Android!

[Trippy]

I like how Verizon's "unlimited" data plan has a 5 GB/month cap. Fucking marketing people.

(5 GB/month is a lot, I'm just complaining about the misinformation).

I thought AT&T does the exact same thing. 

They don't, at least not for the iPhone. "Enterprise" devices like the BlackBerry do have caps.

[KallDrexx]

I like how Verizon's "unlimited" data plan has a 5 GB/month cap. Fucking marketing people.

(5 GB/month is a lot, I'm just complaining about the misinformation).

old news.  All carriers have the 5gb fine print.  There was a huge stint on the Pre boards because of it on Sprint as well.  The fact is though that unless you abuse it to retarded extents, they won't do anything.  I've gone over 5gb of data on my Pre every month since I've had it due to Pandora and I have yet to have a problem.

[snowwy]

So a thought ....The Google-maps gps looks fantastic, but only available in the US so far. If/when they ever port this to Europe , I think i'd rather leave this baby in my pocket if i decided to take the car on a ride down the continent.
The roaming-charges would be hilarious. Or did I misunderstand the whole thing and it actually uses satelites also?

[caladein]

If it works like Google Maps app on other phones: it uses your phone's GPS (or cell tower triangulation) for location but the maps and directions are all over your data connection (except for a bit of caching).

[Ghambit]

I just got back from ATT and Verizon since I'm phone shopping and the 'rola Droid kicks all asses.  The speed is the main thing I noticed, coupled with the shear amount of freedom you have with apps.  The FREE GPS navigation is a big plus, because systems like Blackberry charge an extra $10/month for the same features.  Not only that, but it wont be difficult to dev. your own navigation apps for various other uses, like Marine or Aviation, etc.

Note:  Verizon now has a "buy one Blackberry, get another phone of equal or lesser value free" promotion.  Sooo, you can buy a BB Storm2, etc. for the wifey and get an HTC Eris for free.  I will say the HTC is a better construction than the 'rola Droid (as usual, Motorola builds shoddily)...  but the power of the droid over the pure is noticeable, albeit the Eris is still better than a BB imo.

And obviously, tethering a Verizon phone, specifically a droid (which will have greater bandwidth and wider 3G coverage) makes more sense at $30/month rather than being stuck with a Blackberry from ATT and data/tethering for $60.  Note:  iphone cant tether as of yet.

BUUUUUUUUUT, word on the street is the 1GHz smartphones will be out for the holidays this year.  So, I may wait until then... kinda dumb going entry on a proc. half the speed of a Snapdragon.  And you can pretty much guarantee the Snapdragon entry prices wont be more than $300.  For an xtra $100 I'll gladly wait for the extra power.

[Salamok]

I will say the HTC is a better construction than the 'rola Droid (as usual, Motorola builds shoddily)...

I always was under the impression that HTC churned out some pretty shitty build quality phones (hence the new model every 2 weeks), maybe I need to take another look.

And obviously, tethering a Verizon phone, specifically a droid (which will have greater bandwidth and wider 3G coverage) makes more sense at $30/month rather than being stuck with a Blackberry from ATT and data/tethering for $60.  Note:  iphone cant tether as of yet.

I have read quite a few conflicting articles on tethering the droid 1 was as you describe and acted like it was available now then there is this  that states early next year for $15 a month.  Anyone out there actually went down to a store and asked them what is available right now?

[Ghambit]

They made it seem like tethering was avilable now, but given the intelligence level of the salespeople I'm pretty sure now that it was for a different phone.

[Cheddar]

Posting from my droid. 

[Merusk]

I hate you. You too, Yeg.


Damnit. I can resist.

[Salamok]

Sprint 4g available in Austin now, is there a decent android 2.0 phone in the pipe for Sprint?  My contract with AT&T is up in 4 months.

[KallDrexx]

Does sprint even have any 4g phones?  Last I looked all of them were 4g compatable but not 4g capable (i.e. they can connect to 4g networks but not get 4g speeds).

[Salamok]

Does sprint even have any 4g phones?  Last I looked all of them were 4g compatable but not 4g capable (i.e. they can connect to 4g networks but not get 4g speeds).

If they don't I would imagine they will very shortly. The 4g speeds almost make my dream of eliminating wired internet service a reality.  I wonder what the caps are on the unlimited plan?  At 3-6mbs I doubt they hold to the traditional 5gb limit.

