My Shanzhai (山寨) Android Phone

I was  at the Singapore Expo for the last day of the Sitex Show last Sunday (25 Nov 2012). I was shopping for a new Windows 8 notebook to replace my existing Windows 7 Asus notebook. However, all Windows 8 notebooks with touchscreens at the show (whether from Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, or HP) were ultrabooks with a miserly 128 GB SSD. I was surprised that not a single manufacturer offered a magnetic disk storage option! If I were to buy a new notebook, it must have  at least 1 TB storage space, and the small capacity SSDs simply won't cut it.

Also, none of the touchscreens were larger than 13". If I am upgrading from my existing Windows 7 notebook, I will need a new notebook that has at least a 15.6"  touchscreen (my Asus notebook has a 16" screen). None of the notebooks met this criteria either.

After trying out all the different models at the show, I have decided that the only screen mechanism that is acceptable to me is the one used by the XPS 12 from Dell. As I already own an Asus Transformer TF300 tablet, I know that it is actually very awkward to use the touchscreen in a vertical position. When I use a Windows 8 notebook as a tablet, I want the screen to lie flat horizontally. Only the Dell XPS 12 with its rotatable screen will allow the notebook to be used as a slate (with the screen lying flat over the keyboard). Both Acer and Asus uses the Transformer Pad mechanism (screen is detached from the keyboard dock when used as a tablet), which is not what I want because I will have to carry the keyboard dock separately. The Lenovo's Yoga mechanism allows the screen to be folded 360 degrees all the way round towards the back of the keyboard when transformed to a slate. But when you carry the slate, you will be touching the keys on the keyboard, which feels rather awkward. In my opinion, only Dell's convertible screen makes sense for using the notebook as a slate.

As none of the Windows 8 notebooks meet my requirements currently, there was no point in getting a Windows 8 notebook this year. Perhaps there will be more choices next year.

The Shanzhai Phone

One of the stalls were selling an imitation Android phone that looked like a Samsung Galaxy Note. It caught my fancy because it was a dual-SIM phone, and it was dirt cheap. So instead of a Windows 8 notebook, I bought a pretty good looking shanzhai phone for just S$250. The package included:

• Dual-SIM Phone
• 5" AMOLED screen 480 x 800 resolution (with 5 point multi-touch)
• 1 GHz Cortex A7 single core CPU
• Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS - includes the Google Play store
• Front and Rear cameras including Rear LED flash
• GPS
• FM Radio - doesn't require using earpiece as antenna
• 2GB internal storage and 32GB micro-SD slot
• 512 MB RAM
• Removable battery - two Li-ion batteries (3200 mAH) included in the package
• Free hands free kit
• Free screen protector
• Free phone casing (diary type)
• Free stylus
• Samsung Galaxy Note lookalike packaging

Notice that the phone is literally called the "Android Note".

This is the front.

This is the back. Notice the "Android" brand.

The phone chassis resembles the Samsung Galaxy Note 1.

Recently, one of my friends was inquiring about the Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos - a dual SIM phone. I found that the shops were selling this phone for S$270 (without contract). However, the Galaxy Ace Duos is only running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and the price did not include the freebies like the extra battery, free screen protector, free phone case and free stylus.

As the phone is dual-SIM, I can put my voice SIM card in slot 1, and my data SIM card in slot 2:

Note that only slot 2 supports a GSM/3G SIM card. Slot 1 supports a plain GSM SIM card only.

Apparently, you can enable both SIM cards to be active concurrently.
However, you can configure one SIM as the default for making Voice Calls (calling out).
Likewise, although both SIMs can receive SMS messages concurrently, you can configure one SIM as the default for sending them (Messaging).

General Impression

For such a low price, I was quite impressed with the package. I was okay with the low resolution screen, the low-spec CPU and low RAM  as my main intention is to use this phone primarily for voice calls, and for it to provide an internet hotspot for my Asus 10.1" tablet. I don't intend to run resource intensive programs on this phone, so the performance of the phone was quite acceptable. However, it is definitely much slower than my Asus tablet, which sports a Tegra 3 quad-core CPU at 1.4 GHz and has 1 GB of RAM.

However, there are some noticeable defects/limitations, but which I have accepted and will live with.

"Buzzing" Noise coming from the speaker

The built-in speaker has a slight defect. Whenever a sound file is played, the speaker will always output some unwanted buzzing noise. I turned off touch tones and keyboard audio feedback because I didn't like this buzzing noise. I don't know if this is a hardware problem.

No Firmware Upgradeability

There is no menu option to update the firmware from Android 4.0.3, because there is no software support. The manufacturer is unidentified, and there isn't any support web site. This phone is truly a "what you see is what you get" deal. Luckily, Android 4.0.3 is quite mature, and is way better than the Android 2.3 on my Samsung Galaxy S phone.

If I really want to update the firmware, I will probably have to install it myself using say a CynogenMod. However, I probably won't bother.

Although there is no signs anywhere on who was the manufacturer, I learnt of a useful Android app called the Android System Info by ElectricSheep that displays some useful information about the CPU. According to the Android System Info app, the manufacturer of this phone is indicated as "Alps". I think "Alps" is referring to the company Alps Electric, which appears to be some Japanese company specialising in the manufacture of all kinds of electrical and electronic components, including components for mobile phones.

No Chinese Handwriting Keyboard 

Although this phone is made in China, it doesn't come with a free Chinese handwriting keyboard app. Both my Samsung Galaxy S phone and my Asus Transformer TF300 tablet came with free Chinese handwriting software.

Can only switch between 3 Keyboards

Although I downloaded a few alternative keyboards, when I want to switch to another keyboard, the system will only show me 3 keyboards to choose from. Since the Android stock keyboard and the Android Chinese Pin Yin keyboard is always available, I have to deactivate SwiftKey 3 to enable the Swype keyboard as the 3rd and last choice.

I prefer Swype over Swiftkey 3.

Gallery app doesn't see newly added image files

On my Asus tablet (running Android 4.1.2), the Gallery app is quite responsive, and always show newly added JPG files. On the shanzhai phone, this doesn't happen. I have to unmount the SD card, and then remount the SD card, to force the phone to reindex image files on the device (including the newly added ones) so that they can be seen in the Gallery app.

I am not sure if this is due to bugs in Android 4.0.3.

Phone however can run Flipboard!

For some reason, the Flipboard app is not compatible with my Samsung Galaxy S nor my Asus Transformer TF300. As such, I have never seen how the Flipboard app is like. However, Flipboard has no compatibility issues with this shanzhai phone, and I can finally run the Flipboard app and see what this app all about.

