Android, our home away from Home

It's been quite a few posts since the last time we looked at our favorite Operating System, and how it's been trying to change the way we live with our smartphones. Before we start though, I'll have to agree that many concepts we Android users live today, are similar to those lived already by BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile users. However, a couple of key differences make Android (and possibly webOS) different from them. Not only is Android built as a next-gen mobile platform, it's also proving to be a lot more mainstream than anyone would've predicted a year ago.

2010's Mobile World Congress (MWC) has just opened its doors. Although there've been important announcements already, we'd like to tackle this subject first. We'll have plenty of time to discuss how MWC is changing the shape of this and the following years within the mobile industry, so let's dig in today's subject, the Android OS.

Many of our readers will know what it's like to upgrade from one computer to another, the feeling of shifting from one hardware to another. What are we talking about? Easy. Suppose we've spent the last three years with our Intel Core 2 powered computer, running Windows Vista. This year though, we're upgrading to the latest and greatest Intel Core i7, alongside Windows 7. What happens when we try our new computer? Well, it feels like we've moved forwards. The OS stays the same, with changes, but we know our longtime friend Windows is still there, and with our OS, we've upgraded our hardware, so it feels like both us and Windows got into a new computer. It doesn't feel like jumping to something completely new, or completely different, it feels like we've changed our computer, and we're discovering it with something we're already familiar with, the OS.

Android brings something very similar, but focused on smartphones. Suppose we've been living with an HTC G1/Dream for a year, and now we upgrade to a second generation Android device, like a Motorola Droid or a Nexus One. The feeling is similar to that of upgrading our computer. With the upgrade, we've improved our hardware by a very wide margin (you guessed it, the Cortex A8), and we get our beloved OS again, with changes. Now it's Android 2.x, but after a few hours, we find out the OS' new tricks, and quickly get adjusted, waiting to find out more tricks in the following days. The feeling we have with the device though, is that we've moved to a completely new phone, with something that's already familiar, Android. Like in a PC, with Android we evolve, but we are not doing it alone, we're doing it together with our OS, discovering the new hardware. This gives us many benefits, and the one we like the most, is synchronization with GMail. This allows us to leave behind the days in which switching from one phone to another one meant spending an evening writing down all of our contacts somewhere, and then transfering them in our new phone. With Android and GMail? None of that. Every time we make a change in our address book, it's immediately updated with our e-mail account, and once we setup our new Android device, it will sync with our GMail account automatically, and we get all of our contacts. But there's more. With better hardware, everything simply runs faster, from the most complex multi-tasking activity, to the simplest push of a button (like the Home button). Of course, with time, everything becomes normal, because with time watching videos in our new 3.7" screen becomes just normal, like not carrying an ExtUSB to 3.5mm jack adapter, or having a dedicated button at the top to lock/unlock our phone (hey, it's cool). The important stuff though, is that we don't feel afraid of our new smartphone; as long as it works with our OS, an OS we understand and feel comfortable with every day. It's just like making our phone faster, while giving it a new look. In the end, when we're focused on our device, all we see is the OS, and if we're comfortable with the OS, it's all up to how the hardware wraps around it. In our case, both the Droid and the Nexus One prove the point for Android.

We agree, switching from one computer to another one is also painful, because we've got to build it all over again, we have to make the computer "ours" from scratch. This also happens when we upgrade our phones, but the fact that our smartphones are practically useless without being able to call and sending SMS' (all phones actually, not just "smart" ones), makes our automatic contacts sync a huge asset for Android users. We know, as long as we keep GMail sync, all of our contacts are stored in the cloud, and it's one thing less to do, which might not seem like much, but it is. Then, we've always got apps which allow us to backup our apps to our SD Card, but honestly, most users will not go through the trouble of doing so; a list of installed apps in our old phone will suffice in this case.

This however, does not apply with Apple's iPhone. There is only one iPhone, and that's being sold exclusively by Apple. Yes, every summer, there's a new version of both the iPhone OS and the device itself, but that doesn't change the fact that all of them look and feel the same way, which is not wrong at all, it's what makes iPhone users feel so special, so unique. But it also means they stay with the same phone again and again. In design terms, I believe the iPhone is kind of like VW's Beetle. It's a symbol, taking into account its exterior, but after so many years, VW (like BMW with the Mini) is stuck trying to make the design move forward, in order to make it look more contemporary, and it just can't, because otherwise it would stop being a Beetle. The iPhone has changed, but the only difference between the first iPhone and the last one is that the latter one is faster and has better graphics. Technically, it makes a very big difference, but not here. With an iPhone, everything is synched with your iTunes, from your contacts to your apps, but after every new iteration from Cupertino, it doesn't feel a step forwards like with Android’s new generation of smartphones, where many things remain the same, but many have changed too, keeping a balance between something new and something familiar. On the flip side though, we must point out that not everything is perfect within the Android eco-system, where all device manufacturers want to introduce their own flavor of the OS, giving trouble to the developers, who have to attempt to make their apps run in as many devices as possible. However, it’s still worth noting that our history of owned smartphones is going to stop being a sequence of unrelated hardware, and become a chain of improving handsets. As for webOS, we still believe Palm might license its mobile platform to increase the number of devices powered by their system, but right now, it stays in the same level as iPhone OS, which is fine, for now.

So, where does all of this leave us? Where are we? Basically, we're just seeing the evolution of how smartphone users will get to extend their experience from one device to another one, thanks to the OS. We expect a lot of Android devices to flood the market after the MWC, which will only help make smartphones more mainstream, as cheap and user-friendly smartphones are also important, for both users and manufacturers. We might also be teased with the third generation of Android devices (yes, the Cortex A8 can be improved), a new Nokia flagship phone, the next release of Android,... Whatever happens throughout this MWC, what we know for sure is that smartphones are becoming more & more personal, and staying with an OS, just makes us more comfortable both using and upgrading our smartphones.