Update on Phone Software
I thought I would post an update on what is happening with my phone software. Quick Jyotish for Android OS phones is ready to go. However based on the comments of some of my users and my own disappointment with the tedious "widgets" to enter the simple data required to calculate a chart I decided to wait until the Android 1.5 release so that it can use the Soft Keyboard available with that version. I thought I would be releasing it this week but the news is that T-Mobile has delayed its update for their G1 Android based phones until next month. Though more phones have been announced particularly for Europe I've yet to see announcements from more US carriers. However for US G1 users and new foreign uses both the currently released GPS Prasna and Quick Jyotish will soon be available.
Also soon to be released for the general public will be MoonCast for the Android. The programming is pretty much complete and I just need to spiffy it up a bit with better graphics than on the old B&W Palm version. Plus I have added Tithi information in the reading. MoonCast should be available for purchase in June. A sample demo version will also be available.
A version of Jyotish Tools is also in the works for Android and much work already completed. Again I decided to wait for the 1.5 version of the OS for easy keyboard entry over "widgets."
Also soon to be released for the general public will be MoonCast for the Android. The programming is pretty much complete and I just need to spiffy it up a bit with better graphics than on the old B&W Palm version. Plus I have added Tithi information in the reading. MoonCast should be available for purchase in June. A sample demo version will also be available.
A version of Jyotish Tools is also in the works for Android and much work already completed. Again I decided to wait for the 1.5 version of the OS for easy keyboard entry over "widgets."
Dear Brian,
Thanks for your update. It all sounds absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately I won't be part of it. I have decided to go with the IPhone. I had so much trouble syncing my Palm to my new Mac that I never want to go through that again. I don't want to have to enter all those addresses, etc., all over again.
But I was thinking: since these new phone access the internet then in theory I could get longitude and latitude and log onto someone's website that gave planetary positions, right? There must be a lot of jyotishis out there that have an automated system for letting people get their chart positions? Just a thought. I still would of course rather have YOU BUILD ONE FOR IPHONE. But while waiting for you, I thought maybe I could somewhat get around it. Anyway, so far it hasn't been an issue because I can take my laptop with me.
I do have an online horoscope but it probably isn't very easy to navigate with a small iPhone screen. I might do a mobile version which would have it's own URL.
So if someone said you can buy an iPhone or have an Android phone for free which would you do? That is about what I face with development. Android development is free. Apple is $99 plus a Mac since I don't own one and wait a long time just to be approved as a developer and then I would bet they would have a tough time approving an app they can't understand. None of that nonsense comes with Android. And in India the iPhone has been a flop.
Right now in the US only AT&T has the iPhone. Right now only T-Moible has the Android G1 but rumors are that Sprint and Verizon will soon be offering Android phones. The Android is a pleasure to develop for. I already knew enough Java and Android has GUI features than just Java or even J2ME (the Java mobile platform). With the iPhone I would have to learn yet another language: Objective C which has limited application elsewhere. Android is rumored to not only be coming for netbooks but also for desktops. So I would have a lot of reusable code for that.
Here's an article on Android and interview with Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, which appeared today: