android

Archos 5 160 GB Internet Tablet with Android
$399.99
I've had my 500GB Archos 5 Android for about a week now, and I've had a few frustrations with it, but overall I couldn't be happier with this device.

I know some folks have rated the device poorly, so I want to address some of those issues first. I think ratings for things like this can differ significantly from person to person, and it doesn't make anyone wrong. Some folks just have different experiences with the product or the customer service, and a lot of it also has to do with expectations.

Obviously, if you got the device and it was broken, you would rate it poorly. But that's an exception, and most likely your brand new device is not going to be broken. Others have complained about the customer service. I did have to call them twice. The first time I was on hold for a while then was hung up on. The other time they were fine. Technical Support is usually not something that's enjoyable, so I feel like that's not specific to Archos.

I think most of the other complaints I read about this device can be summed up to expectations. I got this device mainly as a media player. Some folks got it more for the GPS, which isn't the best GPS in the world. Others got it for the internet, and it doesn't have 3G and it's flash capacity is so-so. But because I got it mainly as a media player (I travel a lot for work), all of those things are just icing on the cake.

Some folks complained that Archos makes you pay extra for the GPS, for codecs that allow you to play certain files, etc. However, I knew all that going into it, so it wasn't a surprise for me. Also, you should know that not all Android apps are available on the Archos. There's still about 600 apps to choose from and more coming every day, but not all your favorite apps might be available. Again, it's about expectations. I always try to do lots of research before spending $500.

The device has crashed on me several times. I'm a relatively calm guy, and a device that crashes every once in a while really doesn't bother me too much. 1 minute out of my life, and it still works 98% of the time. It's not like it happens all the time, and I've really been pushing it this first week. It's never happened in the middle of watching a movie or anything like that.

A few other things: The 500GB model is pretty big and heavy. Not something you want to keep around in your pocket. The battery life isn't great, you probably get to watch 2 movies on it, and the battery takes a while to charge via mini-USB.

Alright, now on to the good stuff.

First of all the basics: The video resolution on this device is absolutely stunning. No issue at all watching a 2.5 hour movie on it. The built in kick stand is a great idea, sound quality is great, I enjoy the pre-installed twitter app and easy access to my gmail and google docs, the keyboard is very responsive and there are other ones you can download, the Bluetooth allows access to connecting to Bluetooth keyboards and a mouse, etc.

The internet speed is downright amazing. You obviously need a wifi connection, but if you can find a good one, the internet is definitely at your fingertips. I swear this thing can browse the web faster than my laptop. Youtube worked fine, but I had trouble with any other embedded videos, including using the Daily Motion app that also came preinstalled.

The GPS works great, but it does take a while to find a signal (30 secs to a minute), and you may lose it going under bridges, etc. I haven't tried it in the middle of a metropolitan city, so I can't say how well it might work surrounded by skyscrapers, but I was pretty happy with it driving around Oakland. I think it's definitely worth the extra $40, assuming you don't already have a GPS.

There's also tons of web media. You can even see live streams of the kelp, otters, or penguins at the Monterey Aquarium. The options were plenty, but I personally didn't see that many that I'd actually watch all that often.

The Archos Media Market wasn't working well for me. I'd select "next page" when trying to browse through movies, and it kept sending me back to the home page. I also haven't tried downloading or renting the movies that I could at least get to on the home page, since I got it mostly to watch movies I have already on my hard drive.

I really liked the user interface, and while the touch screen is not as good as the iphone, it is very responsive.

There's also supposed to be a Remote Desktop app for the Archos, which I haven't tried yet but am thrilled to. We use a Microsoft exchange server at my work, so this will allow me to connect to it and access my work computer and all its files.

Finally, I love the fact that this device acts as an external hard drive. Unlike the ipod, your computer will recognize it as a portable HD, and you can drag and drop files directly onto/off of it instead of going through some software. This is incredibly helpful if you have a lot of files. It makes it much easier to find, organize, and transfer your files.

All in all, a great device that I'm lovin.

Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform (Pragmatic Programmers)
$32.95
I've read several books on Android from cover to cover, and skimmed several others, and "Hello, Android" is hands-down the best introduction to Android development.

Here's why I say that --

You really can get through the book in a day or two. The explanations are clear, the topics focus on what's relevant to getting started in Android development, and when you're done you have the skills to dive into the SDK to continue learning.

There is a consistent example project that is developed throughout the book. I found this very helpful, because it showed me how all the different parts fit together. For example, launching activities from an existing activity, using multiple classes in your project, adding preferences, etc.

There are very few (if any) "gotchas" in this book. I followed the examples step by step without any problem. I think some people have used the book's online forum to ask about which packages to import, but when I used Eclipse it was done automatically for me. (By the way, all the files are also online.)

Even after having many months of Android development under my belt, I find that I still refer back to this book from time to time. That's saying something for a book that sets out to be an introduction.

Remember, this book is a great introduction. If you already know Android and are looking for a deep-dive, look elsewhere. But if you are curious about all the excitement around Android and have a few hours to spare, spend them with this book and find out what developing in Android is all about.

Pro Android
$44.99
Really great book. Worth it just for the OpenGL ES introduction. Wish it had more information on LocationManager and SensorManager (hence just 4 stars). Get this one over Hello Android.

Android Application Development: Programming with the Google SDK
$39.99
Whatever your Android programming level is, this book is a complete waste of time and definitely doesn't worth a single penny. After reading half of the book it was very clear to me that there is no leading author for this book and nobody technically reviewed the book as a whole. Except chapter 7, referring to signing and publishing Android application, the whole part one is useless. Whole Android installation process is different right now and you better check Google web site to get latest installation steps. Not to mention that there are unnecessary and very annoying repetitions on how to use Eclipse.
Even if first part was disastrous, I did finish the book. In second part there are two chapters that are worth spending your time on: chapter 10: Building a View and chapter 13: Inter-process Communication. As for the rest....utterly disappointing. The authors even prove that they don't know what application they wrote. In some chapters they use different names for same class they put in their application, this in addition to the fact that their application doesn't work at all.
If you receive this book as a present and you are completely bored you can read it, otherwise I would not spend a single penny on it.