Paradox Designs

Android, also known as the Google Phone, will be coming out sometime soon, Google is showing off signs right and left, and over this past week, they have released a whole pile of data about it. This includes some 3^rd party apps that will be available out of the box, and do some pretty impressive things. Some of these things could change the entire way we use our Cell Phones, and even change how we act and behave.

A Revolution for Phones

Cell Phones a few years ago were much like computers in the late 70s. They were limited to one developer’s software, and you have to pay a premium to get that. The iPhone is like the original Apple Macintosh. It brings new expectations on how a phone is supposed to act, and has given a tasty example of how things will work. Also like the Macintosh, it is locked to one hardware maker, Apple, and the application development is limited.

Android holds potential to be the Windows of the mobile phone. This is not saying it will be buggy, or crashy, or anything of the sort. This is talking about numbers. Numbers of phones using it. Number of companies making hardware for it. Number of applications for it. Windows is not locked to a single type of computer, and Android will not be locked to a single type of phone. The iPhone and Mac OS are. In the long run, Android will likely gain control of the market.

Data and Connections

Cell Phones have allowed us to become moderately more connected to one another. We can update our facebook status from anywhere, post twitter posts, take and send pictures to one another, and, make calls. But, for most practical purposes, thats all we can do. We can’t compare prices, we can’t find cheap gas, we cant interact with data, we can merely create small amounts of unimportant data.

Android will allow us to both create and interact with data. It will come with a number of mapping applications that will make use of its GPS features, and there will likely be many more to download. One such app that has been demonstrated was a Geocaching war application. With this, you and friends can get together and go geocaching, but with a team twist. Whoever finds it first wins. While this can be done using Garmin Rhinos, the ubiquity of Cell Phones will make it even easier. Better map applications would be ones that showed you which of your friends were nearby, which nearby station has the cheapest gas, information like that.

Hyper-connectivity

Android will usher in a new way of connecting with people, much the same way internet communities and social networks work. Users will be able to find each other, see statuses, and other such things. One app in the recent App gallery is the Life360 app. This is a news app, where people post news and other events to a feed, and people in the same area receive the feed. This could be used to post a request for help in finding a lost dog, or something similar.

Other apps promise to allow users to scan barcodes, and then find out if they are really getting the best deal at the store they are at, or if 3 blocks down the street has a cheaper, better version.

It is too early to make many predictions, the device could be a flop, but i seriously doubt that.