Porn Tweets have started to flood my Twitter stream today.

I’m not talking about the usual Porn Spam that’s been going around, like this one —> *click here* Oops! The Twitter account is now suspended. Whoa! another account has just been created! …. —> *click here*.

I’m talking about the New Adult Content Market that’s being created just for mobile phones (oh joy, oh bliss) – Android will be the first platform to host these apps.

Gotta love the team behind MiKandi.com. Imagine having access to all the porn you could ever want right in the palm of your hand?
(Just make sure you guys use the right hand to hold that thing. Wouldn’t want to get your mobiles all sticky now – whatever).

This gives a whole other meaning to “First Person Shooter” games!

This certainly is not a surprise to me. In fact, I would’ve assumed that there would be an “adult content” section in one of the app markets already but apparently not. *tsk* *tsk* *tsk* What was the hold up? ;-P

I have one word that expresses how I feel about the latest Android news – Brilliant.

Sex sells. Too bad. That’s just how it is. I find nothing wrong when a company such as Apple, decides to adhere to the *principles* they’ve set out at the onset of the Apple App Store launch. I’m just wondering how having an “Adult Content” Market that will deploy all their delicious iKandi apps on the Android Platform, affect Apple’s App store downloads.

My guess is that there’ll be *loads* of downloads from MiKandi.com and until they get their “4 the iPhone Portal” up, people just might consider switching to an Android, just because.

Now, when people stare down at their Android phones, the saying, “What’s up, Android?” gives me a really naughty *grin*.

Android Business Models

I’m usually quick on my toes and my brain synaptics usually work great, but lately I’ve been experiencing *brain farts* A brain fart I suppose, is nursing slang for *momentary loss of memory*. Well, we used it a lot in neuro.

The good news is, I now have a business model. Sorry Mr. Auto Scout 24 dude, I will not tell you what it is.

After seeing tweet upon tweet of Gameloft cutting back on their budget for game development on Android (I guess that’s what I get when I have a dedicated column on tweetdeck for #android), I just had to write this post.

I’ve been reading most, if not all the comments on blogs regarding Gamelofts decision and I must say, “Can you blame them?”

In a society where people are so use to having things done *now* and where *faster is better* (just not in sex .. well, maybe at intervals) and what with the economy doing a number on the world and is still recovering in most places, I could certainly understand how the powers that be at Gameloft could come to such a rash decision.

*either that or someone has strong ties to Apple*

It has been in my observation over the past 15 years or so, that people are impatient. The more technology comes up with gadgets aimed at making our activities of daily living not only easier but speedier, not very many people have the patience  to wait and see how something will turn out. Our food is even genetically tampered with so that they grow in record time. Doctors prefer scheduling C-Sections instead of allowing something that women have been doing since the dawn of time – without any forceps or surgical intervention, in order to get in more deliveries a day. We have drive-thru-fastfood-take-out joints and even drive-thru pharmacies and motor banks. There’s even speed dating!

Yup, society’s expectations regarding the concept of time in relation to the natural cycle of things is all screwed up.

*sigh*

People need to remember that  change is fact. There is a cycle inherent in all things, including technology and economy. Why do people never learn from history?  The underdog rises from the gallows. The wind gathers strength, silently and  slowly picks up pace. What was once a power, falls. Children grow. The weak get stronger. UI’s improve. Apps get better.

Let’s not bash Gameloft for their rash judgement. Afterall, people need to make money and they need to make money NOW. We can’t fault them for being products of their society. I just wouldn’t want to be the one to say to them, “I told you so.”

Gameloft on Wikipedia.

As much as I wanted a platform (away from Twitter and Facebook) that didn’t look people straight in the face and scream *FORUM*, one just can’t get away from the *FORUM* structure. This is a forum, in as much as forums go but I would also like to think it’s more than just that.

The What’s up, Android “VIP Back Door” is not just another *FORUM* (really!). It’s a forum platform that will serve as the basis of part of the foundation of a business model that I am slowly starting to implement.

