So I am trying to learn some about how android works. I am interested in how it works with the hardware. I am not a developer or interested in porting android to another device, but as I look at the hardware specs of say the Touch Pro2 and the hero, they are similar and the chipsets are close (same family). Recently i read that the CEO of HTC said he will not make a Android version of the TP2, so my question is this:
What is special about the hardware of the android device that it runs android, but the TP2 cannot? I know that people have been working on porting Android to other WinMo devices, but with limited success. So what is the stumbling block?
I'm just curious about this topic and was hoping some of the smart folks from XDA would know.
I believe that much like computer hardware, each component requires drivers, and those need to be written for WinMo devices. In the alpine section they've been port WinMo 5, but couldn't due to lack of drivers.
Also all WinMo devices are resistive, Android (up until 1.6) was all capacitive, which I believe is another issue.
Anyway, the Droid is better than the TP2 =P
So we've seen the projects to create a ROM for Android on the Rhodium... Well now that the Symbian Foundation has released their open source code I think our handy dandy developers have an even greater challenge on their hands!
Who else is interested?
For those of you interested I've included information on the source code from Symbian.org:
developer. symbian. org/wiki/index.php?title= Categorylatform_Opening&action=edit
Hey fellow XDA-ers. I thank you for your thoughts thus far. Android is only a part of the next wave in Mobile Computing. Honestly I've found the MyTouch I owned from T-Mo too be toooooo slow and toooooo consumerish. I like a phone that has both lifestyle and professional all in its mix. This makes me a big fan of WinMo and Symbian. Seeing that Windows Mobile and Symbians *NEW* operating system both run C++ and .NET it may be much easier, practical and cooler than we think.
Yea...
Theoretically it should be a pretty fast and stable alternative. It would be dope, but there wouldhave to be some major UI changes for me to try it out....but maybe I'm unsure on how far Symbian has come...
I personally don't see the need for another proprietary operating system with its origins 20+ years old, windows mobile is enough of that for me.
Android was developed from the ground up with modern mobile devices in mind and in my opinion anyways is the most promising mobile os on the market right now.
Gootah said:
Theoretically it should be a pretty fast and stable alternative. It would be dope, but there wouldhave to be some major UI changes for me to try it out....but maybe I'm unsure on how far Symbian has come...
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UI changes in Symbian??? Sense/TF3D makes Symbian look like a Palm M500 I'd rather any developers with free time spend it on Android.
totalperception said:
So we've seen the projects to create a ROM for Android on the Rhodium... Well now that the Symbian Foundation has released their open source code I think our handy dandy developers have an even greater challenge on their hands!
Who else is interested?
For those of you interested I've included information on the source code from Symbian.org:
developer. symbian. org/wiki/index.php?title= Categorylatform_Opening&action=edit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need for that man. Even though Symbian has the highest exposure worldwide Android is the next wave, plus Nokia has Maemo to push as it is. Dual OS is more than enough for HTC user, such as myself. Just imagine triple boot Gen.Y where are you? LOL
just buy yourself a damn nokia ...
Android is crap i had a few device, and simbian is just fallin in darkness...
why would you want symbian? i could see android and iphone os for the apps and winmo for the customization and community support, even palm and webos... for reasons. but symbian isnt pretty, or userfriendly, customizable, or have alot of apps. its a slightly uglier version of blackberrys os. besides does it even support wvga resolutions? i think the only other os to do that is android.
... what a weird discussion, I do understand to have Symbian a lot more than Android here are my point against android:
- everybody says it is open source, the core is but nothing else that is why there are so few aternative ROMS
- No real GPS software, dont even star to compare with solutions available on Symbian or WM
- No tethering without hack!!!!! I am dreaming here, I was about to by the Moto-Droid, when I saw that I went back to my good TP2
- Google is as close as Apple when it come to app available on its store.
a nice GUI is NOT all, and software and functions make the difference, people can complain as much as they want about the "old" WM is it so far the OS which give the more flexibility and Symbian cones just behind, use a N97 and you'll see how smooth it is.
