Android Bugs : How bad is it right now?

A recent Wall Street Journal article about bugs in the Android SDK quoted a developer proclaim that Android is "clearly not ready for prime time". This led to a flurry of follow-up articles in traditional media and the blogosphere which would lead a casual reader to conclude that Android doesn't work!

The reality is not so bad. The WSJ article seems to be based mostly on the writer's interaction with one developer, and most other articles are merely regurgitated versions of the WSJ piece! There is a much better article on Arstechnica which concluded that "it's a mixed bag". This article is different from all the others in one important way: the author himself tried his hand at Android coding before writing the article.

The Arstechnica article quotes a Google developer who aptly sums up what seems to be the main issue facing Android developers right now: "it's a process problem, rather than a technical problem."

Yes, majority of the complaints from developers seems to be about:

1. Lack of 100% documentation about every single feature and functionality in the Android SDK.
2. More importantly, lack of a proper issue/bug tracking system which is public and up-to-date on the status of resolutions.

To make up for the lack no. 2 above, the Android development community has set up an independent Wiki to track known bugs. I am not sure how complete and up-to-date this Wiki is. Nevertheless, it is quite revealing: there are just 6 critical bugs and 24 non-critical bugs listed as of now, in addition to 5 feature requests.

I don't know about you, but being in software development for 10 years, I think those are damn good numbers for a very early, pre-release version of most non-mission critical software. So much for reports that claimed Android doesn't work!

[via Wall Street Journal and Arstechnica]

Google Mobile Updater for BlackBerry

Google has released a one-click app to update all the Google Mobile products on your BlackBerry.

This might seem a little pointless right now. Google has only two phone-installed mobile apps (as opposed to web apps) which may need updates to be installed on your phone. These apps are of course, GMail and Google Maps. Almost all other Google mobile apps are web-based, always loading their latest version on your phone's browser.

So, what does the Google Mobile Updater do? Apart from updating GMail and Google Maps apps on your phone, it puts handy short-cuts to the other web-based mobile apps. Creating short-cuts right there on the phone might seem like a small change, but it could lead to a huge surge in the usage of these apps due to the ease of access. In the absence of these short-cuts, users had to type in the URL of the apps on their phone's browser.

When I installed the Mobile Updater on my BlackBerry, I chose to install all the products it would install. Apart from installing the Mobile Updater itself, it updated my GMail and Google Maps apps, and created shortcuts for only the following mobile apps/services: Search, Picasa, Docs and News. Whenever there is an update to be installed, the Mobile Updater icon on the phone will change to show a green arrow:


You can get the Mobile Updater by visiting mobile.google.com on the BlackBerry's web browser. The Mobile Updater is only available for BlackBerry right now. No doubt, there will be versions available for other phones soon enough.


[via Official Google Mobile Blog]
[Image courtesy: Official Google Mobile Blog]


Related: Google Mobile: Products and Countries Lists

New Google interface for iPhones

Good news for iPhone (or iPod Touch) users. The Google Mobile blog has announced a new Google interface for iPhones which it describes as "fast and fluid":

Our guiding principles were "fast" and "fluid." We think we've achieved both, thanks to some AJAX magic made possible by the iPhone's Safari browser. To try it out, just go to www.google.com on your iPhone.

There are some screenshots posted, but screen shots are not the best way to show a "fast and fluid" interface. Why didn't they just post a video on Youtube? I am sure someone will post a video of this soon enough. I will keep an eye out for the video and update this blog soon as it is available.

Considering that iPhone's Safari browser is based on the same WebKit engine as Android's browser, will this be available for Android as well? If not, when? I have posted the question on the blog post.


[via Google Mobile blog]

Gmail interface for AIM

As predicted by the Google Operating System blog (no connection to this blog), Google Talk in Gmail has 'integrated' with AIM.

As per the Official Gmail blog, this feature is only available to Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 users. In other words, it is only available in the new version Gmail.

