Android!

[01101010]

Oddly enough, I jumped on the INcredible 2 when it price dropped and added my new for two thing on it and bumped into unlimited data since I had no smartphone before. Now I get a text from my buddy saying GB is forthcoming to it but his Thunderbolt is shit outta luck. I smiled.

[Yegolev]

Stupid decisions.

[ffc]

The Android Google+ app has a nifty instant upload feature for videos and pictures taken on the phone where that stuff gets immediately uploaded to a private Picasa / G+ folder and from there you can share it however you want.  Coupled with unlimited storage (clips under 15min and pics automatically resized under 2400ish pixels iirc) the Picasa integration is enough to make me use G+ for media at the very least.

I did lose a few pictures trying to figure out how to delete pics from the G+ app on my phone after they were pushed to Picasa (conclusion: moving a picture pushed to Picasa from the private album to a different album does not remove that picture's link to the original on the phone so deleting the original off the phone deletes it from the album as well; copying instead of moving the picture will keep the copy after deleting the original on the phone) so test deleting stuff with junk pictures before going on a deleting spree.

[Krakrok]

Google+ on Android doesn't want to work for me because my Google+ account and my Android phone account are different. And it won't let me change it.

[01101010]

I am not getting G+ stream updates - until hours later. Dunno what the hell is going on, but checking G+ yesterday on the workstation here I saw a few entries from a couple buddies, but my phone didn't alert me. Get home, do dinner and laundry and around 8pm I get three alert tones in a row with everything that was posted that day. 

fake edit: I did check G+ on my droid during the day and saw the notifications... just no alert in the topbar or audio. 

[Quinton]

Google+ on Android doesn't want to work for me because my Google+ account and my Android phone account are different. And it won't let me change it.

You can add an additional Google account to your phone (Home / Settings / Accounts & Sync) and then the Google+ app should let you choose which account to use.  You can choose not to sync anything else (gmail,etc) in the accounts&sync settings if you are only attaching this account for use with G+.

[apocrypha]

I am not getting G+ stream updates - until hours later. Dunno what the hell is going on, but checking G+ yesterday on the workstation here I saw a few entries from a couple buddies, but my phone didn't alert me. Get home, do dinner and laundry and around 8pm I get three alert tones in a row with everything that was posted that day. 

fake edit: I did check G+ on my droid during the day and saw the notifications... just no alert in the topbar or audio. 

I'm getting exactly the same thing, it's very annoying. I think we're going to be seeing lots of changes to the Android G+ client in the not too distant future though, although this feels like an issue with push rather than the client.

[01101010]

I am not getting G+ stream updates - until hours later. Dunno what the hell is going on, but checking G+ yesterday on the workstation here I saw a few entries from a couple buddies, but my phone didn't alert me. Get home, do dinner and laundry and around 8pm I get three alert tones in a row with everything that was posted that day. 

fake edit: I did check G+ on my droid during the day and saw the notifications... just no alert in the topbar or audio. 

I'm getting exactly the same thing, it's very annoying. I think we're going to be seeing lots of changes to the Android G+ client in the not too distant future though, although this feels like an issue with push rather than the client.

What droid are you using? I was wondering if this was tied to the recent Verizon release of Gingerbread to my Inc2.

I am starting to use the reporting feedback button more than posting on G+ lately. 

[apocrypha]

Er, 2.3.3 it says.

[01101010]

Er, 2.3.3 it says.

Yeah that's GB. Wondering if there is a connection...  

edit: Google+ has an update on the market that I had to grab manually. For whatever reason, my sync/auto-update this app was not flagged. Hope this update fixes whatever the fuck happened to update notifications.

[apocrypha]

Ah, well spotted, cheers.

I find auto-update to be flakey with lots of apps actually. When I just went to update Google+ I found 4 more apps that also had updates available, even though they're set to auto-update.

[Ozzu]

I'm due for an upgrade with Verizon. I currently have a Droid 2 Global. The battery life on this thing is freaking terrible. I can use the phone for a grand total of about 45 minutes in a day and by the end of the day, I better be plugging it in or it'll be dead. Yet, my wife's iPhone 4 is used an order of magnitude more and she can go a couple of days between charges. 

Battery life is going to be my number 1 priority for my next phone. I'm somewhat intrigued by upcoming Windows Phone 7 Mango update and the new hardware they have coming out for it. However, I'll probably end up with an Android device or iPhone 5. 

[apocrypha]

Only phone I can comment on is the Galaxy S2, which feels to me like the battery life is rubbish. I need to charge at least once a day and have just already got into the habit of just routinely plugging it in every time I get in the car.

[01101010]

My Inc2 goes every other day without charging... but that is under low use. If I am on it for moderate to heavy use, it will hold up with 10-20% by the time I hit the sack. Meh.

[Zetor]

Battery life for android phones (and iphones) is generally shit. My Nokia E51 smartphone could go for 2 weeks+ with one charge (and it had a much weaker battery... sure, a weaker CPU as well, but it's not like I played crysis on my phone  ); my htc desire can go for 3 days with the same usage if I'm lucky. This is with judicious use of task killer apps, wifi/gps/3g/autosync turned off, and the display dimmed.

[Sand]

Only phone I can comment on is the Galaxy S2, which feels to me like the battery life is rubbish. I need to charge at least once a day and have just already got into the habit of just routinely plugging it in every time I get in the car.

