Looking for the Google Nexus phone

[JR8]

Android 4.1 ("Jelly Bean") introduced Project Butter

Do these companies have a something like a Creative Department for Silly Names?

Blame Google. The Android release names are always candy / sweet food related (Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, etc.). I wonder what else they have lined up; perhaps they'll start on the Monty Python box of chocolates one day, e.g. crunchy frog.

One is reminded of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqhlQfXUk7w
Ministry of Silly Walks

[Strong Eagle]

Do these companies have a something like a Creative Department for Silly Names?

Blame Google. The Android release names are always candy / sweet food related (Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, etc.). I wonder what else they have lined up; perhaps they'll start on the Monty Python box of chocolates one day, e.g. crunchy frog.

One is reminded of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqhlQfXUk7w
Ministry of Silly Walks

How about "really good Panama Red"? A lot of people would identify with that name.

[JR8]

How about "really good Panama Red"? A lot of people would identify with that name.

For reasons of geography I think Reb Leb was more the thing in the UK.

[zzm9980]

Android 4.1 ("Jelly Bean") introduced Project Butter

Do these companies have a something like a Creative Department for Silly Names?

Google uses dessert themed code names for each version of Android, they're on "J". Many companies do similar things. Apple uses cat themed named for their public OS code names, and wine themed names for the internal code names. (e.g., OS X Lion == Barolo)

[zzm9980]

Good points. I really like Samsung phones (currently using a Galaxy Note), but Samsung are very slow with software updates. Many people, myself included, end up rooting the phone (there's that word again) and installing a custom ROM. One shouldn't have to do that of course, but that way you start to get the best out of the hardware, which really is excellent IMO.

Having been an iPhone owner and now a Galaxy S2 owner, I can say that while IOS has it shortcomings, Android plainly sucks in too many ways. The Samsung hardware is great, some of the apps are very good... but c'mon... runaway apps that run the battery down (including the bloody OS itself)? Or complete screen freeze that requires the battery to be removed? The need to load alternate launchers and, text, and email clients because the native apps are so thin? Stinking ads in way too many apps? Annoying glitches like forgetting preferences? Memory management so shitty that apps quit working without the OS telling you about issues? I've become so pissed off at Android that I'm within a frog's hair of going back to the hated Apple... just waiting for a Windows 8 phone.

And if I may add, confirm for yourself how wanting the Android OS is. Grab your favorite 10" Android tablet. Bring up the maps. Put it next to the new Apple iPad. Bring up the maps on the iPad. Select the same address on each. Now SCROLL with your finger... there is no comparison.

Now, bring up the browser... select the same website... like the 2012 Olympics... scroll down... watch the difference.

You'd think that an OS that was "designed for the smart phone" could keep up with IOS... but it doesn't... it's jerky... it's delayed. Lots more work to do.

My wife and I went Friday to look at tablets... gave ourselves 3 hours for a thorough research... 15 minutes into dinking around with Android tablets, we fire up the Apple... no brainer... sooooo much better user experience.

I mostly agree with you. A few things though...

First off, I'll try to be as unbiased as possible, since I think a few of you know where I work (No, not Del Monte). I've been using the new Nexus 7 Android tablet for the past week or so. I picked it up because the iPad is too big for my preferential usage, lounging and reading a book on Kindle or articles from the Internet.

As Nakagato mentions, the primary point of the newest Android OS was to address "smoothness" issues. It's almost as fast as iOS now. I'd say it's close enough that you can call it the same. There are still a few stutters here or there, but those are most likely due to things running in the background. Otherwise, the OS is excellent. In the time I've used it, comparing it to iOS (and I have a *lot* of experience with that), it's better. My only major complaint (which will be surprising considering this is Android) is the lack of control via the Settings App. I could write a page just on this, but suffice to say too many system controls are decentralized through-out individual apps or just don't exist.

The hardware on this tablet is quite nice for the US$199 pricepoint. I won't go into it too much since there are reviews all over the Internet.

So why does it still suck? The apps. Android apps are inferior to iOS apps in every single way, except the cross-app integration Android allows that iOS doesn't. But that's not enough to save it. Every app looks different. Settings are inconsistant between apps (every app has its own notification settings with what seems likely randomly chosen defaults, for one) Random apps are extremely slow. Major apps put out by the same guys for both iOS and Android are of significantly lower quality on Android. (Say Facebook, Flipboard, Foursquare - nothing even relatively complicated from a development standpoint). Even Google branded apps are hit or miss. Chrome on my tablet is noticeably slower, uglier, and crappier than Chrome on my iPad. I opened a Kindle book on both this tablet and my iPhone, same book from same account (Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn in case anyone cares). The book was formatted great on the tiny iPhone screen, but had problems all over on the Android tablet. Many times I switched a page, either the last sentence or three from the last page would be repeated, or there would be missing words. Every RSS reader sucks badly. Even Google Reader, and I use a Google Reader account. I could go on, but I'll stop.

There is also the battery problem SE mentions. Reading web pages and Kindle on and off for 3-4 hours uses about 40% of the battery. 10% an hour seems OK, but on the iPad this would use less than 10%. Sure the iPad has a larger battery, but this much more to do with apps running wild doing whatever the f--- they want, and the OS letting them. Different design models I guess.

I'll still keep this thing for the form factor probably, unless I get a good offer for it. (I've only taken it out of my house/office once, and already had one local come up at Starbucks to ask where I got it). If a 7-8" iPad comes out though, I'll pre-order that immediately.

[zzm9980]

Bring up the maps. Put it next to the new Apple iPad. Bring up the maps on the iPad. Select the same address on each. Now SCROLL with your finger... there is no comparison.

I'd actually say that Maps is the one area where I think Android is vastly superior to iOS. Sadly, especially compared to the new Maps coming out in iOS6... "or so I hear".

[zzm9980]

The trouble with Android devices is that you have to fiddle around with them (often for some considerable time) in order to get them to work the way you want.

And even then, getting a *consistant* experience is nearly impossible unless you're going to spend a few weeks and create your own widgets or whatever. When I was in high school and just after before I had a 'real' job, I spent tons of time running Linux, FreeBSD, etc, at home as my primary desktop OS. Running Android OS now feels the same way. "Omg, it's so awesome! Everything is great! ...except my sound doesn't always work, and I can't burn CDs, and these three apps look NOTHING like one another on the same OS!" I guess that burnt me out from that experience.