[KallDrexx]

If they don't I would imagine they will very shortly. The 4g speeds almost make my dream of eliminating wired internet service a reality.  I wonder what the caps are on the unlimited plan?  At 3-6mbs I doubt they hold to the traditional 5gb limit.

Interestingly enough sprint's website says that 4G is unlimited but 3G is limited to 5gb. 

[Trippy]

Sprint has a 4G USB modem for connecting your computer.

Samsung is supposedly working on a 4G Android phone but who knows when that will be available?

[Ghambit]

A marketing rep. for At&T told me to hold off on buying ANYTHING from AT&T (or anyone for that matter) until february 2010.  I believe that probably coincides with some kind of 4G Android phone they have in the works.  Technically, she was violating NDAs telling me this info. actually.  There's a reason they're giving away iPhones and Blackberrys right now.

In other news, most of the AT&T salespeople have Verizon.   

[Yegolev]

My advice is to hold off on buying anything from AT+T until... death.  Yours or theirs.

Is it too early to complain about the Android Market?

[Merusk]

No, complain away as it will keep me from buying a cell phone.   11 years clean!

[sidereal]

Just pre-ordered a Nook.  Good times.

[Cheddar]

I love the Droid.  Browing is almost instant and there are some awesome widgets.  I got 1 for the weather from weather.com and with a simple press it gives me hourly, 36 hour, or 10 day forecast.  Also it automatically updates for what area I am in.

I am still getting used to the music player, which I also love.  One neat feature is it will turn off when I unplug the stereo jack - very nice feature.

[Segoris]

I am still getting used to the music player, which I also love.  One neat feature is it will turn off when I unplug the stereo jack - very nice feature.

Weird, my music player keeps playing, after unplugging it, until I shut it off or pause the music player. Also, the screen's sleep timer isn't staying. Are you using the default player or did you download one of the apps?

Another thing, I keep setting it to 1 minute until it sleeps and it returns to the default 15 seconds from time to time.

[Yegolev]

I don't know how to turn off virtual-keyboard clicking.  I think it was off when I got it but I don't know how I turned it on.  Or if I did.

[Segoris]

I don't know how to turn off virtual-keyboard clicking.  I think it was off when I got it but I don't know how I turned it on.  Or if I did.

The only setting I know for that is in the following area: Settings->Language & Keyboard->Android Keyboard (Onscreen Keyboard Settings)->Uncheck Sound on Keypress. Other then that, I don't know of any settings on the default phone and don't know if there is an app that may have something to do with it.

[Cheddar]

Weird, my music player keeps playing, after unplugging it, until I shut it off or pause the music player. Also, the screen's sleep timer isn't staying. Are you using the default player or did you download one of the apps?

Another thing, I keep setting it to 1 minute until it sleeps and it returns to the default 15 seconds from time to time.

Default.  I like it.  I really have not done much modifying beyond the default settings - they seem to work just fine for me.

[Viin]

I love the Droid.  Browing is almost instant and there are some awesome widgets.  I got 1 for the weather from weather.com and with a simple press it gives me hourly, 36 hour, or 10 day forecast.  Also it automatically updates for what area I am in.

I am still getting used to the music player, which I also love.  One neat feature is it will turn off when I unplug the stereo jack - very nice feature.

Not that I don't think that's cool and all (it is), but it sounds remarkably like the iPhone. Maybe we'll see some divergence in 6 months?

[Prospero]

What would you like to see change? Not trolling, I'm honestly curious. I have an iPhone and outside some control issues on Apple's part I like the hardware and software design. Right now it seems like there isn't much room for hardware differentiation in the industry, outside of speed upgrades and additional sensors. For data oriented phones like the droid you need as much screen space as possible. That kind of limits your basic design to a) one giant screen or b) one giant screen with a keyboard attached.

It seems like until we get malleable OLED displays the industry is going to be hard pressed to something different with form factor while still supporting data rich phones.

On the software front, it seems that the constraints for developers are pretty similar on both platforms. Google has better hooks into its services which is a good thing, and the Android store is more open so we should see some better apps there. Still, I'm not seeing a ton of room for differentiation. I think that is one of the reasons APple is cleaning house; they have a solid piece of hardware with reasonable software support like everyone else, but they have the iPod/iTunes brand which gives them a big leg up on the competition. Google has a very strong brand as well, but doesn't have the hardware reputation to drive sales.

Supposedly Google has their own handset coming out in the next couple months. Hopefully that shakes up the industry a bit.

