Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which mobile operating system is fairest of all? That's a common question, given the many contenders in the mobile arena--and the well-publicized glitches that have recently come up.
The more I use the HTC Incredible, the more I like it. And the thing that really makes the Incredible, er, incredible is its operating system, Android<.
As the second-generation Android devices debuted, there were serious questions about the state of the platform. Unlike the release of the <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/39727/review/g1.html">HTC G1</a> (also known as the "Dream"), which was for a short time the only Android handset available, more phones and more versions of the Android OS meant that manufacturers and wireless carriers had to make decisions about what which hardware and software to support.
What do you get when you combine the brains of Android with the body of Lego? If you're UK-based chip designer and Lego enthusiast David Gilday, you get a DIY robot capable of solving a Rubik's Cube.
Just last year, with the arrival of Android 2.0 mobile operating system, I warned that Android devices were not quite ready for the enterprise.
Cisco gets down to business with its Cius business tablet that will let you perform video conferencing and is optimized for apps such as WebEx Meeting Center.
So. It seems the oft-rumored and--until recently--never-pictured, "Google Phone" exists.
As users eagerly await tablets from companies like Apple and Microsoft, Fusion Garage jumped ahead with the demonstration of JooJoo, a handheld Internet and entertainment gadget with a 12.1-inch touch screen. Tablets are a new category of handheld devices with large screens for users to surf the Web and watch videos. JooJoo is due for release in a few months but could be held if a lawsuit is filed by TechCrunch, which originally partnered with Fusion Garage to develop the device under the name Crunchpad.
Mobile searching has just gotten way, way cooler with the new Google Goggles visual search tool for Android, bringing a high-tech twist to accessing information on the go.
A major contender to the iPhone, Google's Droid smartphone, took center stage this week. With Verizon in its corner, Droid matches up well against reigning champ iPhone. Analysts were quick to size up Droid's advantages, assess its chances, and even start to track its presales.
Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo's Throw Mail application for Android-based smartphones lets users literally throw e-mail messages to their friends instead of simply pressing the send button.
Coming up with a great technology product or service is only half the battle these days. Creating a name for said product that is at once cool but not too cool or exclusionary, marketable to both early adopters and a broader audience, and, of course, isn't already in use and protected by various trademarks and copyright laws is difficult--to say the least.