# Google: “Over 300,000 Android handsets activated every day”



## editor (Dec 9, 2010)

That's a lorra lorra phones - up 100,000 activations/day from just August -  and suggests that Android really is going to take over as the #1 smartphone platform on the planet.

http://www.wirefresh.com/google-over-300000-android-handsets-activated-every-day/


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## joustmaster (Dec 9, 2010)

That's pretty cool. 
Google now own every aspect of my life.


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## Piers Gibbon (Dec 9, 2010)

fine by me..happy to trade in my iphone in two years I guess - when the apps I want are released first on android


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## sumimasen (Dec 9, 2010)

It's strange, everything points to Android becoming number one, yet in terms of apps it's still behind Apple. As an example the BBC have their official iPhone app yet android users still make to with 3rd party ones. When will people wake up?!


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## Crispy (Dec 9, 2010)

Android is more of a pain to develop for, due to the fragmented hardware specifications. Multiple screen sizes, processor speeds etc.


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## Piers Gibbon (Dec 9, 2010)

apps and solid synching with desktop apps are crucial. I'm guessing android needs to get to number one and then stay there for a couple of years - only then will companies (like the people who make my accounting software) come out with android versions first...


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## elbows (Dec 9, 2010)

Crispy said:


> Android is more of a pain to develop for, due to the fragmented hardware specifications. Multiple screen sizes, processor speeds etc.


 
Yes. There are also some other numbers that might be important: What are Android app sales figures like these days? Has anybody come even vaguely close to replicating Apples App Store success yet?


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## editor (Dec 9, 2010)

Judging by the vast amount of apps available, there must be a reasonable return on that effort for developers, and at least Android doesn't ban apps letting people donate to charity like Apple does:
http://blogs.computerworld.com/17502/apple_the_grinch_bans_charitable_donations_on_iphone_apps


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## elbows (Dec 9, 2010)

Well my question was more along the lines of quite how reasonable the return has been rather than whether there was any point developing for it at all. Im open to switching but Im having trouble getting a proper sense of how broad & deep a range of apps are available, I guess I will have to try to find out for myself, would help if someone I know here actually had one.

I recall that in the quite early days there were some developers who were sad about the sales figures for their apps on Android compared to iOS, so I want to learn more about how this has improved. I assume it has improved, just want to know to what degree. I have just read that mobile advert impressions from google devices have now equalled Apples, so thats a good sign, although I take all numbers of this type with a pinch of salt. From some other numbers I have just been looking at it seems like Android users have less apps installed than iOS users, and do much less in-app purchasing, but this is not too surprising and the effects of this can be cancelled out if enough devices are sold.


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## editor (Dec 9, 2010)

elbows said:


> Well my question was more along the lines of quite how reasonable the return has been rather than whether there was any point developing for it at all. Im open to switching but Im having trouble getting a proper sense of how broad & deep a range of apps are available, I guess I will have to try to find out for myself, would help if someone I know here actually had one.


There's over 100,000 apps available for the Android platform and when I switched over from the iPhone I found just about every app I'd been using on the iPhone was avaialble for Android.

Android users are also downloading heavily too:



> Android users are much more data hungry than their iPhone counterparts, Arieso said in a new study. Using the iPhone 3G as the baseline, Android was often more demanding for traffic in both directions. The Samsung Galaxy S would upload as much as 126 percent more data where an HTC Desire would often download 41 percent more.
> 
> The iPhone 4 used more as well, downloading 41 percent more data and getting online both 41 percent more often and 67 percent longer on average. However, it was still relatively miserly compared to the Android phones covered, which also included the Nexus One and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.



http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/12/08/arieso.says.android.data.use.double.iphone/


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## Kid_Eternity (Dec 9, 2010)

Crispy said:


> Android is more of a pain to develop for, due to the fragmented hardware specifications. Multiple screen sizes, processor speeds etc.


 
Yep.


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## editor (Dec 9, 2010)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Yep.


It may be harder to develop for but the choice is _clearly what people want._ That's why they're selling by the bucketload and big name developers are creating loads of incredible apps for the platform.


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## elbows (Dec 9, 2010)

And of course its easier to make grand proclamations about what the people want when it happens to coincide with your own preference.


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## ovaltina (Dec 10, 2010)

A lot of the android apps seem to carry advertising instead of charging upfront for a download, which suits me because I'm skint but can still try stuff out.one of the big benefits of android is the integration with google and the cloud, which means instant and painless syncing of email, contacts, calender and more, with no needfor me to plug the phone into the computer or deal with itunes type software.


