Is it possible to install Android in a normal mobile phone?
I have Sony Ericsson Naite which has only key pad interface (No touch). I would like to install Android in my phone for experimenting with it. It will be great if its possible to dual boot Android with Symbian :-).
Do we need any other special hardware to install operating system in a mobile phone? Will Android work on a key-pad mobile?
Any pointer/suggestion is appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
The Naite is a fairly simple handset running on the Sony Ericsson JP8 platform.
End users are not supposed to be able to update the firmware on the phone.
Only Sony-Ericsson partners are supposed to get the PC software to update the firmware and only Sony-Ericsson is supposed to be able to create new firmwares.
(maybe you can hack the phone so you get it to boot on android or symbian but that's going to be unsupported behavior that nobody will guarantee)
If you want to experiment with creating your own android firmwares, I suggest buying an ADP2 handset from google.
If you want to experiment with creating your own Symbian firmwares, I suggest buying a Texas Instrument Zoom 2 device since it is the reference platform for Symbian.
The Zoom 2 seems to also support Android, by the way.
If you just want to experiment with application development on both platforms, I suggest using the two SDKs and emulators first.
There are some pretty cheap Symbian phones out there, particularly in the Series60 3rd edition range and, depending on where you live, you might even be able to find a Pay-As-You-Go Android phone like the Pulse.
I STRONGLY encourage you to go visit the XDA Forums and visit their Android sections for this kind of information.
Related
i know it might be the same as this question. i am from the philippines as well but the phone mentioned in that link is a samsung which is an internationally well-known brand and i know that adb supports that brand. what i am planning and really want to buy is this locally known phone. it got a really nice specs but i am worrying that i might not be able to use it on app development. i found adb drivers on the net and installed it but i don't know how to use them with android studio. the reason why i want to use a phone for development is because my laptop slows down with i run android studio and the emulator at the same time. if some co-pinoy already know a phone that they already used for app development within the same price range of flare x, please let me know. please guys i really need help on this matter.
Any phone that allows you to enable USB-Debugging will be suitable for android development. Most developers try to stick to a phone that has a clean Android base like a Nexus or Moto X, as it rules out any interference with vendor specific changes to Android (like Samsungs TouchWiz).
See this page for further information on using a hardware device for development. Google does not recommend any specific device.
Also see this list for device vendors providing ADB drivers. If you want to play it safe, stick to these vendors.
This download page suggests that the Google provided driver is suitable for the Cherry Mobile Flare X too.
We want to place a device in a store that operates as sort of a kiosk device. As in customers walk up to it and start interacting with our custom app. The app could be developed for Android or the iPad, so I'm trying to decide which one to use and would like comments on the following ideas:
Is it possible for Android or iOS to access services over the USB port? This would enable us to disable the network.
Is one particularly better for 24 hour always on?
I like the iPad as I think its supply will be more constant as we move forward and need to replace devices due to ones gone bad. Also, our app will probably work on future generations of the iPad. With Android, I'm not sure there will be that sort of consistency from the tablet vendors.
Kiosk mode? I think with the iPad by putting it in a kiosk case that removes access to the home button and turning on the restrictions we'll get what we want. What about Android? I'd rather not have to get into rooting devices and replacing their firmware.
Remote control? Any way to remotely control iOS or Android in a standard means? Our app will be a client to a master server which will obviously be able to control the app somewhat (when used purely as a display device to a customer, controlled from behind the counter).
My feeling is that neither Android tablets or the iPad is best suited for this. Are there other options?
I will try to answer your points, but know that I am probably biased towards Android, because that is where my experience lies.
With Android 3.1+, at least with the Xoom, you have full USB host capabilities. Things like USB flash/hard drives, keyboards, mice, even digital cameras, all work. If you need custom interop with a USB device, you could go as far as to write a driver for it.
24 hour always on is not good for any device with a battery, but neither is better in this situation.
While android apps are forward-compatible, bad programming practices and/or deviations from "vanilla" Android software and hardware CAN break forward compatibility. That being said, if you grab a Google Experience device like the Xoom, you won't meet as many surprises.
In Android 3.0, the navigation bar is built-in at a low level, and it is not possible for apps to remove it. Therefore, it is trivial for anyone to break a "software nanny."
I know that it is possible to control android devices remotely, but without knowing your specific needs, I can't really offer more information than that.
Good luck!
iPad NOOO believe me I am a convert to Apple for my home and business but when we went to launch kiosk the iPad FAILED Big Time.. Here are a couple of little (Big) issues we ran into.
If the device reboots you cannot auto launch you iPad app since Apple does not allow that.
There is a serious memory leak in the iPads browser. We were running javascript / CSS3 and it cratered intermittently. I literally spent 2 hours "today" on the phone with Apple getting the MAJOR run around. I finally said let me speak to an Enterprise Sales Manager as my project could mean thousands of iPads and I got NO WHERE. One Apple employee even told me they don't have enterprise sales managers.
If those weren't enough even though we are just in the proof of concept phase, we are already getting request for other options. These other options are going to require access to the OS which Apple yea right. We are moving to Android immediately.
Sorry Apple I love you but you loose here.
If your using an Ipad you should consider if it can support the power for the USB thing. Watch this Using Powered USB Port
Your idea about putting the tablet behind another piece of glass/plastic is neat. To then deal with remote controlling, you might consider doing some Bluetooth programming.
My mobile development has been primarily with iOS, so I am biased toward that SDK. I will mention that the data/sync/charge port for iOS has (I believe) never changed. Your Gen 1 iPhone sync cord works on your iPhone 4... and your iPad or iPad 2. So, in terms of third party hardware, you may see more consistency with Apple.
