android
Andy Rubin on Android’s “open-ness”
Back in the days of dumb phones firmware updates were never really an issue, in fact I think most people did not even know about them. Everyone just used their phones for pretty much the same reason; to make phones calls and to send text messages and the occasional Snake II.
Now with the onslaught of smartphones entering the market, consumers are making their decisions on which smartphone to purchase based on what operating system it is running on and more importantly which version. Some have chosen to wait for the latest smartphone because it runs Android’s latest Gingerbread 2.3 operating system but no matter how up-to-date your phone may be, give it a couple of months and you will see at least 5 new smartphones in the market with an even newer version of the operating system while you have to wait for your manufacturer to send the latest version to your carrier, who in turn has to test it before releasing it to you. Android fragmentation has always been one of the big issues of the Android operating system.
Andy Rubin, SVP of mobile at Google was quoted as saying “Open source is different than a community-driven project. Everything that we do ends up in an open source repository. We’re building a platform, we’re not building an app. When we add new APIs, typically in my opinion community processes don’t work because you need to know when you’re done. If it’s a community process someone could take an early version before locked down, and those devices would be incompatible. So as the shepherds of this ecosystem, we’re going to make sure the same APIs are on all devices that adopt that platform.”
Could these delays be because of Android being more like an open source code as opposed to being a community project? And with so many different manufacturers working on different versions and different handsets can they really be blamed for taking so long to provide updates?
The Fairphone 2 was first unveiled in June earlier this year, where this particular handset carried a modular design while featuring majority of its components that have been sourced from conflict-free mines. It seems that this particular handset that you can purchase with a clear conscience has begun to ship to those who happen to live across Europe.
Fairphone announced in a blog post, “It’s been almost two years in the making, and some of the earliest buyers have been patiently waiting since July to receive their new phones. As community manager, I want to personally welcome the new batch of Fairphone owners to our community.” The initial 1,000 units are tipped to ship this month, before the other pre-orders follow in January 2016.
In terms of hardware specifications, the Fairphone 2 will run on a Snapdragon 801 chipset, has a 5″ 1080p screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, with Android 5.1 Lollipop in tow. It will be a dual SIM capable handset with a microSD memory card slot and plays nice with 4G LTE networks, retailing for approximately €525 a pop.
It looks like the upcoming flagship model from Xiaomi will feature NFC support, at least based on a document that was released by China UnionPay. Just in case you are scratching your head and wondering who China UnionPay is, they happen to be the only domestic payment gateway supplier and card organization, and hence, to see them offer detailed support concerning the newly released NFC-based payment system points to the very real possibility of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 featuring NFC capability.
After all, the Xiaomi Mi 3 was also mentioned on the list, which so happens to feature NFC, and there is no mention of the Xiaomi Mi 4 which does not come with NFC. Still, such a new payment system would be the ideal tool to see the reintroduction of NFC to the flagship model.
OnePlus did make an announcement in the previous month that the Ceramic variant of the OnePlus X will be released on November 24. True to their word, they did exactly that – although only a pitiful number of units were made available, and not only that, this was through a charity auction. Thankfully for the rest of the masses who are on the lookout for this device, it has gone on sale officially already.
Needless to say, this particular variant is available only by an invitation, although do bear in mind that standard OnePlus X invites are not good here – you will still need to snag yourself a specific Ceramic variant invite before you make a purchase. OnePlus is also on the lookout to offer additional methods of picking up this smartphone, although no further details were revealed.
The OnePlus X Ceramic will be available only in select markets, where among them include Europe, India, and Hong Kong. To date, we do know that OnePlus had made only 10,000 units of the handset available. A case of the early bird getting the proverbial worm here?