The Android operating system provides a powerful, open platform for mobile development. It leverages the power of the Java programming language and the Eclipse tools platform. Now you can add the Scala programming language to that mix. In this article, see how you can use Scala as the primary development language on Android.

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The Android platform is ideal, especially for Java developers, for creating innovative applications through the use of hardware sensors. Learn about some of the interfacing options available for Android applications, including using the sensor subsystem and recording audio snippets.

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OK, I've owned a G1 since day one.  Bought it (loyal T-Mobile Customer) and I've enjoyed it totally.  Nice part is, I've got an iPhone in the house thanks to my wife so I can compare.  Both her 3G and my G1 are around the same age.

Comparison,

 Reliability, Her iPhone has had to go back to the Apple store twice due to problems one got it replaced (internal error, infant mortality) and the second resulted in a full factory reset cause by an Apple supplied update.

In the reliability dept I've had the edge.  Nothing has gone sideways.  I've reloaded the OS yes,  but by choice (I've rooted mine, I like to tinker)  otherwise no complaints due to early death.

 Battery life:  Ok hands down.  You have to buy a bigger battery, second battery, 2nd charger and a car charger.  The G1 batter starts out under spec'd and goes to hell in a hand basket from there.  I've upgraded to a 2400mah battery and unless I'm doing multiple hour long calls in one day, it's easy to go 1.5 to 2 days on a single charge.

Apps:  In short the apps store rocks.  I can read and edit .docs and spreadsheets.  View Presentations and PDF's Keep up with E-mail and more. On top of that there is an ever increasing number of other apps and games.  Not to forget the #1 game, Pacman. 

 For the Sys Admin side of my life the #1 app is ConnectBot.  This is an SSH client with the ability to use ssh keys.  A must have for sure.  Nagios and Monit also have clients, and the browser does work well with MRTG and Munin.  There are also tools for reseting/restarting Wake on LAN enabled boxes, a Terminal emulator, and finally some tools for checking if servers are alive. 

In short when it comes to the app zone, no the G1 does not yet have the shear number that the iPhone does, but by golly it has all of the essentials and they work well.  My phone has a good mix of free and pay apps and in general even without the infamous iPhone standards board the apps are really good.  Heck the G1 even has flatulent apps. 

 G1 as phone:  Here is where the G1 starts to fall down.  The biggest problem stemming around the shear number of times you need to keep pressing buttons to keep the screen from dimming out during a call.  Especially frustrating if you are using an IVR system.  Instead of pushing 3 it's menu/menu/wait/3 (as they go into the second iteration of the the numbers.) over and over.  Most of this is IMHO due to the fact that HTC knew they had skimped dramatically on battery and they are trying to the point of annoyance to keep from using it. 

Additional problems when using it as a phone come in the way it interfaces with a BT headphone.  Most phones allowed me to press once on the headphone to answer a call or to connect to voice dial.  Unfortunately the G1 doesn't seem to accept either of these commands.  This means I have to pickup the phone dial or to answer.  A big hassle if you live in CA like I do. (Cops are looking for phone's in hand big time)

Data input: This is where the G1 shines.  The thumb keyboard is well layed out, tactile feedback is great, most important is how they overlayed the keys from a 101 key keyboard onto a much smaller form factor without causing undue hassle in reaching the popular keys.  Nokia's N series could take a real hint from the Android keyboard (on screen and slide out).  You can even send long e-mails from the phone as long as you don't set it down.  Seems that if the phone detects a pause while composing in the G-Mail app, it auto sends the mail (grrrr). Otherwise.  I love this aspect.

Network:   I live in the SF Bay area.  For me everywhere I go except inside a Fry's I've got 3G.  Speed is great.  I'm able to watch a YouTube video with only the rarest of re-buffers happening.  Syncs to mail etc happen quickly.  When I went to Yosemite last year, yes out in the middle of no where in Northern Indiana I did lose the 3g but kept the net, slow but there.  

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Forward:

The G1 is an excellent phone and I have yet to run into anyone who doesn't like it after they understand how to use it properly.  One of the more challenging things to get accomplished when using the G1 and a Linux PC is transcoding video in such a way that it will play seamlessly.  There are many tools available for Linux for transcoding video, but most are command line based and not very approachable for new users.   Another issue is that most of the graphical tools don't support true D.264 Baseline out of the box, and can take hours of fiddling with settings to get workable video for the G1.  I have yet to see any graphical transcoders specifically target this device, but it is possible to make a profile for for the G1 within Handbrake.

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Every year we are hearing that "2000-something will be the year of Linux." But it does not happen. Asus announced it is better with Windows, Windows XP support is prolonged, Windows 7 is just around the corner (don't say it's crappy with netbooks, AMD announced dual-core Neo processors which will run Aero fine) and the companies will slowly adopt to Linux. Another competitor on the netbook market comes from Android and Acer announced Aspire One with Android in Q3 this year. Let's count the competitors: Android, XP, 7. It was nice news that Ubuntu Moblin was announced but what will be the competition like: AMD Dual Core Neo + Windows vs. the unfamiliar Ubuntu Moblin or Android (by the way, I really loved Moblin and find it really efficient in terms of netbook use).

Put everything in place and rethink: there are many reasons that Linux is not triumphing over Windows. Plus there is competition and in the arena of the netbooks, I cannot claim that this year or the next will be the year of Linux. Just set aside your passion for this lovely operating system of ours and try to rethink objectively: does the announcements in Computex will have any positive impact on Linux? Or is it just "Computex?"

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