Many challenges will have to be solved before Google is ready to release Chrome OS, it's browser-based operating system for Netbooks. One of the biggest ones could be something as far offline as it gets.
Google is looking at unique ways of solving the problems posed by the lack of standards among printer drivers.
(Credit: Brother)Driver support has derailed many an operating system release, perhaps most recently causing headaches for Microsoft and Windows Vista. As a result, Google is paying close attention to the thorny problem of making sure Chrome OS will work with the myriad devices consumers can be expected to connect to those Netbooks, said Linus Upson, engineering director for the Chrome browser and Chrome OS.
"The good news is that for most input devices today, there are basic standards that allow them to operate without needing a specific drive for each device," Upson said. For instance, manufacturers of USB storage drives and cameras have all pretty much settled on standards that make it easy to ensure those devices will work with your software.
But printers are another story. Printer drivers are generally unique to the device and pose problems for computer makers.
"We want to get out of the business of printer drivers. All the problems related to drivers we want to go away," Upson said.
That means Google is going to have to come up with a "wonderful printing solution" that it has yet to discuss in public, although talks are ongoing with printer manufacturers, Upson said. Expect to see something from Google along those lines prior to the expected launch of Chrome OS in late 2010.
As for the other driver problem--the so-called "long-tail" of USB devices--don't hold your breath waiting for Chrome OS support for your Wacom tablet. "If that's important, Chrome OS is not the OS for you in 2010," Upson said.
Google does want to figure out a solution to this problem, but it's not something that will be ready in time for launch. Google wants to "get to a model where (Chrome OS Netbooks) can communicate with the OS without a driver."
CNET's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.
Motorola Cliq
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)T-Mobile and Motorola have begun pushing a software update to the Moto Cliq. Google Android release 1.1.31 will offer the following changes. Motorola offers more information about the update on its support page.
- Longer battery life
- New battery management Feature
- Better Bluetooth
- Touch-screen accuracy
- TTY option
- Better business connections
- Improved caller connectivity
- Quick Office 2
- Accelerometer enhancements
On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.
It's been a long time since I've devoted an On Call to reader questions, but e-mails about the Motorola Droid have poured in following the device's debut last month. Some have offered nothing but effusive praise for the handset, while others have raised concerns. I've included a sampling of e-mails from the latter camp below. And be sure to catch my follow-up to a previous Android post at the end of the question-and-answer session.
Q: I think you described switching to Google Android quite well. I like the Droid, but I'm thinking of waiting for a GSM version. Will there be a GSM version and do you think that Verizon Wireless will carry it?
- Tandon55
A: A GSM version of the Droid already exists. The Milestone, as it's called, is almost identical to the Droid except that it has pinch-and-zoom multitouch. We're not sure why it has the extra feature--believe us when we say we're not happy about the disparity--and neither Verizon Wireless, Google, nor Motorola is offering an answer. The Milestone will land first in Europe and Germany, but it won't come to Verizon Wireless. Verizon uses CDMA, which is an incompatible technology to GSM, and Verizon already carries its own version of the phone. ... Read more
With four Android phones in its stable, T-Mobile remains the Google Android leader. Its latest model is the Samsung Behold II, which offers a brilliant display and one of the best media players we've seen on an Android phone so far.
But just a week earlier, and the same day it introduced its Motorola Droid, Verizon Wireless unveiled the HTC Droid Eris. Also a touch-screen phone without a physical keyboard, the Droid Eris offers all the features you'd expect from an Android phone, while adding full multitouch and deeper levels of customization with the HTC Sense interface.
The two devices are similar, but they're distinct in their own way. So how will they fare in the CNET Prizefight ring? Read our Samsung Behold II vs. HTC Droid Eris Prizefight find out.
One year after the introduction of the T-Mobile G1, three of the top-four carriers in the United States are offering Google Android handsets. And with each model bringing something new and unique to the market, everything is rosy, right? Not so fast. While differentiation is one of the key benefits behind Android, it's leading to fragmentation. Thus, one of the biggest benefits is becoming a drawback.
At the time of this writing, there are three versions of Android on the market. On Verizon Wireless, the recently released Motorola Droid has Android 2.0, while the carrier's HTC Droid Eris is running Android 1.5 under the Sense UI. The phones were released on the same day yet they are on polar opposites in terms of Android.
