Android!

[Quinton]

For app kill / uninstall, from the home screen:

menu / settings / applications / manage

Pick an app from the list, and there's an uninstall button on the app info screen that comes up.  There's also a "Force stop" button (you might have to scroll down to see it).

In general, you shouldn't have to kill apps -- the system will kill them as necessary when it needs more memory.  However, some poorly written apps may keep threads running in the background (rather than just sitting idle) which can slow the system down and/or decrease battery life.

settings / About phone / Battery use

tries to give you an idea what your big power hogs are

No flash yet.

[Salamok]

Cool, thanks.  I have stayed away from smartphones until now, so this thing is blowing me away.  It has completely mesmerized me, I simply can't put it down.

[NiX]

If I comment on rumors, unannounced products or stuff like that, they shoot me.  Sorry!

If they were to shoot you, would it be with the video function on the Nexus One?

[Quinton]

If I comment on rumors, unannounced products or stuff like that, they shoot me.  Sorry!

If they were to shoot you, would it be with the video function on the Nexus One?

I think it's more they make you kneel on the edge of the loading dock in the back of building 41 and shoot you in the back of the head, so you fall in the dumpster.  I'm not in a hurry to find out though.

[NiX]

So, I can quote you on the record as saying that Google doesn't do composting?

[Draegan]

Oh god that nexus one look perty.

My G1 is feeling ancient and beat up.  I need new shiny.  It's almost a year old.  THATS OLD.

[TripleDES]

Krap!

The X10 has better specs and design, but the Nexus has AMOLED and Android 2.1. This sucks. I'm torn.

[Quinton]

I'd advise against making decisions on "better specs" when one's only data is rumors of/about unannounced products...

[MahrinSkel]

Charlie Stross (my favorite futurist) thinks my analysis of Android's chances is too conservative, Google isn't just going to eat Apple's lunch, they're going to help the internet eat the phone system.  He may well be right, ultimately all the telecoms are selling is specialized crippleware data services, and when the internet really is everywhere, the inefficiencies trying to keep those data services crippled introduce are going to become competitive disadvantages in a big way (witness how AT&T's efforts to keep you from using their TCP/IP services for VOIP have rendered their cellular broadband the poorest performing for *all* purposes).

--Dave

[Venkman]

The Android OS? Which flavor? Which carrier? Or do you mean the Google Phone?

I still don't know what I'm comparing an iPhone to here. Just the hardware? Just the apps? Just the carrier?

That the internet will eventually be ubiquitous and portable and we'll all be jacked into it 24/7 no matter where we are is without question. I just don't see it coming on the backs of carriers continuing to "personalize" (read: gimp) the experience to ensure they keep moving 2 year contract devices. Especially now that Verizon has doubled their early termination (probably due to some legislation on the horizon or because they don't want everyone jumping to the iPhone device when that comes to their service in some form).

[schild]

Charlie Stross (my favorite futurist) thinks my analysis of Android's chances is too conservative, Google isn't just going to eat Apple's lunch, they're going to help the internet eat the phone system.  He may well be right, ultimately all the telecoms are selling is specialized crippleware data services, and when the internet really is everywhere, the inefficiencies trying to keep those data services crippled introduce are going to become competitive disadvantages in a big way (witness how AT&T's efforts to keep you from using their TCP/IP services for VOIP have rendered their cellular broadband the poorest performing for *all* purposes).

--Dave

Totally offhand, but:

All futurists are assholes and deserve no recognition.

[TripleDES]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/exclusive-nexus-one-full-specs-detailed-invite-only-retail-sal/

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. 

How exactly does that supposed per-invitation sale work? How do I sign up? As Android developer? If so, do I have to submit something first? Then again, I always wanted to start coding on Android.

[Draegan]

See I knew it was a good thing to go from Verizon to Tmobile.  Now I get a crack at the Nexus.  Sahweet. 

Any thought on when they will go full retail?  Feb? March?

[TripleDES]

I sure hope that it's going to get regular major updates, if it's ostensibly maintained by Google. And I hope that won't any release secrecy a la Motorola Droid.

[NiX]

God damn. New mobile carrier with crazy data/voice plans and now the Nexus One slated for early next year. Too much to handle!

[Draegan]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/29/t-mobile-makes-internal-mention-of-nexus-one-sort-of-for-earl/

Oh boy... maybe next Tuesday?

Edit: Announcement to come on Tuesday:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/29/google-announces-android-press-conference-for-january-5th/

[bhodi]

So, gripes from my friend. Legitimate, or "You're doing it wrong"?

Why is it so hard (impossible?) to get a route from google maps onto my iPhone?
So if I load a google maps route on my iPhone from a bookmark, it'll show the route on the map, but won't let me see the turn by turn textual directions?
And if I try to open it in the maps app, I can't modify the route, and sometimes it says it can't even route something that maps.google.com could? What?

Would an android solve these issues?

[NiX]

I have some of those issues using Google Maps on my Blackberry. If you can do it, it's not readily apparent.

