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Tablet Wars II: Attack of Android 3.0

FifthWanderer

Well-known member
Since Google has introduced version 3.0 of their Android OS, designed specifically for tablet computers, I was pondering the question:

Has Lone Wolf considered porting HL, AB, CV, RW, etc. to the Android OS, now that it's available for tablet PCs?
 
Since Google has introduced version 3.0 of their Android OS, designed specifically for tablet computers, I was pondering the question:

Has Lone Wolf considered porting HL, AB, CV, RW, etc. to the Android OS, now that it's available for tablet PCs?

I would TOTALLY buy Hero Lab for the Android. I have a google tablet (2.3, I think) that I use for reading PDFs and browsing the web when I don't feel like busting out the laptop. Having the ability to work on characters on it (even if it didn't have all the combat tracking features) would be AWESOME!!!

I'd be willing to pay a full license for M&M 3E on the Android platform, if it were available.
 
I would TOTALLY buy Hero Lab for the Android. I have a google tablet (2.3, I think) that I use for reading PDFs and browsing the web when I don't feel like busting out the laptop. Having the ability to work on characters on it (even if it didn't have all the combat tracking features) would be AWESOME!!!

I'd be willing to pay a full license for M&M 3E on the Android platform, if it were available.

Agreed. While I think Android tablets will take some time to come into their own, what I've read about Android has made me more inclined to get an Android tablet instead of an iPad.

It's a heck of a lot easier for me to break out a tablet on my lunch than a full-blown laptop.
 
Google has released v3 of the Android platform which is specifically built for Tablets (2.3 and other versions were largely meant for phones). Combined with Windows 7 Mobile tablets & the iPad2, there's going to be a lot more demand as the next six months bombards us with these devices.

As I am waiting for those devices to all come out and drive prices down, I have no opinion on platform at the moment. :)

That said, having Hero Lab available on any tablet platform would definately be a selling point for it to me.
 
Google has released v3 of the Android platform which is specifically built for Tablets (2.3 and other versions were largely meant for phones). Combined with Windows 7 Mobile tablets & the iPad2, there's going to be a lot more demand as the next six months bombards us with these devices.

As I am waiting for those devices to all come out and drive prices down, I have no opinion on platform at the moment. :)

That said, having Hero Lab available on any tablet platform would definately be a selling point for it to me.

Is there a pledge system we can start to see if there's enough money here for Lone Wolf to seriously consider the project? :)

(waves 20 bucks in the air)
 
^_^ Maybe they could start a Kickstarter project. It's a nice and easy way to find out what user interest is because people have to literally put their money on the line, but no one gets charged anything unless the product comes off.
 
I would TOTALLY buy Hero Lab for the Android. I have a google tablet (2.3, I think) that I use for reading PDFs and browsing the web when I don't feel like busting out the laptop. Having the ability to work on characters on it (even if it didn't have all the combat tracking features) would be AWESOME!!!

I'd be willing to pay a full license for M&M 3E on the Android platform, if it were available.

Ditto. I haven't bought a tablet yet but I'm saving up for whichever uses Android, love Andriod and Herolab!

EK
 
Cost of development is much lower on iOS, so for a small company they are far more likely to be able to afford to develop for the iPad. Not to mention the decreased cost if they first complete a MacOS X port.

Android is fragmented, with different hardware with different supported feature sets (think early Windows Direct X days with so many video cards with different hardware accelerated features that a game developer had to account for each individual video card.)

A lot of well known app developers have came out against Android, but I'm sure google will eventually solve the problem. If nothing else by required all the phone manufacturers to sell the same hardware.
Angry Birds developer

PDF support is much better on iPad compared to Android combined with the ease of syncing new files to the iPad, I think the iPad will continue to maintain the top platform for gaming (tabletop) for a long time.
 
First let me start by saying I appreciate your point of view, but feel that it is a bit flawed.
You said:
Angry Birds developer[/URL]

PDF support is much better on iPad compared to Android combined with the ease of syncing new files to the iPad, I think the iPad will continue to maintain the top platform for gaming (tabletop) for a long time.


The argument that Android is fragmented is moot, as the core compatibility is the same across all 2.x versions, and seeing as we are talking about tablet devices, which will be running either 2.x or 3.x your assertion would be incorrect; in addition iOS is just as "fragmented" as there are multiple versions of the OS out there depending on your device (iphone vs iphone3 vs 3gs vs 4)

EDIT: A bit of Android "fragmentation" news http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html


Define a lot of well known developers. You cite one and take it a bit out of context, as they never said it was hard to develop for the platform, just that not all devices are created equal.

