It’s been awhile since we talked about Google’s forthcoming Android OS for mobile phones—well, to be honest, it’s been a while since we heard anything about Android. But the big G recently showed off their latest version of the phone’s system and it looks pretty darn slick—and more than a little iPhone like. Vincent over at Android Community has a gallery full of screenshots and a handful of videos of the latest version of the OS.
Despite the superficial resemblance to APple’s handset, the Google phone does have some unique features—for example, a built-in version of Google’s Street View, complete with a compass that actually rotates the street view as you turn. Damn, that’s cool. And potentially a little creepy. Great for stalking, though. Er. Finding things. Like stores. Yeah.
The screen unlock feature can work a lot like the iPhone’s, but Google’s actually customized it to let you draw any sort of shape that you want—you could even play Tic-Tac-Toe. Well, maybe not. And I do like the idea of creating shortcuts on the desktop, though I wonder if that’s a metaphor that’ll work well on mobile phones.
If nothing else, I look forward to Android pushing Apple to add more features to the iPhone when the first handsets start getting released this year. What about you, readers? Anything shown off in this presentation that you want on Apple’s handset?
You got one thing right - Android vs. iPhone will create a battle which will push both Google and Apple to the brink of the future.
iSmashphone did an interesting article on the top 50 Android Apps along with an interesting speculation on the relation between Android and iPhone.
Keep the Android news coming.
I like how he says "WebKit enabled phones" instead of "iPhones".
Yes there are many cell phones that use WebKit, but the interface is clearly intended for iPhones users and they make up the large majority of users.