Google working to refine Android's UI

By on Jun 16, 2010 at 3:57 PM
mobile June 16, 2010

android-logo-good

According to TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington, Google’s Android team is currently burning the midnight oil working on a UI refresh for it’s ever popular smartphone OS. People familiar with the matter claim that the goal of the refresh is to provide a better user experience which would in turn discourage companies like HTC and Motorola from creating custom UI overlays such as Sense and MOTOBLUR. Despite the popularity of some skins — HTC’s Sense in particular — they can be quite the headache for both Google and users as their being loaded onto a handset is a surefire way to cause temporary fragmentation as the skin has to be reworked for each subsequent OS release.

Read

Tags:
, , , , , , ,
94 Comments

Related Articles

  • Jaffrey

    By far the most telling statistic is that no carrier anywhere in the world that sells both iPhone and Android has ever sold more Android than iPhone. Not one!

    What this means is that the ONLY reason Android is popular is because of Apple’s exclusive deals.

    Android is what people buy when they don’t have the iPhone. I can’t imagine what the pre order on a Verizon iPhone will be like.

    • RM

      How is that possibly a “most telling statistic”?

      AT&T sells two, absolute crap, crippled Android phones … because Steve Jobs has them bent over his knee, just the same way he has you.

      Android is currently the only thing pushing the empire in Cupertino forward. Without it, Steve Jobs would be dictating his will across the entire space. Wake up and smell reality.

      • Mindless Sheep

        I hear you RM! I’m not an Android fan or Apple fan but I see the reason why Android gets fan fare. And I also see why some jailbreak their iphones.

        Please don’t feed the Dumb ass! Ignore him and he will leave.

        Jaffrey, you are aware that Nokia sold 21.7 million smartphones in the 1Q of 2010 worldwide.

        RIM sold 10.6 million smartphones also in 1Q of 2010. According to you they are outdated, right? WOW ignorance is bliss in your world I guess.

      • Mindless Sheep

        BTW, Nokia uses Symbian OS on their smartphones. Apparently not everyone likes or prefers Apple.

      • yeap

        Look, Nokia, don’t sweat it: no one could’ve ever predicted that Android would get more awesome, or that Apple would announce another iPhone. Sit down, let us bring you a cup of hot chocolate, you’ll feel better… goodness, the mobile industry is filled with more wild plot twists than a Univision telenovela, isn’t it? Unfortunately, your shareholders might be a little less understanding of the fact that you still haven’t wrapped your noodle around the rapidly-changing smartphone market some three and a half years after the introduction of the original iPhone, or that you’re blaming “shifts in product mix towards somewhat lower gross margin products” in part for your forecast downgrade — even though you’ve been very candid about your desire to move the company’s focus toward emerging markets. Why you can’t manage to cobble together a competitive operating system with your overwhelming market share, cash, and resources is a bit of a mystery, but maybe it’ll all make sense by the time you release second-quarter earnings on July 22.

      • Mindless Sheep

        Yes I read the same quote from Engadget and I see you took some quotes from it. Personally my comparison was how as popular as the iphone is, its not the only choice and still not the #1 smart phone choice world wide.

        I disagreed with what Engadget posted and I do think Nokia will rebound, well sell more smartphones, once again.

        Android is a very impressive, nice OS. Its a great competitor to iOS4. Apple should be worried about Android. Google is very aggressive and I am sure the addition of Matias Duarte will only contribute to the evolution of Android. I am sure Jobs was not pleased with that hiring.

    • TechnoBrotha

      @Jaffrey I truly dislike it when discussions like this get personal, so I’ll try not to rant or get ugly. Statistics are the “politics” of numbers and you have certainly delivered some spin! Exactly how many carriers are there, “anywhere in the world”, that sell BOTH, the iPhone and Android phones? My list is rather short on that issue! Currently, AT&T is like having only one auto dealership in your area, and although they have many different makes and models of 4 and 6 cylinder vehicles, they insist on offering only one brand of V8! The “masses” may be fine with that, but some of us require that V8 option, and most of us find it offensive that it isn’t being offered to everyone! When the playing field is truly level, then even many of the iSheeple and others will at least be able to make an informed choice either way. The Andriod OS isn’t the fastest growing OS for no reason, you know!