PDF support on Android is just as good as it is on the iOS platform, syncing files to and from android devices is easy on Android as well, in my opinion it is better than in iOS as you can mount the device as a hard drive and not need another piece of software like iTunes to mediate the transfer of data.

In regards to gaming, the iPad is no better than most of the tablets out there currently, and it is by no means the top platform for tabletop or any other form of gaming.

Don't get me wrong I think that the iOS platform and devices are great but they are no better than than Android, just different. I can see the appeal of the iOS based devices but feel it would be a bit short sighted to think that they will be the top platform.

While they appeal to the masses and have a simple interface iOS devices are not the device of choice for many of the people whom I have met in my travels. Most people I know that do tabletop gaming are for lack of a better word, geeks, who pride themselves on being in total control of the devices they own/use and the Android platform has proven itself to be go to OS for most of them, because it is mostly open, highly customizable, and very hacker/tinker friendly.

Yes the iOS platform is at the top right now, but that is because until very recently that was the only real choice that you had for a lightweight OS, with long battery life. That is no longer the case. if you look at the reports Android is rising faster than any other mobile platform and will at the very least hold as large of a market share as iOS devices in the tablet space.

Like I said at the beginning, I appreciate your point of view on this but don't think it is correct. Time may prove me wrong, but this is my opinion. Wouldn't it be funny if we were both wrong and somehow Rim, or HP, or even MS ended up being the eventual winner. stranger things have happened.

That's my $0.02
 
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My choice on the Google Tablet was sheer dollar-influenced. Apple's iPad? 600 bucks. My *larger* tablet (easier on my old eyes) was 200 dollars LESS and does everything the iPad does... with less software required to run it.

Now, my choices aren't an example of what everyone wants or needs, by any stretch. I'm just one voice in the crowd. I certainly won't fault Lone Wolf for being careful in their decision. I just have my fingers crossed that they choose my platform for the software, because I'm not switching to Apple after tasting the freedom of android. :)

Also, I'd like to stress that I don't need a 100% functional Hero Lab on the platform to make it useful to me. I would be happy with a cheap app for reading/displaying the characters from portfolio files, I would be ecstatic for an app with the power to edit those files. The combat tracking features are something I could leave out for later editions of the software, honestly, or a secondary app.
 
1) core compatibility is the same across all 2.x versions, and seeing as we are talking about tablet devices

2) iOS is just as "fragmented" as there are multiple versions of the OS out there depending on your device (iphone vs iphone3 vs 3gs vs 4)

3) as they never said it was hard to develop for the platform, just that not all devices are created equal.

4) PDF support on Android is just as good as it is on the iOS platform

5) syncing files to and from android devices is easy on Android as well

6) geeks, who pride themselves on being in total control of the devices they own/use and the Android platform has proven itself to be go to OS for most of them, because it is mostly open, highly customizable, and very hacker/tinker friendly.

7) if you look at the reports Android is rising faster than any other mobile platform

8) think it is correct. Time may prove me wrong

Couple things I think need corrections from your post:

1) That is not quite true. Android apps need to deal with far more screen resolutions, different feature sets of graphics acceleration, presence/lack of presence of other hardware features.

2) iOS has one API and apps tend to be developed with a minimum hardware version supported (so the app may be written with no support for 3G, but will work on 3GS and up)

3) To each his own, I read that as saying it is hard because they have to nest if/then checks to accommodate the variety of different hardware configurations. Plus they are not the only developer that has spoken out against the difficulty of android development.

4) I've used both, and PDF viewing on iPad is better than 2.3 Android. I've yet to use 3.0, is it even out yet? I'm not sure any 3.0 tablets have been released.

5) I tend to use wget to load my pdf files into my iPad, or if I have them on my laptop I use scp.

6) Well, there we differ in opinion. Jailbreak tools are on approximately 25% of all iOS devices. iOS has Cydia for JB apps, Android reminds me of iPhone 2007 where we hand copied command line tools like tcpdump and top into the phone. Plus Apple has never sent cease and desist letters to any iOS hacker ever. Google has sent several to individuals (mostly in xda groups.)

7) Primarily on the backs of not being able to buy one on Verizon (fixed as of Feb 3rd) and Sprint (the Verizon one is not carrier locked.) There is already a 4.2.1 JB released yesterday that should work on 4.2.6 iPhone from Verizon and the Verizon iPhone break Verizon's all time 24 hour sales record in 2 hours from 3am EST to 5am EST. I wouldn't wager on which platform stays in the lead, but with iPhone sold out on Verizon in 17 hours when the number for sale was probably in the millions of phones.

8) Likewise, I put money on iOS considering the Verizon events, the lock up of $4 billion of displays that Android devices won't be able to buy, and because most tech sites say other manufacturers are having trouble shipping a $499 tablet that is competitive to the iPad.
 
