ESC Chicago Panel: Embedded Android good, but not for everyone

Manhasset, NY – Android for embedded is ready, but not for everyone. That was the conclusion at last week’s ESC Chicago where a panel of experts laid out Google Android's pros and cons before audience clearly intrigued by the platforms capabilities and rising popularity, yet concerned about whether or not its questionable ‘real time’ capabilities make it right for them.

The audience also pressed the panel on potential source code licensing traps, tool chains and how it stacks up against other Linux-based distributions such as MeeGo.

That Android is gaining in popularity is clear. According to a recent report from the Nielsen Company, between Q4 ’09 and Q1 ’10, Android and iPhone’s share of the smartphone market grew by 2 percent each. At the same time, smartphone leader Blackberry lost 2 percent share, falling to 35 percent of all smartphones, while Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS also lost 2 percent to fall to 19 percent.

Between Q4 ’09 and Q1 ’10, Android's share of the smartphone market grew by 2 percent. The same as iPhone.

While it’s making headway in smartphones, Android has also been touted as a platform from which to launch many embedded applications, such as set-top boxes and myriad Internet-enabled devices, said Rich Nass, director of Content and Media for EETimes Group, who led last week’s panel. The recently launched GoogleTV is the most publicized instantiation of Android outside of smartphones.

”We see it as a game-changer, which is why we bought Embedded Alley,” said Steven Olsen, operating systems architect at Mentor Graphics and panelist. “If you want a device that takes advantage of the infrastructure that Android provides, but don’t want it to look like Droid [Motorola’s smartphone], we allow you to produce a skin.”

“It’s a great platform from which to build new things, based on what’s happening with the Linux kernel,” said Michael Anderson, chief scientist at The PTR Group Inc., while fellow panelist Jason Kridner, principal architect for open platforms at Texas Instruments called it “Linux for Dummies.”

The advantages cited by the panelists revolved primarily around its ease of use in the context of graphical user interfaces (GUI), “so if you aren’t going to need a GUI, there’s no need to go to Android,” said Anderson. Such is the case for many embedded applications.

In addition, the need for a real-time operating system also raised questions about the applicability of Android, but according to Anderson, ‘real time’ is a relative term – “how fast is fast?” -- and system response time has greatly improved with advanced processors anyway, thereby compensating for the performance hit Android may bring. Also, in many cases, RTOS’s may not be the optimum choice to begin with. “Those who chose an RTOS didn’t know what they wanted an RTOS for to begin with,” said Kridner.

As audience participation rose, the discussion took shape around four key areas:

1: Why go with Android?
2: When should a designers not go with Android?
3: What are the ‘gotchas’ with Android development?
4: How does Android compare to MeeGo, another open-source Linux development platform?
5: Do you have to give up your source code for any Android applications you develop?

After the panel, two of the participants – Steven Olsen and Jason Kridner – agreed to answer these questions, In Their Own Words. See their responses below:

1: Why go with Android?

2: When should a designers not go with Android?

3: What are the ‘gotchas’ with Android development?

4: How does Android compare to MeeGo, another open-source Linux development platform?

5: Do you have to give up your source code for any Android applications you develop?