why not focus on Google Android?

[pemIam]

I think the Touch Book sounds awesome overall, especially the form factor. Sounds like the tablet is 1.40 pounds and around 0.8 in thick? And ARM (and SSD) means always on, no fan noise / no hard drive noise, lower heat. But I'm concerned about the software. How can it compete with Google Android as a platform for app / software developers?

So I've been wondering why AlwaysInnovating doesn't just focus on getting it to work better with Google Android, rather than focus their efforts on a custom Touch Book OS? They could just make sure it works good with Android, and maybe write some add-ons or custom apps?

Maybe there's a good reason?

[pemIam]

Er, is the Touch Book OS in some way more powerful than Google Android?

Oh, can it support dual-booting both?

[pemIam]

Edit: ie, maybe "Touch Book OS - real Linux" is better than "Google Android - mobile Linux for phones"?

But I don't know the details...

[kborer22]

the ARM processor in this thing is pretty much equivalent to something you would find in a cell phone (i actually think it's the same one in the iphone/pre), the AI team has also stated that they will support Android them selves (possibly develop their own flavor?)

good things to come

[Dave]

I think so too

check out all the devices that have the same ARM CPU:

Texas Instruments OMAP3xxx series, SBM7000, Oregon State University OSWALD, Gumstix Overo Earth, Pandora, Apple iPod touch (3rd Generation), Archos 5, FreeScale i.MX51-SOC, BeagleBoard, Apple iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid, Palm Pre, Samsung i8910, Sony Ericsson Satio, Touch Book, Nokia N900
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture

[Randwulf]

While Android, and other OSs, are great as an option to throw on an extra SD card, the Touch Book OS is really what AI needs to be the focus on right now.

[metzenas]

I already posted about Android to the comicbook reader thread so I'll just link that here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=432#p2488

[jthiels]

It seems there is a lot of TBOS bashing or semibashing, and I think some people don't appreciate the incredible work that has gone into not just forking off Angstrom, as if TBOS was an inferior copy, but gasp -improving- on it. I've had Angstrom (and updated Angstrom) on my beagleboard for quite a few months now and overall TBOS is more stable and has tweaked the kernel to be optimized for this system. The AI people are also geared up for providing user support for those of us who are noob users, which is extremely hard to get from the Angstrom folks who are just annoyed. Some other people who use TB just want it to be like the iPhone, but with a larger screen. I was, instead, looking for something that was like a netbook but more cutting edge (I'm already gloating over the long battery life every day) and the HD resolution, etc. I'm not interested in a phone with a million microapps because, hey, with a regular browser and internet access, you can do 90 percent of what many of those apps do in the same amount of time--and I don't want to pay for those apps. I like the open-source, free as in freedom software community....I realize many of you are embedded OS geeks, where end-users have in principle no access to the inner workings of the system anyway (at least I can't figure out how to hack my qualcomm phone), but at least a few of us came at it from the other direction....

[Meizirkki]

Because Android kinda sucks..

[he_the_great]

It seems there is a lot of TBOS bashing or semibashing, and I think some people don't appreciate the incredible work that has gone into not just forking off Angstrom, as if TBOS was an inferior copy, but gasp -improving- on it.

Personally I really do like the OS, some polishing of the Touch Interface is needed, but has potential. I've just been spoiled with the Debian repository and aptitude. Most opensource programs can be found, and it is easy to see/resolve conflicts for programs. The lack of an official repository is a little painful.

In the past I installed g++ but the program was nowhere to be found. Now, after reinstalling to a new card, it says libraries it provides conflicts with ones installed by GCC. I don't mind much to compile what I want but it'd be nice to at least have a baseline to start with.