Categories are broken down into what most Android Forums would have but instead of lumping things together, I tried to create separate MAJOR Board Topics under the various categories of: Android Devices, Android Apps, Android News, Developer Corner, Mobile Phone Carriers etc .. to make it easier for people to target “specifically” where they want to engage in dialog, share their opinion and more so, for people to get information on a specific topic like, HTC Android Phones.

Categories and their MAJOR Board Topics with corresponding *child* branches are set up to be part of a larger project. One that quickly identifies for Developers, Mobile Phone Manufacturers, Mobile Phone Carriers, Mobile Advertisers, and interested parties – *unique* issues, giving them an overview for a possible “break out the white board” session for identifying areas of improvment or solutions.

VIP Back Door vs. Twitter: Twitter is immensely useful for following certain topics, almost like a ticker tape online feed streaming right in front of your eyes. I use twitter to follow ALL android mentions. However, the engagement is often one to one or @reply to @reply and DM. Even with @replies to more than one person, 140 characters obviously does not suffice. Indeed, Twitter is like a “take off” zone where initial engagements can be carried out into other social media platforms like Skype, Email, Landline, Cell Phone, Facebook messages, Facebook groups, Facebook fan pages, blogs and comments etc .. . These are all wonderful and useful. I chose to go the traditional Forum Style because of the value that Forum platforms can give – community, interesting discussions and debates and forums are a great way to follow certain topics and get a quick overview of people’s opinions. Of course you can also get this from reading comments on blogs and sites, this is just another way. It’s a way I’ve chosen to try out for something much bigger :-)

I will be observing how people use the VIP Back Door very closely and engaging with people as much as possible. I will be looking for key points that are being brought up time and time again relating to Android and hopefully using this as a means to bring attention to where the attention needs to be brought to. In following a dedicated Android stream on Twitter (I use tweetdeck), I’ve noticed the same redundant posts being retweeted by many, usually to the same people that are following the same Android Stream. 140 character opinions are sometimes made, but not usually. I want to be able to take all those things that are being Retweeted on Twitter and gather those people that are retweeting them, and bring them here .. to state their opinion, rather than commenting (if they do) on an article or blog post.

Developer Value. I hope that developers will be able to also use the VIP BackDoor to announce apps, enlist beta testers and obtain immediate feedback. Of course, developers are creating feedback on their own sites and blogs or forums, but what I have noticed is that there are hundreds of developers that do not have the time to moderate a forum much less set one up. These are the developers that I want to help empower. Their users are here too. I want them to simply post a mention of a new app with a link etc .. , request for beta testers and basically use the VIP Back Door as a sort of User Market before sending their apps off into the Android Market. This all ties in with a larger project that will be soon revealed, in time.

Mobile Phone Carriers. I want a place where people can get an overview of the issues that are being brought up with Mobile Phone Carriers worldwide. If communication is to be equal and if we want to be able to use our Android devices (or any other device) as we travel worldwide, seemlessly (I have hope that this can be done), then under the Mobile Phone Carrier Category, people will be able to make themselves aware of other limits in other countries. We need to demand the obvious. We need to collect as one unified voice and initiate dialog with entities that make things difficult, when we know there is a solution.

@EvertB tweeted something that really made me *RAWR*.

Things are changing fast and we should also help prompt those changes in these old school style business models. We  need to gather together to help break down these borders that are getting in the way of our progress as an accountable humanity.

I hope to bring out the meat and potatoes of these topics and have them hashed out on the What’s up, Android “VIP Back Door”.

I just installed the platform 24 hrs ago. Spent the entire night and early morning tweaking the template to get it to NOT look like the standard forum (as forums go). I tried hard to have the “VIP Back Door” look similiar in style to the What’s up, Android site. I think I achieved that goal.

So, here’s where you come in. Please join and register @ the VIP Back Door. Not to join another Android Forum but to be part of a larger voice that will be taken to entities that need to held accountable for their unacceptable ways. Join to become part of a larger voice that will help empower, shape and bring forth the potential of the Android Movement.

Start the dialog!

Special Thanks goes out to @v6tc, @EvertB and @BigBlackBlock for testing out the platform and providing feedback.

Android Invasion: London

The Android Movement is picking up pace!

