Under a Gibbous Moon

Google recently released a new licensing system for Android developers. It involves a set a libraries that developers can add to their applications that will require that the fact that it had be purchased be validated by Google’s servers (gritty details can be found here).

The reason that this is being rolled out is that paid for applications can be pulled off of the phone and then distributed illegally, much in the way of about another other computer program.

Now, I have always found complicated DRM schemes to be far more of a burden to legitimate users than it is to software pirates. Simply put, every DRM scheme (to my knowledge) has been defeated. This means that the pirates still get the programs for free and legitimate users have to put up with the DRM.

First I would like to make some points for Google’s system. Twitter, being a wonderful thing, I was able to discuss the new system with a Google employee, @romainguy and an Android dev, @tomgibara.

The first an most important point is, that this system is not being made mandatory and the implementation, and the degree thereof, is left up to the developer.

The biggest problems that plague online authentication is what happens when the user does not have an internet connection or the server is unaccessible (either do to high traffic or the server going offline). The answer to both conditions is that the system allows for the caching of the validation for offline use for “a period of time” before a recheck is required.

I have to admit that the failsafe implementation seems like a good idea, except that its implementation is also optional.

Now for the downsides.

Part of the licensing system require that the phones unique ID number be used. This essentially limits the software that you buy under this system to the device that you are currently upgrading. Did you buy that $30 office suite? Well you’ll have to do it again when you upgrade to a new phone. While you could email the developer to work something out, once again it is DRM places the burden upon legitimate users. Edit 28JUL10. The validation system requires the IMSI not the IMEI, see comments.

The second downside is that while the system has been designed to allow for no server access scenarios, it is up to the developer to allow for them. Because of this, you could find that nice, shiny music player you paid for useless when you put your phone into airplane more for that long flight.

The final downside, to me, is purely philosophical. This move, by Google, strikes me as more of something that Apple would do. Restrictive licensing is essentially what Apple built their empire on and to see Google implementing something like that is, in my opinion, a step in the wrong direction.

So, how is this going to work out? I see it becoming a fixture in the Android Marketplace in the coming months. Quite a few Android developers on Google Groups and on Twitter have been responding very favorably to it. What effect will it have on the Android Market? I guess only time will tell if it becomes a Steam or another SecureRom.

The latest iPhone’s release has been a bit of a mess. From signal issues (you’re holding it wrong), the super glass that scratches, defective screens, and dead cameras.

I’m not an Apple fan, but this has surprised me. With Apple’s obsessive quality control, this phone has a lot of problems out of the gate. So now, one has to wonder why. It seems to me that the iPhone 4 was released before its time. The only reason I can think of for Apple pushing out the iPhone before it was ready was to beat the release of several high profile Android devices in the next few months (specifically the Droid X and the Droid 2).

With Android making inroads with mobile developers and it’s impressive growth, it seems that Android is able to put enough pressure on Apple that they are making mistakes.

I think that most people understand these days that Steve Jobs is dictatorial tyrant who wishes to decide what you can and can’t do with your technology and has a vast army of shock troops willing to enforce his whims with flamer wars of unimaginable destruction.

Back in April, when Steve Jobs was asked about Apple’s draconian content control policy he replied that if you want pornography you can just go buy and Android phone. It seems he was right…

One thing that I have read over and over again with regards to getting an Android smartphone is that the first thing that you’ll want to install is a task manager application to kill applications after you have finished with them. This is simply incorrect.

I’m not sure where this idea got started but I believe that it is an assumption based upon the fact that Windows Mobile and even Blackberry require aggressive task management.

Android, on the other hand, handles tasks in a different manner from those OSes. When an application is no longer in focus (the one being currently used) and does not require constant resources (like playing music in the background), the task is put to sleep.

What this does is very similar to what happens when you hibernate your computer. The current state of the application is written into memory and then the memory’s resources are released back into the OS where they can then be reassigned. In this way, it is possible to have a lot of applications “running” but not have an effect upon system performance. But what about all the anecdotes about killing tasks improving performance. There are two things that can short circuit the OS’s resource management.

First, is having many applications running in the background that require constant access to system resources (for me Locale was a major culprit). Because these programs will not allow themselves to be put to sleep, the put a constant drain on the phones resources.

The second is simple poor application development. Some programs do not go to sleep even if there is no need for them to be running. They weren’t written to release resources properly and therefore use far more resources than are necessary. A good example of this is a social network application. It only updates every X minutes and therefore should be put to sleep and woken up via a chron job to perform an update.

So, barring running a high number of resource intensive tasks and poorly written programs, Android does not require a task manager to function properly. Using one will not yield any performance gains and will actually hurt your batter as constantly running it to kill applications will use up your battery with no actual benefit.

After having spent several months being teased by Verizon’s promise to release the Android 2.1 update for the Droid, I decided that I was done waiting and rooted my phone.

What is that you may ask? Rooting refers to root access (administrative privileges on Windows machines). With root access you are free to do essentially anything you want to the phone. For the rooting process, I used DroidMod. I won’t get into the exact details but instead point you to the tutorial that I used.

After I was done with that, I had a brand spanking new rom on my phone. So far, it has been excellent. I have all the promised feature that were coming with the 2.1 update (live wallpapers, 3D photo gallery, voice dictation, etc…) plus some nice extras.

I have overclocked my phone’s processor from 550 MHz to 1 GHz. I also have the option to tether my phones 3G connection with another device(s) via WiFi. The number of home screens went from three to five, giving me more room for the various widgets I have placed everywhere. I installed a new theme which, unlike the non root themes, actually replaces the old one and does not simply run on top of it.

Some of the tweaks are more minor. The YouTube application now defaults to the high quality video. The old unlock screen is back and it gives you the ability to turn on vibrate with the wheel instead of just silent. I also pulled off the Verizon Visual Voicemail app that I was never going to use but couldn’t otherwise uninstall.

So, in conclusion, was it worth it? Hell yes. Was it without risks? No. There is always the risk of screwing it up and bricking your phone but the improved features and added functionality made it worth the relatively small risk that something would go wrong.