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## Kid_Eternity (Dec 10, 2010)

elbows said:


> And of course its easier to make grand proclamations about what the people want when it happens to coincide with your own preference.


 
Heh too true..!


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## beesonthewhatnow (Dec 10, 2010)

Piers Gibbon said:


> solid synching with desktop apps


 
Nope.

The Google/Android way is to get rid of desktop apps altogether.


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## Piers Gibbon (Dec 10, 2010)

True bees!

what I mean is that I need it to solidly/cloudily/howeverly synch up with programmes on my mac...case in point being my accounts software which has an iphone app coming out soon, but no sign of an android one. A competitors accounts software I looked into already had an iphone app out for six months and said it "may" develop an android app

I will stick with iphone until that situation changes dramatically in the other direction...


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## editor (Dec 10, 2010)

elbows said:


> And of course its easier to make grand proclamations about what the people want when it happens to coincide with your own preference.


I'm simply going on the sales figures which I believe tell their own story, and also reflecting what the industry is saying.



> “Customers tell us that being able to have a choice, being able to personalise their choice of phone is a key difference about Android compared to some of the other platforms out there,” said Stapleton [Carphone Warehouse boss].
> 
> “When we look at Android, it’s available across a large range of handsets and at different prices.”
> 
> http://www.wirefresh.com/android-to-become-1-smartphone-platform-carphone-warehouse/


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## editor (Dec 10, 2010)

Piers Gibbon said:


> True bees!
> 
> what I mean is that I need it to solidly/cloudily/howeverly synch up with programmes on my mac...case in point being my accounts software which has an iphone app coming out soon, but no sign of an android one. A competitors accounts software I looked into already had an iphone app out for six months and said it "may" develop an android app
> 
> I will stick with iphone until that situation changes dramatically in the other direction...


Some  Google app updates come out months before their iPhone equivalents and some Android apps have more features (e.g. TweetDeck). 

There's definitely more apps available for the iPhone, but with 100,000 currently apps available on Android, I'm not feeling particularly short changed - and with Android's phenomenal growth, I'd imagine a lot of developers will consider prioritising the bigger market.


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## Piers Gibbon (Dec 10, 2010)

For sure...the smartphone dominance battle is all about each individuals perception of their best interest..for you Android is the best choice..for me and my specific accounts software needs iPhone is the only route forward for at least another year or two...

but then for me and other iphone users.. of course after that (and my investment in other app purchases) there is also the massive issue of inertia to be taken in to consideration!

Interesting times eh


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## editor (Dec 10, 2010)

Piers Gibbon said:


> but then for me and other iphone users.. of course after that (and my investment in other app purchases) there is also the massive issue of inertia to be taken in to consideration!


Seeing as I've had an Android phone, then a Palm phone, then an iPhone and then another Android phone in the past 18 months, it seems I'm not too big on inertia!

As an aside I tried a Windows Phone 7 handset recently. It was really rather good.


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## Piers Gibbon (Dec 10, 2010)

You are a smart tart!

But not wanting to pay twice for apps will be a big sticky inertia issue for me at least... Requiring an equally powerful positive reason to go Androidy


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## editor (Dec 10, 2010)

Piers Gibbon said:


> You are a smart tart!
> 
> But not wanting to pay twice for apps will be a big sticky inertia issue for me at least... Requiring an equally powerful positive reason to go Androidy


Many of the apps are free on Android and almost all of the paid ones are as cheap as chips. Plus you get to play Wordfeud with loads of your mates, which is the greatest Scrabble-like game on any platform!

http://wordfeud.com/


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## Kid_Eternity (Dec 10, 2010)

Piers Gibbon said:


> For sure...the smartphone dominance battle is all about each individuals perception of their best interest..for you Android is the best choice..for me and my specific accounts software needs iPhone is the only route forward for at least another year or two...
> 
> but then for me and other iphone users.. of course after that (and my investment in other app purchases) there is also the massive issue of inertia to be taken in to consideration!
> 
> Interesting times eh


 
Indeed, it's this that makes me pause about getting a non iPhone phone. I've spent a fair amount of cash on some quality apps, not sure I want to spend all that again...but if there was an Android phone that was truly amazing I'd seriously consider it. At the moment there's nothing I see that can top the iPhone 4 and apps I've invested in.


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

Crispy said:


> Android is more of a pain to develop for, due to the fragmented hardware specifications. Multiple screen sizes, processor speeds etc.


This lot seem to be managing to cope with  the pain!



> *Android Helps fring Earn $10,000 Per Day*
> Fring, the first company to offer video chat for Android, has been doing rather well for itself lately. *As some of you know, the app launched with the HTC EVO back in the summer and has continued to evolve, adding new features as recently as last week. *We received an email from them today touting the successes they've seen since integrating fringOut some two months back. *So just how well*is fring doing?
> 
> The developers are seeing about $10,000 per day in revenue thanks to the ability to call regular landlines and mobiles for as low as 1¢ per minute.
> ...


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## salem (Dec 17, 2010)

Funnily enough I was thinking today about the similarity with the betamax vs vhs battle. Both android and iphone phones have the technical ability to do much the same as each other but the battle lines are clearly in the content that runs on them, apps in this case.

I liked the iphone but couldn't justify paying the heavy price for one.

Now I've got an Orange San Francisco which cost me £120 including a £20 PAYG topup. A code from ebay cost 99p and the unlocking process was simply entering that code in a menu. No messing about with jailbreaking or anything.

I have sim only with giff gaff where a £10 topup gets me 200 mins, unlimited text and unlimited internet. I'm going to save hundreds on an iphone without the 24 month contracts that seem common.

I have found everything I need in the app store except an Addison Lee app and a 'you look like this celeb' photo matching app.

The new breed of cheap android phones will open a huge new audience however these people may be less likely to pay for apps. I believe Apple is still leagues ahead in terms of income from apps which is *very* important in terms of the development.

Saying that I've spent a fair few quid on apps in the android marketplace. It really is amazing how good the apps are. I can translate my voice into a multitude of languages, have an AR view of the sky with details of the planes flying overhead imposed over, see my speed, get Tom Tom style sat nav, watch BBC iplayer in perfect quality on the bus, have 3 voip numbers giving me a 020 number anywhere I've got a 3g or wifi signal, scan barcodes, hit a button to give me great directions home. All on something cheap, light and with a reasonable battery.

It feels as exciting as when the internet first arrived!


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## Crispy (Dec 17, 2010)

Right now, games are where iOS has the clear lead - you won't find anything like Infinity Blade on Android, or C&C Red Alert etc


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

Crispy said:


> Right now, games are where iOS has the clear lead - you won't find anything like Infinity Blade on Android, or C&C Red Alert etc


Not yet, but it's coming right up - next week in fact!



> The Unreal Engine used by Infinity Blade for the iPhone is coming to Android phones and tablets – with Dungeon Defenders: First Wave the first game to take advantage of the technology arriving on 23 December.
> http://www.techradar.com/news/phone...enders-brings-unreal-engine-to-android-916310



A lot of the other big games are already available and with the Android platform surging ahead of the iPhone and ravishing dual core phones coming up, I can't see developers not filling in that potentually lucrative gap sooner rather than later.


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

salem said:


> Saying that I've spent a fair few quid on apps in the android marketplace. It really is amazing how good the apps are. I can translate my voice into a multitude of languages, have an AR view of the sky with details of the planes flying overhead imposed over, see my speed, get Tom Tom style sat nav, watch BBC iplayer in perfect quality on the bus, have 3 voip numbers giving me a 020 number anywhere I've got a 3g or wifi signal, scan barcodes, hit a button to give me great directions home. All on something cheap, light and with a reasonable battery.
> 
> It feels as exciting as when the internet first arrived!


Notably, Android users get all the cool Google stuff way before iPhone users too - like the new 3D Google Maps update: 



http://www.wirefresh.com/google-launches-next-generation-of-mobile-maps/


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## Crispy (Dec 17, 2010)

editor said:


> Not yet, but it's coming right up - next week in fact!


 
That's the engine, not the game.



editor said:


> A lot of the other big games are already available and with the Android platform surging ahead of the iPhone and ravishing dual core phones coming up, I can't see developers not filling in that potentually lucrative gap sooner rather than later.


 
The hardware fragmentation that hurts Android developers in general is particularly harmful for games. But what _really_ hurts is the 50MB (only just raised from 25MB!) download limit for apps. This is a pitiful amount if you're thinking of making a complex, content-heavy game (some of the big iOS games are over a GB). This limit _has_ to be lifted if the big game devs are going to take Android seriously.

John Carmack (coding god, Doom, Quake creator) talks about these issues in this interview: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/11/post-8.ars/ (towards the bottom of page1, and onto page2)

Mark Rein (Infinity Blade developer, responsible for porting Unreal Engine 3 to iOS and Android) concurs: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/12/epics-mark-rein-talks-ios-we-review-infinity-blade.ars/2

It's a shame, because there's a lot of Android hardware out there, that's very powerful. But the frameworks/marketplace just aren't as dev-friendly as iOS, when it comes to big budget games.