My Shanzhai phone running a Windows Phone 7 launcher (Launcher 7).
I find it very amusing to have an imitation Samsung Galaxy Note
running an imitation Microsoft Windows Phone user interface.

Google's ridiculous reason about not providing MicroSD slots in their Nexus devices

I always felt that Apple iPhone and Windows Phone 7 to be very restrictive as they do not provide Micro-SD card slots. Google Android devices were much less restrictive by providing Micro-SD slots, which allow users to expand storage space cheaply.

However, when Google introduced its Nexus devices, none of these Nexus devices sport Micro-SD slots.

There was an interview with Android's user-interface designer, Matias Duarte, who answered the question of why the Nexus devices do not provide these Micro-SD card slots:

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Androids-Matias-Duarte-takes-to-G-for-Q-A-SD-cards-are-confusing-for-users_id36117

Frankly, Matias Duarte answer is just rubbish.

If Duarte thinks SD card storage is "confusing" for user, then wouldn't Cloud storage like Google Drive be just as "confusing"?

Google has this idealistic belief that the entire world should be awashed in internet connectivity. We should be able to connect to the internet to access our cloud storage wherever and whenever we want.

However, the reality is this:

• internet connectivity is spotty at best. The telcos are not able to erect cell towers for 3G/4G coverage in many places. When you have no internet, you cannot access your documents in cloud storage
  
• internet connections via 3G/4G or expensive. Telcos have exorbitantly priced data plans, and the affordable ones restrict you to a mere 1 GB of data transfer per month. Even if Google provides 5 GB of cloud storage in Google Drive, it will cost you a tidy sum if you need to access that 5 GB over 3G/4G internet

Unless one is as rich as Google, it is simply not cost effective to use cloud storage as compared to Micro-SD cards (last week, I bought a 32 GB micro-SD card for just S$24). And Android devices are really commodity products targeted at the 99% of the population, unlike iDevices which are "luxury" products aimed at the rich and affluent 1%. Unfortunately, Duarte's answer seems to indicate that Google is now becoming infected by Apple too.

One of the reasons why HTC, despite having a great Android handphone in its One series, could not do well  in the market while its Samsung counterpart did extremely well with its Galaxy S3, could be simply attributed to the fact that Samsung has a removable battery and a Micro-SD slot, while the HTC One had none. The people who buy Android phones are not fools, and they know that a device with a Micro-SD slot is more capable than one that doesn't. Unfortunately, HTC bought into Apple's thinking, and removed such a useful feature from their new flagship phone. No wonder HTC sales dropped a whopping 75%. People who used to support HTC, like one of my friends who always upgraded his handphone to the next HTC phone, switched to the Samsung Galaxy S3 simply because the Samsung phone has a Micro-SD slot.

Unfortunately, Google and many other manufacturers don't seem to realise that people are now using handphones and tablets like PCs. In fact, many people are buying smartphones and tablets instead of PCs. But they still need the large storage capacities of PCs for their mobile devices. A mobile device with just 8 GB or 16 GB of storage is not adequate. Heck, even 32 GB won't cut it nowadays. If Google wants to eliminate the Micro-SD slot, I think their devices should come with a minimum of 128 GB of storage. Tablets should definitely come with this amount of storage in a tiny SSD disk on the motherboard.

Until the day when internet connectivity is as ubiquitous as electricity, cloud storage is just an expensive nicety and not a best-value proposition. Currently, having a Micro-SD card slot for expandable storage is best for the public. Of course, that is provided Google wants to benefit the public, and not their own coffers.

Pulse 3.0 and Unnecessary Changes

I recently updated the Pulse app on my Asus Transformer Pad from version 2 to version 3, and immediately regretted my decision.

Sure, the new Pulse 3 looks nice and dandy. But the update has removed all the fantastic usability features that had made it great. There are just so many things bad about this new version, that it appears that the developers did not ask users whether they wanted these changes in the first place. This is exactly the same problem I face with Microsoft Windows 8: implementing features that no one had asked for, and removing usability in its stead.

1. Removal of navigation bar at the bottom of a story page

In version 2, as you read to the end of each story, a navigation bar will come up from the bottom of the page showing the story icons. It is very easy to swipe through this navigation bar and click on the icon of the next story that you wish to read.

This has been removed in version 3. Now, when you reach the bottom of the page, that's it. You have to click the top left corner to go back to the main menu page, which contains a screen full of story icons for all the various channels that you have subscribed to. This is very bad. It is exactly the horrible feeling I get with the new Windows 8 Start screen with all the tiles.

The problem is that the during the redraw of the main menu page, you may not remember the position of the story icon that you have just exited from. Sometimes, that icon will be in focus. But many a time, the story icon is not in focus, and I have to slide the icons on that particular channel's navigation bar to find my place. In fact, the program will sometimes reset the channel back to the left most story icon. If you have already read many stories in that channel, it is really infuriating for the channel bar to reset back to the leftmost story!

When I discovered this problem, I thought that I will simply dispense with going back to the main menu page to select the next story, and simply swipe from the right on the current story page to get to the next story. However, I discovered this wasn't possible. The program appears to cache only 4 stories, so once you swiped to the 4th story, that's it. You still have to go back to the main menu page to select the next story from the channel's navigation bar.

2. Scrolling is no longer smooth

After I had updated my Transformer Pad to Jelly Bean 4.1, navigating through Pulse 2 was extremely fluid - "buttery smooth" - to use the technical term.

Unfortunately, Pulse 3 has eliminated all the smooth scrolling, and returned the tablet's behaviour to that of Froyo 2.1!

Everything is "stuttering" now. Whether it is scrolling through the story icons in the main menu page, or scrolling up and down an article on the story page, the movements are now in fits and starts. 

In fact, I can say that in general, the speed performance in Pulse 3 is worse than Pulse 2.

3. Removal of Convenient "Open in Browser" Feature

Previously, when reading a particular story, it is possible to simply click the Settings button and click "Open in browser" to view the page in my preferred browser (Dolphin). 

This is no longer possible.

Instead, you must click Settings > Web Mode to first show the page in Pulse 3. Then, you click Settings > Open in Browser to open the story in the external browser. It now takes several more clicks to do something that was so easy to do in Pulse 2. Again, this reminds me of Windows 8, in which many activities now require more clicks or hand movements to accomplish.

