WEBVTT - How the Google Android Phone Will Work

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With

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<v Speaker 1>tech stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hi kids,

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the podcast. My name is Chris Polette. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>an editor at how Stuff Works, and today with me

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<v Speaker 1>is Jonathan Strickland, one of our writers. How do you

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<v Speaker 1>How's it going pretty good? So, um, today we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about Android, and uh, I don't I don't

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<v Speaker 1>mean to disappoint you, Chris. We're not talking about humanoid

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<v Speaker 1>robots with no hearts like Josh and Chuck. We're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>talk about We're gonna talk about Android, which is a

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<v Speaker 1>phone platform, a phone operating system in software stack that

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Google or will be produced by Google,

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<v Speaker 1>as it has yet to hit the wild Actually, when

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<v Speaker 1>you mentioned Google Android, I thought you were talking about

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<v Speaker 1>Brent Spiner doing a web search. Yeah, unfortunately no, And

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<v Speaker 1>for those of you who don't know what that is,

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<v Speaker 1>go watch Star Trek next Generation. So we're talking smartphones, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>smartphones in general and Android in particular. The reason we're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about this is a rumor has hit the interwebs,

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<v Speaker 1>and the rumor is the from TM News which is

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<v Speaker 1>an unofficial blog about T Mobile and says that T

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<v Speaker 1>Mobile is going to be offering an Android phone on

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<v Speaker 1>pre sale starting in mid September two eight, which is

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<v Speaker 1>news to a lot of people because the previous information

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<v Speaker 1>that was out there was that there wouldn't wouldn't be

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<v Speaker 1>any Android phones ready for the market until the end

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<v Speaker 1>of two thousand eight, maybe the beginning of two thousand nine. So, um,

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<v Speaker 1>that's got a lot of people talking about androids in general. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that would be something of a coup for T Mobile,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the last time I checked at the fourth

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<v Speaker 1>largest United States provider, um and of course a T

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<v Speaker 1>and T has got the Apple iPhone, which the wait,

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<v Speaker 1>the what phone? Apple? You know they make computers and

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<v Speaker 1>they have this Yeah. Yeah, So anyway, Um, Google basically,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't even know how long ago was it that

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<v Speaker 1>that Google announced that they were working on this hand,

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<v Speaker 1>so it's been a couple of years actually. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>that caused a lot of of of rumor millmongering as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in the day, like about a year ago, I'd say,

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<v Speaker 1>there were tons and tons of rumors flying around about

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<v Speaker 1>the G the Google phone. UM and Google denied that

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<v Speaker 1>they were working on a on a Google phone multiple times.

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<v Speaker 1>Um they said, we're working on a software system, a

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<v Speaker 1>software stack for phones, but not We're not getting into

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<v Speaker 1>the hardware business. We're sticking with software. Um And, And

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<v Speaker 1>it was funny how many people refused to believe Google

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<v Speaker 1>when they were saying this. And now, of course it

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to pass that Google was telling the truth

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<v Speaker 1>the whole time. And part of the reason for that

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<v Speaker 1>is that Google wants Android to be available on essentially

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<v Speaker 1>any kind of hand set. You know, you could have

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<v Speaker 1>multiple manufacturers. We're not talking about Apple running OS ten

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<v Speaker 1>on the iPhone. We're talking Google offering a platform that

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<v Speaker 1>is that could run on phones from Nokia and Motorola

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<v Speaker 1>and Samsung or you know whoever they partner with to

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<v Speaker 1>adopt that. They could run it on multiple phones, and

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<v Speaker 1>it could run on multiple carriers. So you wouldn't necessarily

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<v Speaker 1>get locked into a specific carrier like I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>like iPhone and the a T and T carrier here

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<v Speaker 1>in the United States. Um. Now, according to this news

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<v Speaker 1>that we're talking about here, T Mobile would get the

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<v Speaker 1>jump on the other carriers. But again, T Mobile wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>become the exclusive carrier. Uh. Well, to really get into

