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Scotty Brown of AndroidActivist wrote an interesting piece called "Android is Broken: What Can Be Done To Fix It?" It has several pieces that tie back to what I wrote last night about new devices coming out constantly.

Android doesn’t work this way. Every three months we get a new device, on a different carrier, with a dated version of the OS, and limited accessories. Think about this from an average consumer standpoint. Would YOU buy a device that is likely to be outdated in a matter of weeks with little/no carrier support or goodies to buy?

Scotty does mention that Android 4.0 and the Galaxy Nexus can go a long way toward fixing these issues.

Despite the previous, I fully believe that the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich present an opportunity to make Android better. I believe that it gives everyone mentioned above a chance to hit the  reset button and do it right. Android (collectively, not just the OS) has come a very long way in the past three years. Now is the time for us all to step it up to the next level and really concentrate on what the future of Android holds.

Scotty's article is a great read, and if you haven't checked out Android Activist, you really should - it's a great site with different perspectives on all things Android.

With the release of the Droid Razr, HTC Rezound, and the impending release of the Galaxy Nexus (these are just the latest Verizon phones), we're seeing three high-end Android devices released within several weeks of each other. Motorola also has the Droid Bionic, Droid 3, Droid X2, and we're already seeing leaks of the Droid 4 (again, just on Verizon). HTC and Samsung, while a little less crazy, still have several mainstream devices available. When you add in Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile, there are dozens of Android phones launched in the last couple months.

While many may see the variety as a good thing - giving customers a wide variety of devices to choose from, it means less support for every device out there. This goes for both the community developers who create mods and custom ROMs for devices as well as the phone manufacturers themselves. With new versions of Android coming out every 6-9 months, these companies have to build updates for as many as a dozen devices. Rather than having just a couple devices to maintain, they've gone to flooding the market, and then having to fight off the questions of "when/will my device will be updated to the next dessert?" Since Ice Cream Sandwich just launched, everyone is asking those questions - in fact many current devices may never see the update - or we may see 5.0 before they get 4.0. If each manufacturer only had a couple devices to update, we'd know what to expect, and we'd see everything updated much faster. Of course I also wonder just how hard these companies are working on the updates. I would about guarantee we'll see stable versions of ICS built by the community long before we see official updates. I know there is more testing and QA required for an official build, but full-time paid developers should move faster than volunteers working in their spare time.

As an enthusiast who runs a custom ROM, I have to watch what devices the top developers are buying in order to decide what I will use. Buying a phone that isn't well supported is a frustrating experience. With so many new phones, the developers are jumping to new devices almost monthly, so very few devices are actually well supported. I know the manufacturers think they could care less about this, but. If they looked at it more closely, they'd see that a device that's well supported by developers means more sales. The original Motorola Droid was a huge seller, even almost a year after it launched - this had a lot to do with the development community support.

For everyone else, when they hear rumors of the next "gotta have" device, it makes it harder to pull the trigger on one that's already out there. Manufuacturers need to slow down and space out their launches to no more than 3 per year to give their current devices a chance to grab market hold. HTC did this with the original EVO 4G - leaving it as the flagship device on Sprint for quite awhile, and it's still a big seller. People tend to buy what their friends/family already have, so if devices stayed as "new" for longer, carriers and manufacturers would make more money, rather than discounting the device mere weeks after launch.

Don't get me wrong, I like the flexibility that comes with choosing an Android device, rather than being limited to one form-factor that changes once per year. I just wish the companies would wise up and slow down a bit - it would be better for everyone involved.

There are internal Verizon screenshots reporting that the HTC Droid Eris will be receiving the Android 2.1 update over-the-air starting tomorrow, May 11th. Knowing the history of these updates, it’s very possible this will get delayed last minute.  Also, these updates will roll out in stages, so it’s possible they’ll get pulled after the first updates go out.

Anyway, I wanted to make all the Eris users aware that this update will wipe the phone completely.  They’re unable to make such a significant upgrade without wiping all of the data.  Items on the SD card will not be affected, so all of your pictures/music/etc. will be safe.  I would encourage all users to back up their data in one of a couple ways.

First, check your Google account that your contacts are synced to in order to make sure all of your contacts are properly stored in the cloud.  You can also use HTC Sync to synchronize them to your computer.

