Android Yes/No (Split from Some more of my ideas thread)


But I do understand where you are coming from. Im not your typical Android user.
Most Android users don't even know what Android is (fact), and most of the ones who know are anyway just "consumers" of these kind of devices.

You'll find that in the Open Pandora community (and Linux communities in general) there are a lot of creators, developers, and that's what differentiates these communities.
 
Yes. I'll split it off tonight when I get home from work if nobody beats me to it.
 
Beat you moxie to the splitting and blah!... five pages of posts to select.

Personally I find gaming with a touch screen annoying and I'm not the biggest fan of Android, but I still use Android occasionally on the Pandora for Netflix and a Kindle reader.. It doesn't mean I couldn't live without it, but it's good to have options.. But someone would need to step up and do the work.
 
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I dont like touch games either , the android games I was referring to are ones that can be played with a game pad


As for having Android on the P2 attracting non contributers because tablet and phone Android users are non contributers generally. The P2 is a clamshell Gaming UMPC, it's not going to attract the same percentage of non contributors as Android phone and tablet users
 
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Having Android as an option is the right thing to do, but I would rather see ED pouring time/money in better hardware (case material, hinge, etc.) than in a proper Android port.
 
If someone wants to support android on the device I, for one, won't object, but I think trying to support both ångström (or whatever will be used) and android officially will be spreading precious resources too thin. Better do few things right than many things half-assed. If there's enough interest in android inside the community to pay someone to maintain it or someone skilled enough to maintain it wants to use his/her free time to do so, by all means.
 
I think Angstrom as the official OS and Android as an option is the way to go.

I'm hoping that we would keep many of the benefits of the current PND system and possibly be able to run even the current Gingerbread PND.

With decent remapping many games change from annoying touchscreen nonsense to really fun and I'd love to be able to play the Android Carmageddon and GTA on the Pandora successor! :D
 
Id like to play Bard's Tale, Crazy Taxi, max payne... any frankly *any* game that supports controls has to be better than touch screen.

In saying that... if I can play the wealth of puzzle based touch screen games on the p2 with decent battery life, I would prefer that than using my tablet.
 
There is a hell of a lot of games on android that are superior to basically anything I've ever played on the pandora. (I really mean no offense to pandora developers but it's true) Not just limited to visually (even though that's the most obvious difference), but gameplay quality and depth as well. This isn't 2009 anymore, the android gaming scene has grown exponentially and continues to grow more and more every day. OUYA and NVIDIA are in the game of getting game publishers to take it seriously it's already paying off big time and there's tons more to follow. I used to always say the future looks bright.....Well the present is extremely enjoyable as it sits today IMO. It can only get better. Jump on the train or get left behind and the user experience will suffer, your choice. 

The investment of resources would pay off in the number of customers that would buy it as a pocket android gaming by it's self. It would immediately pay for whatever investment you make in contracting that out and then some. Then the publicity of being a dual boot android linux device where basically no android in this form factor exists at all. The added value you get from all the software will benefit those who just don't want to use it as a main OS. I actually can't believe some of the arguments I'm hearing against it. I can't even begin to respond to them (ekianjo) as it would just seem like I'm being an android fanboy trying to fend off some of your points. But honestly if you can't see the added value you're being thick headed plain and simple. You want what you want, but don't want anyone else to have what they want if it's not what you want. That mentality pisses me off to no end. If you don't want it, don't use it, have an official means to get rid of it, or have a community modification that I'm sure will show up. It's infinitely more likely to than android showing up as a community mod.

Anyway, this is a series of databases/lists of just games that I've found over the years. Obviously there are some duplicates between the lists, but there's easily over 500 quality titles to be played or had. 

XDA Developers forum post with 400+ games and growing
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1217060

Xperia Gamer with games with physical controller support
http://www.xperiagamer.com/Games/USB-Pad-Optimised/

Xperia Gamer with games with xperia play specific support (other devices may also be supported)
http://www.xperiagamer.com/Android/Xperia-PLAY-Optimized/

Nvidia's list of ~100 games that are known to work with the shield
http://shield.nvidia.com/play-android-games/

Community list of android games that have NVIDIA shield specific support (other devices may also be supported)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Al_tgDiSllFFdGhJQ3p3d1JDTU0wS3IyNjVxdDB6MVE#gid=3

Not to mention with a touchscreen to hardware controller mapper that list jumps to the thousands.

