Pandora Should Move To Android

[sebt3]

Can someone name me a killer app or a decent game for Android? I'm not too familiar with it.

All are using the GSM or the accelerometer....

I'm still willing to see the VM or an android extend (Stuckie, do you copy ?)

 

[SomeGuy99]

Fuck all of you, let's do it.

 

[Alpha2]

It'd be nice if it could be quickly implemented (without spending a lot of energy on drivers and porting things to work on it, lets face it it takes long enough getting stuff optimized as it is) and add functionality to the system. Even nicer would be if you could flip between android and linux or offer an android flavor Pandora in addition to the Linux flavor.

 

[Tempel]

Okay, I have distinct memories of someone doing an Android port even before the first customer Pandoras went out. I would never use it myself, and I would be disappointed if became the default (as the current Angstrom OS would inevitably lose some support), but the "as an option" that everyone wants seems to have been done. Anyone remember who did that? Whichever dev that was, would it be much more work to polish and release?

I'll admit, though, that a compatibility layer for running Android apps in Angstrom would be swell.

EDIT: Indeed, PandoraPress reported it six months ago. Cpasjuste is the perpetrator.

 

[dflemstr]

Android on the Pandora? Yes, epic win.

Reasons why Pandora should focus on an Android distro:

• Android *DOES* support native code (Good for emulators and the like). You need to write some Java because the user interface needs to be in Java, though, and you're better off writing as much as you can in Java because of the portability, but some libraries could definitely be native.
• You have much more control over the device if you use Android + Java. You don't have to use hacks like "echo 'off' > /sys/obscure/path/display/lights" to do power management; you just do something like 'System.display.setProfile(Profile.LowPowerMode);' and that's it; no extra processes to spawn, nothing unportable, runs at extremely fast speeds etc. And you have the same abstractions throughout the system; using that command (or something; I don't know the exact command off the top of my head) you'll actually also update the system settings etc, so if the device crashes, it'll keep that setting, and other tools that are aware of the profile change etc. will react accordingly. There just won't be any problems due to incompatibility.
• If you write a Pandora Android app, it'll work on all other Android devices too... provided that you use Java, of course. And you have access to portable OpenGL ES 2.0 and 1.1 APIs, so you can have 3D apps that work on ALL Android devices and run at extremely high performance.
• It's friggin fast. Contrary to popular belief. The HotSpot VM is the fastest VM in the world, and while Dalvik isn't as fast, it has potential to be a lot faster because of it's register based instructions.
• The user interface is too phone like? Android can have a covmpletely different user interface if you want; I could make one that is more suitable for the Pandora (I've programmed in Java+Scala for a LONG time, am certified and know all the APIs etc... This really is my medium) but it'd be better to tweak the one that's already there, most probably.
• Oh and apropos portable packages... We get the .apk format for free; no more PND mess.

Just... Wow... if the Pandora had Android as one of its primary distros... That would be a major game-changer for me. Definitely. I could even get a couple of guys (like 12 people I know) interested in the Pandora as well because they have been waiting for a gaming-oriented device that also uses a common portable API (so that they can write apps for that device that also run on other devices) and this would definitely be it.

 

[HS3006]

Google can delete Android apps without your permission.

 

[jlepley]

Android should not be the primary OS. From what I can tell, it will complicate porting and slow down the emulators. The Angstrom OS is a good one, please don't screw it up.

 

[gruso]

Always interesting to get the dlfemstr angle. Now I'll play devil's advocate again.

From the consumer point of view, Android is just another upgrade treadmill. Everyone's fawning over Froyo (2.2) at the moment, but only a handful of devices are running it. As a result many people already feel like they're running outdated hardware. Android 3.0 is on the way, and is rumoured to require a 1ghz CPU. At this point, people won't want to buy an Android 2.1/2.2 device any more than they'll want to buy an iPhone 3G.

@Robotron: Don't be too discouraged by this discussion. Craig throws an idea out, we have a hearty debate, but it's all hypothetical at this stage.

 

[dotMaiku]

I say to make it dual-bootable if the user so desires.