The first Android Conference took place in Berlin (DroidCon 2009, Berlin) just two weeks ago. It was a great success and proved that the Android Movement was not only strong in Germany but all over Europe as well. Next stop, London.

Londroid organizers have picked up the torch and will be hosting the Android Barcamp (DroidCamp) and Android Conference (DroidCon) December 1 and 2.

“DroidCon London will be a two day extravaganza of Android development. First a Barcamp where we’ll just make something amazing happen between our illustrious selves, then the next day it’ll be an opportunity for hobnob amongst Android’s European stars at the conference. None of your marketing jive here buddy, just developers running free amongst their own like kittens in a field of buttercups.” -  Kevin McDonagh

These two highly anticipated events are fortunate to be supported by the awesome teams at Skills Matter and Novoda. Both entities are passionate and active supporters of the Open Source movement and strive hard to continue to empower communities using this platform. Android developers and those interested in Android are guaranteed to have a one-of-a-kind-unique experience both at DroidCamp and DroidCon (London). The opportunities and value that events such as these bring to the strength and momentum of the android developer evolution are priceless.

Here’s a sneak peak at the experience you’ll be getting:
1st Dec, Droidcamp – Barcamp for Android hacking – http://tiny.cc/sy5eV
2nd Dec, Droidcon- London Android conference – http://tiny.cc/JJ06V

DroidCon Schedule: Dec. 2, 2009
09:30-10:00    Welcome! Welcome! – Carl Gustaf-Harroch & Kevin McDonagh of Novoda
10:00-11:00     Advanced Audio Development in Android – Andreas Reuterberg and Alex Shaw
11:05-11:50     Comparative Analysis of Object Orientead and Procedural Programming methodologies on the Android Platform – Akshay Dashrath
11:55-12:40     Zii Labs – “Zii Architecture”  A presentation on OpenGL ES
12:40-13:40     LUNCHEON
13:45-14:30     Parkbench panel
14:30-15:15     Understanding Android bytecode with the Dedexer tool. Presented by Gabor Paller who writes the blog “My life with Android ” and creator of Dedexter. – Gabor Paller
15:20-16:05     RJDJ – Martin Roth
16:10-16:55     The Future of Mobile, a discussion
17:00-17:45     Parkbench Panel
17:45-18:00     Thank you + prize raffle / competition results

So … what are you waiting for? Get your DroidCon online tickets now!

Imagine if somewhere in the near future (2010) Steve Jobs would get in front of thousands of people at a MacWorld Expo and during one of his much awaited keynote talks he would unveil something that would completely shock the iPhone Community AND the Android Community …

What if (I love ‘what if’s’. It’s a great way of keeping my mind on its toes and stretching the limits of my insanity) Jobs introduces an Apple Project that involved the Android Platform? Now, as insane as that may seem to most of you, I find it quite feasible and not at all far fetched.

My answer to your *gasps* and *appalling looks* would simply be, “Why the hell not?”

So go ahead and talk of how Proprietary Apple is and go ahead and tell me that something like this would seem like an abomination to .. whatever, but on the contrary, if I were Jobs, and I wanted to shut the “iPhone vs Android” talks once and for all and prove who really ruled the mobile phone OS experience in terms of design and UI, then I would certainly do something like that.

It would be a brilliant strategy. No longer would the iPhone’s OS and the Android’s OS be seen as rivals. It  would remove the “Android as competition theme” right out of the water and Apple would just have to worry about Symbian (if even they do, which I think they don’t). iPhone’s OS and the Android OS would be more like compliments. And well, if we could somehow find a way to just compliment each other and each other’s projects, then everyone would benefit and no one would be left eating the dust and well … we’d all just have one huge happy party.

Hmmm, that would certainly help make the world a better place, a better community for mankind, but … *sigh* we’re still a far way off from that ideall Star Trek Civilization.

At least, I could dream … can’t I?

Bleh ….

