because some developers will ignore the Kindle Fire because of this (while some will do as you say). I'm seeing this "fork" more like that of Debian and Ubuntu: different software bundled by default, different repository, different philosophies and policies, different management, overlapping user-base, but for practical purposes, they aren't that different.
  - Tyrannosaurs 15y ago
    One breakdown I saw suggested that of the 39%, 24% was Kindle and Nook (that's an absolute 24%, not 24% of the 39%). That's a massive percentage of the market to ignore as a developer.
    - fpgeek 15y ago
      The percentage of the market looks quite different if a developer is targeting phones as well as tablets.
    - bad_user 15y ago
      That was for tablets, right? I'm not surprised considering how shitty the Android tablets have been. But developers are targeting the phones first, tablets second, because a phone is always in your pocket, always online and everybody needs a phone. In December Google reported 700,000 activations per day. In 2010 alone there were 67 millions of Android devices sold, with the total number of mobile phones sold being measured in the hundreds of millions. So Kindle Fire does great as far as tablets go, but it can't compete in numbers with Android phones and Android phones are targeted first, unless you're talking about stuff like interactive eBooks that really need the bigger screen. I'm also seeing this happening on iPhones and iPads. Unless an app really needs the bigger screen, then the iPad is a second class citizen to the iPhone.