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Google’s Android is the future of smartphones. At least, it’s one of the possible futures. Alongside the iPhone, it’s the OS I’m most intrigued by, and that the two companies have chosen such different strategies in tackling the future only makes it ever so much more exciting.

The iPhone is an ordered, iconic device made entirely by Apple, with all the integration and fit and finish — and frustratingly capricious omissions — that only a single guiding mind can achieve. Android, by contrast, is chaotic and communal, designed by Google to free developers and fit a multitude of tastes and form-factors — with all the possible confusion and derivation open source has to offer.

Which one is “better” is a ridiculously impossible question to answer — each platform has its strengths and weaknesses and each user their own unique needs and preferences. Frankly, we’re fortunate to live in a time where there are so many truly awesome devices from which to choose. (Even a few years ago — and yes, I’ll say it, pre-iPhone shockwave — things were far, far more bleak.)

For my part, all I can really do is tell you how I use a smartphone, and how well the Android G1 fits that usage bill.

I really need to point out, up front, that the G1 is a beta device. There, I said it. Unlike Windows Mobile or Blackberry OS, which have been on the market for years and years, and the iPhone OS which is already on 2.x, Android has just hit the market with all the promise and problems that inevitably go with that. The Android device I experienced this week will absolutely and without question be blown away by whatever Android device(s) hit the market next year. So, it’s not a fair comparison for Android from the get go, and I beg everyone to remember that when I lay… er… get into it below the fold.

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UPDATE: iPhone dev extraordinaire Erica Sadun investigated over at Ars and found the following: Google is both linking to Private Frameworks and using unpublished APIs. While the latter is likened to jaywalking, the former is apparently a ban-worthy offense. Yikes. Check out her complete investigation for more. And now that it’s public, the question shifts to what if anything Apple will do about it? Cave to Google over a killer feature and betray the confidence of other developers, or yank Google’s app, alienating a huge (if guilty) partner and likely creating another furor among users?

Original post:

Is Google using private (i.e., not publicly available via the official iPhone SDK) APIs to create the silky-smooth “raise the phone and talk” activation for their new Advanced Voice Search feature in the update Google Mobile App? That’s the latest question Daring Fireball’s been looking into, and here’s what they’ve found so far:

If you use something like the command-line strings utility to examine the UIKit framework, you can see that there’s an undocumented (and therefore private to Apple) method named proximityStateChanged. And if one were to strip the FairPlay DRM from the current Google Mobile application binary — which, of course, you wouldn’t do, because you’re not supposed to strip FairPlay DRM, but I’m just saying if one were to do this — a class dump of the application binary would show that Google Mobile does in fact implement proximityStateChanged.

DF posits three possible explinations: 1) No one at Apple noticed the private API usage, 2) Apple noticed but turned a blind-eye, or 3) Apple approved the use of a private API. Citing sources, DF claims #3 to not be the case, and perhaps that’s why Google promoted the feature so heavily, and stirred up interest so high Apple would feel pressure to approve it (though we wonder if Steve Jobs’ Apple ever feels that type of pressure?)

By contrast, DF states #1 is not without precedence, while #2 would be grossly unfair to other developers, and either way, users may suffer if Apple makes changes to their private APIs (which is one of the reasons to keep them private after all).

So what do you think? Which scenario is most likely? And what would you rather, that developers (Google or not) use officially unsupported features if it means better apps but also apps that might just break when the next firmware drops?

Update: The App Store is now pushing out the update. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you don’t see the microphone icon immediately in the top right corner, tap the Settings button at the bottom right, and switch the slider to “Enabled”.

Original post:

Well, it’s definitely later than last Friday, but it doesn’t look like anyone, including Apple, delayed this long: Google’s Mobile App (iTunes link) now includes the much talked about Advanced Voice Search feature… sorta.

According to Jeremy, iTunes isn’t pushing the update yet, and you actually have to delete the app first if you’ve already installed it in order to get the latest, greatest, chattiest version on your iPhone. (Yup, you read correctly, this isn’t a new App, but an update to Google’s existing iPhone search App.)

Of course, I don’t have an iPhone right now, but if you do, try it out, ask it just how tall Everest really is, and let us know what kind of response you get!

And for you privacy advocates out there, is the coolness factor of this enough to give Skynet, er… The Matrix, um… Google access to your voice ID?

(Thanks to Trevor, Josh, Craig, Bob, for sending this in!)

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! More below!]

Okay, fair enough, I’m having a little fun up there, but with the Smartphone Empire Experts Round Robin officially under way and my iPhone frozen in carbonite for the next month, the G1 could be my only hope!

I’m still trying to figure out if this is the ‘droid I’ve been looking for, however. Do I understand the awesome power of the open-platform of the Google? Or is it more concept now than device, twisted and confusing?

Check out the video, then head on over to Android Central to help me out. Every day you post, you get entered to WIN one of FIVE smartphone prize packs! And you can enter each site’s contest, so don’t forget to help turn Casey back to the iPhone side as well!

May the forums be with you!

Prize details after the jump…

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Now after watching the above video, it seems as if Google has made one heck of a voice recognition app. But where the heck has it gone?!