Fabien Röhlinger

AndroidPIT is the largest one of the largest Android German Sites. They have managed to gather a huge following of android fans through their detailed, informative app reviews and the latest android news, particularly relating to Germany and Europe – all in just a span of less than a year. Even though Android is a global movement, devices and services are not necessarily equal worldwide, much less available. New android devices that come out in the U.S. often make it across the big pond after the mainstream global hype, if they do at all. For example, the Motorola DROID (Android 2.0) Version with the FREE Google Maps Navigation feature is called the Motorola Milestone in Germany and comes with MOTONAV’s turn-by-turn navigation system, trial version only. Sites like AndroidPIT then become of central importance for the specific communities they serve by gathering and deciphering pertinent news and relaying it to their followers.

A familiar face for AndroidPIT is Fabien Röhlinger, who, at the time of writing, is taking a helicopter ride over the city of New York, HTC Style. I wish I could say that I am doing this interview sitting beside Fabien in the helicopter but that isn’t so. I met Fabien on Twitter (@AndroidPIT) and was impressed by the AndroidPIT.de site. The site looked professional, there was a lot of information on Android that ranged from App Reviews, Device specs, an active forum and an entertaining blog. I was also impressed by the German communities involvement in testing apps and sharing their reviews on the site. I knew that I wanted to get the inside scoop on AndroidPIT so I asked Fabien for an interview.

A funny thing happened before the interview. I actually met Fabien in Berlin at DroidCon 2009 (the first Android conference in Germany). He was sitting in the buffet area of a large conference space talking to someone. I was passing by his table with a plate of food and a man stood up and called out my name. It was Fabien. Such a warm, friendly and inviting personality. It’s no wonder AndroidPIT has such an active participation of people. It turned out that Fabien was doing a presentation that afternoon on Design and Usability. What a pleasure it was to see him in action. Not only is he engaging, but boy, does he really know his stuff!

The following are the interview questions I had posed to Fabien before I met him at DroidCon 2009. They are divided into two categories A. General background questions about Fabien and B: More AndroidPIT and Android focused questions.

A.

1. Do you have any pets?
No, but kids! That’s enough… :)

2. What are/is your favourite color(s) and why?
I love blue because it reminds me how beautiful the Earth looks like from far away…

3. What type of foods do you like?
I die for Sushi! Especially here in Berlin there are so many great Sushi places. My goal: to know all of them!

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
A couple of years ago, I would have said New York. Now I am very happy to be here in Berlin. As I know a lot of places in the world, I know about all disadvantages and advantages about Germany. Germany is a great place to be, even if a lot of Germans would probably not agree. I think, that most of them do not know what they are talking about.

Berlin is a very open-minded city with a lot of different faces and loads of opportunities. Simply a great place to be!

5. If you were stranded on an Island what three (3) items would you want with you?
i.) A generator for electricity (which has to run with solar power)
ii.) My laptop
iii.) A device to get online

6. What type of music do you like dancing to?
It depends on what time of the party: in the beginning probably soul, funk, r’n'b and Hip Hop. Probably good House tracks, too. At the end: I don’t stop dancing anymore…

7. What type of music do you like coding to?
Actually, I am not the coder. I am more the marketing guy but I love to work listening to classical music, but only slow tracks.

8. What’s your favourite SciFi movie? (You like scifi right?)
Yes, of course!! I love Star Wars!!

B.

1. Congratulations on being the Largest one of the largest Android Sites in Germany. How do you feel about that?
I feel of course very proud about it. Especially, because a lot of our readers let us know how they like our work and efforts. Seeing this site grow is really a great thing!

2. Who are the people behind AndroidPIT.de? If you tell me but have to kill me after, we can always skip this question. :-D
No worries, I will not kill you :)

AndroidPIT is Andreas Gauger, Achim Weiss, Sven Woltmann and myself. Andreas Gauger and Achim Weiss are the initial founders. They were executives at 1&1 for a long time. Sven and I run the day to day business. I’ve worked together with Sven for eleven years now. Sven manages the technical part and I take care of everything else. Sven and I have founded various companies. Andreas and Achim know us because we had sold a company to 1&1 a couple of years ago.

3. When did AndroidPIT get started?
AndroidPIT started in January 2009. I’ve been working on AndroidPIT on a daily basis since May.