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the iPad is no better than most of the tablets out there currently

So the GalexyTab's PDF support is as good as the iPad?

There are only 2 tablet devices you can go to a store and buy an iPad and a GalaxyTab, not including all the cheap knock-offs. The rest is vapor at this point.

They look cool, but until someone ships something it's just empty promises.
 
So the GalexyTab's PDF support is as good as the iPad?

I doubt it, since Apple's core graphics supports PDF for display output on MacOS. The iBooks PDF rendering is better than anything I've seen on the iPad (like Goodreader) and anything Android has is going to be home brew like Goodreader.
 
If you are wanting a good inexpensive tablet, get a nook color. rooted it makes an awsome tablet for only 250. Only disidvantage is it doesnt have 3g, but if you have a phone that can be a hotspot it doesnt matter, plus it saves you a another 40 doller a month access fee
 
Couple things I think need corrections from your post:

1) That is not quite true. Android apps need to deal with far more screen resolutions, different feature sets of graphics acceleration, presence/lack of presence of other hardware features.

2) iOS has one API and apps tend to be developed with a minimum hardware version supported (so the app may be written with no support for 3G, but will work on 3GS and up)

3) To each his own, I read that as saying it is hard because they have to nest if/then checks to accommodate the variety of different hardware configurations. Plus they are not the only developer that has spoken out against the difficulty of android development.

4) I've used both, and PDF viewing on iPad is better than 2.3 Android. I've yet to use 3.0, is it even out yet? I'm not sure any 3.0 tablets have been released.

5) I tend to use wget to load my pdf files into my iPad, or if I have them on my laptop I use scp.

6) Well, there we differ in opinion. Jailbreak tools are on approximately 25% of all iOS devices. iOS has Cydia for JB apps, Android reminds me of iPhone 2007 where we hand copied command line tools like tcpdump and top into the phone. Plus Apple has never sent cease and desist letters to any iOS hacker ever. Google has sent several to individuals (mostly in xda groups.)

7) Primarily on the backs of not being able to buy one on Verizon (fixed as of Feb 3rd) and Sprint (the Verizon one is not carrier locked.) There is already a 4.2.1 JB released yesterday that should work on 4.2.6 iPhone from Verizon and the Verizon iPhone break Verizon's all time 24 hour sales record in 2 hours from 3am EST to 5am EST. I wouldn't wager on which platform stays in the lead, but with iPhone sold out on Verizon in 17 hours when the number for sale was probably in the millions of phones.

8) Likewise, I put money on iOS considering the Verizon events, the lock up of $4 billion of displays that Android devices won't be able to buy, and because most tech sites say other manufacturers are having trouble shipping a $499 tablet that is competitive to the iPad.

Well, now that a Honeycomb device is out, we can set a few more things straight :)

1. Let's take "Phones" off the table (I doubt the usefulness of HL or AB on a phone whereas a tablet makes sense.) So we have Xoom vs Ipad. One iOS vs Honeycomb. Not much fragmentation on either part. And really, Rob only needs to deal with Fragmentation issues if he was going to utilize OpenGL or such, otherwise, Java is java is Java. And coding for multiple screen resolutions (if needed) is not a huge deal, simply create multiple "Layouts" (for Android, these are XML files). Android further handles this with Activities and Fragments. Even if we left phones on the table, you have to deal with the same issues on both sides.

2. One API for what? You could develope for the "minimum" for android as well. Not seeing the point here? (Maybe I'm missing it?)

3. If coded properly, you don't need to nest if/then's everywhere. If your fragment your activities properly, you can accomodate many many features quite easily and screen resolutions are not an issue. I doubt this is nothing new Rob hasn't had to deal with before if not much worse developing for a PC app.

4. This is more "App" specific than device specific, but ezPDF for .99$ is the best buck you'll spend for a PDF reader for Android. I now have ALL my gaming books on my Xoom. It handles the smallest 500k doc all the way to the largest 130mb pdf I have.

5. I typically just click on my file explorer on my Xoom, navigate to my Windows Home Server or my Windows 7 PC and copy them over the network, or just via USB. If I really need it, I remote in and get it. I pull vs push files generally as I find myself less and less at the PC.

6. I find this moot. Sure, I can one-click root my Xoom, but why? The biggest reasons you JailBreak a iProduct is so you can install un-signed apps and unlock tethering to avoid carrier fees. On my Xoom, I just clicked a setting to allow unsigned apps and tethering/hotspot is built in Honeycomb as well. Haven't NEEDED to root it so far.