This wouldn't be a problem if the Web Mode in Pulse 3 is good. But that isn't the case. There are many nice usability features in the Dolphin browser that makes reading web pages a breeze (such as opening related links in the web page on another tab). This is not provided by the Web Mode feature in Pulse 3, and thus, it's Web Mode feature is not a real contender for reading the original web pages against a bona-fide browser. 

Making it so inconvenient to open the story in my preferred browser is really a bad decision.

4. Pulse now always open to the "Home" section

Whenever I start Pulse 2, it always open in the section that I was viewing previously.

In Pulse 3, the app now always open in the "Home" section. I hate this because I now have to then select the section that I was previously reading.

Also, there seems to be no way to re-order the sections. Due to historical reasons, the first section in my Pulse configuration did not contain my preferred channels. I only added my preferred channels to subsequent sections. 

Because Pulse 3 now always open in the "Home" section, I would like to re-order my preferred section to be the first section. But re-ordering of sections does not seem to be possible.

5. Less Intuitive Interface

The font used in articles is very much smaller than the one in Pulse 2. I wanted to increase the font size, but could not find any place to change the font size! I went to the Pulse web site, but their instructions for changing the font size is for Pulse 2, and not their new fangled user interface.

I finally found it today. In Pulse 2, there was a very intuitive Settings icon where this could be changed. This icon is now masked and hidden under my name!!!

I didn't realise that I could actually click my name to display the settings page to change various settings, including the font size. Again, this is like Windows 8, where you have no idea whether something is clickable or not. In Windows 8, there is no way to tell if something is a button or a label. Pulse 3 has copied this behaviour.

Conclusion

All in all, this update has not really improved the app at all. Perhaps Alphonso Labs needed to change the interface to make it similar to its iOS or Windows 8 incarnations. Unfortunately, this new interface has simply removed all the great things about Pulse 2 that made it a must-have/must-use app for me. When you satisfy the lowest common denominator, you usually end up dissatisfying a large chunk of people.

I used to read in Pulse 2 for an hour or more a day. With the new version, I usually exit after 15 minutes. I just can't stand the slower performance, and the inconvenience of performing activities that were a breeze in the previous version.

Windows 8 Usability Issues

I recently installed Windows 8 on an old notebook that had previously been running Windows 7. I did not like it.

There are supposedly some technical improvements, like faster performance, faster boot up, less power consumption. However, none of those things registered. The only thing that stuck was my annoyance with the Metro interface. The Metro interface feels so inefficient on the notebook.

Non Obvious Interface

Unlike Windows 7 where almost everything can be accessed from the Start button, Windows 8 simply has too many features hidden. You need to know how to click on corners and/or perform left-right/up-down swipes to do many things that are so obvious in Windows 7: 

• Click bottom left corner in Legacy Desktop to show Start Screen (so as to click on a tile to run a new program)
• Click top left corner to show running Metro tasks
• Click right corners (top or bottom) to show Charms bar
• Click and pull from top edge to the bottom to close existing Metro task

Hiding all these features and making them non-obvious is just creating problems for users who are used to the existing Windows way of doing things.

The Metro interface also requires more mouse movement and clicking and dragging to accomplish the same activities in Windows 7. This isn't really an improvement.

Showing the Current Time

The fact that Live Tiles are dynamic and are constantly refreshing with new information. But there is such a great waste of space. I am surprised that although there are Live Tiles for things like weather, email notifications, calendar and calendar alerts, Microsoft did not put the time on the new Start Screen!

To see the time, it is necessary to first activate the Charms bar and hover the mouse cursor over the Settings icon. A window showing the current date and time, battery power and network connectivity will then appear on the Start Screen. 

I think this is ridiculous. If my computer is displaying the Start Screen, I shouldn't need to perform any hand activities to see the current time. The time should be displayed at all times. There is plenty of space on the Start Screen to do that. In fact, they could have just displayed the current date and time on the Weather tile.

The fact that Microsoft did not do that speaks volumes of Microsoft's re-design. This isn't a better interface than Windows 7. It is a poorer one.  

Changing the Time

The time was off by several minutes. This is a known problem with my 5 year old notebook, as the battery that powers the clock on the motherboard is probably drained and can no longer maintain the clock when the computer is powered down. However, as Windows can synchronise with internet time servers, this is not a big problem. When I restart my notebook, and upon connecting to the internet, Windows will simply update the system's time from an internet time server.

I wanted to adjust the time manually, and at first, I thought I could click the time display to configure the clock. Unfortunately, the moment I moved the mouse off the Settings icon on the Charms bar, the time display disappeared. Unlike Windows 7 where you can simply click on the time to adjust the time, this is not possible on the Metro interface.

I tried using the Settings > Change PC Settings > General, but that panel only allows me to change the Time Zone. 

There doesn't seem to be any way to change the clock's time from Metro, whether to adjust the time, or to refresh the clock from an internet time server, The only way I could accomplish this was to go to the legacy Desktop and change the time using the traditional Windows 7 way!

I wonder how people who bought a Windows RT tablet will be able to do this as Windows RT theoretically does not provide access to the Legacy Desktop.

Search Charm

The Search icon on the Charms bar allows categorised searches. The search behaviour is slightly different from that of Windows 7. In Windows 8, if you are currently highlighting the Files category, searching for "Calculator" will show zero results in the results panel because there are no files with a file name containing "Calculator". You must highlight the Apps category to display the Calculator program in the results panel. This is unlike Windows 7 search results, which will show the combined search results for apps and files together. 

I prefer Windows 7 consolidated search results, but I also see nothing wrong with the new category approach taken by the search in Windows 8. This is because in Windows 8 search, you can also search with categories like "Bing", "Store", "Mail" etc. Limiting search results to only those for the category makes sense for Windows 8 search.

I decided to do a "Bing" category search with the text "how to change the time in windows 8". However, when I clicked the magnifying glass icon to initiate the search, there was no response, and instead, I was thrown back to the Start Screen.

I repeated this a few more times. Each and every time, initiating the "Bing" search will always throw me back to the Start Screen.

Because there is a "Bing" app in the Apps list, I decided to execute the Bing app manually to see if there was any problem with it. There wasn't. (Interestingly, the Bing search results says that the only way to adjust the time in Windows 8 was to do it through the Legacy Desktop.)

However, once I have executed the Bing app manually, using the Search Charm to search the "Bing" category works properly subsequently. It appears that if the category app has not been manually launched previously, it cannot be properly invoked from the Search Charm. 