      • TechnoBrotha

        P.S. Go, Nexus One!!!

    • George Anderson

      “Android is what people buy when they don’t have the iPhone.”
      FALSE. I am an at&t user. Always have been. I always chose WinMo over the iPhone and I just bought a Nexus One. I’ve had the choice of an iPhone, I just don’t want it.

      • TechnoBrotha

        Amen, George! I feel ya!

    • manoj

      Everyone knows iPhone is a good device. But, the above statement is so wrong. I was on att for more than 4years, I have had iphone, switched to bold 9000, now I am finally left att few days ago only because they are not offering a single good android phone. That iphone UI kills me, dumb UI on a smartphone. hello EVO!!

    • MikeP

      Wake up Jaffrey, almost no country outside the US still has an iPhone exclusivity contract.
      Android sells because its open, cheaper, has loads of free apps and is more secure then the iPhone. Android becomes more appealing by they day the iPhone quite the opposite.

      Also your own comment critisizes Apple for intransigent stupidity when it comes to sales. Not bad for a company that prides itself on selling overpriced devices to people through zealous faith.

  • http://robert.aitchison.org Robert Aitchison

    I didn’t think that Sense and Blur were created because the Android UI (which I vastly prefer) was lacking but because the manufacturers felt they needed to differentiate their offerings from the competition.

  • tallperson117

    Oooh this will be good, I’m excited :D

  • http://theandroidguru.blogspot.com The Android Guru

    ALL I WANNA KNOW IS WHEN WILL MY NEXUS SEE FROYO????

  • Doll

    Although I understand why people like the iPhone, I think majority of iPhone users are either mindless sheep or really simple minded. In terms of popularity, Apple reigns supreme. In terms of usability and practicality, Android excels. There are two reasons Apple continues to sell no matter how shitty, stale, and outdated the OS and hardware seem to be and that is marketing/hype and apps. Apple markets the shit out of every device they create and the media and general public eat it up. As far as the apps, I admit they are of good quality, but I am honestly starting to think it is because Apple is doing some sort of bad business as they were doing with iTunes. There is no reason why FREE apps made by the same companies are great on the iPhone but suck ass on other platforms. Apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Pandora are seriously lacking on other platforms and its honestly no sensible reason why its like that. But I must say, as Android continues to grow and refine, developers will begin to take notice. Especially with SJ sticking his ass farther and farther up developers asses.

    • Doll

      foot*

  • http://(null) caediackid3302

    My sister just bought the EVO and I’ve had quite a bit of time with it and it’s truly a great phone! I’m curious though, why are some of the apps more expensive on the Android market than they are in the App store? Some around tripple the cost! Ex; Doodle jump: $.99 on App store, $3.99 on Adroid marketplace! This seems to be a trend, for the same app? How come nobody mentions this?

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

    • Chaseeeeeeeeeeee

      Because not that many people buy the apps for Android and they spend a lot of time making it. So they charge more for it

  • Crayola

    meh, android is for tools with no class or sense of style.

  • Dinomatic

    The reason non-iPhone apps are lacking is the same reason non-Windows apps are…market penetration. If you’re an app producer and you have a finite set of developers that you can commit to a platform, you would be stupid to commit them to any platform other than the one that opens the door to the largest set of users. Until users start abandoning ship from the leader (apple) all other platforms will get “sloppy seconds” of developer time. It’s the way life is.

  • http://www.phonejunkie.net big red elephant

    I consider myself pretty neutral when it comes to smartphones, i agree that the iphone ui is for every user, meaning kind of remedial for some of us, the multitasking doesnt make since to me, to many operations to achieve multitaking. Droid, has all that realestate to multitask in, the ui on a droid is more usable in terms of running a few applications at once

  • bil

    GO WINDOWS PHONE

  • Chris Vaios

    I*hone is like a hot chic. Looks, and nothing but looks. You date her but not really marriage material.

    Android is like a hot chic, but also one that has a PhD is Astrophysics. She can also cook up a killer meal, is an angel in the kitchen, and a devil in the bedroom. Also all of your friends want their ‘girlfriend’ to be like yours.

    In short, with I*hone, you get one thing. With Android, you get the whole package.

1 2
blog comments powered by Disqus