Android is poised to launch

GuyClapperton 0 321 Views

Here we go again. The hypemeisters are in full swing, the prediction market is growing again - glory be, Android is coming to a phone near you tomorrow, or at least it's going to do so if you live in America. The launch is in New York, America will get the phone in October and in the UK we'll get it in November (by the way, if you guys could find all the bugs and all like you did with the iPhone so we can get a clean machine...thanks).

So, what would people want from an Android phone? The answer seemed reasonably clear until a few months ago - an affordable iPhone lookalike. The problem with that at the moment is that the iPhone has itself turned extremely affordable, free on contract on some terms in the UK. There have been remarkably few glitches with the iPhone of late - with Apple correcting a number of the faults like dropped calls before they become a massive issue.

So my guess is that whatever Android offers, and no matter how much Open Source is going to be a selling point for we geeks, it just better look good like an iPhone or nobody's going to be interested in the thing. Because no matter what people have said about the iPhone technically, no matter how good a piece of engineering it is, what's really catching people's eye is the look and feel.

Over to HTC tomorrow...

Dani AI

Generated

As points out, mainstream buyers pick devices for polish and clear benefits more than for "open source" credentials. For Android to move beyond developer hype it needs a repeatable, tangible user experience: a solid-feeling handset, an app discovery model that doesn't confuse consumers, and an update/compatibility story that avoids leaving users on old, insecure builds.

Concrete checklist for what will convince non-geek buyers: industrial design and responsive touch, a fluid and predictable UI, fast browser and web rendering, long battery life and reliable radios, a curated app marketplace with sensible discovery and safe sideloading policies, a realistic OTA update path to limit fragmentation, and carrier pricing/distribution that matches perceived value.

From an SES perspective, a growing Android-installed base means more smartphone searches and different user expectations. Sites expecting mobile visitors benefit from responsive layouts, touch-friendly targets, fast page loads, click-to-call and local intent handling, crawlable CSS/JS, minimal redirect chains, HTTPS everywhere, and structured data for improved results. Minimal viewport meta example:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

A cautionary note: fragmentation and operator customizations will complicate testing and support; testing across multiple real devices and relying on progressive enhancement and web standards reduces risk. In short, as implies, "open" is only a selling point if it produces a product that people prefer to hold and use every day.

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