7. Luckily you didn't wager, as Android now leads the smartphone market. It's projected to have a 45% share by 2016, but I really don't put much stock in those. But with Amazon and Sony jumping on the bandwagon, I think it's safe to say Android is here to stay.

8. The beauty of Android is that it does NOT rely on a single company. Maybe Verizon will fail. Maybe Motorola will Fail. Maybe Samsung will Fail. Maybe Asus will fail... Apple is ONE company, it will be hard pressed to be the ONLY tablet provider out there and be THE ONE.

Now, Apple makes a great product, and I thank them for being brave and treading the Tablet space first and proving it's a viable market. And I hope Rob the best and hope he can make money on BOTH platforms. There are many other considerations beyond "code" he has to consider, like, if he spends x$ developing the app, how many copies at what price does it take to recoup that cost. How does the Apple App Store vs Google Market vs Amazon App Store affect that bottom line.

Even if he sold twice as many copies with Apple, it doesn't exactly mean he'll make more money than from the Android markets.

With all that said, the main advantage iOS has, I believe, is that it's apps are coded in C, which is what Rob already codes in vs Java. So the learning curve is probably worse on Android for him. That is, provided, he doesn't hire a new coder that specializes in Java, in which case, woot! :)
 
Chances are that HL will come out for the iPad first, and might not reach the other tablets. The main reason being that the iPad has the only controlled software environment at the moment. The host of Android machines on the market run into the same problems that the phones do, that each carriar operates something differently so the technology is not the same. What this does is fragment the market and forces the app developers to create the same app multiple times for the various Android devices. I know Google is trying to get a hold on this, but the genie is out of the bottle.

Where Apple has the opposite problem for the iPad, they control the market so tight you cant always make the apps you want. But in Apples credit there is only one platform, not several, so what runs on one will run on all.

That being said, LW is small company and the maitenance of of 1 app for Apple, or 10 apps for Android, it really comes down to time and energey spent where it will do the most good.

Jus my thoughts.
 
I just had to say that I keep reading about how Android is leading the market but it does not seem to bare out in the real world. My current client is a fortune 500 company and the company supports Black Berry. Now then many many of the IT people run their own phones and devices to get to email and documents.

I have not seen a single droid phone or tablet in the company. They are all iPhones and iPads. Actually in the last month many more iPad2 are showing up in the meetings I go too. Again not a single one of these Xoom's or other devices that are more expensive then the iPad.

My last business trip down to a conference two weeks ago also let me see what everyone was using. I counted 5 Droid phones, 3 black berries, a handful of outdated phones, and about 100+ iPhones. From the 70 year old grandpa who sat next to me on the plane, the business suite guys, to the teens on spring break.

So maybe this is just here in the Midwest & east coast but where are all these Droid phones that are selling so hot? (note not trying to start a huge argument just I don't see it is all.)

Also when down in my trip to Orlando, FL the hotel was next to the Florida Mall which had a Apple store. I went in to see if they had any iPad2's for sale. They sort of laughed at me. What I found out was that they got in about 5-10 iPad2 a day. The line formed outside the mall each day at 5am in the morning. Then at 8am they would pass out a ticket to those few that would get a iPad that day. Then at 9am would open the store and sell them.

So iPad is selling like crazy still and HL has to with who has the most bang for their buck. I could be wrong but I think I would be surprised to see a HL droid app before the iPad app.....

P.S. - Just got the ship confirmation for my iPad2... :):):p:)
 
I just had to say that I keep reading about how Android is leading the market but it does not seem to bare out in the real world. My current client is a fortune 500 company and the company supports Black Berry. Now then many many of the IT people run their own phones and devices to get to email and documents.

You know, you have something there. If you don't see it, they must not exist! I wonder how Porche stays in business, I don't see a single one in the lot!

I work for a pretty large global bank, and in our IT department of several thousand people, I'd have to guess I only see 1 iPhone for about ever 20 Android Phones. Of course, I see WAY more Blackberries then anything so they must really be in the lead. Again, this all really means nothing.

What LoneWolf really needs to do and probably would do is actually find out what there user base uses. If 75% of the gamers have iPads, then so be it. Makes sense to develop for that niche market.

Personally, from all the gaming forums I visit, I rarely see people mention having either a iPad or other Tablet, just to new. And since Rob isn't selling HL or AB to bankers but to Roleplayers, it'll probably be a while before he could make money on such a small install base.

You'll just never pry my Xoom from my hands lol. I love it! I love "developing" on it as well and love how people tell me I have to watch for fragmentation. Funny. My app works on every device I've tried so far. It all depends on what you are designing and how you code. And it didn't cost me 100$ for a dev license either, just downloading FREE software.
 
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