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## Kid_Eternity (Dec 17, 2010)

Crispy said:


> Right now, games are where iOS has the clear lead - you won't find anything like Infinity Blade on Android, or C&C Red Alert etc


 
Indeed and with the iPad iOS' lead in gaming will continue to threaten Sony and Nintendo where as Android hasn't got a hope of doing that with all these differing phones of differing specs and OS versions...


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

Crispy said:


> That's the engine, not the game.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't expect all iPhone developers to be interested in developing games for Android, and I imagine there's a few Android developers with no plans for iOS too.

But there *are* a lot of high quality games already available for Android, the list is growing fast, and with the platform soon to be the biggest on the planet, I'm pretty confident that Android users will have a wide section of apps and games to choose from.

I didn't buy a phone as a gaming machine, so I'm not really bothered if a few titles aren't available on Android, but what does matter to me is freedom of choice, flexibility, features and cost, and that's where Android pwns Apple.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 17, 2010)

I still wouldn't go near one. At this rate probably not until 3.0 comes along. It's just an inferior user experience, a good one of which is essential when most of my mobile usage is on the go.


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## wtfftw (Dec 17, 2010)

I didn't realise there's an app download limit. Presumably that can be got round by either not using the market or an installer type thing.


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## Crispy (Dec 17, 2010)

editor said:


> I didn't buy a phone as a gaming machine, so I'm not really bothered if a few titles aren't available on Android, but what does matter to me is freedom of choice, flexibility, features and cost, and that's where Android pwns Apple.


 
Absolutely - Android has plenty of strengths, and sales reflect that. But console-quality gaming is not one of them. If you're in the market for a phone, and you care about high-quality gaming, then iOS is currently king.

The developers I mentioned are not exclusively iOS developers by the way - they've come from the very top of the console/pc world, looked at iOS and Android, and found iOS to be better suited to the sort of games they want to make. While the hardware and marketplace remains fragmented and the download size remains limited, that will continue to be the case.

For other kinds of apps, I don't think the distinction is there and you're right; the gap will soon be closed.


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## Crispy (Dec 17, 2010)

wtfftw said:


> I didn't realise there's an app download limit. Presumably that can be got round by either not using the market or an installer type thing.


 
Yes, some apps download more data in-game. This requires the authors to maintain their own servers, however.


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

ChrisFilter said:


> I still wouldn't go near one. At this rate probably not until 3.0 comes along. It's just an inferior user experience, a good one of which is essential when most of my mobile usage is on the go.


I'd say being able to install what I want, how I want makes for a superior user experience myself, but each to their own!  

There's no denying that the iPhone is a very slick thing indeed, but the lack of widgets makes it cumbersome to use at times, as does its defailt insistence on burdening the  user with shitty iTunes.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 17, 2010)

editor said:


> I'd say being able to install what I want, how I want makes for a superior user experience myself, but each to their own!
> 
> There's no denying that the iPhone is a very slick thing indeed, but the lack of widgets makes it cumbersome to use at times, as does its defailt insistence on burdening the  user with shitty iTunes.


 
Jailbreaking gives you plenty of freedom on an iPhone.

Widgets were nice, granted, but didn't really save me any time.


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

ChrisFilter said:


> Jailbreaking gives you plenty of freedom on an iPhone.
> 
> Widgets were nice, granted, but didn't really save me any time.


Jailbreaking is an almighty pain in the arse that involves constantly pissing about with your phone for each OS upgrade so it's hardly a option for normal users.

The Barclays Cycle widget is superb, and they definitely save you time because you haven't got to click into every ruddy app just to access any information. I'm really looking forward to the Android tethered wristwatch stuff too - I think that could be a very interesting development.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 17, 2010)

editor said:


> Jailbreaking is an almighty pain in the arse that involves constantly pissing about with your phone for each OS upgrade so it's hardly a option for normal users.


 
I did it with one click and haven't touched it since!


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

ChrisFilter said:


> I did it with one click and haven't touched it since!


What fun!



