A new breed of Androids are about to touch down in Australia as handset makers put the iPhone's dominance to the test with new smartphones built on Google's mobile operating system. While HTC is the only company to have released Android handsets here in Australia, Samsung will unveil its first Android offering next week with the launch of the Icon Galaxy. The Galaxy taps into the desire to customise and personalise phones and integrate them with applications used elsewhere said Tyler McGee, telecommunications vice president at Samsung Australia. “People are now buying their fifth, sixth or seventh handset, so I'd say globally the smartphone category is moving fast into the mainstream,” he said. The Galaxy boasts an organic LED screen and 5 mega-pixel camera, and 8GB of internal memory (which is upgradeable to 24GB) also helps to boost its smartphone credentials. The launch of the Galaxy will be followed closely by HTC's Hero, which is due here some time before October. No stranger to the Android platform, HTC launched the G1 Dream here last February and its HTC Magic followed a few months later. “We've certainly taken leadership with Android. We believe that in the next 18 months to two years that the cloud (where you store all your contacts and photos etc) will have a determinate factor on what devices you choose,” said Anthony Petts, HTC's regional sales and marketing director. He said the Hero would offer better functionality and an improved user experience with a new capbability called “scenes” that allows users to group weekday or weekend usage profiles using widgets that are live and intuitive. “We are continuing to expand the Android portfolio of products and strongly believe end users are looking for different sizes, form factors, and keyboards, so we're giving them a variety of choices,” he said. While no other handset makers have formally announced new Android models for the Australian market, Motorola is reported to have two phones close to completion and set for release to some markets in September, although the company declined to provide specific timings. 'Motorola can confirm that we will be launching Android handsets but can't disclose any details at this time,” it said. Like the iPhone, one of Android's key selling features is the mass of third-party applications being created for the platform. The Android market now has 8000 applications for download and the fact that these can be built on open source technology has made it a popular platform among developers. According to Petts, Android applications deliver a unique level of depth, integrating tightly with functions such as cameras and maps, exemplified by the popular Sky Maps application which can locate a position using the GPS to map out constellations visible from a particular location. But interesting applications may not be enough to win over the mainsteam smartphone market said Robin Simpson, a research director at Gartner. “Success in the smartphone market is all about usablity and cool design. Google doesn't control the hardware so if phone makers don't come up with the good designs, that will make the platform less attractive.” http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/iphone/android-phones-hope-to-take-a-bite-out-of-apple-dominance-20090828-f1qo.html --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Indonesian Android Community [id-android]" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To subscribe 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/id-android?hl=en?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
