→ Android Developers Blog: Holo Everywhere

Android Developers Blog: Holo Everywhere

Adam Powell, an Android engineer:

In Android 4.0, Holo is different. We’ve made the inclusion of the unmodified Holo theme family a compatibility requirement for devices running Android 4.0 and forward. If the device has Android Market it will have the Holo themes as they were originally designed.

This is interesting. Google and Apple have different approaches to platform building. Google gradually lays down more rules and control over time, forcing the developers and experience more in line every release if they want to be part of the Google platform at large. Apple starts stringent, sees what people clamor for, what they think they can allow without overwhelming the user experience, and then slowly adding features bit by bit.

It's very much a choice between letting the genie out of the bottle and gradually forcing him back in versus letting him out just a little bit at a time. I'm under the impression the latter (Apple) is the far easier and smoother approach to putting the perceived user experience first, while the former (Google) gives developers more of what they demand. I don't think that point is arguable. What is arguable is which one actually ends up building a more fruitful (or, to use an opinion word, better) platform. My opnion is that the Android vs iOS battle has thus far pointed toward's Apple's approach being better for building a real platform--both for the developers who want to make money and the users who want a stable and consistent experience.

Still, even if you'd agree with me on this point (which you might not), this is but one platform battle. We've had others before, and we'll have others again.

What is inarguable is this: Google is improving the experience of Android by forcing authorized Apps to include support for their theme. Therefore, Google is improving the experience of Android by requiring developers to do work they might not want to do because Google deems it better for the user.

→ Japanese Game Market Declined in 2011, 3DS Was Top Console

Japanese Game Market Declined in 2011, 3DS Was Top Console

People need to chill out when consoles don't launch to incredible sales. The 3DS, which the entire internet world was declaring to be doing terribly, still managed to sell more than every other console in Japan in 2011. Oh, it also sold faster in its first 8 months in the US than the first year sales of the original DS (the best selling video game console of all time). That was before the holiday season sales rush.

→ Google TVs confirmed from LG, Samsung, Sony, Vizio

Google TVs confirmed from LG, Samsung, Sony, Vizio

Electronista.com:

The launch isn't universal and will leave out companies like Panasonic, but it helps explain Google chairman Eric Schmidt's beliefs that most TVs would use Google TV by mid-year. Although doubtful that most TVs will use the platform given that the OS may skew towards higher-end sets, it could make Google TV difficult to avoid for those buying within a certain price range.

Will Google TV be genuinely useful this time around? I've spent extensive time with the Logitech Revue and liked it well enough for browsing the internet on a TV, but there's no way it was practical enough for normal users.

How is this going to work? An Android App Marketplace for Google TV is a step in the right direction. Will it integrate cablecard support into TVs and have TV tuning capability? The existing box's ability to integrate with DISH Network set top boxes was pretty effective, but really, Google needs something more if it's going to really change television.

I wonder how this will compare to whatever successors to Apple TV are being working on.

→ MG Siegler on B&N potentially spinning off the Nook

MG Siegler on B&N potentially spinning off the Nook:

At the same time, they’re in a bit of a Catch 22. The brick and mortar stores are probably their greatest asset for selling the Nook. But the more Nooks they sell, the more irrelevant the brick and mortar stores become.

And when they start to close those stores (which will happen), where are people going to buy the Nook? Barnesandnoble.com is not Amazon.com. That’s a huge problem.

I hope they can figure something out.

→ December with the Nokia Lumia 800

December with the Nokia Lumia 800

Found via Daring Fireball, this is a great review focusing on the experience of using the new Nokia flagship Windows Phone 7 phone rather than picking it apart point by point like normal reviews. (Microsoft still needs to work on that OS name. That's a mouthful.)

I soon realised that my geeky 11-year old self would have hated this phone.  There are almost no options to play with.  You can change the “accent colour” in the UI.  That’s about it.  Maybe this is a problem in that the techy early adopter crowd won’t really appreciate the phone and thus recommend it to their less geeky friends. However, the busy 27 year old me appreciates this.  This phone has good defaults.  It just worked, and I didn’t have to worry about messing around with it.

I've definitely followed this same path. When younger I only wanted devices I could tinker with. Now I enjoy tinkering, but only on the devices I don't require to be reliable and useful with minimal effort day in and day out.

The rest of the review is similar: simple language that gets across the point: This is a mobile OS to be used out of the box. It's not perfect, but then no OS is. (I may be an iOS user and fan, but there are plenty of things in it that can be improved--some dramatically so).

My only criticism of the OS is that sometimes the graphical style makes it hard to tell what is “click”able and what isn’t.  There’s some fancy UX term for this but I call it “you keep tapping and sometimes nothing happens”.  I don’t think they would have to lose much visual simplicity to have some kind of consistent visual cue that something is “click”able.

On the People app:

each person’s latest activity across Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, all their contact details from the above, my history of communication with that person, their photo, their job title, their address, their photos from Facebook and more.  Not in separate screens but a single, cohesive, contact record.  Like the ultimate CRM for all my friends, all presented in a very slick interface.  This feels like a great way of working.

This sounds awesome.

He concludes:

As something to build on, the new Windows Phone seems to be a pretty solid foundation.

Honestly, with the awesome software and great updates Microsoft has made for the Xbox 360 over the years, and now this, it's clear MS is trying to do the right things. This makes me optimistic for Windows 8 as long as they take the right influences from their consumer product branches.

I really hope it's not too late for them to turn Windows Phone 7 into a solid platform. Once we get the Lumia 900 over here in the states (sadly, it looks like only T-Mobile is going to carry the 800, if anyone at all will be) I won't hesitate to recommend it to people looking to get their first smartphone. The only people I would hesitate for would be people already invested in the Apple ecosystem or people who already know of specific critical apps they want which aren't available in the Windows Phone 7 store.