My wife's Galaxy exhibits the same problem. She cant make it through a single day, even with minimal usage.
My Nexus S can get through about 2 with minimal usage.

[Ingmar]

Is she running Words With Friends? I swear that app has halved my battery life.

[KallDrexx]

This is with judicious use of task killer apps, wifi/gps/3g/autosync turned off, and the display dimmed.

Good explanation on why you shouldn't use task killers

[Zetor]

Yea, as long as all the apps on your phone know to properly exit when you quit. F'rex, the htc sense browser on my phone doesn't have a quit function and 'back' just progresses through the history, so it's faster to exit by hitting home and killing the browser task.

Besides, that's kind of irrelevant; with or without task killers you aren't going to get more than 3-4 days of uptime even if you barely use your phone at all. The real solution is to buy a $15 'smart'phone from the mid-2000s.

[Sky]

I should really read this thread more often. Fiancee is digging Google Music, asked again about the state of smart phones, which means Sky pokes into this thread again.

Verizon dropped unlimited data?

That is literally the only reason we were considering smart phones.

[Sand]

Is she running Words With Friends? I swear that app has halved my battery life.

Is that the scrabble like game? She has one of those she plays a lot.

[01101010]

I should really read this thread more often. Fiancee is digging Google Music, asked again about the state of smart phones, which means Sky pokes into this thread again.

Verizon dropped unlimited data?

That is literally the only reason we were considering smart phones.

Yeah... that was done earlier this month.

[Ingmar]

Is she running Words With Friends? I swear that app has halved my battery life.

Is that the scrabble like game? She has one of those she plays a lot.

Yeah. It seems to hammer the wireless radio a lot harder than other apps do, but that's just a 'feeling' I have more than something I could prove.

[Yegolev]

It needs to know where you are so it can deliver relevant advertising.

[Merusk]

Verizon dropped unlimited data?

The profit line dipped. It must always rise.

It also means I will never own a phone. I almost caved but now, fuckit.  The wife & kid can make do with pay-as-you-go phones.

[Sky]

Yeah, that torpedoed my desire for one almost completely. Especially since a prime reason for her was tethering at her house, where she doesn't have wifi. I'll just stick with my tracfone and she can use her goddamned ipod to listen to music.

Still...really wanted a nice smart phone. Dammit.

[Yegolev]

3D Samsung make Hulk smash.

[Sand]

Im pretty sure T-mobile still offers unlimited data, unless I got grandfathered in.

[KallDrexx]

According to Arstechnica T-Mobile is going to a limited 3G/4G plan up to 2, 5, and 10GB (depending on your plan) and after that you will be capped at 2g.

[Merusk]

Hm.. they've also increased their coverage in my area.  I looked a year ago and I was in the "None" category.  Now I'm all the way up to "Moderate"

Ed: In fact, they've already made that change, Kal.  Just went to look at their site and they're only offering 200mb/2gb/5gb/10gb plans.

[Furiously]

Yeah, that torpedoed my desire for one almost completely. Especially since a prime reason for her was tethering at her house, where she doesn't have wifi. I'll just stick with my tracfone and she can use her goddamned ipod to listen to music.

Still...really wanted a nice smart phone. Dammit.

Virgin mobile... 25 bucks a month for unlimited data...

[Vaiti]

Are prices really that high for unlimited data plans in the US? I pay 5€ (about 7$) for an unlimited data plan here in Finland. Connection speed is only 1MB down and 512kb up tho. They have plans here with 15MB down and 2MB up for 10€ a month, I just don't see a need for that fast a connection for my phone unless I planed to tether/use a laptop primarily.

[Koyasha]

Kind of wish I'd noticed these unlimited plans going away myself, I probably would have switched to Verizon already.  As far as I can tell, Sprint is still offering an unlimited data plan, though I haven't checked the fine print.  Considering switching to them from T-Mobile, since I don't think my current plan will allow 4G if I get a 4G device.

They have the Nexus S 4G, which seems like a good choice of phone from them; anyone have comments or suggestions on a different phone?  I'm not sure I like the Nexus S's lack of an SD card slot, although I don't know how much I would actually use that.  Does anyone have any experience with the HTC Evo 4G?  The specs seem nearly identical to the Nexus S, but it has an SD card slot.

Also, that Virgin Mobile plan mentioned (It's actually gone up, it's now $35 a month instead of $25), it apparently uses Sprint's network, but I'm unclear on whether that means any device that functions on Sprint's network would be compatible or whether it's limited to the like 5 devices on their page.  The Motorola Triumph doesn't look bad...anyone use it and have any comments?

[KallDrexx]

Kind of wish I'd noticed these unlimited plans going away myself, I probably would have switched to Verizon already.  As far as I can tell, Sprint is still offering an unlimited data plan, though I haven't checked the fine print.  Considering switching to them from T-Mobile, since I don't think my current plan will allow 4G if I get a 4G device.

Last I heard Sprint has no fine print.

[Sky]

Virgin mobile... 25 bucks a month for unlimited data...

Are their phones any good? We'd been looking at the Incredible, so I guess the Moto Triumph is the VM equivalent?

The battery estimates make me  I'm spoiled by my dumb phones which I charge every couple of weeks.