If you want to back up your applications so you don’t have to go back to the market to re-download them, there are a couple ways do do that.  If you don’t mind setting up your application preferences again, you can use the AppBrain app to sync a list of all your applications.  After the update, you can install AppBrain and it will give you a link to all of the apps you previously had installed.  If you want to save all of your settings (this could lead to application crashes when re-installing), you can install Astro File Manager (a free app) and use it to back up all of your applications to your SD card (After opening Astro, press Menu –> tools –> Application Manager/Backup).  Note: some paid applications cannot be backed up, but will need to be re-downloaded from the market at no charge.

If you want to keep your text messages, you’ll need to back them up separately as well.  I’ve seen several recommendations for SMS Backup & Restore, so that might be a good way to do that.  There are other apps on the market with similar functionality as well.

While I can’t say for sure if the Eris 2.1 update is coming, I will still recommend you get prepared for it. Being prepared will save you a big headache if you do receive the update.

As someone who looks for the easiest way to track my finances, I’ve settled on Mint.com.  Mint pulls in data from all of my banking and credit card sites and compiles it into one site for tracking my saving and spending.  I’ve used Mint for several years now, but their website is not mobile-friendly.  Today, they launched an app for Android phones!  They’ve said it’s available for phones running Android 1.5 or higher, but it seems that people running anything less than 2.0 are having issues.  Hopefully that issue will be resolved shortly.

The application gives you the option of logging in using your standard e-mail and password.  Once you’ve logged in, you can setup a 4-digit PIN that allows for quicker access (at the cost of some security). 

The home-screen provides a quick snapshot of your situation, with an account summary, monthly budget progress, monthly cash flow, and alerts.  Clicking on any of these takes you into further detail.  The account summary takes you into a full list of all your accounts with balances.  You can go into any account from there and see the latest transactions.

The app also allows you to grant permission to create a live folder on your homescreen that shows your recent transactions.  There is also a widget, but it doesn’t seem that useful and takes up a lot of space.

The application isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t support landscape orientation, but it’s definitely a great start and a great supplement to the Mint.com website.  Hopefully this app will continue to get better, and will be a must-have for any Mint.com user.

This is part 2 of a 4 part series.  It’s amazing how even a few short weeks since part 1 have turned things on their heads again.  The HTC Droid Incredible is now out, the iPhone 4G leak and subsequent investigation have created a media frenzy, and Palm was bought by HP.

Back to where I left off: iPhone OS 4.0 is coming soon.  The main feature is the implementation of multitasking.  A feature that’s been available on Android and WebOS from the start, multitasking is the ability to have multiple applications running at the same time.  Of course Apple couldn’t implement a true multitasking setup like Palm or Google, but had to take their own unique approach.  With Apple’s setup, applications won’t truly be running in the background, but they can be put in a “frozen state” so that the user can return to the same position.  Also, there are now several situations when an application could be doing something in the background, such as streaming music.

In my opinion, Apple’s design has both some positives and some negatives.  Limiting the system to only certain types of background processes probably will keep the system from bogging down too much.  It does follow in the typical Apple style of limiting just what the user can do with their device.  Many of the things that I can do with my Android device are still not possible with the iPhone.  An application like Locale that uses location, time or even headphone connection status to change ring volumes or even launch applications is not yet possible. 

Multitasking is a major step forward for the iPhone, and solves one of it’s major complaints.  Of course the major complaint right now, is AT&T’s network (or lack thereof). There are rumors, again, that the iPhone may be coming to Verizon this summer.  If it does, it could really change the market drastically.  At this point, I think Android has established itself well enough to stand up to a Verizon iPhone, but Google and phone manufacturers will have to step up their games and look for ways to innovate to differentiate themselves even more from the standard smartphone model.