What's more, there are four other handsets running Android 1.5: Sprint's HTC Hero and Samsung Moment, and T-Mobile's Samsung Behold II and Motorola Cliq. And what about the first two Android phones, the G1 and MyTouch 3G? Both handset have Android 1.6 under the hood. Confused yet?
The differences stem from the desire handset manufacturers have to differentiate themselves. Rather than go for the stock Android experience, companies are opting to add their own flavors to help stand out. The problem is that Android's updates come from the handset maker and not Google. As we're learning, it could be months before HTC or Motorola catch their handsets up with 1.6, let alone 2.0.
By then it's not unrealistic to think that Google will be ready to push its next build (Flan) out to handsets. And remember that much anticipated Sony Ericsson Xperia X10? Though it's not expected until February, it too is slated to have 1.5 unless the company can get 1.6 or 2.0 loaded before it heads out the door.
This is becoming confusing and discouraging to current and potential customers. Normally, the newer the phone, the more advanced the operating system. But with Android, the two oldest phones have more software capability than the six that followed. Imagine the frustration of saving up a couple hundred dollars to get the latest and greatest handset only to find that older phones have more potential. Google recently made its Google Maps Navigation available to Android 1.6 devices. Sadly, this still leaves over half of all Android phones without the feature.
It doesn't get any easier for developers. Many are practically pulling their hair out over minor updates and bug fixes. With each new handset comes a different camera video tweak or extra line of code to address video drivers. Differentiation in hardware is just as big of a headache. It might not be a bad idea for Google to step up and set some standards or recommend specific hardware. The sooner all of these things are addressed, the better.
Google coupons now available on the go.
(Credit: Google)Google has been giving companies in its business listings ways to offer digital coupons to visitors since 2007. It wasn't until this week, though, that Google could bring the same coupons to mobile users.
It works like this: Businesses add a coupon to their listing in Google's Local Business Center. When you search a Google local listing from your Internet-enabled phone, any available coupons show up. As with other mobile coupon sites and applications, you'll simply present your phone face at the check-out stand. The checker will enter in the coupon bar code and you'll get your discount.
Google's mobile expansion of its digital coupons brings the search and advertising giant in direct competition with coupon providers like Coupons.com, Coupon Sherpa, Cellfire, and Yowza. With the exception of Yowza, which is a mobile-only application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, each service has a mobile coupons site and at least an iPhone app. Yelp has also jumped into the mobile deal business by letting businesses place special offers to Yelp users on Yelp.com and in its iPhone app.
Users' biggest complaints with mobile coupons tend to boil down to one thing: variety. While national chains are easier (and generally more effective) for a coupon service to sign, millions of other shoppers may prefer discounts for local or specialized brands, restaurants, and stores. Any business model that can capitalize on a self-service coupon sign-up for local and national businesses should have the upper hand.
So long as mobile shoppers navigate to Google's site from their cell phone browsers, Google's coupon business should grow. After all, Google isn't creating a brand-new business for digital deal distribution, but extending one that's already in place.
(Credit:
Google)
One of the highlights of Android 2.0 has been the Google Maps Navigation app that delivers voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation on your phone for free. Until now, only Motorola Droid owners could take advantage of this sweet perk, but times they are a-changing.
On Monday, Google announced that its navigation app is now available for devices running Android 1.6 and higher, including the T-Mobile G1 and T-Mobile MyTouch 3G. While still in beta, the app provides voice-guided directions between two points, traffic information, and business searches.
This release also includes a new Layers feature that lets you overlay more information on the map, such as transit lines and Wikipedia articles about places, but it does not support the "Navigate to" voice command feature found on Android 2.0, so you'll have to input all your destinations using your phone's keyboard.
Google Maps Navigation for Android 1.6 is now available for download from the Android Market. Unlike other navigation apps or location-based services from the likes of TomTom, Garmin, and TeleNav, you don't have to pay a one-time fee or monthly subscription to use Google Maps Navigation. All you need is a data connection and you're good to go.
The Twitter service with the cutesy raccoon mascot is making a new home on BlackBerry and Google Android phones. The free Seesmic, like its proliferate rivals, lets you read, manage, and compose Twitter messages much more flexibly than you can do from Twitter's Web site. We crash-tested both mobile versions as soon as we heard the news.
