Mark Murphy

While everyone focuses on the patent infringement suit Apple filed against HTC, there are many smaller skirmishes happening in all of software development, and the Android ecosystem is far from immune.

Some developers have been the target of patent claims, such as for displaying city of a caller on an inbound call. Some developers get attacked for more nebulous concepts, such as look-and-feel of applications.

In recent days, two major tech pundits, Michael Arrington and Jason Calacanis, have come out swinging against Apple's tactics with respect to the iPhone App Store, iTunes integration, and related topics. Long-time Apple fans appear to be scratching their heads, wondering what has changed, and making statements like:

"It's not Apple's responsibility to ensure that competing products from rival companies do well in the market place."

Having mapping features in one's application is popular in Android applications. After all, Android is from Google, and Google does maps. Google Maps is available in the Android SDK, and you get a fairly nice user experience. Implementing a map with overlays (for your own “push pins” or route markers) is reasonably simple for skilled developers. All in all, it is a nice solution.

However, Google Maps for Android has its issues, and there are alternatives that you may wish to consider.

To date, in consumer-grade devices, Android can come in any screen size you want, so long as it is HVGA (320x480). That, my friends, is going to change, and soon:

• Archos has indicated they will have Android-enabled media tablets; their current devices have 800x480 screens

• There has been enough discussion about Android netbooks that someone, somewhere, is likely going to come out with one that enjoys wide distribution

• One can easily imagine somebody developing a QVGA (240x320) non-touch-screen device in more of a “feature phone” form factor, such as a flip phone, in a drive to create an inexpensive Android device

It is important for developers to start seriously thinking about what their apps will look like on different screen sizes, and not assume everything runs 320x480. Developers should already have a taste of this through building portrait and landscape renditions of their UI &,dash; multiple screen resolutions simply extends this existing pattern.

Google I/O is scheduled for late May, not late December. That being said, it's time for a wish list, of the things I would like to see that will make Android that much more compelling to the public, to developers, and to people like me who are into the whole "free as in speech" concept.

I want...