Now this will probably lead to a troll discussion but for me trying to adapt Android to some other device or symbian is perfect for fan who want to play but not for "production" phone, and for that I clearly keep WM so far. waiting for WM7
Best
OP: Have you ever even used Symbian? I have, and I have to say it's the most god awful mobile OS I've ever used. I returned the Nokia I bought within a week because Symbian was truly terrible. I can't honestly imagine why anyone would want to run Symbian, by choice, when you have other options like Android, Maemo/Mer, Windows Mobile, or anything other than Symbian. I wouldn't ever want the capable developers who could port Symbian actually waste their time on such a terrible OS. Porting Symbian to the Pro2 would be a downgrade; it would be like trading in a premium, business class smartphone for a $10 feature phone. IMO, not worth it. [/my 2 cents]
CarpeNoctem said:
... what a weird discussion, I do understand to have Symbian a lot more than Android here are my point against android:
- everybody says it is open source, the core is but nothing else that is why there are so few aternative ROMS
- No real GPS software, dont even star to compare with solutions available on Symbian or WM
- No tethering without hack!!!!! I am dreaming here, I was about to by the Moto-Droid, when I saw that I went back to my good TP2
- Google is as close as Apple when it come to app available on its store.
a nice GUI is NOT all, and software and functions make the difference, people can complain as much as they want about the "old" WM is it so far the OS which give the more flexibility and Symbian cones just behind, use a N97 and you'll see how smooth it is.
Now this will probably lead to a troll discussion but for me trying to adapt Android to some other device or symbian is perfect for fan who want to play but not for "production" phone, and for that I clearly keep WM so far. waiting for WM7
Best
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've used the N97 before. in fact, I came to the TP2 from an N97. symbian is, IMO, one of the most brilliantly designed mobile OSes in existence but it's implementation on the N97 was flawed, to put it mildly. don't get me wrong--I love Symbian and the N97 but there was too much wrong for me to overlook. For one, the v. 12 firmware(and, to a lesser extent, the v. 20 firmware) was too buggy for me and the N97 was all but smooth even with theme effects turned off. This may have been remedied with more RAM and a MUCH faster CPU(OMAP 3, anyone?). For what was to be a flagship the N97 was a great disappointment.
As for Symbian on the TP2, I would wait until later in the year to see what Symbian^3 has to offer before considering porting it.
Just my $.02...
@jaekidd1012
You get the point and understand.
I think most of the people are thinking of the old S40 OS which was garbage. But S60v5 which will now become the revamped Symbian^3, ^4 and ^5 will be an amazing piece of ROM and feature rich capabilities.
Because Symbian and WM are both written in Windows codes this should be a much easier project than Android. Android is great for those who want to use it but it's going to be overshadowed in years to come by Apple, Nokia and Windows.
(pending the Nokia v Apple litigation over Apple misusing patented Nokia technology)
i would love to see sense on wvga. i hope htc isnt giving up on that. i think android has the customization of windows mobile with the app store and prettyness of iphone os. just dont expect any other os's to run. linux has a way of working on any device.
ScooterG said:
UI changes in Symbian??? Sense/TF3D makes Symbian look like a Palm M500 I'd rather any developers with free time spend it on Android.
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Click to collapse
Thumbs Up!
The Jack of Clubs said:
i would love to see sense on wvga. i hope htc isnt giving up on that. i think android has the customization of windows mobile with the app store and prettyness of iphone os. just dont expect any other os's to run. linux has a way of working on any device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That where I disagree. the Operating system is the base of a platform and so far Android is as stuck as the iPhone, WM offer a lot more "playability" let see if WM7 will be as good for that. the important part is also the software and Android/Google as iPhone/Apple want to control all of this so refuse software allowing tethering and have the right of life and death on any application. I HATE this,
I bought the phone, it is MINE, if I want to void the warranty it is my problem, if I want to install an illegal application in my country I take responsability and refuse that google or Apple guide me like if I was a kid, I mean look at that: http://www.androidguys.com/2010/01/25/nexus-censoring-swear-words/ I really can't stand that you buy a piece of equipment for so much and companies want to force you to use it there way. Plus privacy!!! GOOGLE STORES EVERYTHING YOU DO WITH YOUR (???) PHONE!!! And nobody complains, everybody loves it. a nice GUI is not enough to make a good OS, I am not even talking about the iphone and the multitasking...
totalperception said:
You get the point and understand.
I think most of the people are thinking of the old S40 OS which was garbage. But S60v5 which will now become the revamped Symbian^3, ^4 and ^5 will be an amazing piece of ROM and feature rich capabilities.
Because Symbian and WM are both written in Windows codes this should be a much easier project than Android. Android is great for those who want to use it but it's going to be overshadowed in years to come by Apple, Nokia and Windows.