[Viin]

I'm not looking for anything earth shattering, I just don't see anything that would have me switch from my already better-than-most-others iPhone. (The only thing I can think of that would cause me to want to switch would be to get on a different carrier).

I do hope to see some uses of the hardware that aren't possible on the iPhone due to Apple's draconian rules, so there is hope for that.

Right now the Droid is a "me too" phone, which is great we need that.

I don't have an answer to your question, I'm just asking (hoping, mostly) for a reason to toilet the iPhone.

[Quinton]

iPhone had a 13 month lead (initial launch between iPhone and G1) and definitely had the early sales advantage from their large  following of computing/consumer device enthusiasts.  We're starting to see some nice diversity in Android devices, and they're now shipping on 3 of the top 4 US carriers.  Some fun stuff is still in the pipe.  2010 is going to be an entertaining year, I think.

[schild]

The App store and such will pick up for Android, undoubtedly, when:

1. The iPhone market is so saturated and at such a low price-point, that people just stop making stuff for it.
2. This is probably the most important because it will never happen - the droid based phones need to become as homogeneous as PCs. That is to say, will stuff on one phone (say the current G1) work well on a snapdragon phone? Or the Droid? Or vice versa. There's a schism in the perceptions of the marketplace.
3. People stop making fucking apps with programmer art.

Seriously, the Android apps are - in general - so goddamn ugly and poorly that there's no need to guess as to why I haven't spent a dime in the Android app store and I have over 80 games on my iPod Touch. It also doesn't help that the best apps are free. When people see that, why would they want to make stuff for Android?

[Prospero]

Yeah, Android phones are a bitch develop for I hear. The lack of standardized hardware makes dealing with three versions of iPhone comparatively pleasant.

[schild]

Yeah, Android phones are a bitch develop for I hear. The lack of standardized hardware makes dealing with three versions of iPhone comparatively pleasant.

Also, total lack of graphics acceleration and - unless I'm mistaken, which I probably am - there's actually more stuff that needs to run in the background than there is on the iPhone. Or at least, it seems as though the games and such aren't as quarantined off on Android as they are on the iPhone.

That said, as a phone, Android >>>> iPhone for me. As a gaming/app system? For now, keeping my iPod touch - unfortunately.

[Prospero]

What does do better as a phone? I've never played with one. Standing in a Verizon store gives me hives.

[schild]

What does do better as a phone? I've never played with one. Standing in a Verizon store gives me hives.

Mine has a keyboard and my ear makes the screen less icky looking than an iPhone when I use it. Also, it feels like a phone instead of a designer piece of chrome.

Ow, that rhymed.

Anyway, I also <3 the google apps integration. Basically, everything that google is a big part of is great (except when HTC makes design choices to the phone itself). Everything a third party developer is a part of is pretty much canned ass.

Oh, and it needs better google docs integration, but I'm sure that's coming.

[Prospero]

K, so I'm not missing much. I do live la vida Google, so better integration on that front would be nice. If someone can be bothered to make a piece of kit that's as nice as the iPhone I might jump ship. The droid is decidedly not a contender on that front. I may be a software issue but watching a couple people at work try to use their phones has been agonizing. Gestures seemed to work for shit and even basic taps weren't being recognized.

[Yegolev]

I don't know how to turn off virtual-keyboard clicking.  I think it was off when I got it but I don't know how I turned it on.  Or if I did.

The only setting I know for that is in the following area: Settings->Language & Keyboard->Android Keyboard (Onscreen Keyboard Settings)->Uncheck Sound on Keypress. Other then that, I don't know of any settings on the default phone and don't know if there is an app that may have something to do with it.

That was where I had found it before.  Coupled with Sound & display settings -> Audible Selection, I no longer sound like a secretary from a noir film.

[Quinton]

Yeah, Android phones are a bitch develop for I hear. The lack of standardized hardware makes dealing with three versions of iPhone comparatively pleasant.

Also, total lack of graphics acceleration and - unless I'm mistaken, which I probably am - there's actually more stuff that needs to run in the background than there is on the iPhone. Or at least, it seems as though the games and such aren't as quarantined off on Android as they are on the iPhone.

Total lack of graphics acceleration?

G1/Dream/myTouch/Hero/etc (the MSM72xx based devices) have OpenGL ES 1.0 and not a bad little GPU.

Droid has OpenGL ES 2.0 and also not a bad little GPU.