Seesmic on Android
Seesmic 1.0 for Android is available from the Android Market app, which is located on the smartphone. It takes up just over 1MB. The interface spreads four tabs along the top in both landscape and portrait mode, one each for the timeline, replies, direct messages, and your profile. There's also a ribbon on the screen that you can tap to refresh the feed. Click to open a tweet and you can save it as a favorite, retweet, or reply as a public "@" message or as a private posting. From the menu button, you can refresh, compose, or tinker with the settings.
Although Seesmic's Android interface is much more stripped down than its desktop AIR app for Windows and Mac, the app manages to remain flexible by giving you a choice over the kinds of notifications you'd like to receive, and over the partner services you'd prefer to use to send a photo, video, or shorten a URL.
Sure, it's blurry (blaming the BlackBerry camera), but squint hard enough and you'll see that Seesmic associated a picture with my account that's not actually my face.
(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)The biggest flaws we've noticed so far? ... Read more
Motorola Droid
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)Shortly after we posted our Motorola Droid review, we received quite a few e-mails from CNET readers who were concerned about the phone's inability to support hands-free voice commands and dialing. Indeed, the readers were correct and Motorola's support forums continue to buzz with user complaints regarding the issue.
As part of our original Droid review we did not test whether the handset supported hands-free voice dialing. We apologize for that, but we've now updated the review to reflect our findings.
Below is the passage from the review:
Unfortunately, the Droid does not support Bluetooth voice dialing or commands. In order to use the Voice Dialer feature, you first must select the icon from the main menu (you can move on a shortcut to the home screen). After speaking your command, you then must confirm it via a prompt on the touch screen. Though we found the voice dialing feature to be quite accurate--it successfully picked up a command when we were a few feet away--it is not an ideal scenario for people who need to completely hands-free. We hope this omission is corrected in a future software update.
In the future, we will report on hands-free voice dialing in our smartphone reviews. As more state and local areas pass laws mandating hands-free driving, such capability will only grow more important.
Netbooks running Google's Chrome OS might be a little different from the standard Netbook, based on Google's specification requirements.
(Credit: Google)MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--There's still an awful lot about Google's Chrome OS project that remains up in the air, but Thursday's demonstration did reveal a bit about how Google thinks the Netbook should evolve.
At an event here Thursday, Google showed off the browser-based operating system for the first time since announcing it in July. Chrome OS won't be available for consumers to purchase for about a year, although developers can get started playing around with the source code as of today, thanks to the open-source release of the code.
Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management at Google, took about 50 members of the press through a basic tour of Chrome OS that didn't reveal a whole lot more about what was already known about Google's plans for the operating system. The basic look-and-feel of the software greatly resembles the Chrome browser, as expected, and it's designed to provide a fast lightweight computing experience for Netbook users.
Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management for Google, explains Google's vision for Chrome OS Netbooks Thursday.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)But Google did provide some glimpses of what it thinks a Netbook should resemble. For one thing, it plans to develop a detailed specification of hardware components that Chrome OS Netbook makers must adhere to in order to use the operating system.
"We really want software to understand the underlying hardware," Pichai said. Whether he intended to or not, with that statement he revealed that for Google, reinventing the personal computing experience is about more than the software.
How so? Google seems to agree with a fair amount of Netbook users--not to mention Apple COO Tim Cook--that current Netbooks with cramped keyboards and small touch pads aren't going to cut it in the long run. Pichai did not provide specific details, but hinted that users could expect Chrome OS Netbooks to have slightly larger keyboards and screens than some of the current models for sale.
Chrome OS will run on either x86 or ARM processors, giving hardware manufacturers some choices as to how they want to build their systems. But they will have to use solid-state drives based off of flash memory, presumably for performance and reliability reasons, although they won't have to use a lot of memory because Chrome OS is designed to start most data in the cloud with very little local storage.
These Netbooks will be designed with 802.11n Wi-Fi chips in mind, Pichai said. However, a device such as this--designed almost exclusively for online use--may not be as compelling if users are stuck bouncing from Wi-Fi hotspot to Wi-Fi hotspot.
... Read more
