Skype,still, not working on Samsung Galaxy

In my previous post I declared the Skype problem as solved by upgrading to Android 2.2. However I experienced some stability issues and started to follow the “Skype is not working on Samsung Galaxy S” thread on the Skype blog, as this is the only one which gets enough attention from the Skype moderator. 

Skype causes lots of headaches not only for the Samsung Galaxy users but also- as you can see on the Skype for Android forum - Sony Xperia, HTC Hero, Motorola Spice XT300, HTC Wildfire users are suffering. All these issues with Skype on the Android smartphones remind me about the early nineties when successfully running Windows applications often depended on the Windows version or the PC manufacture. 

I was working for a very successful, at that time, Dutch PC manufacture company Tulip Computers. My team was responsible for the Microsoft Windows certification tests and obtaining the Windows logo. The real breakthrough in removing hardware dependencies from applications was the introduction of the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) announced in 1992 during the first Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in San Francisco. This was to ensure that future Windows NT could support different hardware architectures as Power PC, DEC Alpha and Intel. The "Plug & Play" initiative started with the introduction of the Windows 95 turned out to be initially “Plug & Pray”. Microsoft's strategy soon payed off.

I had the opportunity to visit Microsoft labs in Redmond at least a few times a year, and was impressed by the continuously improved test certification process. The Microsoft Windows architecture initiatives and a strict Microsoft certification policy contributed to an accelerated innovation in PC hardware and software leading to a dramatic price erosion and Intel/Microsoft dominance. Android will drive innovation in the field of smartphone devices as well. However the current Android maturity problems first need to be addressed to ensure the vendors can focus on the devices/software innovation and avoid spending so much time on fixing incompatibility problems.

I strongly believe, as Steve Wozniak, that Android will become the dominant smartphone platform. However the quality and the application's support needs to improve. For customers' experience, it is all about their favorite applications and based on my Skype experience Android is still in a "Plug & Pray" phase.

Android 2.3 is on its way and for sure it will bring some improvement.