Notebook News

October 2011

Sponsored by

INDEX

(press item to goto the Article)

Contact Notebook News

I have been looking at android tablets/slates computers. Tablets are Advertised as Computers, but most of these are sold as Multimedia Interface devices (MID's).
They can display electronic books, videos and play music (i.e. Multimedia).
But the Android is a phone operating system, despite it being used on the tablets, is as all the documentation refers to, "setting up and using your phone" The Linux system runs the hardware, which is why you will often see a Linux Penguin come up before the android operating system logo.

Quoting a Google android developer " Android is not a java based operating system", it uses the Linux firmware to do the multitasking, managing the memory, provide access to internal and external devices to android programs.

It also provides the host operations such as interfacing to the Flash Memory USB, Wi-Fi, 3G etc.

The firmware is software which is stored in erasable, but otherwise non-changeable memory, so turning off the computer has no effect.

In order to change this firmware you have to be a bit of a Linux programmer, have access to the original code, be able to compile it for the cpu you are using (unlike on Intel based X86 cpu) and be able to transfer it to the target computer.

Unlike windows, you cannot just install an app to provide with more hardware facilities, they have to be built around the model of computer that you are using, usually by the manufacturer themselves.

Changes in CPU, RAM or built-in devices usually require a specific chipset and there are many hundreds of different options used in current models, from ARM to Qualcom CPU. This includes different SBC (Small Business Computers) chipsets which have CPU, graphics chips and RAM memory, all in one IC.

Android knows nothing about these, as it relies its own customised version of Linux to provide access!

If you are using a device checker such as Z-test, it can be fooled by dummy code programmed into the Linux operating system, so devices appear to exist, but the program crashes when you try and get any practical values from the device.


My MID was listed have having Bluetooth, a Camera, Magnetic compass, none of which actually existed!

The phone device is what is expected when the programmers design android programs, unfortunately there are differences between the implementatin of tablets and android phones.

The phone always includes a SIM card and a 3G data connection using the Cellphone. MID's on the other hand do not have to have these devices built-in, they can be options which can be added externally. So programs that expect to use these facilities automatically are in for a surprise, when they do not respond as they should.

The size of the screen is one , which means that menu's sometimes fail to appear, or only when the device is portrait mode.

The permanent home toolbar is always present on the mobile phone, but disappears on tablets when running programs that take up the whole of the screen, such as video players or Adobe PDF reader.




There is one agreement is that there should be a WI-FI system, but unless you are working from home a internet connection is only a "possible" not a "guaranteed" connection.


Android Market, email, mapping and other programs tend to expect an always-on internet connection, and fall into a loop, when it cannot find one.

Lots of small apps run automatically using the Linux system on boot-up, but there is nothing you can do about it, unless you are willing to re-program Linux.

Applications such as email, market, Google dial, Google talk are all programmed in to the firmware, to auto-start.

So unlike a netbook or a notebook, the MID, and Android phones do not have the CPU commonality, or the programs to operate in a business like environment.

It can however act as a keyboard and screen in a "cloud" environment, using processing power somewhere else (either on a home pc or Google apps servers), once you have established that stable Internet connection.

But then security raises it's head, when you are storing your data on a remote server that could loose it's control from your android system at any time. Does it allow you to re-connect automatically, or does it ask you to log-in again and start all over again?

The 10,000 plus apps therefore can only use the devices all ready programmed into your firmware.

It is limited to using devices like keyboard, microphone, speakers and internal memory which are standard.

SD cards etc are removable, so cannot be relied on to be available at start-up.

Wi-Fi is often used to keep a handle on how the program is used, providing resources that are not on the android operating system like maps (which are large). They are also used to control access via the email identification on the android operating system.

Android market apps are often secured by only allowing them to be downloaded from the device itself, not via a PC and then transferred via SD card, so they can be reloaded again and again offline.

Some programs require authorisation via android market to download or even work at all, deleting email addresses on android operating systems requires a full reset of the system, wiping out all the programs linked to the original email address.

They also will not operate without a internet connection (via Wi-Fi or 3G), which will lead to you being charged for the data transfer cost, if you do not have an "unlimited" data tariff.


Flash drives (if your android operating system has a "Host" interface, many phones do not) are compatible with Windows operating systems, but android will store folders called "lost+missing" on the drive. This means you can transfer programs with a ".APK" file suffix from a PC to a android device to install it from the flash drive.

The Android screen is series of screens, only one of which can be used at a time. Swapping screens is by swiping the finger to the left or right to scroll to the new screen.

Unlike windows or Iphone windows cannot be stacked, as only one program is allowed to be running at one time. Multi-tasking is done by stopping one program and re-starting another in sequence, rather than by operating "threads" which respond to what is happening at the time through a series of "interrupts" like on the Windows or MAC operating system.

So interaction between programs is severely limited and can lead to programs to stop working, if the internet connection or storage device is lost between "time slices".

Also it leaves programs still working in the background, as I have yet to find one with an "exit" or close button.


The only way to shut down a running program is to "Kill it" with a special program.

Running loads of programs in the background, but this does not clog up system memory, as the Linux/Android system clears them out, if the "running" program needs more space.

But it does leave lots of "time slices" which do nothing for you and slow up programs, that you do want to use.

To sum up the Android is not a computer operating system that can be extended, it is a dead-end phone system.

If it does not have Camera, GPS, permanent internet connection, and a accelerometer (for games it acts like a mouse) it may fail when apps are run.

But above all it is not user upgradeable.