From the list of allowable permissions I can see the following being some of the "optional" features for hardware;
Handset vibrate. Bluetooth profiles Fine location Wifi Camera Flashlight Audio Recording My previous experience is developing for Nokia devices (Not touched an iPhone as yet), and I know from that there can be a lot of variation in hardware when you're looking at a product range which spans many price points. Even on the cheapest Kogan device there is no mention of GPS, WiFi or vibrate, so I think this could be a bigger problem that people are currently thinking it will be if apps are being developed on the assumption that, for example, the 'phone will always provide GPS fine location facilities, or will always vibrate to provide feedback to the user. Al. Raymond Rodgers wrote: > Yannick Stucki wrote: >> Yeah right, that's Apple propaganda if you ask me... Developers have >> always been coding for different screen sizes and different >> hardware... On a desktop you also don't know if someone has a webcam >> if you are coding a chat programm or not... I see that it is a bit >> more difficult on handsets... but still, it's not like devs can >> write apps that work on more than one device >> >> On Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 10:53, Al Sutton <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> >> One of the problems I can see with multiple platforms is app >> incompatibilities. >> >> With the iPhone app store when you buy an app you know the app will >> work. With more Android devices coming out and the current state of >> Market I'm concerned that users will end up buying apps which either >> don't work on their screen resolution, or simply need features >> that the >> devices don't have. >> >> Hopefully the powers that be have thought about this and have >> plans in >> place already for more than just endorsed devices like the G1. >> > Other than screen resolution, I think there will be little to worry > about as far as incompatibilities are concerned. Unless someone takes > the underlying operating system and starts stripping out significant > parts of it or adding them, the OS itself will likely continue to > function as we have gotten used to it. Likewise, the API and the > actual apps we write will likely be immune to most of those changes. > The SDK is based on Java for this reason: it's a cross platform > language, and each application is in its own virtual machine. The > features of the phones themselves obviously will change, but as the > most significant features I can think of are internet access via Edge, > wifi, or other means, and GPS are common in modern phones, I don't > think we need to worry too much about them being present or not. From > what I've seen (admittedly just a small amount at the moment), the API > will let us know if the features aren't available for whatever reason. > > Now, as for screen resolution, I presume that there's probably a part > of the API that will tell you exactly what the resolution of the > device is. I *presume* this because OpenGL drawing often depends on a > view port size, which is often set to the full screen size. Also > knowing some of the pasts of a few of Google's engineers, I know that > they've most likely already thought of this, so I think that if your > application is sensitive to the screen size (and orientation), chances > are you can get this information from the API and use it to adjust > your user interface appropriately. > > Of course, I could be wrong... :-) > > Raymond > > > -- ====== Funky Android Limited is registered in England & Wales with the company number 6741909. The registered head office is Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, UK. The views expressed in this email are those of the author and not necessarily those of Funky Android Limited, it's associates, or it's subsidiaries. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