I haven't found a good answer regarding whether it is easier to do Bluetooth programming for iOS or Android, but I think to stay cost-effective, you might see which one is more open to third-party devices. Here is an SO post/answer about iOS and third-party Bluetooth devices; I've not found anything on Android regarding third-party Bluetooth remotes, but considering a lot of hardware running Android is third-party, your chances from a naive perspective seem pretty good. Here's the Android Bluetooth API.
Buying an iOS or Android handheld to remote control an iOS or Android tablet does seem a bit steep, but then again, maybe not. Cost also depends on your ratio of remotes to tablets. 1:1? 1:N? N:1? N:M?
The lowest end iPod goes for $229 as of May 20, 2011. Android does have more variety in terms of hardware. You may be able to get a cheap Android phone with no service plan to act as a Bluetooth remote for an Android tab.
I have provided a solution for the kiosk mode using iPad here Lock-down iPhone/iPod/iPad so it can only run one app
I am afraid that I don't really know for Android if the same thing is possible.
To address the issue of crashing applications you can use an exception trampoline (see discussion here https://blog.compeople.eu/apps/?p=275) to catch the crash and reboot your app.
If the entire device is restarted however then other apps that are on the device can be started and will subsequently be locked in.
To answer your other points:
You can use a configuration profile to control network access. Force it to use a VPN or Proxy that only allows your custom app with embedded credentials to use. That way other network access can be prevented.
Your concern over future compatibility is spot on. The Android marketplace is so fragmented then maintaining a fleet is difficult.
If you have an app that is behaving as a server and is locked in then remote control is possible.
We manufacture tablet kiosks that support both android and iPad devices. In fact we are the only iPad kiosk that has achieved apple approval.
Generally speaking i think you will have an easier time with an iPad as the software and hardware will remain more consistent over time. Which is important if you have to change out a fault unit or deploy more kiosks 6 months or year from now when the original device is no longer manufactured.
I want to start Mobile Phone development, but I am very very new to this area, I have 3 choices: iPhone, Nexus One and Windows Phone. I believe Nexus one atracts me more. But I have never bought a smart phone. My questions is: If a buy one Nexus One from Best Buy store, can I use it for developing Android applications?
I appreciate your help, nobody helps me with this question and I am a novice in smart phones.
Thnak you
Edgar
For the most part you do not need a device to start doing mobile development. You can download the Android SDK complete with an emulator here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
If you're not sure which kind of development you'd like I'd recommend downloading the toolkits for all the major ones, trying them out, and then decide.
Android
Windows Phone
iPhone
Blackberry
You don't develop mobile software ON a mobile device. You use them to test.
If your choice is Android vs. Windows vs. iOS, then you need to decide what kind of software you will be writing.
For native apps, all 3 use very different development platforms (java vs. .net vs. objective-c).
If you're going to go the HTML5 + Phonegap route, then it really doesn't matter. And you really don't need a physical device anyways...you can always test on simulators.
If you want to do ANY app dev for iOS, though (be it native or phonegap) you WILL need OSX on a desktop/laptop computer.
First decide what operating system you want to work on as DA suggested. If you have decided to develop applications for Android then iPhone and Windows phone is of no use to you.
Only those devices having Android Operating System you can use, Nexus One or Samsung GalaxyS are good options.
But before buying anything you can start developing applications as there is emulator provided which does most of the work that a device does.
I really want to get into Android programming but I only have access to company resources right now. I have the money right now to purchase a XOOM or a development laptop. Is it possible to compile Android apps using the command line on the Xoom while using other apps to write the program files.
What would seem like a dream environment would be if I purchased a XOOM and a BlueTooth Keyboard. Am I dreaming? Developing using older Android devices was naturally limited by the screen space of the device and the underlying hardware also.
No, as far as I know, you cannot develop Android applications from within Android. You will need a Windows, Mac, or Linux desktop environment to develop Android applications. Visit the Android Developer site for additional info on the SDK.
Go for the development laptop, and test your applications on the emulator. Initially you can get friends to test them out on their android for you, and hopefully by the time you make something important enough you will be able to afford your own android.
Check out AIDE. It can build and deploy apps natively on Android.
Google doesn't have a version of the SDK that runs on an android device, although as devices become more powerful this would be a pretty awesome thing to have.
You'll want the laptop, since it can emulate different android devices.
Buy the laptop and get a cheap phone on craigslists.
Although, the XOOM emulator doesn't work at all, so if you want to develop specifically for that tablet it's a good idea to buy it. It's impossible to emulate android 3.0 on any computer on earth :)
I am an iPhone developer that is about to dive into the Android market. The price of the development phone (Nexus 1 - $530) is quite high, so I thought to myself, "Why not spend $10 more and get something like the Dell Streak?". I haven't read any particular reviews on that device, but for an iPhone user that just wants a dependable device to develop on - what is the best fit? Ideally I am looking for a device that matches the experience that most Android users have - is that even possible?
If you can hold off just a little longer you could get a Samsung Nexus S which is the latest Android phone and will be shipping with Gingerbread (2.3).
I would suggest taking a look into statistics of device frequencies.
Android website provides http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/screens.html and OS versions.
But there are lot of other stats on the web, e.g.:
http://www.enterra-inc.com/techzone/android_statistics/
http://blog.tweetdeck.com/android-ecosystem
etc.
Any normal consumer-marketed android device can be used for application development - a developer phone is only needed if you want to modify the android platform and underlying linux itself (something that may also be possible by finding a way to root a consumer device)
To match the experience of most users, you probably want a recent device co-branded as a "google experience" device, ie one that comes with Android Market and the other google apps, which are not at present available for devices without that "blessing".
I would take a look at getting a motorola droid or droid 2 since they hold most of the android market share. I think this would provide the ideal user experience. I think the Samsung Nexus S will probably be THE android phone to have, but I dont think most people will have it for sometime.