Android Circuit: Samsung Slows Down, Xiaomi Speeds Up, ART Is Faster, And Apps Arrive For Your Smartwatch

Taking a look back at the week in news across the Android world, this week’s Android Circuit highlights a number of stories, including Samsung showing signs of losing momentum, Xiaomi is onto a winner with a new tablet, ART is under the microscope, what treasures lie in ‘L’ for the users, why are app permissions back in the news, what is Amazon up to with the Fire, and what apps should be on your wrist.

Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the very many things that have happened around Android over the last seven days.

Samsung Start To Lose Momentum

Samsung’s second quarter results have caused a stir in the Android market, as the number one Android manufacturer starts to show signs of a slowdown. The Q2 results showed a drop in operating income by 24 percent and in operating profit by 10% (a two-year low). There are a number of historical precedents in the smartphone world as to what happens next, and very few of them are pretty. I’ve taken a look at Tomi Ahonen’s Cliff Theory in light of Samsung’s latest numbers.

…As Xiaomi Builds Up A Solid Reputation With Another Tablet

If you’re looking for the company that is going to step up to the plate as Samsung stumbles, Xiaomi is on deck. Last week’s release of the Mipad saw the entire limited batch of 50,000 units sold in less than four minutes (reports Android Central). Small batches coming to market to create a rush (and headlines) is a technique that Xiaomi has used before to great effect. The Chinese manufacturer has the marketing smarts, the technology, and arguably the software, to be the lead Android manufacturer at home.

At some point Xiaomi will decide to look beyond China and decide to shake up the Android market in the rest of the world. That will be a very interesting day…

As Dalvik Rides Into The Sunset, Anandtech Puts ART Under The Microscope

One of the big changes for Android developers after the reveal of Android ‘L’ at Google’s I/O Developer Conference is the switch-out of the Dalvik runtime for the Android Run Time, ART. Switching from a Just in Time compiler to an Ahead of Time compiler provides more performance gains (after the first run of the app) but does rely on the extra horsepower and storage that Android has gained through Moore’s Law over the years.

Anandtech’s Andrei Frumusanu has taken a closer look at the runtime to discover the strengths and weaknesses of the runtime:

ART patches up many of the Achilles’ heels that comes with running non-native applications and having an automatic memory management system. As a developer, I couldn’t have asked for more, and most performance issues that I needed to work around with clever programming no longer pose such a drastic problem anymore.

This also means that Android is finally able to compete with iOS in terms of application fluidity and performance, a big win for the consumer.

Android on display at Google I/O (image: Google I/O Keynote video)

What Else Is ‘L’ Hiding In Its Pockets?

ART is one of the hidden treasures in Android’s ‘L’ release, according to Wired’s Andrew Cunningham. Hidden might be stretching it just a bit because all of the features will have a direct impact on the user; but they may not be quite sure why their audio is clearer, they have some very large image files, or why the battery life has suddenly increased. Certainly the core operations are hidden, but the effects are very public. Still, this is a nice primer on the difference that the ‘L’ release will have when it reaches consumers later this year.

Android Is Asking For More Permissions At Once

CITEworld’s Chris Nerny looks at the issues around an Android applications use of permission groups, and how the new organisation of permissions into catch-all groups such as ‘identity’ or ‘device & app history’ actually reduces the security of a handset. Once you approve the request for a group, subsequent updates to the app will have access to every permission in that group with checking in with you.

Under “contacts/calendar,” a user who approves “read your contacts” also unknowingly approves “modify your contacts,” “read calendar events plus confidential information,” and “add or modify calendar events and send email to guests” without owners’ knowledge. I bet it doesn’t even feel like your phone anymore!

Ordering the Amazon Fire phone (image: Amazon.com)

And Then There Is Amazon’s Fire Smartphone

Ahead of its commercial availability at the end of the month, the question of ‘why?’ still lingers around Amazon’s Fire smartphone, with Michael Mace’s examination being one of many potential answers. I’ve taken a closer look at the issues here on Forbes to see what Jeff Bezos’ A to Z store could be up to:

The Fire phone is clearly an exploratory device, to gain understanding and contribute to the next model. Presumably that second model is where Amazon will leverage the Amazon Prime membership, will use the retail opportunities control of the Amazon.com front page offers, and the distribution network that has been built up [around Amazon].

…And Finally, Some Wrist-App Action

Dan Seifert has brought together twelve Android Wear apps that are available right now for those of you with an LG G or Samsung Gear Live, including Evernote, Runkeeper, Trello, and Lyft. I’ll have a review of the LG G  smartwatch, and the Android Wear OS, over the weekend here on Forbes.

‘Android Circuit’ will round-up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course the sister column in Apple Loop! Last week’s Android Circuit can be found here, and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!