November 2009 Archives

Google's SPDY

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Wow Google is really on a roll. With their mobile operating system Android doing great, Chrome OS to be launched soon, their programming language - what's next? Well now they are working on a replacement to the http protocol. SPDY is the name and my first impression is very positive. I read the whitepaper describing what the goals are and it's good. The http protocol has been around for literally forever, or 1996 to be exact. The protocol was designed to serve web pages to viewers. The problem is web pages have changed drastically many times over since 1996. 

The new protocol is an application layer protocol meaning the world doesn't need to change to use this. The TCP protocol is still used to move the data around but SPDY makes the data much more smarter. For starters it uses compression. SPDY also allows for more communication between the client and server. Currently only the client can make download requests, with SPDY the server can 'tell you' more information about what to get and not get. Currently headers are redundant and over used. SPDY aims to simplify headers and ultimately make the data smaller and faster to move to the client. 

I encourage readers to view the white paper. It's interesting to see how this will move the web forward. 

HTC Droid Review

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Ok I'm a little late in updating this. I just got the HTC Droid on Verizon Wireless on Friday. Why am I late in reviewing this? Because I spent literally all weekend playing with this awesome device. So here is my quick review on why I love this phone and why it will take over. 

  1. Android operating system
    To start off I will say that this will take over everything. Android will kill the iPhone not the Droid phone. The HTC Droid will come and go but the operating system will continue to improve. Unlike the iPhone, Google's Android operating system is open source. Just for fun I decided to download the SDK for iPhone development. Immediately it asked me to register as a developer and pay a hefty fee, I think it was $100. After I designed my application it costs money to post on Apple's site, and be included in the app store. 

    With Android's open source setup anyone can write apps and put it on the device. Perfect example; I downloaded a cool app called ChompSMS. This app completely replaces the default text message application. Imagine that for a second, imagine you don't like how your phone handles text messages. You can replace it. Don't like the dialer in the phone or found one thats better? With Android you can download a better one. This open source awesomeness is something that Apple just can't compete with. In this case, Apple is a lot like Microsoft. Trying to keep everything behind closed doors and make money on everything is not the future. 

  2. Interface
    I love how the Android operating system gives you a 'main screen' desktop, you can also scroll to the left or the right for 2 additional screens in each direction. Giving you a total of 5 screens. Why all the space? Widgets of course. Widgets are applications that can be posted on your desktop. Scroll to the right and I have my favorite speed dial contacts. Scroll again to the right and I can see my latest Twitter updates. All without actually starting the application. 


  3. Applications
    The amount of applications is be, and it will be bigger. Unlike the iPhone, applications written for Android will work on any Android phone. See why this is a big deal? Developers will get more bang for their buck. Writing a single application for Android will allow it to be used on many, many phones spanning multiple carriers. iPhone is just for AT&T which sucks where I live. 

  4. Service 
    Verizon Wireless's 3G service is great and pretty much everywhere.