Searching is a very important utility. On Windows 7, the search box is easily invoked by either clicking the Start button, or by simply pressing the Windows key ("Win Key") on the keyboard. However, in Windows 8, moving the mouse to activate the Charms bar and click the Search icon, or to press the shortcut key Win Key + Q, is more complicated than in Windows 7. The Windows 8 methods to activate search is neither simpler nor more efficient than the Windows 7 methods. 

Full Screen Programs

Metro programs always run in full screen. This might be acceptable on tablets with smallish 10 inch screens. But on large screens, example: a 20 inch monitor, running apps in full screen just doesn't make sense.

Microsoft has specified that Windows 8 tablets should have a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768, so most developers will program Metro programs to this resolution. If you are using a 20 inch monitor with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, the Metro program will be scaled up from its designed 1024 x 768 size to fill up the entire 1920 x 1080 pixels in full screen. The effect is not pretty.

I am sure the full screen effect will be even more pronounced on 27 inch monitors with 2560 x 1440 resolution.

Microsoft could have made this better by making Metro programs run in separate 1024 x 768 windows on large screens. Indeed, by running each Metro program in its own window, a user with a large monitor will also be able to place several running Metro programs side by side. Unfortunately, this is not what Microsoft has done. Running apps in full screen just does not make sense when the screen is very big.

Showing Two Metro Programs Concurrently

Although Metro programs are always run in full-screen, Windows 8 provide a mechanism to display 2 running Metro programs side by side. However, your screen must have a minimum of 1366 pixels horizontally. Screens with any lower horizontal resolution (such as 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 800 screens) can only show 1 Metro program in full-screen at all times.

But even if you have a screen with the required 1366 pixels horizontal resolution, Windows 8 does not allow you to run the 2 Metro programs with each occupying 50% screen width. One app will always be at 75% screen width, while the secondary program will always be at 25% screen width. 

This 2 program limit seems unnecessarily restrictive. The 75% / 25% screen width ratio also feels extremely arbitrary. I feel that Microsoft should have allowed at least an additional 50% / 50% screen width ratio. I am not sure why Microsoft did not do this..

Although you can only show 2 Metro programs concurrently on the screen, other Metro programs you have opened may still be running in the background. I played an MP3 podcast using the Music app, and while I had the screen display the News app and Mail app side by side, the Music app that was not shown on screen was still playing the MP3 file in the background. 

A Lot of Scrolling

On a desktop PC using a keyboard and mouse with a non-touch screen display, scrolling sideways on the Start Screen is accomplished by rolling the centre wheel on the mouse. The mouse wheel rolls in an up-down direction, but this is translated to left-right scrolling through Start Screen tiles.

There is a slight cognitive dissonance because if the up-down direction on the mouse wheel translated to left-right scrolling, then how do you to up-down scrolling (example: when viewing a very long web page in the browser app)?

Also, if the Start Screen is very wide, there is a slight inconvenience if you need to click on program tiles that are placed on the far right of the Start Screen. This is because whenever you call up the Start Screen, the left side of the Start Screen is always shown. This means that if you need to click on another program tile on the far right, you must scroll to the far right again to click on the other tile.

Basically, Windows 8 doesn't remember the Y-axis position of the Start Screen that you were at when you clicked on a tile. So if you happen to need to click on several tiles that are on the right edge of the Start Screen, you will have to do a lot of rightwards scrolling each and every time you activate the Start Screen.  

Android doesn't have this interface problem because of its paginated home screens. In Android, if you activate a program icon that was located on home screen 2, when you click the Home button (from the program), the operating system will first return you to home screen 2 (the home screen that the last executed app was on). Only when you click the Home button a second time will the system return you to home screen 3 (the centre home screen). Android remembers the Y-axis position. 

Because Windows 8 does not have the concept of paginated or sectioned groups in its Start Screen, it always opens the Start Screen on its left edge. There will be a lot of rightwards scrolling in Windows 8.

Missing "Start" Button

In my opinion, the biggest problem with Windows 8 is the deliberate omission of the Start button in the Legacy Desktop. Users who are familiar with the Windows 7 way of doing things will suddenly find themselves lost, and have to re-learn all over again new Metro methods to accomplish the same tasks.

This is extremely disruptive, unproductive, and annoying. People who are upgrading from Windows 7 and earlier to Windows 8 should not be forced to re-learn things which really doesn't offer any new benefits. What's the harm of retaining the Start button function? If a user prefers to do things the old (and familiar) way via the Start button menu, why should Microsoft refuse to allow the user to do so?  Dropping the Start button is extreme arrogance on Microsoft's part, to force users to conform to Microsoft's way of doing things.

I liken this to Microsoft making drivers who are familiar with driving on the left side of the road to force them to now drive on the right side of the road. Sure, it can be done. But why force this on users?

If a user is going to adopt Windows Phone, or the new Xbox console, they will definitely learn how to do things the Metro way. There is no harm in leaving the Start button functionality, which is actually superior in many ways against the Start Screen interface.

Dropping the Start button simply makes the user unfamiliar and unproductive. This is a big detraction. It does not benefit end users. No one had asked for it to be taken away, so why remove it? As I said previously, this is extreme arrogance on Microsoft's part ("it is my way or the high way...").

Luckily, there are several 3rd party utilities that reinstate the missing Start button functionality. If you are using Windows 8 on a conventional PC (i.e. using mouse and keyboard and with a screen without touch capabilities), you must download and install one of these 3rd party Start button replacements. It will restore your sanity. The one that I use is called Pokki (free download from www.pokki.com). Without Pokki, using Windows 8 on a conventional PC/notebook was a dreadful and infuriating experience.  

The Windows Store Walled Garden

With Windows 8, Microsoft has introduced a new Windows Store that follows the same authoritarian controls as the Apple App Store. Software developers who write Metro programs can only distribute the Metro apps via the Windows Store. Metro programs cannot be sideloaded (unless you "jailbreak" the Windows 8 operating system). And like the Apple App Store, Microsoft will decide whether an app can be sold through the Windows Store. Microsoft is therefore at liberty to reject programs that compete against Microsoft's own offerings, or censor programs for ideological reasons.

I have never liked these walled-garden controls. If you are writing a touch-enabled Metro application for your own personal use, you can no longer distribute it to friends or acquaintances as Metro programs cannot be sideloaded (unlike in Android). Most programmers are hobbyist programmers. Forcing them to pay US$99 a year so that their Metro apps can be distributed through the Windows Store is really mercenary on Microsoft's part.

The Windows Store walled garden will discourage hobbyist programmers from developing touch-enabled Metro programs. Which is such a shame as I really like Visual Basic, and I consider Visual Basic as one of the most productive programming language in the market. Hobbyist programmers will have to switch to Android development to escape the walled-garden approach that Microsoft is fabricating for its Metro apps.

