Software Project Code Names - Android vs Linux

Modern software projects like to use code names for their various versions.
You might be familiar with the ones for Android.

Just when you think that Android project code names are tasty... (and the latest Kit Kat is tempting..), Linux project code names are no less attractive than the Android desserts.

Here's a listing of all the code names used for the various Android versions:

• Android 1.0 - unnamed
• Android 1.1 - unnamed
• Android 1.5 - Cupcake
• Android 1.6 - Donut
• Android 2.0 - EClair
• Android 2.2 - Froyo
• Android 2.3 - Gingerbread
• Android 3.0 - Honeycomb
• Android 4.0 - Ice Cream Sandwich
• Android 4.1 - Jelly Bean
• Android 4.4 - Kit Kat

Yummy ...
What's interesting is that the names are in alphabetically order.
Interesting...

What you might not know is that a few years before Android came out in 2008, Linux Operating System was already adopting an alphabetically-ordered project code names.  That was 2006.

Here's the listing for the Linux project codename:

• 1.0 - Ada
• 2.0 - Barbara
• 2.1 - Bea
• 2.2 - Bianca
• 3.0 - Cassandra
• 3.1 - Celena
• 4.0 - Daryna
• 5.0 - Elyssa
• 6.0 - Felicia
• 7.0 - Gloria
• 8.0 - Helena
• 9.0 - Isadora
• 10 - Julia
• 11 - Katya
• 12 - Lisa
• 13 - Maya
• 14 - Nadia
• 15 - Olivia
• 16 - Petra

So there you are.
Now, do you prefer dessert's names or lady's names?

iOS 7 - Are Their New Features New?

I've been reading posts about the new features in iOS 7 are either existing or old features of Android.
But not all are true.

There are some "new" features in iOS 7 that cannot be seen upfront.
For instance, as claimed in the keynote, Craig said, "true multitasking with great battery life performance".
If this holds true, it's something "new" over Android, in my opinion.

My last 2 Android phones (S2 and HTC G14) battery life was so bad that it's one of the reasons I dumped Android.

I still prefer the current iOS 6 pseudo-multitasking functionality. I don't really need true multitasking at the expense of battery life.

Did a Font-Face Lift to my iPhone 5

Apple has this "Palm Treo feel" in it, such as the mute ringer, home button to quit app(pre-multitask version), ease-of-use designs,etc.
But the really bad one that they followed Palm is to use a really thick font as their system font.

Being Retina-display capable, the screen should be better with finer and thinner fonts like those used in many Android phones.

So today, I decided to do a font facelift to my iPhone 5.
Here's the finer font I use.

Android Button Layout Inconsistency

Android handset manufacturers just can't standardise the buttons layout. Even for the same company. Now the button layout for the HTC One X differs completely from its Beats audio branded predecessor, HTC Sensation XE!
Come on, Google needs to standardise things to improve user experience Apple is capturing market share back in the US!
Can't wait for iPhone 6!

A Technology Irony

It's amazing how technology is going forward. Well, unless you're talking about the Galaxy Note.

Some years back, every vendor was trying reduce the size of phone such that the smaller it is, the more expensive it will be.
And a few years back, we were so glad we were able to get rid of the infamous stylus as an input device to a mobile device.

Now the reverse is seen in Galaxy Note.
What irony!

There Will Not Be an iPhone 5!

Well, I'm not seeing any iPhone 5 coming at all in the future!

Let's go through the naming convention for all the previous iPhone models.

1st gen: iPhone
- yup. Appropriately named

2nd gen: iPhone 3G
- Apple went for the mobile network protocol (i.e. 3G network) for this model. And so, there goes iPhone 2 into the bin.

3rd gen: iPhone 3GS
- it's a minor bump-up in terms of specs with no external visual differences. Yes, appropriately named here as well.

4th gen: iPhone 4
- Apple made a naming convention change and give a "model generation" number to it as the 4G network is still not supported. Logical.

5th gen: iPhone 4S
- Well, this should have the iPhone 5 that many were anticipating. But, just like the iPhone 3GS, Apple classified this as a bump-up not in the external visual department and appended an "S" to it.

Now we come to the next unreleased iPhone model, the 6th gen.

Exercise your "IQ Questions" skill here.
What comes next?
a) iPhone 5
b) iPhone 4G
c) iPhone 6

As mentioned in my title, I'm not betting on (a). As the next model is not the 5th model but the 6th.

If the next model supports 4G LTE, answer (b) looks likely.

But personally, I'm guessing it to be (c), iPhone 6!

Can't wait for the iPhone 6 release!
Can you?

Is Your Android Phone Really Capable Of True Multitasking?

There is this popular statement we heard frequently, "Android OS has true multitasking".
Well, the software probably is.
But, is an Android device running Android OS offers "true multitasking"?

Well my Galaxy S WIFI 5" certainly doesn't! And I will tell you why.

I have this habit of surfing the net, reading emails, news on my hand phone while I lunch or dine.

So, today while I lunch, I whipped out my Galaxy S WIFI 5" to have some lightweight news catching up while I eat.

Guess what, I gave up using the device after 1 minute. The device is so wide that it takes a good acrobat artist to access the various buttons such as the back button, menu button using one hand without making the set drop down and drink my soup.

As expected, I replaced it with my trusted iPhone 4S after that.

Now, this is multitasking!

P.S. So now you know why I resist the Galaxy Note as my phone.

How I Use iOS Gesture for iPad

With iOS 5 for iPad, it comes with a handy gesture system.
You can use four or five fingers to swipe up while in home screen to bring up the multitasking app bar and swipe left and right to go to next/previous app that was launched earlier on.

Here's one practical example of how I use the gesture on my iPad during my eBook reading session.

I was going to read one my my gadget magazines which has pricing in Indian currency.

I launched my XE Currency iPad app before I fired up eBook reader.





In the magazine, I came across the pricing of a Blackberry Bold 9900. The currency stated is in Indian currency.

Without pressing the home button, I swiped left using four fingers, the XE Currency app returned instantly.





I keyed in the pricing in the India Rupees box, and I got the Singapore dollars equivalent instantly.

Satisfied, I used four fingers and swiped right to bring me back to my last eBook reading location.

This is the kind of great user experience that I can't have in Android tablets!

Neat!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad -