[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] kimbernator:
So I assume everyone here is enjoying their android devices, and with the announcement of ice cream sandwich, there's only more and better to come in the future, whether it be by an official OTA or the more popular idea around here of taking this whole "update" thing in to our own hands. And while this is all good, and it's exciting for us android nerds, there are a few things that google can't add on it's own that need to be added.

First - Netflix. There are services that will 1. allow netflix usage, but through a few annoying stages, E.g playon. In these situations, a computer is available and more preferable rendering the attempt useless. 2. Use other sources like megavideo to provide movies and TV shows, but either the quality is terrible, the UI is impossible, or the selection is limited. An official netflix app must be released. Google recently announced their movie rental section, which is good if you want to use the service only once in a while, as more than 2-3 rentals in a month is more than many pay for netflix service, on top of not being able to watch these movies across many platforms. As a side note, it has been borderline entertaining to call customer support and ask my the app on my android device isn't working - I always get a pause for a second or two, an audible sigh, and then them saying something like "So you got the leaked app, eh?"

Second - A Skype app with proper video calling. I don't think I need to explain why this would be so useful, as many of you have probably noticed how little that front-facing camera on your device has been used. Google recently tackled this head-on as well with Google Talk with video. THIS is an incredibly good attempt at solving this issue, mainly because every android phone has Google Talk built in, so there's no worry about telling the other person to download an app in order to do a video call that usually ends up having tremendously bad quality. This fails for two reasons:

1. It's only compatible with gingerbread, and due to OEMS being rather lazy, there are only a few phones with official builds out there. Yes, there are those who used custom ROMS like Cyanogenmod 7, but personally I have met only one other person with a custom ROM on their device at all, and they are nothing more than an acquaintance. If Google had found a way to make it compatible with Froyo, I most likely wouldn't even be posting about this.

2: There is no effective implementation of cross-platform video calling. Sure, you can do it with computers with chrome AND the video chat add-on. Once again, this is not something most people have, and when i attempted installing it on my machine, it didn't even fully install. But what about the Iphone? I have a plethora of friends with the Iphone 4, and an official Google talk app for iphone is nowhere to be found.

The thing about BOTH of these apps though, is that there is a leaked version for both, and they have both worked at one point or only work under certain restrictions. (Netflix for an unexplained two-hour period and skype video calling only on the HTC thunderbolt.) Yet both of these companies hold them back. Netflix has a fairly legitimate case in dealing with DRM, but I would think that a situation with such a legal tightrope would call for keeping said app under heavy protection. Skype, however, has a track record of being pretty dishonest and disloyal towards it's android customers. Example: the skype app that we had a couple months ago was said to be "Incapable of voice calls over 3g." This was quickly disproved by the community who made some minor modifications and allowed it to work. Odd how it worked on verizon the whole time, though. It may be a opportune time to mention that the Thunderbolt is the only Verizon LTE phone. I guess it will be a while before it comes to the masses while Verizon customers will enjoy it before many of us, anyways.

So why am I posting this here? I'm aware that no amount of hacking will allow for the seamless playback of Netflix that only Netflix themselves could provide. I am also aware that the Skype video calling app that was leaked is extremely difficult to hack (If not impossible.) As there was a development thread about it, but it eventually died, with little to no progress on the final goal. The reason I post here is because if enough people want something, it will eventually be given to them. So i simply post this to make all of you aware of why these additions would be incredibly useful to a large number of people. So I urge anyone who reads this to begin talking more about it, begin making these topics ever more popular among android forums and blogs, and these companies will eventually deliver once they see the demand. (I can hope, right?)

Just a (Wordy) thought.