Also, you need to login to AIM through Gmail chat, to be able to see your AIM buddies and interact with them. That means, this is not true cross interaction between the GTalk system and AIM system. Gmail is just providing another interface for the AIM system via the Open AIM framework. An example of true interaction between different instant messaging platforms is Yahoo! Messenger users being able to chat with Windows Live Messenger users without needing an MSN / Live ID.

I have a few questions for Google / Gmail / GTalk team:

1. Two years after first announcing that GTalk and AIM will communicate, the best you could do is just give a Gmail chat interface for AIM users? What was the roadblock for giving us true interaction between the two messaging platforms?

2. If you are just going to build Gmail / GTalk interface to other instant messaging platforms, and require the users to explicitly login to that platform, why not provide similar interfaces to Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger? Connecting to Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger would have been a bigger offering to your users, considering the much larger number of people who are already on these other systems. If the small Meebo.com team could do it (very nicely), surely you can do it too?

3. What about the GTalk desktop client? When is it going to see some much needed upgrade?


[via Official Gmail blog]

Google Maps mobile with "My Location": Privacy Loophole

I had quoted earlier from the Google Help page on Google Maps mobile's My Location feature, that it was totally private and Google did not record or store any person's or phone's identifiable information, tied to a particular location.

The New York Times' Bits blog has this to say about a loop-hole when you use Google Maps mobile which has the My Location feature to do a search for say a close-by business:

The payoff for Google from building out its mapping service is to get people to conduct searches from their cellphones. This is a nice feature. Push a button on the map software, type “Starbucks” and it will display a map of the closest source of a latte fix, based on the cell tower or GPS data. The catch, is that this query, with your location, is entered in Google’s log files along with your phone’s unique ID.

So, the "My Location" feature itself will not uniquely identify you. But doing a search will uniquely identify your phone, and tie it to a location. That is a damned good catch by the Bits blog, I say!

Needless to say, if Google wants, it can tie your uniquely identifiable phone to the uniquely identifiable Google login ID you might use on the phone. I am not saying that Google does that. I am saying that Google can do that. Perhaps, under pressure from a subpoena or the Chinese government?


[via the The New York Times' Bits blog]

Group Chat on new version of Gmail

After the Google Talk gadget, it is Gmail's turn to offer group chat. Apparently, the group chat feature will work only if all the people invited to the group chat are also on a version of gadget or Gmail that has the group chat feature. So, if your buddy is on the old version of Gmail or using the GTalk desktop client, s/he won't be able to join the group chat.


[Via Google Operating System blog]

Google Mobile: Products & Countries Lists

Google has a mobile-friendly page which lists its mobile products available in your country:
http://www.google.com/m/products.

Each product is presented as a link and clicking on it takes you to that product. In mobile format, of course.

Tip: You can bookmark that always up-to-date products page on your phone's browser, to quickly access all the Google mobile services available to you. Neat.

At the bottom of the products page is a link which reads: Not in [country name]? That takes you to another mobile-friendly page:
http://www.google.com/m/products/countries.

This page lists all the countries where Google has some mobile service available. Right now it lists 56 countries. Doesn't that number appear a little on the low side? There are about 192 or 194 countries in the world. Would you not be able to access at least Gmail (or Google Mail - it's not called Gmail in all the countries!) on the phone in any of these countries, if you could access the Internet on the phone? Don't tell me you cannot access the Internet on the phone in 136 or 138 countries in the world!

Google Maps for Mobile: Now location aware without GPS!

Google Maps for mobile phones has announced a new feature called My Location (still in beta). This feature brings an approximate location information to Google Maps on your mobile phone, even if the phone does not have GPS functionality. Google uses cell tower identification to provide the location information. So, a lot depends on the number of cell towers at the location. The accuracy could be off by as much as a couple of kilometers (over one-and-a-quarter mile).

Here's a video from Google explaining how this feature works:


The My Location feature is available on a few selected devices right now.

