[Novalug] Android/Xoom and iPad experiences

[Doug Toppin]

I have been doing a little iOS development for my iPad to get familiar with
Xcode off and on.  I also need to know a little more about Android so I
started using the Android SDK with Eclipse on my iMac i5.  That includes an
emulator which works but can be really slow (minutes to startup and get
going).  I broke down and picked up a Xoom and Eclipse will also use it for
debug and it is much faster that way.  It is also interesting to compare and
contrast the user interface differences and apps between the two.  I am
beginning to get an appreciation for the Android Honeycomb UI but I still
find the iPad UI to be more basic/direct and thus easier to use.

Another interesting difference is that the  Xoom has a camera built-in while
my iPad-1 does not.  CNN has an app for both but the Android version has an
'iReport' tab which will let you use the camera and upload a news story
along with stills/video.  This is intended to allow people in any area to
see and "report" on news stories as they happen.

I think that Honeycomb will allow more creativity in user interface design
but I also think that that may lead to user confusion.

Just from an OS perspective it is interesting to see the different app
models between the two as well (beyond just the Objective-C and Java
difference). They are fairly different in terms of apps which must make
trying to develop your app for both a bear.  I have yet to attempt that but
will  'iReport' on it to the list when I do.

Anyone else have any tidbits/opinions that they would be willing to pass
along?

I have to say that my experiences with both further convince me that the web
is dead and apps will be the thing for the foreseeable future.

Doug
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