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<v Speaker 1>what Android is. It's it's important to kind of know

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<v Speaker 1>what a software stack is. So software stack is UH,

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<v Speaker 1>it's several layers of software that allow your phone or

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<v Speaker 1>really any computer device to do what it does. But

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<v Speaker 1>with phones specifically, you have you have your hardware, and

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<v Speaker 1>then you have the kernel. The kernel that's a k

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<v Speaker 1>E R N E L. We're not we're not talking

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<v Speaker 1>KFC kernel here. The kernel is a management system and

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<v Speaker 1>it it interacts directly with the hardware. Then you have middleware,

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<v Speaker 1>which is software that kind of acts as a liaison

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<v Speaker 1>between the kernel and applications. So then you've got your

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<v Speaker 1>application execution environment or a e UH and your application suite,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you have some sort of user interface that

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<v Speaker 1>allows the user to access these applications. So that's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of your stack. UM, and Android, like all smartphones, has

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<v Speaker 1>its stack. It's very it follows pretty closely to that

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<v Speaker 1>general model. They use a Linux kernel UM, and then

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<v Speaker 1>everything else is custom made. Yeah, so that would be

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<v Speaker 1>very open source in comparison to OS ten, which is

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<v Speaker 1>proprietary to Apple or Windows Mobile which powers a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of other smartphones. UM, however, or would be sort of

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<v Speaker 1>comparable to Symbion which is not popular in the United

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<v Speaker 1>States but is now open source UM. And that was

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<v Speaker 1>a huge deal and it's a big, big deal. And

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<v Speaker 1>as a matter of fact, some people, uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>Google actually said a little while ago UM that they

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<v Speaker 1>may be partnering with Nokia to sort of work with

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<v Speaker 1>symbion Um. So that would sort of be I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know if it would be in direct competition with Android

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<v Speaker 1>or you know, they they that's sort of mysterious. They

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<v Speaker 1>really haven't gotten into the details of how they would

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<v Speaker 1>actually make that happen and whether it would be whether

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<v Speaker 1>it would get rid of Android or whether it would

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<v Speaker 1>be merged in you know. So I haven't really seen

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<v Speaker 1>that much on exactly how that would happen. But I

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<v Speaker 1>think it actually had some of the developers concerned that

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<v Speaker 1>they were all the work that they had done on Android,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, might not might be just pitched right right. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it remains to be seen now when we talk about developers, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a really important part of the whole Android program.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, it's it's probably the most important we've seen

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<v Speaker 1>that with the iPhone, with the new Application store. It's

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<v Speaker 1>so popular because all the all the third party developers

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<v Speaker 1>are now able to develop applications. And that's what these

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<v Speaker 1>Google UM you know, all the private developers for Google

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<v Speaker 1>are doing now and at least according to some reports,

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<v Speaker 1>UM developers are actually having fund developing programs for the iPhone.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's a very important part is to make your

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<v Speaker 1>software development kit accessible and easy to use and and

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<v Speaker 1>and fun to program for UM Now, Google their approaches

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<v Speaker 1>is different from the iPhones approach uh. For one thing,

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<v Speaker 1>Google's allow allowing developers to access far more of the

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<v Speaker 1>the native devices capabilities than an iPhone would. UM. You

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<v Speaker 1>can create processes you being if you were a developer,

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<v Speaker 1>could create processes that could access uh uh deep levels

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<v Speaker 1>of the software stack and even run in the background.

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<v Speaker 1>That's something that that Apple refuses to do to allow

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<v Speaker 1>third party developers to do. And you could even do

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<v Speaker 1>things like let's say the native email client that comes

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<v Speaker 1>on your Android phone. Let's say that you don't like

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<v Speaker 1>the way that looks. You could go out and look

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<v Speaker 1>for or develop your own email client and replace it.

