Android 2.2 Sucks 450% Less Than 2.1
For a point upgrade, Android 2.2 has high aspirations. Google’s latest upgrade is 450%, that’s right, 450% faster than it’s previous effort. Google’s mobile strategy clearly couldn’t be any further away from Apple’s. Back in 2007 Apple released the iPhone minus some features some said were so critical, the device was bound for failure. Three years later, these features are steadily being added as and when Apple declares them fit for public consumption. Google on the other hand is taking the same approach as with their myriad business ventures – flinging a mess of stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. Benchmark tests on Google’s Nexus One using the Linmark tool measure the system’s floating point computing power. The system’s capability is measuring in Millions of Floating Point Operations Per Second, or MFLOP/s. Apparently, the Nexus One running Android 2.1 marks at around 6.5 – 7 MFLOP/s, whereas Android 2.2 on the same device jumps to around 37.5 MFLOP/s. If you’re already choking back tears of boredom, I apologize. The important thing to note is that Android is improving in leaps and bounds, and one day may yet prove to be a worthy competitor to Apple’s iPhone OS. Source: Gadget Venue
Agreed, Dan, this is a classic example of Apple vs. Google, designers vs. engineers. I love Google stuff and I hope Android one day moves out of the ‘linux for mobile’ space. Them teaming up with Adobe doesn’t give me hope.
Improving performance is great but that’s not how they’re gonna beat Apple. iPhone OS is so popular not because of it’s performance (which isn’t *that* amazing) it’s all about the user experience. I have yet to see an Android device deliver anything close to the intuitiveness and simplicity of the iPhone.
My girlfriend’s dad summed it up to me the other week when discussing his new iPhone. He said the first mobile phone he had was a Nokia 402. He loved it because, although very light on features, the user interface to access those features was so straight forward that it was second nature. You didn’t think about calling or sending a text or setting an alarm; you just did it. He went on to say that until he bought the iphone, no other phone he’d ever owned had come close to that kind of usability.
My theory goes that people who are confused by iPhone OS are simply so used to navigating clunky, unintuitive mobile phone software that something so simple feels alien.
So yes, Android *may* one day be a viable competitor to iPhone OS but it won’t get there with maths and invisbile improvements that only real nerds will appreciate.
Okey, now I realy want Nexus …