4. Who came up with the name and why?
Andreas Gauger had the idea for the name. It is a mixture between “pitstop” and “Android”. Kind of: “where you stop at, when you would like to know something about Android…”

5. I calculated (as of 26.10.2009) 1840 registered users on the AndroidPIT.de Community. Nice.
Do you know off hand what the percentage of ACTIVE users are?
Does AndroidPit.de send out periodic emails to their inactive users, reminding them to participate .. or?
Today, we have 2238 registered users on our website. We do not count active users yet. But our figures are growing. We have more and more unique visitors, hits, registered users and page impressions. Thus, I would say that a good percentage of all our users have to be active.

There count of 2238 registered users on AndroidPIT.de has steadily increased since the time of this interview. :-)

6. Are their plans for AndroidPIT to be translated into different languages (like *ahem* *ahem* English) or are you only targeting the German Speaking Android Community?
No, there are no plans to translate it into other languages. There are thoughts to do it, though. But we do not know when and how! Before we can enter other markets, we have to be very strong on our home market. We are good here in Germany, but far from being perfect! The most important thing is still missing: the proof of our business model!!

7. I read somewhere that you like Macs and the iPhone but you believe that Android will be the mobile OS in the future.
I feel the exact same way as you do. I use to be what you would call a MacAddict (no iPhone though), but like you, I know that Android will be HUGE. Do you own a Mac product? Do you think this isn’t being TRUE to the Android Movement? I sometimes feel guilty. How do you feel?
Good question! Yes, I am totally Mac-addicted: I am working on an iMac right now. On the road, I have a MacBook Pro and a MacBook Air. I even have an iPhone – besides the HTC Hero. But why not? Call it benchmarking: you can learn from the best to get stronger and better. I would strongly recommend to all Android developers to do the same. Take the iPhone and learn!! How should a great and successful app look like? How should I do the User Interface? How is the business model?

7. On the AndroidPIT.de site, it says that you guys test at least one app a day. Out of all the apps that you have personally tested, which app absolutely blew your mind? I mean, the app that you just could not stop playing with (I mean testing)? If there are more than one then go ahead and mention at least three (3).
I personally love “A World of Photos”! This is such a great app with a great and innovative idea behind it. There are a couple of great apps out there in the Android Market. But I miss the drive of some developers to get more and more professional. There are so many badly designed apps on the Market. I hope this will become better soon.

Besides “A World of Photos”, I would recommend Archipelago, Kumpa and Hyperspace. These are all games with a lot of fun!

7. If the Android OS is ever going to be THE mobile OS of the future what obstacles or challenges do see it needs to overcome in order to get there?
The biggest challenge is to get on a lot of devices. In my opinion, this is more or less resolved. Android will come on at least 40 handsets during 2010. As an obstacle, I would mention the poor quality of Android Market and the missing design standards for Android apps. Apps will be fueling the growth of new OSs. If there is not big variety of apps, there will be no success!
At the moment, Android developers are not successful enough. The Android market is kind of buggy, there are not enough paying methods. But I strongly believe that this will turn soon.

8. So many Android devices are coming out now, any plans on purchasing a new Android Gadget?
What new (available or rumored) Android phone would you want to find underneath your Christmas tree? and why?
I would like to have them all!! Why? Only then, I am able to get an overall picture and be able to compare.

9. Do you have any new plans for AndroidPIT.de for 2010? Again, if you tell me and but have to kill me after, we can always skip this question. :-D
Yes, we have further plans. But it is to early to talk about them.

10. What is it that you love most about Android?
I think the beauty of Android is its openess. Developers are able to get their hands on the code and to understand it more deeply – this is what’s great about the Android platform.

11. What is it that I need to do, in order to get you to put a link to whatsupandroid.com on AndroidPIT.de? ;-D I make good brownies!
Haha, we should hook up on the phone to discuss that… ;-)

Fabien Röhlinger

Fabien Röhlinger

Fabien Röhlinger is currently in NYC on a 7 Day Tour with HTC Hero! Follow @AndroidPIT for daily recounts of the adventure. You can read about his Day 1 Adventure here.

AndroidPIT is going places and riding in style!

You can also follow Fabien on his personal Twitter account @phoby or read more about him on his blog.

Last week, Robert “I love FriendFeed” Scoble (otherwise known as @Scobleizer on Twitter) bought a Motorola DROID. I caught one of his tweets on one of my twitter streams followed by this one.

