Google Aindroid

[mickb22]

Will we be able to port google android to the pandora? i was just watching the feed on g4 and i saw something about it. It looks interesting.

 

[zxxgp]

When they open source it i suppose it could be done. I am not sure why you would want it on there. You would not be able to run the pandora apps with it and it is mainly designed for phones.

 

[rokdcasbah]

At the moment not all of Android is open source. Android apps are not standard Java and don't get compiled into the usual Java bytecode, the bytecode is Android specific. That's all I know about that.

 

[icurafu]

oh, and it has reported to be run on the OMAP3430. So you'll see phones working on it in the future.

When someone is showing off their future andriod phone that cost them $800, you can tell them that it is the same as you Pandora, except you get good controls and 8 hour battery while they get phone functions built in.

 

[Lord_Doku]

uuuhuhuhuhhhhhh whats Android ? Is it an OS ?

 

[fiveseven]

Isn't android mainly built for phones? Surely android on pandora would have very limited functionality without some kind of additional hardware?

 

[ashdjones]

I'm sure we'll see Android homebrew just as with the Iphone, it's always nice to be able to run lots of software isn't it?

 

[conso]

I'm sure we'll see Android homebrew just as with the Iphone, it's always nice to be able to run lots of software isn't it?

Then it might be interesting to port androids virtual machine to pandora. The rest of Android should be just Linux + a gui, so I don't think there is real need to reboot for it

 

[sindbad]

The Dalvik is very interesting and will be even more so when it gains a proper JIT. The file format is different in order to allow very quick loading.

 

[Yannick]

Android is just Linux standard Base with an overly complicated but way cool eclipse inspired plug in GUI thingie

It should run just fine on the pandora, but it's been said already that it's up to Google to fully open source it.

 

[aissen]

Isn't android mainly built for phones? Surely android on pandora would have very limited functionality without some kind of additional hardware?

I think the possibility to run Android apps will be very interesting if this platform is successful. Although the pandora have neither accelerometer, nor compass (like the G1 phone), so it will limit the scope a little.

Then it might be interesting to port androids virtual machine to pandora. The rest of Android should be just Linux + a gui, so I don't think there is real need to reboot for it

Yes, but you need to port the framework as well to make it work well. And have a custom kernel; pandora could run just fine with android-activated kernel, even if you don’t use android vm/apps.

The Dalvik is very interesting and will be even more so when it gains a proper JIT. The file format is different in order to allow very quick loading.

Dalvik designer said there’s no gain for JIT on an ARM CPU with little or no cache (you can’t fit much code in the cache). I don’t know how it compares with the pandora SoC L1/L2 cache.

Android is just Linux standard Base with an overly complicated but way cool eclipse inspired plug in GUI thingie

It should run just fine on the pandora, but it's been said already that it's up to Google to fully open source it.

No it isn’t LSB, it’s on the contrary a very custom os.

 

[conso]

Then it might be interesting to port androids virtual machine to pandora. The rest of Android should be just Linux + a gui, so I don't think there is real need to reboot for it

Yes, but you need to port the framework as well to make it work well. And have a custom kernel; pandora could run just fine with android-activated kernel, even if you don’t use android vm/apps.


I don't know how much they changed the kernel, but as I see it, most of Androids technology is abstracted through the virtual machine, so a proper ported and linked VM should be enough to gain all the possible features available to a device like the pandora.

Also, we should not mix features with dependencies. The Android-plattform is supposed to be very portable, so google will take care, it doesn't depend on accelerometers, gps or any other supported feature.
Things like accelerometer and gps could be either emulated with the analog controls or just attached to the pandora with an extension at pandoras back or bottom - or via bluetooth. I'd guess getting those devices to work in a pandora-dalvik-port, is mostly a matter of proper linking.

I must agree that all the android stuff is only suitable, if google makes it fully open source, but I have good faith in them

 

[Chip]

It should run just fine on the pandora, but it's been said already that it's up to Google to fully open source it.

According to their roadmap, they're working on that:
QUOTE
Source Code Release

We are currently in the process of preparing for the release of the source code. This includes a few key tasks:

* Selection of hosting infrastructure
* Updating the build infrastructure for general use
* Creation of a project governance framework
* Final examination of source code for release approval
* Physical upload and release packaging of the source code

This work is already under way, but since Android contains some 8 million lines of code, it's a lengthy process. We expect this process to conclude (and source code to be released) in Q4 of 2008.

You can find links to the parts that are already open here.

 

[javaJake]

When someone is showing off their future andriod phone that cost them $179, you can tell them that it is the same as you Pandora, except you get good controls and 8 hour battery while they get phone functions built in.

I wanted to correct that since the official pricing, etc., has been announced, and we've had more than enough off-the-mark information (unwittingly) flung around lately.

But I still concur.

 

[conso]

When someone is showing off their future andriod phone that cost them $179, you can tell them that it is the same as you Pandora, except you get good controls and 8 hour battery while they get phone functions built in.

I wanted to correct that since the official pricing, etc., has been announced, and we've had more than enough off-the-mark information (unwittingly) flung around lately.

But I still concur.


You've seen, that the package will contain "special" voice- and data-offers? Similar to the iphone, the real cost is a lot higher.

 

[Chip]

You've seen, that the package will contain "special" voice- and data-offers? Similar to the iphone, the real cost is a lot higher.

You'd think that was the case, but the new plans really are special. $25 for unlimited data and some text messages (doesn't say how many) and $35 for unlimited text and unlimited data. With the cheapest voice plan, you could have a G1 with unlimited internet for $55 a month. I'm paying twice that with Verizon right now.

 

[emil10001]

Android should be able to run on the pandora, it's running on the n8*0. I have tried it on mine, but without a keyboard it's a bit tough to use.

@Chip, I'm in the same boat, $110/mo on Verizon for phone plus data. I'm jumping as soon as the G1 is released, because the monthly savings for the two months I'll skip on Verizon will pay for the ETF for me. I'm also really glad that T-Mo decided to remove the 1GB/mo cap, as I typically hit at least 1.4GB/mo.

 

[fusion_power]

How useful/good is this Android? Any experiences? How could the Pandora benefit from Android compared to the standard Pandora OS? Is Android faster or has more useful features?

 

[sindbad]

It's basically another flavor of j2me, but much better. It should be possible to port Dalvik to the pandora default linux distro.

 

[conso]

How useful/good is this Android? Any experiences? How could the Pandora benefit from Android compared to the standard Pandora OS? Is Android faster or has more useful features?

It will just have a very broad userbase - probably more users then any other plattform out of x86-windows. Plus the devices it is made for, are very similar to the pandora in a lot of aspects. Having a good port of dalvik on Pandora will bring a flood of apps, that will run instantly, maybe even with openGL ES-support and other nasty things right in.