Android 5.0 Jelly Bean Rumor Explained

There have been some rumors going around about Google's newest sugary software upgrade for mobile devices: Android 5.0 "Jelly Bean". I'd like to address those here with a healthy dose of common sense.

The tech press loves a good rumor, and admittedly so do I, but I think this one is just off base.  Allow me to explain with a little background:

When Android came out, it was meant just for phones, and it's worked quite well for that.  As time went on, Apple bestowed on us the iPad.  Manufactures scrambled like Wal Mart shoppers for a $40 dollar DVD player on Black Friday to put out a tablet.  One of the first Android tablets that made it market was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7".  This tablet ran Android Gingerbread.  Google cautioned that Gingerbread (Android 2.3) was not meant for tablets, but they were cooking up something that work.

Some time later they released Android 3.0, or more commonly known as Honeycomb.  Honeycomb was meant only for tablets.  Motorola came out with the first Honeycomb tablet, and lets just say it didn't sell so well.  Why?  Because there were only a handful of apps for it, and a lot of the Android 2.0 apps didn't look right on it, or didn't work at all.

I am not going to even go into all the Android "fragmentation" talk that came up around this release.  Let's look at if from a developers standpoint:  At this stage in the game, you've got Android phones which are very popular, so it makes sense to make an app for them.  But why would you want to develop for a tablet OS that has near zero market penetration?  This is why Android tablets don't sell.

So how was Apple able to launch a tablet with a plethora of apps?  They made it easy for developers.  First off, all iPhone apps could run on an iPad, albeit a little pixelated.  But, Apple also made it easy for developers to convert their apps into "Universal binaries".  In other words, with very little modification, you could turn your iPhone app into a sweet iPad app.

Apps sell devices. Apple capitalized on this theory, and in the process, took most of the market share.

Google got smart and released Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich.  This is a unified operating system.  In other words, you can write one app, and deploy it everywhere.

Google's got a problem:  They can't upgrade every phone and device out there because they don't control the hardware development.  They rely on other manufacturers and operators to push updates.  While they can make it as easy as possible to update, they have to sit and wait for ICS to get a big install base.

Do you remember how long it took Gingerbread to get a big install base? A lot longer then iOS 5.0 took to get out there.

So developers STILL have to develop for two, and now THREE OS's to stay current on Android phones and tablets.

Now, to address the rumor about Android 5.0

Google's not stupid.  They know that developers and apps sell hardware.  More hardware sold means more revenue for Google.  They know of the fragmentation issue that faces developers and they are working hard to fix that with Android 4.0.  They'd be stupid, just plain stupid to release, or even talk about Android 5.0 now when 4.0 still has about 1% penetration.

While it's a tempting to dream about how awesome 5.0 is going to be, we just aren't going to see it for a long time.

So tech press, unless you've got something substantial, like a leaked ROM or a screenshot, let's just stop talking about it and focus on real news and getting more copies of Ice Cream Sandwich out there.

Maide: MultiTouch for Sketchup via iPad

So just the other day I stumbled across this app for the iPad:  Maide Control for Sketchup.  Basically, what this does is turn your iPad into a giant multi touch controller for Sketchup.  I have been playing around with it for a few days and so far it's pretty handy.  I have yet to really use it on a hardcore modeling project, I have just been toying around with it.

The app is very well done, and setup is really easy.  As you may know, I am a big fan of the 3D Connexion Space Explorer.  However, as great as the Space Explorer is, it's not exactly portable.  Maide allows you to make a great accessory for Sketchup out of something that you're probably already carrying around.  Check out this video to see what it's all about.  Maide works on both Mac and PC.  If you end up trying it out for yourself, let us know how it goes in the comments.

I'm Eric, and I used to be addicted...

...to USB flash drives.

That's right.  What you are seeing here is just the tip of the iceberg.  I had lots of these drives in circulation.  I have several different computers that I work on, all in different places.  I was constantly transferring pictures, documents, and files between all of them.  On my best days I could keep track of what was where.  When the caffeine wore off, all bets were off.

I tend to stay ahead of the curve and keep up with the latest technology.  I tried all kinds of ways to keep my files in sync.  I used to email files to myself, remote desktop into my "base" PC, I even have used cloud file strorage service like DropBox.  As brilliant as DropBox is, in the back of my mind I always wanted something that could do more.

I wanted something that I could clip websites to, write down notes, record sound, and take pictures with my smartphone.  I wanted all of this on one place, accessible anywhere.  I wanted to be able to search those notes, by text, location, and keywords.  I wanted to be able to access these notes from anything that was connected to the internet.  I wanted to be able to share those notes with anyone easily.  Well, for a long time I didn't think such a service existed until I discovered Evernote.

Evernote is the most brilliant app I have discovered this year.  It has changed the way that I work.  Evernote at it's heart is a cloud based storage service.  You can create typed notes, store documents, pictures, files, and even recorded audio to the cloud.  What can you use to create these notes?  Damn near anything.  They support all kinds of mobile devices (even Blackberry!), Mac's, PC's, even the web browser.  Let me walk you through a typical day with Evernote:

I start out my day reading the news.  Since a lot of my blog posts I write are about things in the news, I can with just a click or two, clip new articles into my Evernote.  I have a special notebook just for these articles.