Should You Upgrade?

As the world buys more tablets and smartphones and less PCs, Microsoft's market share in computers have dwindled from their high 95% share before 2007. If you consider just traditional desktop and notebook computers, Windows (all versions) currently take up about 85% share. But if smartphones and tablets are included in your count of such computing devices, Windows share could be less than 10%.

Windows 8 is Microsoft's attempt to make itself dominant again in these new smartphones and tablets market. Hence, the emphasis throughout on the touch experience. However, instead of making Windows 8 both exciting and rewarding to use on both the old non-touch systems as well as the new touch systems, Microsoft has made it great for new touch systems, and bad for old non-touch systems.

If you are not using a touch screen, there is very little benefit to derive from upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8. I will strongly recommend you stick with Windows 7 on your existing computers.

However, because Microsoft is pricing the Windows 8 upgrade very cheaply, if you are using older systems like Windows 95, 98, or XP, this is a good time to pay just US$40 to get the Windows 8 Pro upgrade. If you are already running Windows 7, the Windows 8 Pro upgrade is only US$15. These upgrade prices are comparable to what Apple charges. Microsoft has never sold their Windows upgrades this cheaply (for example, Microsoft priced the Windows 7 Pro upgrade at US$200 when Windows 7 was launched).

Whether you run Windows 7 or Windows 8, you will still be running Windows, so Microsoft will still benefit regardless of your decision. Microsoft will only lose if you depart from the Windows eco-system and move to Apple or Linux (unfortunately, Google doesn't have a credible desktop operating system replacement for Windows). And that is not likely today, nor the near future.

My Opinion of Alternative Markets for Android Apps

Have you tried alternative market places such as slideme.org? It would be interesting to hear opinions about them. - Mikko Pelkkala

Thanks Mikko for telling me about slideme.org. I was not aware of this alternative Android app market.

I am actually not a stranger to these alternative markets. My first Android tablet, the Archos 101, did not come with Google's Android Market pre-installed. Instead, the Archos tablet houses AppsLib instead. AppsLib specialises in Android apps that have been tested to work on tablets.

Ironically, I downloaded the Google Android Market APK from AppsLib which I installed on my Archos so that I could access the Android Market - later Google Play -  from my Archos tablet.

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The presence of alternative markets for Android apps is actually a strength of the Android eco-system, as compared to the lockdown nature of Apple's App Store or Microsoft's Marketplace. Apple's and Microsoft's app stores are like communism, where a central authority decides what's halal or haram for you, while Google practises true laissez-faire capitalism, where everything is left up to the individual. As I don't subscribe to communism, I prefer Google's freer capitalistic eco-system despite the fact that it is messier and less secure.

However, due to the nature of things, I am not optimistic that the alternative Android markets will be as successful as Google Play.

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If there are more Android users, more developers will be attracted to develop apps for Android than for the competition. And the more apps there are for Android, the more appealing the Android system will be for potential customers. This is the typical network effect in modern marketing. And in network effect markets, everything is a numbers game.

Because Apple has more apps for its iOS devices than Google has for Android, Google needs to grow the number of available apps in the Google Play Store to compete effectively against Apple.

But for the size of the apps library in the Google Play Store to grow as huge as possible, Android developers must sell their apps through the Google Play Store to swell the store size.


However, growing the size of the Google Play store is a detriment to the alternative Android stores!


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The more comprehensive the Google Play Store becomes, the less relevant all other alternative stores will become compared to Google Play. If every Android app can be downloaded or purchased from the Google Play Store, then customers will find little incentive to download or purchase the same apps from other store fronts.

From my perspective, alternative stores will never be as successful as Google Play or Amazon Appstore simply because of the size of the 2 behemoths. Whatever the smaller stores attempt to do, Google can always do the same, and thus always besting the efforts of the alternative stores.

• If a store offers a curated experience for customers, there is nothing to stop Google from doing the same thing.

• If a store offers a cheaper price for its apps, Google can match the price.

Unfortunately, we see similar situations cropping up in other areas like e-books, digital music, movie downloads etc. Currently, these areas are also dominated by single players (Amazon, iTunes). If the giants maintain a certain level of user friendliness in their stores, whether through easy site navigation, comprehensive selection, easy purchasing processes, it will be very hard to convince users to switch from the giant stores to the alternative stores.

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Of course, it is possible to dislodge incumbents. Google was able to defeat all other search engines (Alta Vista, Yahoo, MSN etc) to become the predominant search engine today - despite being very late to the search market game. Apple was not the first to make an MP3 player or a mobile phone, but once it did, it swept the floor off the previous incumbents.

To beat the Google store, an alternative store must provide a user experience far superior to what Google is offering. I think this is very tough to do at the moment. Google is really at the top of its game, and whatever the small stores can do, Google will be able to replicate the function, and even beat them to it.

However, because running such app stores are not expensive (after all, we are just dealing with electronic bits), I think that these alternative markets will still thrive, although they will not be wildly profitable. Smaller stores may have to serve niched markets, rather than become general app stores like the Google Play Store.  Trying to become another Google Play Store will not be a successful strategy. However, most of the alternative stores appear to be doing exactly this. I don't think they will succeed.

Blocked APKs from Google Play Store

In my previous post, I mentioned that I could not install several Android applications on my Transformer Pad through the Google Play Store. I was puzzled because Asus is a close partner of Google - in fact, Asus is manufacturing the new Nexus 7 tablet for Google. As such, I could not understand why apps like Google Blogger could not be shown inside the Google Play app on my Transformer Pad.

However, the Google Play Store can be actually be accessed from a web browser on a PC. To do so, just visit the following URL:

https://play.google.com/store

and login to your Google account. The web site provides an alternate method for downloading apps into your Android device.

I found that although I cannot see Google Blogger  from my Transformer Pad's Google Play app, Google Blogger can be listed on the web site. I thus tried to use the web site to download Google Blogger to my Transformer Pad. However, I found that this was blocked for the following reason:

This item cannot be installed in your device's country.

 Google Earth could not be transferred to my Transformer Pad for the same reason:

However, for the Jenga app that I had previously downloaded on my Archos tablet, a different explanation was given:

This item is not compatible with your device.

This item cannot be installed in your device's country

I do not know why the Google Play Store will not allow apps like Google Blogger or Google Earth to be installed on the Transformer Pad because of "country" issues. What's wrong with the country "Singapore"? Is Singapore a rogue third-world country? If so, why did Google sited a new data centre in Singapore?