It’s pretty clear Google loves the iPhone, that is something we all know. Now why would Apple go ahead and delay their latest App Store app, Advanced Voice Search? Or have the reports of a Friday release been greatly exaggerated? The app was “expected” to make it’s appearance in the App Store this past Friday. TechCrunch is now telling us to look for it tomorrow!

Google was under the impression that the application would be live on the App Store on Friday (obviously, since they pushed all significant press attention to it). Sometime Friday they found out Apple wouldn’t be pushing it, despite the fact that Google submitted it for review earlier in the week and got a thumbs up for Friday. One source says they’ve had little direct contact with Apple during the review, instead getting their updates via the standard iPhone developer tool, which has said “in review” for the last few days.

So what is your take on this? Why did Apple delay this app from Google? Or do you think it was never slated to be released this past week at all?

Sound off in the comments!

[Via Techcrunch]

The intertubes are a flood with rumors that Apple may be building their own search engine. Does this mean they’re going into competition with Microsoft Live! Search? With Yahoo!? With Google?! (After all, Google went into competition with Apple in the smartphone market!)

Probably not, according to TechCrunch:

The answer is they’re not. But the rumors persist, and we believe they have a nugget of truth. Here’s what we think is really going on: Apple doesn’t like the search experience on its mobile devices, and may be building a radically different user experience which is much more visual than exists today. It will likely still be powered by Google results, but Apple may present it in a very different way that suits mobile users much better.

Apple’s already proven with the iPhone Map application that they can produce absolutely killer front-ends for Google’s data pipes, could they do the same for search? And what would it be like?

The New York Times (via Giz) is reporting that Google’s love for the iPhone is about to hit epic, Shakespearian proportions with the release of their ground-breaking “advanced voice search” App:

Users of the free application, which Apple is expected to make available as soon as Friday through its iTunes store, can place the phone to their ear and ask virtually any question, like “Where’s the nearest Starbucks?” or “How tall is Mount Everest?” The sound is converted to a digital file and sent to Google’s servers, which try to determine the words spoken and pass them along to the Google search engine.

Will it be perfect? Nope. It will sometimes return nonsense, and indeed the researchers behind it claim it will never reach 100% — but they’re aiming to make it as good as it can possibly be.

This caps off several weeks of Google announcements for the iPhone, of course, including OS 2.2 updates for Street-View, Transit and Walking Directions, and Location Sharing for the Maps App, the release of Google Earth, and an optimized version of the Google Search page for the iPhone.

So, when’s this hitting the App Store, and aside from candy, flowers, and a lobster dinner, what could possibly be next?!

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(Update: If you’re hearing weird things happen at about halfway through, your Podcast downloader is especially aggressive and caught an upload that somehow managed to get 2 of our SPE podcasts mixed wrongly. GarageBand FAIL. We’ve uploaded the proper version — delete the podcast from iTunes (or whatever podcatcher your use) and re-subscribe to get it.)

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[This is a TiPb AT WORK App vs. App Interlude! Last week, we ran our Remote Desktop/VNC Showdown, with Jaadu edging out Mocha for the victory. But which forum voter and blog commenter won copies of the winning App? Congratulations MSZATNY and GOS

This week, while the TiPb iPhone Forums vote on THE TWIST Casey steps in to look at Earthscape and it's major-league new rival, Google Earth! They're both FREE, but if you comment below (and make sure you leave a valid email address in the comment form -- it won't be made public, but it will be used to contact you), you'll still have a chance to win an iTunes gift certificate from TiPb! Check out the full contest details, then grab your iPhone and get ready to get things done -- the TiPb AT WORK Interlude: Earth vs Earth is on!]

Google has a certain love affair with the iPhone. Yeah, we know Android is Google’s baby but that doesn’t stop them from putting out top-notch applications for the iPhone. The Youtube App and Google Maps are both best in class and Gmail and Google Reader on Safari are setting the bar for web-based applications. So though Android is all Google, they’re still not ready to leave the iPhone.

Case in point, the release of Google Earth on the iPhone. Anyone a bit surprised that they released one of their more unique products on the iPhone before it got even as much as a sniff for Android? Luckily, as iPhone users we don’t have to worry about the politics of the situation and we get to enjoy the app for what it is.

But Google Earth isn’t the only player in town. Earthscape has been around, is free (used to be $9.99), and works admirably. So in this arena of mobile Earth based apps, is Google Earth the young challenger or the new champion?

Read on to find out in this special edition of App vs App!

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UPDATE: Jeff from 148apps provides the direct App Store link! Thanks Jeff!

iPhone 2.2 style Google Maps Street-view, Transit, Walking Directions, and Location Sharing still not enough Google love for the iPhone? Want just that much more proof of affection? How about this: Google Earth is coming to the iPhone!

According to CNet, Google Earth for the iPhone runs almost desktop-class well over WiFi and taps into CoreLocation Services, just like Maps. The accelerometer can be used to adjust the angle of the view, and multi-touch gestures are likewise supported. Geo-tagged photos, and Wikipedia tags round out a pretty dang impressive offering!

Says Stephen Shankland:

What’s most interesting to me, though, is that the iPhone’s multitouch screen actually made using the application easier than the PC versions. Dragging a fingertip across the screen slides the view appropriately, of course. Two-finger pinch gestures not only zoom in and out, but also, by adding a little twirling rotary motion, steer the view’s orientation in one direction or another.