The development community largely agreed, as one poster commented: "I'm afraid (at the same time excited) that by the time the next Android SDK is released (close to EOY 2008 I guess), many developers here have already released software on the iPhone platform, a platform with 20+ million users versus ZERO user install base for Android.
"It's not a hard decision to make after all. Hopefully someone wakes up sooner than later."
Videos and emulation
* In August, LiMO releases seven more phones (in Asia) to get its portfolio full to bursting point before the first Android handset hits.
Each of these handsets jams in GPS, RFID, high end cameras and TV tuners in a parade of mobile phone bravado... but it seems people outside Asia don't really care.
* Later that month, videos of the interface begin to appear, along with emulators to highlight how easy it is to use. The menu tab at the bottom of each screen, as well as the ability to move between desktops, is lauded as a success, though the fairly basic nature of the emulator hardly sets pulses racing.
And now we're in September and the phone itself has finally launched. The T-Mobile G1 with Google is hardly the catchiest moniker we've ever heard, but the 3.2MP camera and GPS functions are ably complemented by the bevy of Google applications... largely as you'd expect.
It seems analysts and industry insiders are predicting an even faster uptake of the Google handsets than the Apple iPhone, which would be something of a coup for an OS. (You can bet a standard T-Mobile / HTC handset wouldn't get this much coverage).
So what's next? Well, that's up to the public. Will it take to the new OS? Will the development community decide to embrace Android over the App Store that's doing so well for Apple?
Or will it be a case of too little, too late for an OS that entered the public consciousness nearly a year ago?