(pending the Nokia v Apple litigation over Apple misusing patented Nokia technology)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering why other posters were making it sound like this was the worst idea anyone's ever read...it didn't sound too bad to me, hah. S60v5 doesn't look as awful as the posts are making it seem.
I don't really care too much either way on this topic. If there was a working rom out there I'd flash to it just to tinker around with since I've never used symbian. That said, I'm more excited about android progress (Even more so about W7, fingers crossed that we aren't disappointed), and totally fine with wm6.5.3 for day to day use until my next device.
android lets you customize the look and feel as much if not more than windows mobile, supports multiple devices and different resolutions, and lets you install programs outside the app store. thats why i think its most like windows mobile. it has the bonus of looking good and having lots of apps like iphone os. which is all why im most excited about it. i think it still feels a little bare but its getting developed fast.
The last time i really liked Symbian, it was called EPOC on my good old Psion Series 5mx, it had great community and support, nowadays symbian is just a crippled platform that mostly Nokia uses. I think its too late for them to go open source, it should have happened years ago...
I just hope that WM7 will be as good as Win7 after the good old matured XP
DaveTheTytnIIGuy said:
OP: Have you ever even used Symbian? I have, and I have to say it's the most god awful mobile OS I've ever used. I returned the Nokia I bought within a week because Symbian was truly terrible. I can't honestly imagine why anyone would want to run Symbian, by choice, when you have other options like Android, Maemo/Mer, Windows Mobile, or anything other than Symbian. I wouldn't ever want the capable developers who could port Symbian actually waste their time on such a terrible OS. Porting Symbian to the Pro2 would be a downgrade; it would be like trading in a premium, business class smartphone for a $10 feature phone. IMO, not worth it. [/my 2 cents]
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Click to collapse
I have to agree with Dave this OS is just crap...
phr33ksho said:
I personally don't see the need for another proprietary operating system with its origins 20+ years old
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Click to collapse
how exactly did you come up with "proprietary" idea when it was released as opensource. by the very definition it can not be proprietary.
20+ years ago? wow... you are pretty ignorant, aren't you? why don't you go read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbian_OS before you make yourself look any more foolish.
I realize that in an Android-centric forum branch, I risk cries of heresy, but looking at the specs for upcoming Windows Phone 7 phones, I'm wondering if it will be possible to port Windows Mobile 7 to the Nexus One.
Not knowing enough about ROM cooking, I am wondering if any devs have opinions on the feasibility of this.
I am NOT interested in opinions about Windows Mobile 7 by itself, or as compared to any other platform, Android or otherwise, so please don't bother posting "b-b-but WinMo sucks", etc.
Thanks in advance!
maxawesome said:
I realize that in an Android-centric forum branch, I risk cries of heresy, but looking at the specs for upcoming Windows Phone 7 phones, I'm wondering if it will be possible to port Windows Mobile 7 to the Nexus One.
Not knowing enough about ROM cooking, I am wondering if any devs have opinions on the feasibility of this.
I am NOT interested in opinions about Windows Mobile 7 by itself, or as compared to any other platform, Android or otherwise, so please don't bother posting "b-b-but WinMo sucks", etc.
Thanks in advance!
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Click to collapse
Almost impossible since WP7 isn't open source.
(And it's not finished yet anyway.)
Also, Windows Mobile 7 =/= Windows Phone 7
My understanding is that Windows Phone 7 is to the WinMo platform what Centrino is to Intel-based notebooks, i.e. a set of required hardware to guarantee a certain experience.
Windows Mobile 7 (as in the OS itself) has been ported to the HTC HD2, right?
I just wondered if the same might not be possible now that the WinMo 7 SDK is out (not in final form, I know, but still...)??
winmo 7 won't run on hd2
timothydonohue said:
winmo 7 won't run on hd2
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Click to collapse
Ok, in that case, what about dual-booting an Android phone to run WinMo 6.5?
I've seen articles on some bootloader that will let you dual boot WinMo 6.5 and Android from a WinMo phone. Is it possible to do the same on an Android handset?
maxawesome said:
Ok, in that case, what about dual-booting an Android phone to run WinMo 6.5?
I've seen articles on some bootloader that will let you dual boot WinMo 6.5 and Android from a WinMo phone. Is it possible to do the same on an Android handset?
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Click to collapse
It's a hell of a lot easier to port Android to a WinMo phone due to the fact that it's open source (hell, it's even been ported to iphone).