[KallDrexx]

Ditto on my Palm Pre.  It annoys me to no end that if I find an address on google maps I can't copy/paste it into my turn by turn app, I have to manually switch between apps to copy it.  Frustrating.

[TripleDES]

http://gizmodo.com/5436673/leaked-nexus-one-documents-530-unlocked-180-with-t+mobile

530 US bucks unlocked, 180 with a silly T-Mobile contract. If they're using regular currency conversion, it would cost only 370-380 eurocoins. Supposedly, there's legalese in the sign up site regarding international sales.

[NiX]

I'm wondering what this legal bit about selling/shipping outside of the US is. How would they even know?

[TripleDES]

The terms of sale leaked, and it mentions a whole lot of stuff about import taxes and so on, that supposedly are also conveniently listed for your consideration on www.google.com/phone (it's written like this in the PDF, the site ain't up yet), and price fluctuations due to currency exchange rates apply.

http://podcasts.aolcdn.com/engadget/files/Passion_Terms_of_Sale.pdf

It's a bitmap PDF, so I can't copypasta.

[NiX]

So it pretty much just stats that the normal fees associated with importing goods applies to the phone. I can deal with that.

[KallDrexx]

if that gizmodo site is correct, you would be retarded to not buy the phone unlocked unless you need unlimited minutes.  It claims that if you buy the phone subsidized, you have to do the $79.99 plan w/ a 2 year contract.  However, if 500 daytime minutes is enough (which it is for me), they have an unlocked phone plan (BYOP) for $59, so over the course of those 2 years you would save $480.

*edit*
As a side note 2 questions:
1) Does anyone know how good T-Mobile 3g service in Orlando is?
2) What makes the google phone different than any other android phone?

[TripleDES]

I think the idea behind the Nexus is that it'll be a Google supported reference platform. Support as in getting actual updates to Android, that don't require praying and sacrificing lambs to your favorite handset manufacturer to make them churn out platform updates for your smartphone that's practically considered legacy as soon you bought it.

Got a Snapdragon and currently the most RAM of any smartphone out there.

[ffc]

I wish there was a data only option with calls/texts being sent through Google Voice.  At least $60/mo. sounds like it's cheaper than other unlimited data phone plans.  And I'll sell my GPS unit to take a little bit of the sting out of $500+ for a phone.

[Trippy]

If the leaked specs are correct the phone won't work on the AT&T 3G network (it will work on EDGE) so don't even bother with the unlocked version if your plan was to use your AT&T SIM in it.

[Quinton]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/02/exclusive-google-nexus-one-hands-on-video-and-first-impressio/

Blah blah blah.  Notable for the first decent pictures of the device in the wild.

[KallDrexx]

With sprint changing their fees (allowing me to leave without ETF) I'm real tempted to purchase the Nexus One and drop my Pre.  I'm just concerned about battery life, but I"m sure (just like my pre) Seidio will come to the rescue with a larger battery.

[Chimpy]

With sprint changing their fees (allowing me to leave without ETF) I'm real tempted to purchase the Nexus One and drop my Pre.  I'm just concerned about battery life, but I"m sure (just like my pre) Seidio will come to the rescue with a larger battery.

Nexus One is a GSM phone, won't work on Sprint's CDMA network afaik.

[KallDrexx]

Nexus One is a GSM phone, won't work on Sprint's CDMA network afaik.

Yeah I know.  Sprint's pissed me off enough I'm willing to switch to T-Mobile.

[schild]

You won't miss Sprint if you have good coverage for T-Mobile wherever you are.

[Salamok]

So on the droid I have 2 email programs pointing to the same email account, I don't see a way to remove either email app (one is called email and the other is gmail).  I get 2 email alerts for every email and they store the messages in different locations (if I delete in the gmail app the email is still in the email app).  Once again neither one of these apps show up under "manage applications".

Anyone else have this issue and/or a solution?

[fuser]

Freescale's reference 7" touchscreen tablet running Android looks pretty slick. (Largish picture)

# Size: small/thin form factor (200mm x 128mm x 14.9cm and weighing 376 grams); no need for fan or heat sink
# Processor: Freescale i.MX515 applications processor provides high performance and low power
    * ARM Cortex-A8 core
    * OpenVG & OpenGL/ES graphics cores
    * HD video decoder hardware
# Power management IC:
    * Battery charging system for both USB and wall charging
    * Output buck converters for the processor core and memory
    * Boost converters for LCD backlighting
    * Serial backlight drivers for displays and keypad, plus RGB LED drivers
# Display: 7-inch (1024 x 600) touch screen
# Memory: 512 MB DDR2
# Storage: 4-64 GB internal storage; removable micro SD
# Connectivity: 3G modem (option) 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, RF4CE (option
# Ports: USB 2.0 and USB mini (also for charging), audio in/audio out, SIM card
# Audio: speaker, microphone
# Camera: 3 Mpixel (video recording up to VGA @ 30fps)
# Battery: 1900mAh, USB charging
# Sensors: MMA8450Q 3-axis accelerometer and an ambient light sensor

[bhodi]

Oh damn. I want.