Personal computing software is what linux does best, so thats why linux should be there too, but gaming is one android's strength, that's why it should be included on a device that features gaming controls. Multimedia both local and via the internet is also another strength of android, and of which I could also produce of list of titles that outside the current list the pandora has to offer but I don't think that would serve the purpose of this argument very well. Point is having both will only improve the software ecosystem.
 
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Android can be a great addition, but throwing 10 bucks for every sale to Microsoft feels unnecessary.

It's not like Microsoft is living under a bridge and need some kindly passerbys to spare him a dollar or two. Microsoft is more like a drunken fiend with tendency of abusing his child. He's not going to use that money to further his kids' education and make the world a better place.

Jokes aside, all pandora users should be knowledgable enough to install android on their own, they can always ask for help if they can't for some reasons. :)
 
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If it only being available for download as an alternative OS because it would cost money for licensing to have it bundled was the only stipulation then I see no problem with that and can't see why others would either. I would fully support a decision of that nature. But I wouldn't take internet hearsay on the matter, I would ask a lawyer how the law works for that and if the licensing thing is only in america or what. Being fully supported and maintained is the most important part.

But if the objection is only because it's there and you don't want to use it or hate how it would effect the "image" of the pandora then that's just ignorant and counterproductive.
 
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Would be nice if Android runs as optional OS onto the Pandora. At least if it's "plug & play", meaning it just works. The new Pandora successor should have an main OS that works and don't take ages to update/improve unlike the current OS of the Pandora (".next" development seems to show how complex this Angstrom is, I guess it will still take years until we have this updated) So this is not an OS option for the "Pandora 2" imho. We need something that is more easy to maintain and to update because I think that OS/firmware updates are important to constantly improve an Device.

I'm basicly open for every OS that is "easy" to maintain/update and is optimized enough not to waste tons of ressources that impact the overall performance of the Handheld. And besides that main OS, there still is enough room for Android as alternative OS.
 
Would be nice if Android runs as optional OS onto the Pandora. At least if it's "plug & play", meaning it just works. The new Pandora successor should have an main OS that works and don't take ages to update/improve unlike the current OS of the Pandora (".next" development seems to show how complex this Angstrom is, I guess it will still take years until we have this updated) So this is not an OS option for the "Pandora 2" imho. We need something that is more easy to maintain and to update because I think that OS/firmware updates are important to constantly improve an Device.
On the Successor there is nothing preventing a full distribution so you can forget about the .next issues.
 
I wouldn't object to the device shipping with a minimalist hypervisor "loader" OS that main purpose is to download and install an OS selection either from the net or on a file at the root of a SD card. Completely agnostic to any OS other than the preference to the user.

Truly "open" even in preference. Similar to the current but have more choices as to what gets flashed to the internal other than just angstrom.
 
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I think this problem is pretty easy to solve.

Standard P2 ships without Android

Android can be added by paying someone to port. That could be done by a Kickstarter project or something similar.
After the port. If there is an additional fee per sold unit to include Android, users that don't want it shouldn't be forced to pay for it. Add an option then to buy with or without Android.

So basically, let the people who like to see Android on the device pay for it.
 

[edit] Adding Android - coordinating Kickstarter etc - should be handled by the community so ED can focus on more important stuff and can be done after P2 is already launched.
 
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If the Pandora Succesor, will be backwarts compatible to the Pandora 1, then whe dont need a Android preeinstallet on the Pandora2, as it can use the gingerbreat.pnd from the P1,

And as the Pandora 2 will much more Powerfull, the Android.pnd will apple to play the games whe need (Minecraft, GTA3)..
It's impossible to be backward compatible with that .pnd because it comes with it's own SGX drivers, and Android is useless without a GPU.
 
As long as we have Android support and a copy of Android we can load onto the P2 , whether that's on there standard or via a download, I'd be happy with that.   That said, if your going to get someone to support Android on the P2, then the extra  $5 ? / unit on a Android license would be well worth the money to have a device that has Android dual boot , the extra sales alone this would bring in would be well worth it.    I know people who would kill for a dual boot Linux / Android device.
 
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