> On October 20, 2010, the iPhone Dev Team released PwnageTool 4.1, capable of jailbreaking the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and iPhone 4, iPod touch 3G and 4G, the iPad, and the Apple TV 2nd generation running on 4.1 (for iPad, version 3.2.2).
> On November 1, 2010, the iPhone Dev Team released redsn0w 0.9.6b2 to jailbreak the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4,iPod touch 2G, iPod touch 3G, iPod touch 4G, iPad, and the Apple TV running on version 4.1 or 3.2.2 (iPad).
> On November 13, 2010 ih8sn0w released sn0wbreeze 2.1 which works on the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 2G, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G, iPad and Apple TV 2 running on version 4.1 or 3.2.2 (iPad)
> On November 22, 2010, redsn0w 0.9.6b3 was released to jaibreak the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G via a tethered jailbreak and iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G untethered, all running 4.2.1 firmware. limera1n support was also added, allowing custom packages to be installed along with the jailbreak itself.
> ...


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 17, 2010)

http://blackra1n.com/ 

Besides. I'm not most users.

And why has no-one equated the sales figures with the vast numbers of handsets available for Android? Of course it's selling well, it's replaced Symbian as the OS of choice for mass market phones. Doesn't necessarily make it any good.


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

ChrisFilter said:


> And why has no-one equated the sales figures with the vast numbers of handsets available for Android? Of course it's selling well, it's replaced Symbian as the OS of choice for mass market phones. Doesn't necessarily make it any good.


 It's done so well because _it is so good_.


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## ChrisFilter (Dec 17, 2010)

It's ok. Just ok. It will be good in a year or two. I hope.


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## editor (Dec 17, 2010)

ChrisFilter said:


> It's ok. Just ok. It will be good in a year or two. I hope.


LOL.


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## wtfftw (Dec 18, 2010)

editor said:


> Jailbreaking is an almighty pain in the arse that involves constantly pissing about with your phone for each OS upgrade so it's hardly a option for normal users.
> 
> The Barclays Cycle widget is superb, and they definitely save you time because you haven't got to click into every ruddy app just to access any information. I'm really looking forward to the Android tethered wristwatch stuff too - I think that could be a very interesting development.


 
Remembered the whole wristwatch thing the other day. Apparently fossil are doing watches which link with android or blackberry. http://www.gizmocrunch.com/gadgets/4389-fossil-watch-android-blackberry


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## Kid_Eternity (Dec 18, 2010)

editor said:


> I'd say being able to install what I want, how I want makes for a superior user experience myself, but each to their own!
> 
> There's no denying that the iPhone is a very slick thing indeed, but the lack of widgets makes it cumbersome to use at times, as does its defailt insistence on burdening the  user with shitty iTunes.


 
Odd thing to say I can download exactly what I want on my iPhone. I'm with CF that the user experience isn't there yet. My contract is up today but so far android isn't cutting it for me to switch.


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## ovaltina (Dec 18, 2010)

salem said:


> I have sim only with giff gaff where a £10 topup gets me 200 mins, unlimited text and unlimited internet. I'm going to save hundreds on an iphone without the 24 month contracts that seem common.


 
Same here! Giff gaff's very good, except for being on 02, which has a very weak but just about ok-for-calls signal in my flat, if I sit near the front window.

The £10 top up gave me 250 minutes to any network, and I feel like I can actually use my phone to make phone calls again, whereas with Three I used to just text all the time to avoid making calls to other networks.

The OSF is a great bit of kit but it looks like the latest batch (white version) is coming with TFT screens instead of the OLED ones that everyone raves about.

I'm glad I managed to buy mine before they ran out of posh screens.


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## editor (Jan 5, 2011)

Apple is just about hanging on to its overall market share lead in the US (28.6% versus Android's 25.8%), but Android is by far the most popular choice for people buying new phones. with Americans traditionally burdened with long contracts, it looks likely that Android will become the dominant mobile OS  soon. 







And look at Blackberry plummet! And poor old Palm is nowhere to be seen.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire...while-android-attracts-most-recent-customers/


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## salem (Jan 5, 2011)

editor said:


> with Americans traditionally burdened with long contracts, it looks likely that Android will become the dominant mobile OS  soon.



That's something that the iphone seems to have brought to the UK with it and the main reason I didn't get one. There is simply no way I'd want to be burdened by a 24 month contract. A poor bloke I knew broke his screen within days of starting his 24 month contract. Painful to say the least.

Saying that I think Tesco Mobile now do a more reasonable length contract on them.

Three on the other hand seem only to do long contracts on everything.


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## editor (Mar 8, 2011)

Android officially rules the UK smartphone market now with a hefty 37.4% UK market share (up from 8.3 per cent year-on-year), with Blackberry in second place with 23.3 per cent and Apple in third with a slide down to 22 per cent (figures for last quarter up to Feb 20, 2011).

http://www.wirefresh.com/android-rules-the-uk-with-sales-miles-ahead-of-blackberry-and-apple/


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