Hi folks, This is a question for those of you who have sallied forth into the world of Android development (or, who have at least considered it).
When Livecode creates an app for Android deployment, what CPU architecture does Livecode compile for? My reason for asking is that I like the look of the Asus Transformer. It is an Android tablet that docks into a keyboard. But the processor is the Tegra. I'm guessing that Livecode will not be compiling apps for such an unusual processor. Assuming that Android (ultimately) provides an OS that runs identically (let me dream) across different processor architectures, then it would be great to be able to actually run the IDE on a machine like the Transformer. From what I read, the Transformer is still a little imperfect (in terms of manufacturing quality, and pointer lag when docked into the keyboard). But it has only been around for a few months and shows great promise as a design. http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/18/asus-eee-pad-transformer-uk-edition-review/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/05/12/asus-eee-pad-transformer-tf101-review/#1_undefined,0_ As a tablet it is only marginally heavier than an iPad (about 10%). And as a tablet it has a supposed battery life of 8 hours, plus another 6 when docked to the keyboard (if fully charged on both battery packs, the usage times of both are combined to provide 14 hours or so). Being a dockable touchscreen, it has the benefits of mutliple input modes (I really can't be doing with more than minimal typing with an onscreen keyboard). I held a Transformer today, and it is pretty sweet (although I didn't get to touch the keyboard, as they were sold out). I wasn't very impressed by the quality of the early Asus EEE netbooks, but the Transformer felt like a quality product. The Acer AA1s were superior to the early Asus netbooks - for some months now I've been using a later Acer netbook for portable computing, and I've been surprisingly pleased with the form factor and the performance. Of course, I still find the Macbook Air a very, very seductive design, but Apple's attitudes have been fuelling a love/hate relationship for me for some years now. I guess I'm really hoping for too much to think that Livecode could run on a Tegra (I know the Linux IDE is only compiled for intel). Microsoft just about killed alternative operating systems on netbooks (as OEM installations), but it looks like Linux might rise again on these small laptops using Android. Certainly I've never seen an OEM install of linux on a netbook with the finesse of Android on the Asus Transformer, and I've never seen a netbook with the build quality of the Transformer tablet. And the Transformer (including the dockable keyboard) is about half the price of a Macbook Air. If the Transformer had access to the masses of apps found in a typical Linux distro AND had a Livecode IDE that was at parity with the IDE on Windows or OS X, I think I'd be in a very happy place technologically. The Wikipedia entry on the Tegra says that it is a system on a chip that incorporates an ARM processor, and that Ubuntu will run on it in addition to Android. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Tegra http://tegradeveloper.nvidia.com/tegra/forum/what-operating-systems-are-supported-tegra I think however, the idea of getting even a basic Livecode development platform running (e.g. one that ran within the scriptlimits inside an Android app) might be the most I could hope for. Still, I did not see myself developing apps for an Android mobile phone, but running Livecode apps on an Asus Transformer would be of interest to me. Bernard _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