Besides, the desktop versions of Google Blogger and Google Earth can be installed and executed without any problems from my notebook. Why is the Android version not permitted to be installed on my Android tablet?

Because this 2 apps from Google cannot be installed via the Google Play Store, I did a search for their respective APK files, downloaded them into the tablet, and performed a "sideload" installation. The sideloaded apps installed without a hitch. They also worked great (I am especially impressed with Google Earth).

This item is not compatible with your device

The Jenga app is supposedly "not compatible" with the Transformer Pad. I sideloaded the APK, and to my surprise, found that the app runs perfectly okay on the Transformer Pad!

However, I tried the same "sideloading" method with a game app that is also listed as "not compatible", and this app forced-closed when I tried to run it. I am okay with such "true positives" (app listed as not compatible is really not compatible). I am however annoyed with the "false positive" (app listed as not compatible but actually runs fine) for the Jenga app.

I read from some Android forums that "false positives" are usually due to be errors by the app developer when they published the APK file on the Google Play Store. If the developer did not explicitly specify that an app will run on Android version 4.0, or if the hardware required is specified incorrectly, the "not compatible with your device" message will be shown by the Google Play Store and downloading will be disabled. Unfortunately, because of the Android fragmentation problem, it is very hard for developers to verify and test the compatibility of their apps with every Android device model out in the market. Hence the "false positives" problem.

Obviously, device incompatibility problems cannot be avoided in the Android eco-system due to the nature of Android and its "open" nature. Unfortunately, the Google Play Store has this strange policy of allowing refunds to be made only within 15 minutes of purchase. Sometimes, a big game app requires the downloading of huge asset files, some of which could not be finished downloading within 15 minutes. For example, the free game Dark Meadow: The Pact  required the downloading of a huge 540 MB resource file, which already took more than 15 minutes - and would have exceeded the refund window if the game was not free and it didn't work on your device.

I don't think Google should curate the Play Store (which is what Apple does with its Apple App Store). However, Google definitely needs to improve on its refund policy. Extending the refund period window to an hour would be a good start.

Asus Transformer Pad TF300

At the PC Show 2012 last Thursday (07 June 2012), I purchased an Asus Transformer Pad TF300 tablet.

The TF300 tablet was available in 3 colours - blue, red and white. I bought a white one, which appeared to be a very popular choice (at the first Asus booth on level 3, they only had blue tablets left. In the second Asus booth on level 4, they only had 2 white tablets left. I quickly placed my order at this second booth).

As I had a gruelling experience buying a case for my old Archos tablet previously (it took me 9 months to find a shop selling the Archos leather case), I had already decided that I will buy my Transformer tablet together with a case. I asked the dealer (Newstead Technologies) on they types of cases they were selling for the TF300. They only had one: the TF201 TranSleeve.

Although it was indicated on the packaging that the TranSleeve is designed for the Transformer Prime (ie. the "TF201" in its name), I tested and found that it fitted perfectly on the TF300 too. I therefore purchased a white TranSleeve case together with my white TF300 tablet. 

Unfortunately, Newstead Technologies did not offer any freebies with my purchase, which came to S$818 (S$749 for the tablet, plus S$69 for the TranSleeve). The dealer at the first Asus booth (which had run out of stock of the white tablet) was at least offering a 10% discount on Asus accessories, but stingy Newstead Technologies would not offer me a similar discount! Because of this experience, I have decided I will not make notebook purchases from Newstead Technologies in the future. I will probably get a better deal (or freebies) from other retailers.

A Planned Purchase

I have grown to love reading e-books and browsing the web on my old Archos tablet. Unfortunately, at the beginning of May, my Archos tablet developed a hardware problem with its power switch, and I could no longer suspend the Archos into "Deep Sleep" mode. Even though the screen and Wi-Fi is off, the tablet was still draining battery power in its "off" state - by an alarming 10% every hour. For instance, although I had charged the battery to 100% before disconnecting the tablet from the mains and suspending it into "Deep Sleep", 6 hours later when I turned on the tablet, I would see that the battery level was already at 40% although I had not used the tablet at all! This was unlike previously when I would still have 99% of battery power after 6 hours of "Deep Sleep".

I found that the only way to avoid this high power drainage on the battery was to always shutdown the tablet after use. However, the Archos will then take 2 to 3 minutes to power up from a cold start. I had lost the tablet's instant-start facility, and this was a loss that I deeply felt. A tablet just wasn't a tablet if it doesn't do  instant-start.

The Archos was no longer in warranty (the one year warranty period ended in December 2011), and I had no intention of sending it for repair (it is never cost effective to repair consumer electronics stuff). The hardware problem on the Archos tablet gave me the excuse I need to buy a new Android tablet :-)

However, I didn't want to get just a tablet per se. Since Asus introduced their first Transformer tablet last year (the original TF101 model), I had lusted at its design, and I had told myself that my next tablet will be a tablet with a keyboard dock combo. At that time, I thought that by 2012, there would be a few other manufacturers selling such tablet + keyboard combo units. However, in June 2012, it seemed that Asus was still the only manufacturer making such tablet plus keyboard combos.

Luckily, reviews of the new Asus Transformer Pad TF300 were very positive (see Neowin's,  Tom's Hardware and Techradar's reviews). The reduced price of S$749 helped a lot too in convincing me to get the TF300 (earlier Transformer models were sold at S$899). I had already decided since mid-May that I was buying the Transformer Pad TF300 - the white model specifically - but I decided to hold off my purchase until the PC Show - hoping that I would get some good discounts if I purchased the tablet during the PC Show. Unfortunately, Asus did not offer additional freebies during the show, so my wait was for nought.

The Good

After using the tablet extensively this past week, I am truly impressed with the Transformer. As has been commented by other reviewers, Asus has really made an excellent product, and one that I too will heartily recommend to others.

1 GB RAM

I can't over-emphasise how important RAM is for running apps on a tablet. My old Archos with a meagre 256 MB RAM was forever experiencing "forced-close" issues whenever I was using it heavily. As the TF300 has 1 GB of RAM, "forced-close" issues due to insufficient RAM has become less frequent (see next paragraph). I can now run games like Sim City Deluxe and Dark Meadow: The Pact which could never be run on the Archos. I think RAM is so important that I would love to have 2 GB of RAM on my Transformer. Samsung knows this, as I have seen a recent Samsung advertisement offering a version of their Galaxy S3 phone with 2 GB of RAM (in South Korea).