 

[RodrigoCard]

Only as an option

 

[OrR]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

IMO, Android is a messed up piece of shit. I do NOT want it as my operating system on a PC. (And the Pandora is a PC.)

I'd like a compromise: Try to get Android software running in our proper Linux. Shouldn't it just be a matter of adding some services, libraries and the Dalvik VM? Probably more difficult than that but certainly not unsolvable... Put a bounty on that! If that's not possible, dual boot.

 

[elinscheid]

My thought is dual boot with the current Pandora if you want. Or, have a different SD card for each OS you want, mix and match. But don't give up on the current linux distro yet.

And as others have mentioned, the next android os will require hardware specs beyond what the pandora currently offers. Having said that, if the OP wants to make a new device down
the road that is Android based then go right ahead. If that new device is cool then I will buy it. Until then I want my Pandora to ship with plain old linux.

 

[socket]

I agree that t would be a good idea only if it is given as an option... I would, however be able to deal with it as the official os as long as too many great devs didnt jump ship!

 

[jdbye]

Android as an alternative OS on Pandora would be nice, not as the only OS. I like having a full Linux desktop but then again Android (and its apps) are more suited for touchscreens than a full Linux desktop (and X11 apps in general). Though I would probably end up using Angstrom most of the time, and only switch to Android if I was going to use it for a while, because switching OS all the time just to run an app on the other OS isn't worth the time it takes to reboot for me.

 

[DaveC]

More bloat, just what we need. Longer boot times, choppy emulators, shitty phone menu, no identity just what we have been waiting for

If it moves to android exclusively or it's the default os, I move to something else.

Blech!

Android 3.0 is on the way, and is rumoured to require a 1ghz CPU. At this point, people won't want to buy an Android 2.1/2.2 device any more than they'll want to buy an iPhone 3G.

@Robotron: Don't be too discouraged by this discussion. Craig throws an idea out, we have a hearty debate, but it's all hypothetical at this stage.

Not really. By the time Craig posts something here it is usually a done deal or close to it. When he gets an idea that is usually it, there is no changing it.

 

[dflemstr]

The problem with having an "Android emulation layer" is that it won't be an emulation layer, because Android was meant to be used as a complete OS.

Android isn't like SDL; you don't choose to use it because it's got some cool features and fast blitting, no, Android is like a meta-operating system. It uses its own power management API, its own security API, its own data storage API (When an application is uninstalled, *all* of its data will be removed, and its guaranteed to remove *everything* because an application is never allowed to write outside of its own data directory) etc.

So if you run Android like an emulator, the situation will be weird, because in Linux you're used to e.g. using "mount /dev/... foo" to mount an SD card, while Android has its own APIs for mounting SD cards, so there will be conflicts (In Linux you have to be root to mount an SD card, so Android, which runs as non-root, can't unmount SD cards mounted by raw Linux).

Now, I'm of the conviction that the Android system is more stable and less fragile compared to the raw Linux system (e.g. in Linux, you can cause damage by pulling out an SD card while it's mounted. Or Linux may lock an SD card so you can't unmount it. Not so in Android) so that's why I'd prefer that system. But I realize that I've got a dev's POV and can't expect all end users to think like I do

PS. It's 04:52 AM here right now, so I'm just spewing words right now to get what I want to say out there before I fall asleep

 

[gruso]

@Robotron: Don't be too discouraged by this discussion. Craig throws an idea out, we have a hearty debate, but it's all hypothetical at this stage.

Not really. By the time Craig posts something here it is usually a done deal or close to it. When he gets an idea that is usually it, there is no changing it.

Pandora Cube.

 

[SomeGuy99]

Pandora Cube.

Bounties. Licensing commerical games. Capital investment.

 

[Esn]

I don't really understand what's at play here, but I trust DaveC's judgement.

Also, this bit from Wikipedia worries me:

Android is not a Linux distribution: for example, it does not have a native X Window System; nor does it support the full set of standard GNU libraries. This makes it difficult to port existing GNU/Linux applications or libraries to Android.

 

[kagato]

Android compatibility layer: awesome.
Android primary OS: no thanks.