Later on, I may head to a jobsite and measure out a space with my iPad.  There, I take the measurements with a drawing app, and I take pictures of the space.  When I get back to the office I send all the pictures and notes to Evernote to a notebook labeled for that job.  As I start designing the space with Sketchup, I export all the pictures to Evernote in that same job notebook.  Later, I clip all the websites for appliances into the same notebook.  I can even walk around the showroom taking pictures of hardware with my smartphone to add to the notebook. Now I've got all of my notes for a job in Evernote, accessible instantly from any device I choose, anywhere on the planet.  Say I end up talking to the client on the phone and I am away from my computer, I can just open the Evernote app and look up all the information for the job.

Evernote has one more ace up it's sleeve: it can recognize text from pictures.  Think about this, you can snap a picture of a business card and put it in Evernote.  Evernote can read the text in the picture and make it searchable.  I was over the moon when I discovered this.  I started using it for business cards, but now I use it for spec books and all kinds of other text.

Boarding passes end up in there, parking tickets, handwritten notes, you name it!  I could go on and on...

Here's what I suggest, go to Evernote.com and get this app.  It's free unless you are a total upload glutton like me, and then it's $5 per month, or $45 per year for an astronomical amount of storage space. This app has literally changed the way I work. (Nope, they didn't pay me a dime to say that either)

Steve Jobs has passed away

I just got a text a little while ago from my sister, it read "Steve Jobs died, look at the news"

I didn't believe her.  I checked Google News, and Twitter.  There were only a few posts on Twitter, and one half-posted news article.  I thought it was all fake, then I went to Apple.com and saw this:

Then something very odd happened to me, I got a little upset.  We've had a lot of celebrity deaths in the past few years, Michael Jackson, and Patrick Swayze to name a few.  Not that I take their deaths with a grain of salt, but I never really got upset over these deaths.  I just wasn't emotionally attached to these other stars in the way that I just realized I was attached to Steve Jobs.  I don't even know the hit movies in the theater, the latest tv show, and I don't even watch live sports.  I have referred to Apple product launches as "My Super Bowl" on several occasions as my friends will attest.  Steve Jobs has even gotten me to go off on several angry rants on this blog.

My father died of cancer several years ago.  He was an incredibly smart guy who worked harder then any other person I have ever met.  He would stop at nothing to get through the next hurdle or solve a problem to get ahead.  My father's tireless work ethic made him very successful, and someone who I wish was still here that I could look to for advice and guidance on my own endeavors.  In the days before my father passed away, he was still working.  Judging by the little time that has passed since Steve Jobs resignation, and the time he died, he and my father may have shared a very similar work ethic.

Perhaps I never let myself realize this before, but my admiration of Steve Jobs and what he has accomplished in his short life, for me runs deeper the latest iPad or MacBook, it's his tireless dedication in creating one of the most amazing companies on the planet.

Steve, you've left behind a wonderful legacy that will inspire people for generations to come.  You've certainly inspired me.

What the bleep? (Kitchen Tech Part 3)

Would you store your food in green goo?  How about something that charges your cell phone with no wires?  Is it the future?  Some of it is, some of it you can buy right now...  This post could be originally seen on Design Kula.

Electrolux Biorobot food storage device: Ok, at first glance this thing looks gross. Would you be OK with putting your food in green goo to keep it fresh? That concept might take some getting used to, but a few years ago we never thought we’d be using our phones as computers either. The idea behind this concept refrigerator is that you stick your food in the green goo, it forms pods around it, and by using the light in the room the goo stays cool and germ free. Also, since your food is separate from other items, there is no odor transfer. Interestingly, Sub Zero utilizes this same concept in their refrigerators with multiple cooling zones driven by multiple compressors. This keeps odors from moving from one area to another so your food stays fresher longer. If this goo concept were ever to come to market, there would be so many uses for it. Imagine instead of one giant food cooling area, you could have multiple “goo units” that store food at the point of use. Your wet bar could have a small area for fruit, and a main area for beverages. This could also be great in restaurant use as well.

Inductive Charging Mats: How many kitchens have you walked into that have cell phone, ipod, and game system chargers all over the countertops? We’ve got so many things that we need to recharge these days, and a lot of that goes on in the kitchen. If you’re clever, you can create a nice charging station to manage all those wires. But why manage the present when you could bring your kitchen into the future? How about wireless charging? Powermat, and Energizer make these great mats that can charge your devices by just dropping them on the mat. No wires needed. Older devices will need to have an adapter slipped onto the battery, but a lot of new cell phones are coming with inductive charging built in. Check out this video to see it in action, it’s F***ing awesome!

There is a lot of great kitchen technology out there, and this list doesn’t even scratch the surface. Consumers see more of this technology, they want it integrated into their designs. It makes sense, if they can have all this powerful technology at their desks, why should one’s kitchen be in the stone age?