4 ms·

Google announces Open Handset Alliance - Techcrunch

28 points by Readmore 19y ago

Readmore 19y ago
"...With Android, a developer could build an application that enables users to view the location of their friends and be alerted when they are in the vicinity giving them a chance to connect." From (http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/android_overview.html http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/android_overview.html) Isn't that what Dodgeball did? I find that quote interesting since Google already owns that company and didn't do anything with it.
- kobs 19y ago
  Isn't that what Loopt sort of does?
- matth 19y ago
  The idea may have been to buy Dodgeball to prevent competition, and/or to get in on any collaborations or partnerships DB had.
  - ntoshev 19y ago
    Or maybe Google realized Dodgeball needs a better platform to become truly usable.
    - apgwoz 19y ago
      It's unfortunate that it died before the iPhone/SDK came out.
- deleted 19y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 19y ago
[deleted]
andrewfong 19y ago
I'm pumped about this -- anyone developing mobile apps?
- pistoriusp 19y ago
  I've coded some J2ME applications. It's horrible. Android, I welcome thee with open arms.
  - Readmore 19y ago
    From the press release it looks like you're still going to be programming in Java, just hopefully not J2ME.
    - pistoriusp 19y ago
      I don't mind Java so much. It's the incompatibilities between phones that's the killer. IMHO it's far worse than the browsers used to be.
      - danw 19y ago
        Have you tried J2ME polish? It makes things a tiny bit easier.
        pistoriusp 19y ago
        Yeah I have, I remember the release candidates for version 2 were having some problems, so I just went to check and it's still on RC4 since March this year. I actually remember reading that Gmail's mobile client is written with J2ME Polish, maybe Enough Software is working with Google?
brl 19y ago
I guess that's the end of OpenMoko.
- cstejerean 19y ago
  I've been waiting for the first OpenMoko phone to come out for months. It was scheduled for October and I still don't see any updates.
  - seiji 19y ago
    All the news is at http://gnumonks.org/~laforge/weblog/linux/openmoko/index.html http://gnumonks.org/~laforge/weblog/linux/openmoko/index.htm...
rokhayakebe 19y ago
I see 20000 new startups by next summer.
- nikolaj 19y ago
  time to bootstrap that startup that makes startups.. oh, wait...
michaelneale 19y ago
Does anyone see a downside for this? I mean, iphone/apple will continue on its merry way. Windows Mobile will continue to be frustrated (but MS won't ever let it die no matter how much money it costs). OpenMoko looks DOA now, all other proprietary ones will either fade, or just go back to being in the real low end 2 dollar plastic throwaways. I don't really see a downside, this stuff was ripe for disruption. Kudos to google for putting serious resources into making this happen.
- davidw 19y ago
  Looks good to me, the only "problem" is that not everyone will have this as fast as developers might like, so we'll have to keep working on old phone compatibility for the foreseeable future.
  - michaelneale 19y ago
    Well, things have sucked so bad so far, knowing they will suck less at some point is certainly a relief. I swear the handset makers and telcos couldn't get laid in a whorehouse. It took apple to wade in and do it themselves to shake it up. Now google have gone "sod it, this is how you should do it - no go and make useful internet devices you children".
    - davidw 19y ago
      I am excited by the idea of what they're doing, and I think they're likely to do something very cool, but I'll wait to pronounce judgment until there are a lot of devices being released from different manufacturers, over the course of several years, and several upgrades in the underlying platform. Only then will we have a good idea of how things have been managed.

28 points by Readmore 19y ago

"...With Android, a developer could build an application that enables users to view the location of their friends and be alerted when they are in the vicinity giving them a chance to connect." From (http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/android_overview.html http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/android_overview.html) Isn't that what Dodgeball did? I find that quote interesting since Google already owns that company and didn't do anything with it.

kobs 19y ago
Isn't that what Loopt sort of does?
matth 19y ago
The idea may have been to buy Dodgeball to prevent competition, and/or to get in on any collaborations or partnerships DB had.
- ntoshev 19y ago
  Or maybe Google realized Dodgeball needs a better platform to become truly usable.
  - apgwoz 19y ago
    It's unfortunate that it died before the iPhone/SDK came out.
deleted 19y ago
[deleted]

deleted 19y ago

[deleted]

andrewfong 19y ago

I'm pumped about this -- anyone developing mobile apps?

pistoriusp 19y ago
I've coded some J2ME applications. It's horrible. Android, I welcome thee with open arms.
- Readmore 19y ago
  From the press release it looks like you're still going to be programming in Java, just hopefully not J2ME.
  - pistoriusp 19y ago
    I don't mind Java so much. It's the incompatibilities between phones that's the killer. IMHO it's far worse than the browsers used to be.
    - danw 19y ago
      Have you tried J2ME polish? It makes things a tiny bit easier.
      - pistoriusp 19y ago
        Yeah I have, I remember the release candidates for version 2 were having some problems, so I just went to check and it's still on RC4 since March this year. I actually remember reading that Gmail's mobile client is written with J2ME Polish, maybe Enough Software is working with Google?

brl 19y ago

I guess that's the end of OpenMoko.

cstejerean 19y ago
I've been waiting for the first OpenMoko phone to come out for months. It was scheduled for October and I still don't see any updates.
- seiji 19y ago
  All the news is at http://gnumonks.org/~laforge/weblog/linux/openmoko/index.html http://gnumonks.org/~laforge/weblog/linux/openmoko/index.htm...

rokhayakebe 19y ago

I see 20000 new startups by next summer.

nikolaj 19y ago
time to bootstrap that startup that makes startups.. oh, wait...

michaelneale 19y ago

Does anyone see a downside for this? I mean, iphone/apple will continue on its merry way. Windows Mobile will continue to be frustrated (but MS won't ever let it die no matter how much money it costs). OpenMoko looks DOA now, all other proprietary ones will either fade, or just go back to being in the real low end 2 dollar plastic throwaways. I don't really see a downside, this stuff was ripe for disruption. Kudos to google for putting serious resources into making this happen.

davidw 19y ago
Looks good to me, the only "problem" is that not everyone will have this as fast as developers might like, so we'll have to keep working on old phone compatibility for the foreseeable future.
- michaelneale 19y ago
  Well, things have sucked so bad so far, knowing they will suck less at some point is certainly a relief. I swear the handset makers and telcos couldn't get laid in a whorehouse. It took apple to wade in and do it themselves to shake it up. Now google have gone "sod it, this is how you should do it - no go and make useful internet devices you children".
  - davidw 19y ago
    I am excited by the idea of what they're doing, and I think they're likely to do something very cool, but I'll wait to pronounce judgment until there are a lot of devices being released from different manufacturers, over the course of several years, and several upgrades in the underlying platform. Only then will we have a good idea of how things have been managed.