However, I am still encountering "forced-close" issues when using the Pulse news app - albeit at a much reduced frequency ("forced-close" problems seem to occur after viewing a few videos in the Pulse app). Perhaps this is due to a bug in the Pulse newsreader program, as I did not encounter "forced-close" problems when browsing web sites and YouTube videos through the Dolphin HD browser.

32 GB Flash Storage

My old Archos had only 8 GB of internal Flash Storage. The Transformer had 32 GB. Enough said!

In fact, because the Archos had only 8 GB of internal Flash Storage, I had always used a MicroSD memory card with my Archos from day one. In March this year, I purchased a 32 GB MicroSD card for a mere S$32 (6 months earlier, this same 32 GB MicroSD card had been selling for S$60). I transferred this MicroSD card from the Archos to the Transformer, and have thus barely touched any of the Transformer's internal 32 GB Flash memory for storing my books and multimedia files.

MicroSD slots are a real asset for tablets - so their absence in the Apple iPad makes the iPad very restrictive. I was thus very surprised that HTC had copied this deficiency in Apple's products for their latest HTC One devices. I will not buy devices without expandable storage, and HTC's design decision to cut out the MicroSD card slot means that I will not consider the HTC One series for my next smartphone.

NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad Core CPU

Compared to the Archos with a 1 GHz single core CPU, the quad core CPU on the Transformer is blazingly fast. Game and animated displays were very smooth. My brother installed and ran a benchmarking app called An3DBench which indicated that the Transformer can generate 3D graphics at 60 fps.


Unfortunately, the smoothness is not evident in some news apps like Pulse and News Republic. I experienced occasional "stuttering" when scrolling through these news apps.

According to a recent comment from Intel, quad core CPUs are actually overkill for Android devices because many Android apps are not able to exploit the multiple cores. Many Android apps only make use of one core, and thus, according to Intel, a single core CPU running at high speed will actually be faster and more responsive than dual or quad-core CPUs running at a lower speed.

I am curious why to this day, Google has not been able to improve the Android user interface to remove this "stuttering" problem. The operating system is already at version 4, and coupled with new dual or quad core CPUs, one would expect that the "stuttering" problem would have been licked.

One explanation I heard is that the "stuttering" problem is an inherent flaw of Java (which Android is based on), with its Just-In-Time compilation technology. Since Apple's iOS devices do not seem to experience such "stuttering" problems, and their OS do not run on top of Java, perhaps Google should also consider modifying Android to not be so dependent on Java. Besides, Oracle is also suing Google over Java, so why use Java and be a sitting duck for Oracle's legal eagles? 

According to Nvidia, the Tegra 3 is actually 4 cores + 1. There is actually a fifth core that runs on very low power which is used for performing maintenance activities that do not require running on the main cores (see a beginner's intro about the Tegra 3). This is supposed to be a power saving feature of the Tegra 3. However, the Nvidia Tegra 3 die is built on 40-nanometre technology (Wikipedia link), whereas other quad-core CPUs like the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 (28-nanometre technology) or the Samsung Exynos (32-nanometre technology) uses more advanced semiconductor technology that saves even more power than the 40-nanometre technology used by the Tegra 3.

Android 4.0 - Asus Optimised Version

The Transformer runs Android 4.0.3, and although I had my initial reservations about the changes in the user interface (as compared to the Archos, which was running Android 2.2.1), they were all relieved after using the system over the past week.

In Android 2.2, the Navigation Bar always displayed a Search button and a Menu button, regardless of whether an app requires them. In the new Android 4.0 user interface, these buttons only appear if they are required by the app. I realised that this actually makes the user interface more logical and consistent.

I really liked the new Recent Apps button.  You can resume to a previously suspended app, or to close an app and releasing memory resources by swiping the app to the left.  Multi-tasking is very much easier than the old Android 2.2 method (long pressing the Home button).

The notifications system in Android 2.2 was already top-notch. However, Asus out-did it by incorporating one-touch switches for:

• Wi Fi
• Wi Fi Hot Spot
• USB Hot Spot
• 3G Data
• Auto Rotate Screen
• Auto Sync
• Screen Brightness
• GPS

into the notification area itself.

At first, I thought that the switches in the notification control were part of Android 4.0. However, I learnt subsequently that the switches are actually customised by Asus and are not part of stock Android 4.0. On my old Archos tablet, I had to use 3rd party widgets from HD Widgets by Cloud.TV to put such switches on my home screen. Asus implementation is much better, and shows how thoughtful Asus was in incorporating such sensible usability features in their design.

I also like the Chinese Hand-Writing keyboard provided by Asus. My Archos did not come with any Chinese handwriting software, and the 3rd party app that I downloaded is not as nice to use as the Asus one. The ASUS English US keyboard also has a better arrangement of keys than the default Android keyboard. The ASUS keyboard provides numeric keys on a 5th row above the alphabetic keys - eliminating the hassle of switching the keyboard to numeric keypad mode to input numbers.

Screen

Although the Transformer screen is 10.1", the same as on the Archos 101 tablet, the Transformer screen ratio is 16:10 instead of the 16:9 ratio on the Archos.

The reason why this is important to me is because the 16:10 ratio is closer to that of a book, since my primary usage for the tablet is as an e-book reader. As many e-books are in PDF format, PDF pages in portrait mode are better viewed on wider screens than narrower screens. The Archos 16:9 screen ratio was exceptionally narrow - good for watching movies - but not so good for e-book reading.

I still think the iPad 4:3 screen ratio is better for tablets that are used primarily for reading, as this is closer to the ratio of A4 or US Letter paper sizes. However, 16:10 is a good compromise.

Of course, the Transformer screen is superior to the Archos screen in other ways.

Firstly, the Transformer's screen resolution is 1280 x 800, as compared to the Archos's 1024 x 768. Letters and words are crispier and sharper and less painful on the eyes.

Also, the Archos used some kind of el-cheapo LCD screen which could only be viewed from a narrow angle. When I showed photos or videos on the tablet to friends or relatives, the narrow viewing angle meant that only 1 person could view the screen at a time. The Transformer has no such issues. The screen has a wide viewing angle, so several people can watch the screen at the same time.

The Transformer uses a 10 touch point capacitative screen, unlike the Archos which seems to register only 2 touch points. Obviously, gestures such as pinch-to-zoom etc are more accurately sensed on the Transformer than on the Archos. Also, the My Piano app can now produce true polyphonic sounds unlike previously.