Regarding the all important question that lot of people would have, this is what Google Help says:

Will Google always know where I am if I use My Location (beta)?

No, Google does not know who you are when you use Google Maps for mobile. All handsets are anonymous. When you use our product, we do not collect personal information like your username or phone number, so we do not know who owns or is using the handset. Therefore, when we identify approximate location [as part of the My Location feature], all we can determine is the approximate location of the handset. This location information is also only in our system when a user has opted-in to the My Location (beta) service. If the My Location (beta) feature is disabled, we will not continue to send radio information back to Google servers to determine your handset's approximate location while you use Google Maps for mobile.

Good job answering that question upfront!


Android Update: This feature is sure to be available in future versions of Android (if it is not already). This means, any Android application which needs your location information would work, kind of, even if your Android cell phone does not have GPS! Wow!


IMPORTANT "My Location" Update: Google Maps mobile with "My Location": Privacy Loophole


[via the very new Official Google Mobile Blog and Bits blog]

Anti-virus for Android

SMobile Systems, which designs security software for mobile phones, has announced that it has tweaked its main security software suite to run on Android.

From prnewswire.com:

Today, SMobile Systems announced its standard security offering, called SecurityShield(TM) -- an integrated application that includes anti-virus, anti-spam and firewall protection-- is up and running on the Android operating system.

"We believe that the launch of Android powered phones will usher in a period when the use of smartphones will skyrocket," said Rick Roscitt, chairman and chief executive officer, SMobile Systems. "As more consumers in the U.S. begin using their mobile devices as mini-computers for surfing the web and downloading third-party applications, mobile security becomes of paramount importance. Without security, millions of people could be at risk for hackers, spammers and others intent on stealing crucial personal, financial and even health information from their new Google-powered phones."

The company plans on adapting the remainder of their applications to the Android platform in the coming weeks and months. Additionally, SMobile plans on creating new security products specifically tailored to Android, including an advanced application level firewall and system monitor. Currently, the Android platform does not allow the user to decide whether an application can make phones calls, send text or multi-media messages or make connections to the Internet during normal device use. This means that a virus can pose as an application and do things like dial phone numbers, send text messages and other functions that can cost the user money and leave their highly personal information vulnerable. The new technologies under development at SMobile will protect users against these new threats.

The hell's army of spammers, phishers, hackers and virus-makers are just looking for any open door, window or hole to exploit your system and your wallet. Given the openness of the Android platform, this is a welcome announcement.

Given that many applications which mash Google's services on Android will need access to our Google account password, I wonder what type of security Android has incorporated to protect our passwords. Time to go hunting for the answer... If you know it already, save me some time and post it in the comments. :)

[via prnewswire.com]

Zumobi's Tiles

Zumobi (formerly ZenZui), a spin-off from Microsoft Research, is launching the beta of its mobile application with a user interface called Tiles, on December 14th. The first beta will be for Windows Mobile.

You can check-out a Flash-based demo of the Tiles interface.

The Zumobi application looks like a version of another popular tiles-based interface - iGoogle. The special touch is the zooming function controlled by the cell phone's number keys. You start with a home screen which has 16 tiles arranged in a 4 by 4 square (picture above). Each tile is a gadget or widget (should we call them midgets for mobile phones?). You can then press different number keys to zoom into a group of 4 tiles and then zoom down to a single tile. Other functions like zooming out, scrolling and tile-specific functions are also mostly number-key based. Nice and simple. I have to say this interface is certainly much better than Yahoo! Go's scrolling carousel.

Along with Zumobi, a Zumobi SDK beta will also be made available for people to create their own midgets. And of course, in the best of Web 2.0 traditions midgets will be share-able.

Zumobi's products page says that it took them 3 years to conceive and refine this interface. Now, how long will it take for an Android developer to build a small application with a similar tile-based zooming interface for iGoogle on the mobile phone?