My first thoughts? “OMG @Scobleizer went Android!”

I was about to throw a “Welcome to the Android Movement Robert Scoble” Party until I read this – his full initial recount of what was good about the DROID and lots of things that were NOT good about the DROID.

During the next few days I followed his DROID experience on Twitter and quickly came to realize that Scoble did not go Android. He was merely curious and wanted to test the phone out. *sigh*

Just recently he entered into a discussion (argument) with Michael Arrington (@Arrington) and it went something like this … “iPhone vs. DROID” – ’nuff said.

Am I discouraged by this? Hell no! This gives manufacturer’s the opportunity to come up with a better product for people like @Scobleizer. Who wants to take up this challenge?

One thing I must point out and share is the fact that what I love most are the comments. Not just on Scoble’s post but in all the posts I’ve been reading on the worldwideweb. What I’ve found is the surprising number of people (Android Supporters, naturally) that put in their two cents worth. Some comments are easily worth more than two cents, while others are just, two cents. It’s from these “more than two cents” comments that one can really learn and get a more deeper understanding of the Android Platform and its relationship to other platforms and products too.

One comment on Scoble’s post was from Mike Bracco.

Scoble – another thing to note: just as you mention Arrington’s need for integration with Google Voice, I have just as much need as a heavy Mac user to have all of my Mac world sync up with my iPhone world. I use MobileMe to sync my contacts/calendar in the cloud. I also sync all of my media I buy or rent in iTunes. Most importantly, I use various Mac apps which sync to companion iPhone apps (most notably OmniFocus and 1Password – both of which have Mac/iPhone apps that sync). Although Mac users are smaller than their Windows counterparts, I don’t really see how a Mac user beyond a novice who just uses it to check email perhaps, would use any other phone. If you want rock solid integration with your Mac and the apps you use, I don’t see there ever being another option.

I completely agree with Mike. Being a former MacAddict (Now turned Closet Mac), this is so true. If you’ve never had an Apple Product then I wouldn’t expect you to relate to this experience and even if you have two Apple Products, unless you are a hard-core Apple User, the seamless integration and experience you get from Apple products talking to one another is simply “Awesome”. But, not everyone is a hard-core Mac User. Not everyone can even afford a Mac (even with their prices being slashed) and not everyone wants a Mac. Let’s face it, there are hard-core meat eaters, people that don’t eat red-meat only, people that don’t eat meat but only seafood, poultry etc … lacto-ovo vegetarians, vegetarians and vegans.

Let the techy, tech bloggers, geeky, gadget lovers talk about platforms and devices, apps and UI’s, for that’s what they love to do. But for the mainstream masses that just want to live not-so-geeky-techy lives and who want devices that not only make the
communication with their friends, family and the world a whole lot easier, but who also just want gadgets that they think are cool and that speaks to their individualities, not to mention, affordable – everything that is out there is just a paradise of experience.

iPhone, Nokia, LG, Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android … whatever – there’s a cool smart phone for everyone, there’s a platform for everyone and there’s a UI for everyone.

I personally think that there will be more devices out there that will run the Android OS (think Windows .. sort of). Why? Simple. Because Android is Open Source.

And, I really do think that the platform will get better, the UI’s will also get better and everything that Robert Scoble said he did not like about the DROID (as a product), there will be another product that will come out (Android based) that will blow his mind. I won’t hold my breath but I will believe. I will believe because I have faith in man’s need for challenge, and in the evolution of “think outside the box” communities that can be found within a movement of developers that, when given an Open Source Platform … may very well, just change the world to a better place. Will Android bring world Peace? Maybe, I’d like to think so, indirectly. But Android can definitely bring about a different kind of “in your hand” user-experience. An individualized user-experience that celebrates … well, our differences.

I find it most amusing that numerous sites still love to compare the Android Operating System with Apple’s product, the iPhone. Indeed, the iPhone houses the iPhone OS (or the OS X iPhone), which brought about a truly one-of-a-kind smart phone user experience for those fortunate few that were able to afford one (yeah, yeah .. prices have dropped considerably since its’ first launch more than two years ago), but in most cases, these articles often compare the design and look as opposed to the their operating systems.