Unfortunately, the Transformer screen, like the Archos, is a glossy display, and is thus highly reflective. The Apple iPad screen is not so reflective.
 

Speakers

The speakers are awesome. Barbra Streisand never sounded better. In fact, I think the Transformer sounds even better than the Archos - and the Archos sound is already excellent.

Cover

There were some reviews that commented that the plastic back cover of the TF300 is inferior to the aluminium cover of the previous Transformer Prime (TF201). However, I understand that the previous TF201 model had some GPS issues, which is likely caused by the aluminium cover blocking the GPS antenna signals. There is no GPS issues with the TF300 with the new plastic covers. Anyway, I thought that the plastic cover felt great.

Even though the back cover is plastic, Asus has managed to carve a circular swirling pattern into the cover that is very mesmerising to behold. This swirling pattern also makes the back cover less slippery and thus easier to grip. I also realised that the swirls eliminates the problem of fingerprints marring the chassis of the tablet. I have an Asus N61J notebook that is encased in smooth and shiny plastic chassis, and whose surface is filled with all my fingerprints! So the swirl-patterned plastic cover on the Transformer is a brilliant idea.

Keyboard

The detachable keyboard dock is truly amazing. It is very sturdy and well built. The tablet snaps into the keyboard dock with a very re-assuring click. The weight of the tablet and the keyboard dock is 1.2 kg, which is about the same weight as netbooks. In fact, the Transformer looks just like a netbook when it is seated in its keyboard dock.

The trackpad is very large. It is twice the length of the trackpad on my Axioo netbook. However, I realised that the large trackpad is actually a very ergonomic design. This is because the trackpad is not only meant for moving the mouse cursor around.

Normally, if you use just one finger on the trackpad, you will control the movement of a mouse cursor on LCD screen. However, if you use two fingers to swipe the trackpad, this is equivalent to using your finger to swipe the homescreens left or right. After a while, I got the hang of it, and I could just as easily navigate to different homescreens by swiping on the LCD or swiping on the trackpad.

Because the trackpad is so large, Asus has also provided a function key to disable the trackpad when you are doing a lot of typing. This is useful because the slightest touch of a stray finger on the trackpad could move the insertion point to a completely different position on the screen, marring the sentence that you were trying to type with the keyboard. By completely disabling the trackpad, you can use the keyboard for typing long articles without getting a lot of frustration of frequently moving the editor insertion point to random and unwanted locations while you are typing. 

The keyboard dock is also a good protective cover for the screen. If I did not have a protective case for the tablet, I could just dock the tablet on the keyboard and use the keyboard to protect the glass screen.

TranSleeve

At S$69, the TranSleeve is one expensive accessory. I found from the internet that some stores were selling the TranSleeve for only US$40 (about S$50), so the local mark-up is very significant.

Unfortunately, there are very few 3rd party accessories for Asus. If you visit all the tech stores selling accessories, every one seems to be selling accessories for the Apple iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab only. So far, I have not seen a single shop selling 3rd party accessories for Asus tablets. I realised this when I bought my first tablet, the Archos 101, and had a hard time buying a case for it.

I was not aware that the Asus TranSleeve protective case - which was stated on Asus website to be for the Transformer Prime (TF201) - would also fit the TF300 Transformer Pad. I thought that I would have to get the typical leather type case for the TF300. For those leather cases, the case itself would usually weigh quite a bit, possibly as much as 300 to 400 grams.

The TranSleeve is very thin and light. It only weighs 100 grams. It has a unique way of attaching to the tablet, by using the same connector holes for the keyboard dock. The design is brilliant.

But pricey though.

The Bad

Weight

The Archos weighs 480 grams. The Transformer tablet weighs  635 grams. Although a difference of  155 grams doesn't sound like much, I can definitely feel the difference after holding the Transformer a few seconds.

I can no longer read my e-books by carrying the tablet with a single hand. I now read holding the Transformer with both hands!

Battery Life

Although Asus touts the TF300 to be able to run for 10 hours (15 hours with the keyboard dock), I think the 10 hours running time is only true if you run use the tablet with the wi-fi turned off.

It is very evident that the battery discharges faster than the Archos. Of course, with a quad core CPU, a brighter screen (with a higher pixel resolution), more RAM and more Flash Memory, the Transformer will definitely guzzle more battery juice than the more limited Archos tablet.

However, I discovered that even when I suspend the tablet, the Transformer is sucking battery juice at a rate of 1% every hour. Thus, if I have fully charged the tablet to 100% the night before, when I wake up the next morning 8 hours later, I can see the battery percentage at 92%.

I don't have such high drainages with the Archos when I suspend it to "Deep Sleep" mode.  Under the same circumstances, on the Archos, I will see at most a 1% or 2% drop in the battery charge after 8 hours in "Deep Sleep".

Incompatible Apps

Google recently announced that it was teaming up with Asus to produce the first Google branded tablet. It can be assumed that the working relationship between Google and Asus must be on a first class basis.

Which is why I find it surprising that apps such as Blogger by Google is incompatible with the Asus Transformer Pad. This is not the only app. There are a few other apps from 3rd party developers that works fine on the Archos, but cannot be downloaded from the Google Play Store to my Transformer because of incompatibility issues.

As Google do not explain why an app is not compatible, I can only guess that the incompatibilities are due to the Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU.
However, if Google is teaming up with Asus to develop the Nexus Tablet, I think it would be beholden of Google to ensure that their own apps - like Blogger - be compatible with Asus devices.

There are quite a number of apps like Need for Speed: Shift, Jenga, First Aid by American Red Cross that are not compatible with the Transformer, but have no problems with Archos. Google should try to eliminate this kind of incompatibilities with their Android operating system.

Conclusion

Despite my minor quibbles with the Transformer, overall, the TF300 is an excellent machine. Actually, a lot has to do with the maturing of the Android operating system, and also because of the fall in hardware prices - which means that premium components are now more affordable. One and a half years ago, a tablet with similar specifications would probably cost at least S$1200. And at that time, there was only Android 2.2 available for the OS.

For my next tablet purchase, it would have to be one with similar or better specs than the TF300. It must also be lighter, and with a much longer battery life.

Windows 8 tablets will also be appearing in the market later this year. Perhaps my next tablet would be a Windows 8 tablet. However, I don't like the proprietary stance that Microsoft is making towards Windows 8, so I may still remain with Android.

However, Google really needs to work on improving the responsiveness of the Android user-interface and the apps incompatibility issues. These are problems that hold back Android, even on such a high spec machine as my Asus Transformer Pad TF300.