Droid Sector

I’ve already received multiple emails from people who are excited for iOS 4’s multitasking because they can’t wait for this to finally stop being an issue, because they think Instapaper will be able to download articles periodically in the background.

It’s painful to respond, crushing their hopes, to tell them that the iOS multitasking system doesn’t allow me to do that.

By naming these features “multitasking”, Apple has set customers’ expectations to include what apps can do in a traditional computer multitasking environment.

It’s going to mislead people into expecting such behavior from apps, but we can’t actually deliver most of it.

Some people will notice that no apps can do these things and properly focus their disappointment on Apple. But many others will only notice the shortcomings in one particular app that they need to do the “impossible” and blame that application, leading to dissatisfaction and negative thoughts about the app.

As long as iOS “multitasking” can do much less than traditional multitasking — which will probably always be the case — this is going to be an issue.

www.marco.org

Full article: iPhone vs. Android Showdown: Which Phone Is Best for Power Users?

The new iPhone 4 now on par with latest Android handsets hardware wise, making it harder for potencial buyers to choose between these two platforms. This is my take on the current situation.

Screen

The screen in new iPhone is very impressive: IPS matrix with 960×640 resolution. It has a wide viewing angle, similar to AMOLED and Super AMOLED. Blacks are really good on these displays, since no backlight is used. AMOLED screen is less usable under direct sunlight.

The winner here is Super AMOLED screen. If you need a perfect screen, get Samsung Galaxy S. Just make sure it has no problems with Wi-Fi…

What about “retina” resolution? It would make sense on a bigger screen. I’m afraid you’ll need a microscope to see the difference between iPhone 4 and Droid screens. Then why so many pixels? Apple simple can’t use other resolution without breaking all existing apps.

Controls

Back button on Android devices not only used to return to the previous screen within the same application, but also to return to the previously started application. Menu button might not be very intuitive on first day of use, but it saves a valuable screen space. You’ll miss these buttons if you switch from Android to iPhone.

Trackball is rarely used, but it’s helpful for precise link navigation in browser and text selection.

Applications

Both Market and AppStore have lot of apps now. Some apps in AppStore more mature, some apps exclusive to Android Market. One thing is true – most people can find everything they need on both platforms.

A few things is making Market more attractive for users and developers though: 24 hours money back and instant app publishing. Money back isn’t very attractive for developers with shitty apps though.

Flash

This one is simple, iPhone doesn’t have a Flash and most likely, will never have. If you think that Flash is mostly used for displaying annoying ads, don’t worry, ads in HTML 5 format coming your way..

Flash is running just fine on the Nexus One. I can listen to podcasts, see streaming videos right on a webpage, without launching a dedicated app. Is it really necessary to kill Flash? Probably it will be replaced by HTML 5 in 2-3 years, but right now there are tons of Flash contents.

Notification system

Notifications are still the same on iPhone 4. See an example. Notification bar in Android is the much more elegant solution.

Cloud/Sync

Another strong point of Android is higher level of integration with online services. Address book can be synchronized over the air with FaceBook and Twitter, photos with Picasa web albums, podcasts with Google Reader… Google even has a demo of automatic over-the-air sync with music store recently at Google IO. Apple still charges $99/year for MobileMe and no sign of cloud-based music store yet.

Of course iPhone/iTunes media sync is still wins in terms of simplicity. Rating and playback stats sync is very nice feature to have.

Customization and open source

Widgets, home screens, messaging apps – many parts of Android can be customized or even entirely replaced. Open source helps coders like Cyanogen tweak the system on a deeper level and create a great mods.

That’s it, but may be I’ve missed something. What features in Android / iOS is important for you?

Planetbeing and several other Dev-Team members managed to port Android OS to Apple’s iPhone.

Pre-built images and sources at http://www.mediafire.com/?xqjzn12igfn. Read the README. For generic openiboot instructions, there’s plenty now that you can search for.

It should be pretty simple to port forward to the iPhone 3G. The 3GS will take more work. Hopefully with all this groundwork laid out, we can make Android a real alternative or supplement for iPhone users. Maybe we can finally get Flash.

Source: linuxoniphone.blogspot.com