As many of you know, there's a lot going on in the smartphone world right now.  For starters, Android is surging, iPhone 4.0 is in beta, Palm might be up for sale, and Windows Phone 7 is coming. The  real question becomes: what does all this mean for us?  (Note: this is part 1 of a 4-part series)

Since the release of the Motorola Droid in November 2009, Android has been surging.  The Droid has sold over a million units.  The Google Nexus One is now, or will be, available for every major carrier, and many other Android phones are coming out.  The buzz about Android hasn't been this high since the original launch of the G1.  The difference this time is that there are now millions of Android users, and the selection of apps is growing almost exponentially.  Until a month ago, phone manufacturers had been focusing on putting Android everywhere the iPhone wasn't.  By being on Verizon and T-Mobile, the phones were only competing against BlackBerry for network committed users.  Of course with the constant rumors that the iPhone is coming to Verizon, this could change any day.

What would a Verizon iPhone mean to the future of Android?  It's hard to say for sure, but it would definitely put a dent into the rapid growth of Android.  The current generation of Android phones has launched a very large, dedicated group that probably would stay with Android.  Especially with new smartphone buyers though, it will be difficult to choose an Android device when the iPhone is sitting right next to it in the display.  Hopefully, Google and phone manufacturers will continue to innovate and find ways to separate their devices from the iPhone.  

The good news for Android is that HTC is really stepping up their game with some great upcoming phones.  They will soon be releasing the HTC Desire, which is the same form-factor as the Nexus One, but with an optical track-pad and HTC Sense UI.  Also, possibly later this month, Verizon will be receiving the HTC Incredible. The recently leaked specifications show that this phone truly will be an "incredible" machine.  Phones like these are a great step toward continuing the current Android surge as these are "sexy" slim devices, unlike the more "brick-like' Droid.

For those of us with the Motorola Droid, the stock launcher only provides us with 3 home screens.  Even with folders, those can fill up very quickly.  HTC provides 5 or 7 screens on their phones, so why are we left out?  Until Motorola decides to give us more, we have to look for other options.  There are several apps on the market that are "home screen replacements" like Home++ and GDE, but I was looking for something simple that worked just as well as the stock launcher.

Enter HelixLauncher.  The developer pulled the styling from the launcher that's on the HTC Nexus One and modified it to work on other Android devices.  He then went a step further and added some great features.  First, you can select between 3, 5, and 7 home screens.  You can also now put 4 apps into slots at the bottom of the screen - these apps will show on all of your screens.  This is a great place to put your phone, messaging, and browser shortcuts so you can pull them up anywhere.  

After you install it, when you press the home button, it will ask you which launcher you wish to use.  I recommend not selecting one as default until you're sure HelixLauncher will work without force closing.  This will also give you a chance to re-setup your home screens and remove everything from the original.  You'll definitely want to remove all your widgets from the old launcher so they're not running twice.  Once you're setup and things are stable, you can select HelixLauncher as your default.

I've been using HelixLauncher for several weeks now, and have really enjoyed it.  Some users have experienced force closes, but I have not had any.  I've found it to be a smooth, stable replacement for the stock launcher.  HelixLauncher is available for free on the Android Market.

After several months of anticipation, Verizon and Motorola finally released the Android 2.1 update for the Motorola Droid!  The updates began rolling out yesterday, and will continue to roll out to about 200,000 phones per day until all phones are updated.  Of course with well over 1,000,000 Droids sold, it could be a week or so before everyone receives the update notification.

Fortunately, several users have figured out where the update file is hosted and posted it on the internet.  If you can't wait to get the update, you can download it and apply it yourself.  The first location is the exact same location your phone pulls the update from - the official Google site; the second is a mirror in case the first is bogged down.

1. Download the update from any of these links. [Official Location 1 | Location 2 ] (Note to Mac users: Don't use Safari as it may try to extract the files rather than just download them.)
2. Rename the file to "update.zip" if it isn't already. 
3. Put the file in the root (aka main folder) of your microSD card. 
4. With your Droid turned off, hold down the letter "x" on the keyboard and then hold down the power button. You should soon see a triangle with an exclamation point inside.
5. Now for the tricky part. Press the volume up button and the camera button at the same time. It may also work by holding the volume up button and then pressing the camera button.
6. You should now be in the bootloader. Use the D-pad to choose "update from .zip file" and choose the update. Let things run their course.

That's it!  After your phone reboots, you'll be running Android 2.1!  Android 2.1 includes many under-the-hood updates, as well as some nice features like pinch-to-zoom browser and live wallpapers.  For the full details of the update, here's the official Verizon posting.

Enjoy Android 2.1 and happy Droiding!