Thanks to Verizon’s mucho moolah ad campaign for their Motorola DROID, that was made publicly available to anxious android fans (new and old) just last week (Nov. 6, 2009), the DROID has been targeted and labeled as an iPhone Rival. Pppfffftttt!

I recently pointed out why I thought the iPhone and the Motorola DROID or any other mobile operating system or device, for that matter, in my opinion, were not rivals – damn I love using comas and run on sentences :-). I view the Android Operating System as a platform that provides an empowering force for those that want to explore, learn, imagine and develop on the platform.

Just this week, more popular applications that were developed for the iPhone are being developed on Android. More and more device manufacturers have adopted the Android OS and have merged the platform with what they have envisioned as “the product” of the moment. Even mobile phone manufacturers have decided to use Android for their next device (ugh, I lost that link).

Needless to say, devices that use the Android OS have been emerging like pimples after a chocolate binge (for me anyway). This reminds me of what happened in the early 2000’s with Windows Mobile, (formerly Pocket PC 2000). My first ever “cool mobile everything device” was an iPaq Compaq 3850. I had everything you could ever want in a handheld device. I used the Pocket PC’s PowerPoint and conducted my 5 hr Service Excellence Orientation to New Hires using an LCD projector & the iPaq’s Infrared connection. Other than freezing a few times on me, I was in love with that gadget. The Pocket PC 2000 from Windows pioneered the mobile device experience. It blew my cousin’s Palm Treo away, easily. Soon, other handheld manufacturer’s included the Pocket PC 2000 on their roadmap.

My Everything Handheld Device.

A couple of years later, Apple enters the mobile phone/smart phone arena with a product that made you simply drool. It was sleek, elegant, completely mind blowing PLUS it had their OS in a mobile phone version. Let me repeat that. It had their Mac OS in a mobile phone version. The iPhone, awed the world. Had I still been in nursing, then I would’ve easily gotten an iPhone when it first came out by simply  doing one extra weekend night shift (yeah, we make that much as agency nurses in the U.S.), but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

Apple has been building their awesome brand ever since Apple hired Jeff Goldblum to introduce the Blueberry iMac. Then an onslaught of MP3 devices came out of the Cupertino building, one after the other. Each consecutive iPod had more memory, better features, smaller and thinner design AND was the same price as its predecessor after 3 months of launch (an Apple pricing schedule). Marketing the iPod must’ve been so much fun. I adored their simple yet catchy commercials, so much so that I even created an iPod me.

iPod Me

A few more years later .. Google introduces the Android Operating System (2007) and then decides to make the developer world go nuts by open sourcing the platform in 2008. In droves, developers downloaded the SDK and started playing. In one years time, a few thousand apps, 2 tablets, and a projected 50 phones in 2010 .. Android has become the new buzz and you bet, everyone is jumping in on the “gotta get some android content on my blog site” wagon – even me.

But, Android is not a Brand in the sense that Apple or the iPhone is. A few articles have even questioned the strength of the Android brand by saying that most users do not even realize that their mobile platform is Android. Since there are now so many different devices that run Android, it would be difficult and confusing for mainstream to identify Android as a brand. AND this is exactly what’s key.

Android is a platform. It is a platform that empowers anyone and any company to create and develop uses for the Android Platform in whatever way they can imagine.

The beauty of Android is that is it not limited (per se) to one device, one manufacturer, or as mobile phone services go, one service provider (i.e. iPhone and AT & T). It is not limited to one design teams’ roadmap, one corporations standards or one CEO’s vision. Android is like a seed. Plant it, nurture it, own it and then share it (developer speak) and this in itself makes for a more varied and interesting user experience.

Maybe, society is finally starting to shed its “servant” status to brands (OMG NO! *sarcasm*). Maybe we are evolving into a society were individual creativity is not only fostered and recognized but allowed to thrive and find its own way through the ever entangled economic global structure without rules (OMG NO! *sarcasm again*).

OMG!!! What if Android is a movement that will take us into a Star Trek Like Civilization?! What if?!

So … why not JOIN THE MOVEMENT!