Android

GWC Community Geek Hobbies
#1

Ok, I’m not an iPhone hater… Quite contrary, I very much wanted one for quite awhile. But fortunately I could never get one in my area. And I say fortunately because I’ve found one that I love far more than iPhone.
iPhone set a new standard for smart phones and because of it’s enormous market penetration any new apps are generally developed first for it. Given that, iPhone is amazing.

But if you’re not an apple-head, or can’t get AT&T or Cingular or w/e the “exclusive” service provider is calling itself now, or don’t use a Mac/iTunes, I strongly recommend you check out Android (operating system) and the G1 (phone). Android OS (open source, developed by Google) will be coming to other devices (not just phones) and other carriers very soon, but is currently only available on the G1 from Tmobile.

But the G1 is very close and in many ways superior to the iPhone! Better camera resolution, removable micro-SD card for media, full QWERTY on-screen keyboard And slide out keyboard. And especially if you use gmail as your main email or google calendar because your email, contact list, and calendar are all completely integrated and synchronized to the phone, with ‘push’ email and updates to the device. Edit anything on the phone or computer, it automatically syncs to the other. You can also configure any POP3/IMAP mail clients to be received to your gmail account too. Or if for some reason the phone fails (though I know of nobody who has had any failed hardware short of dropping it in water or off a ledge to hard concrete), once you get it fixed/replaced all you have to do is sign in to your gmail account and all your email, contacts, and calendar are automatically resync’ed.
Also has full integration to Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, and Windows Live; full HTML & Java web browser; 3.2mp camera & camcorder

Or if you like Google Maps (regular maps, satellite maps, or even street view maps!!), they’re completely integrated as well and with the phone’s GPS and open source development there are some pretty amazing maps & location applications available for it too. (“Find me the nearest movie theater, give me show times, and now give me turn by turn directions to it”)
And the phone even has a YouTube application built right in with very impressive quality! (Niece was getting fussy on a car ride, handed her her favorite cartoon on YouTube and not only did she settle down and watch it, she was navigating the related videos with no instruction even needed!)

As for media, the G1 is integrated with Amazon MP3 and Google Checkout for payment processing of songs or applications purchased in the Market. But you also don’t have to have a particular application (iTunes) to get media in your phone. Sync via WiFi, USB cable, or load directly to the removable media card! And items purchased through Amazon MP3 are generally a bit less expensive than Apple Store don’t have DRM on them so you can transfer to PC, Zune, or any other device.

Another really cool thing, the Android OS also has something called “intents”. Which allows an application with any piece of information to basically “announce” that is has some piece of info and any other application on the phone that can do something with that kind of info may take it and make use of it… For example, the Shazam application most people are familiar with can tell you what a song is and then “announce” that it has a song artist&title. Then the Amazon MP3 app can take that and take you to buy the song. Or you might use the “Places” application which uses your GPS information and online data to find places of interest (banks, gas stations, restaurants, theaters, etc) near you. You can see how far the places are or read reviews on them. But then you could click the Address of the place, the application “announces” it has an address, then the Google Maps might pick it up and give you turn-by-turn directions to it or allow you to see the Street View image of the place, or click the phone number and the phone application will pick it up and call them.

And as far as cost (again Tmobile is only carrier at the moment, but Android is being implemented on new devices by other carriers right now), I got a deal on the phone but I think it’s $180 with 2-year contract regularly. Then I have the smallest minutes plan, 300 anytime minutes for $30/mo, and unlimited texting & data for another $35/mo (or they have a $25/mo with unlimited data only option too). So $65/mo total even cheaper per month than the iPhone would be even if I lived in a main service area!

The only things I still think the iPhone wins on is it’s a sexier device (but new Android devices are coming), it has multi-touch, screen is a tiny bit larger, and the software catalog is bigger (though again as more and more Android devices get to the market, their penetration is just going to keep growing and since it’s even cheaper for developers to get registered to post&sell their apps it’s almost guaranteed apps will start getting developed with Android as the standard then ported to iPhone)

…wow that turned out to be a much longer post that I expected… but yeah… Android and G1 ROCKS!!! (If anybody’s considering a G1 feel free to ask me if ya have any Q’s)

#2

Thanks for the review, Nickolas.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Android platform, but at this early stage of the game I’m going to stick with the iPhone. These are two very different approaches to what a smartphone should be, and as I am a natural conservative my preference for Apple’s approach shouldn’t be surprising.

However, my geeky tendencies make me root for Android’s eventual success. Apple has been a bit ham-fisted lately, and if Android proves you can open up the platform a bit, I’d be thrilled.

Keep us posted on your experience with it.

#3

Question to you Nick H,

this has been the longest decision in my life I-phone/Blackberry/G1 you seem to love the phone so a question

Is the battery life decent on the thing? like real world use and not just what the manufacturer says

#4

Battery life depends on what Android phone you have. I have the Cliq with Motoblur and I have to charge it every day, but that is due mostly always being on and pulling updates from Facebook, Twitter, Photobucket, Last.fm, etc. The G1 has a much better battery life. I do have a friend who has the HTC Hero and she has complaints of the phone shutting down randomly, but that may be more of a software issue and can be fixed in the next update.

I’ve heard that the lag time for most Android phones have gotten much better since it’s been updated to 2.0. I say most because I’m still waiting on the update for my Cliq…damnit. Other than that being my only complaint about it, it is a sweet phone. Android is a good alternative for those that want more variety than just an iphone.

#5

I’m considering the Droid ERIS when I update to a smart phone in the summer. It’s running a lesser version of Android but is rumored to be due for an upgrade to 2.0 during the 1st quarter of the year. (Here we are in the 1st quarter…). Anyway, I have a non-techie neighbor w/ an ERIS but don’t know anyone else w/ one. I know the DROID itself is supposed to be more powerful but I hate it’s industrial, clunky looks. (I’m girly that way.) Also, how is the selection of apps for the Android OS? I found some but they look pretty sparse or like I can’t see all of them (listed as “Top free apps” and “Top pay apps”).

Amy

#6

I haven’t used the Droid or the iphone so my opinion is a bit uninformed, but if you are willing to go with Sprint you might try the HTC Hero. I have had my Hero for about a month now and I really like it. I like the Android OS (but I had an older Windows Mobile phone before so almost anything is an improvement) and I like HTCs Touch interface. It is relatively small for a smartphone and I think it fits well in the front pocket of most trousers (not jeans though).

As for apps, I been able to find apps for the tasks I want the phone to do.

Hope this helps.

#7

well i’m on an older android model and its been updated. soon to be again to 2.0 but its up up to your carrier as to when. as for apps android is your only real viable alternative to Apple right now. no doubt Apple has more apps; but all your bases are covered on Android after all there’s like 20,000 of them. facebook, about a hundred twitter clients, shop savey; evernote and most of then are free they are a little less polished and unified in appearance, as there is no application process where they are judged, but you get a lot of diversity the single worst part of the Android app store is that its hard to find them. but seriously the best app for me is the free Turn by turn nav google maps app.

its a great os but its not as intuitive as the iphone, still for me i prefer open over closed. hope that helped.