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<v Speaker 1>You could you can take out things that are intrinsically

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<v Speaker 1>important to the phone and change them, modify them any

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<v Speaker 1>way you like. UM as a developer, so that's a

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<v Speaker 1>that's a that's a lot more freedom than what you

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<v Speaker 1>would get with the iPhone. Um, the flip side of

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<v Speaker 1>that is the iPhone has been out for a longer

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<v Speaker 1>period of time and the applications have been out for

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of well more than a month now, so

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<v Speaker 1>they've already got a head start, so that there there's

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit of an uphill battle to go there.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's, uh, it's definitely something that sets Android apart well.

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<v Speaker 1>The uh we've also seen some report it's that, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it is highly unlikely that Android's going to be ready

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<v Speaker 1>because um, they Google, for for once, is not making

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<v Speaker 1>overtures to exactly everybody on their developer list. They actually

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<v Speaker 1>released the newest version of their Software Development Kid or

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<v Speaker 1>s d K, to h fifty winners of their application

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<v Speaker 1>developing contests back in in July two thousand and eight. Yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that contest. That contest launched in in late two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and seven, and uh, the contest was to develop applications

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<v Speaker 1>using the s d K and the fifty best ones

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<v Speaker 1>would win some amount of money and it was ten

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<v Speaker 1>million dollars for the the entire the entire yeah, the

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<v Speaker 1>entire pie was ten million dollars. No one actually one

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<v Speaker 1>ten million bucks based on an application, but you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the best one would win a certain amount of that

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<v Speaker 1>prize and then the it would be parceled out as

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<v Speaker 1>he went down. Um. And so these guys, yeah, they're

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<v Speaker 1>getting a little bit of preferential treatment. They're getting the

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<v Speaker 1>sd case the updates earlier than everyone else. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>kind of ticked off everyone else that and they haven't

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<v Speaker 1>even Google hasn't even announced or didn't announced at the

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<v Speaker 1>time when h the SDK would be available to everyone else.

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<v Speaker 1>Not only did they say, you know, here you top fifty,

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<v Speaker 1>here's the STK, they just failed to tell them when

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<v Speaker 1>it was coming out. So the rest of them are

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<v Speaker 1>going okay, so when goodness it was a major miscommunication

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<v Speaker 1>error on Google's part, definitely. Um, So yeah, that might

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<v Speaker 1>have some fallout as well. So I guess we're just

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<v Speaker 1>gonna have to wait and see, uh where this goes

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<v Speaker 1>from here, because if the rumor is true, there might

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<v Speaker 1>still be enough excitement on the part of the developers

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<v Speaker 1>to go after this. And I think that maybe from

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<v Speaker 1>customers as well, because there are plenty of customers who

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<v Speaker 1>are kind of fed up with some of the let's

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<v Speaker 1>call them quirks that the iPhone has shown over the

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<v Speaker 1>last couple of months, who are eager to see a

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<v Speaker 1>smartphone that is not as locked down and not as

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<v Speaker 1>restricted as the iPhone. So we may actually, uh and

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<v Speaker 1>they may be able to turn this around after all,

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<v Speaker 1>even with these setbacks. Hopefully some of the Google developers

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<v Speaker 1>will come up with a one dollar application that will

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<v Speaker 1>just show a jewel on the screen. Though, as one

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<v Speaker 1>of the iPhone developers did, well, that's crazy innovation there.

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<v Speaker 1>Chrisy should definitely come out and go out there and

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<v Speaker 1>and and market that as soon as possible for someone

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<v Speaker 1>else figures it out. Now, if I could just get

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<v Speaker 1>my hands on a n STK, No, you know there

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<v Speaker 1>is available on the website. So I guess that about

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<v Speaker 1>wraps up this discussion on on Google Android. If you

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<v Speaker 1>would like to learn more, you should read how Smartphones

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<v Speaker 1>Work at how stuff works dot com and we'll talk

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<v Speaker 1>to you again soon for more on this and thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of other topics. Is it how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Let us know what you think. Send an email to

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at how stuff works dot com. Brought to you

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<v Speaker 1>by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera it's Eddy. Are

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<v Speaker 1>you