Getting any version of WinMo ported to Android would probably be possible, but incredibly difficult.
Ah, good point I hadn't thought of. I guess I just figured that even though WinMo isn't open source, enough of the hardware is common between devices these days so that drivers baked into WinMo would just work. Showing my novice, obviously.
I own a Samsung Galaxy SII T-989 and, because I come from the "Windows" side rather than Linux or Apple, I would like to be able to completely wipe out the Gingerbred ROM that came with the phone and install a "cooked" ROM based on Windows Mobile 7 or, at least Windows Mobile 6.5.
I am hoping that, all those great developers connected to this site and spending so much time on cooking roms and rooting android phones, maybe one day they would look into this project that will become, I am sure, the greatest challenge, the pinnacle of all great things ever accomplished and recorded on this amazing forum.
I'm sure that nobody will bother:
1) It's going to prove VERY complicated, to say the least. Without "inside job" with the drivers, just plain impossible.
2) It's useless. If you're after Windows Phone 7 phones - just go and buy yourself one. Installing Android on it will be much easier than the other way around, and most probably it was already done.
Because of both of the points, it won't happen. There are reasonable challenges, and there are oh-so-stupid ones. And people mostly have lives. So if I were you, I wouldn't hold on to the hope, and would just go out and buy WinPhone 7.
Specifically for point 1: Microsoft certifies all the HW that is licensed to work with their OS, and all the drivers are made ONLY for this HW, and not for anything else. VERY CPU- and board-specific. Seeing that you have a Samsung phone, which doesn't have this HW or anything like it, I'd say that the chances of hell freezing over are higher than your phone getting Win7 port. Well, at least until your specific CPU (which happens, unlike most other SGS2 ones, to be of the "right" brand for Win7 phones) and phone motherboard (which might never become a base for Win7 phone) gets certified and has drivers done for it - happens only if exactly the same base will be used for Win7 phone - and Microsoft outsourcing them. I'd bet my money on hell freezing over
Hey.
I noticed, that the Omnia 7's and the SGS's specs are just the same, and I wonder if it could be possible to port WP7 to SGS. What do you think? I'm not a programmer, so I can't do anything for it, just aksing.
Android = Open source, developper friendy os
Widnows = Closed source, licensed used.
altouch might be doable, since phone with WM6 got 6.5 (HTC Vogue or the likes), I assume if all the drivers are available it would be.
BTW: Question already asked and answered many time, you can always use the "search" fonction
A custom bootloader to start up WP7 would need to be created. You can start Android on Windows Mobile hardware because of Haret.
It also looks like Microsoft standardized the 1GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon chips for all WP7 hardware at the moment (yes, even Samsung's devices, you'd think they'd want to use their own Hummingbird) in order to reduce fragmentation. The S5PC110 in our Galaxy S's uses completely different hardware drivers and compiling them to be compatible with WP7 would probably be quite an effort or impossible.
If at at all possible development would begin on QSD8250 handsets like the HTC Nexus One or Desire. Maybe we'll see more developments as WP7 begins trickling out but I have my doubts.
Today it may be that Intel unveils dev phone&tablet running Meego.
ww.engadget.com/2011/02/13/intel-promises-teases-meego-smartphone-and-tablet-for-mwc/
Hope this is the announcement of a release date for this OS even if there are no device announced from any manufacturer since Nokia dumped meego for that crp called wp7. Meego is what Android was supposed to be - a Linux not mutilated but done proper. Qt is nice.
And the best part? Only the OS&HW functionality needs to be done by devs before it is ready for mainstream since JVM can run Android apps (and widgets?) on Meego. So the application base is there already. h ww.phonearena.com/news/Myriads-Alien-Dalvik-to-allow-running-Android-apps-on-MeeGo-devices_id16530
Not to mention recompiling existing linux software and it should run native?
And Myriad alien dalvik VM might actually make the Android apps run faster than on native Android =)
ww.youtube.com/user/myriadgroupmarketing#p/a/u/2/8-qvyHhd0ao
And Myriad has also a booth on the MWC, i don't think this is a coincidence.
This can be THE paradigm shift in mobile OS:s, what android claims honeycomb to be, what a joke.
Cannot wait for meego to have a stable release, then serious work on porting it can begin. I am sure my Desire Z will make an excellent Meego Phone
(i am no OS dev, this post reflects my understanding. Correct me if i am wrong, please )
sadly meego will not meet the desired success, it will be like x86 linux in it's first years