Android: General Chat

[darrenm]

First I've ever heard of someone actually liking a Blackberry.

[Chindie]

First I've ever heard of someone actually liking a Blackberry.

My brother and a few of my friends have picked up Blackberrys recently. Don't get the fascination but by and large they love em.

I'd actually forgotten the other thing I have against HTC phones is the reliance on touchscreens - really really don't get on with them, especially for texting. Just doesn't compare to a proper button, even with haptic feedback and the like.

[chrisp65]

First I've ever heard of someone actually liking a Blackberry.

My brother and a few of my friends have picked up Blackberrys recently. Don't get the fascination but by and large they love em.

I'd actually forgotten the other thing I have against HTC phones is the reliance on touchscreens - really really don't get on with them, especially for texting. Just doesn't compare to a proper button, even with haptic feedback and the like.

I wouldn't describe myself as a fan of the Blackberry over any other phone really, I haven't got that brand loyalty to a phone that I might get accused of with my car or camera or even my tv.

I just find the Bb just does what I bought it for and works everyday and syncs with the computer. I'd be perfectly happy to have something else next time (after all I'm in the lucky position of not paying for the phone or my phone bill), providing I can just pick it up and use it.

I'm trying to think of something I don't like about it, but I can't. I suppose it must be a bit like a volvo or vw. Probably over rated, probably over priced but most often just gets on with the job without drawing attention to its self.

From my brief couple of weeks with the htc I'd need to see some awesome reviews to bother with one again. Battery life! Just remembered the battery needed charging way too often. I travel and I don't need to take my bb charger with me, needed to charge the htc every single day.

[mykeyb]

First I've ever heard of someone actually liking a Blackberry.

My brother and a few of my friends have picked up Blackberrys recently. Don't get the fascination but by and large they love em.

I'd actually forgotten the other thing I have against HTC phones is the reliance on touchscreens - really really don't get on with them, especially for texting. Just doesn't compare to a proper button, even with haptic feedback and the like.

Now I feel exactly the opposite, give me a touch screen over a little keyboard any day of the week.

[Chindie]

Touchscreens just really don't go with me. They're fine for certain jobs, simple non repetitive gesture stuff, tapping, swiping through things, etc. But when you start doing stuff like texting, with the constant taps on the screen, it becomes awkward and uncomfortable imo. It's also, I imagine, an absolute nightmare for your joints because there is no cushion to the movement.

I have an N97, which has a touchscreen and a little keyboard. The keyboard is, honestly, brilliant, makes texting a breeze. I'd never go back to a standard 9 key text system. The touchscreen is far from amazing, but it does the simple job it needs to do well. It's good for simply quickly picking options from menus, browsing through things, etc etc. The time it is used for any major info input is when dialing new numbers. I like the compromise. I've used touchscreens for texting before now, with things like the iPhone, and didn't get on with it, and don't think I ever will.

Which seems like it might be a hinderance if ever I want a HTC phone as they're big on the whole touchscreen only thing (I think a couple of models have had proper keyboards but I imagine they're become increasingly far from the norm).

[b23avfc]

I'm not sure about the whole touchscreen texting problem, mainly because for thousands of years mankind survived repetitive manual movements without padded keys we are too soft in our modern world. Typed on a touchscreen.

It takes getting used to perhaps and is harder to do without looking.

[leviramsey]

Since this seems to be turning into a general non-iPhone (aka intelligent ) smartphone thread.

I'm trying to find an unlocked Canadian-market Motorola Milestone (aka the GSM version of the Droid).

[Tegis]

I'm trying to find an unlocked Canadian-market Motorola Milestone (aka the GSM version of the Droid).

We bought some from this place, the Swedish branch though. Worked fine and was unlocked.

http://www.expansys.ca/

[briggaman]

The HTCs stand up on their own, they don't need fanboys.

The iphone needs a legion of blinded fanboys to actually market the thing. The phone has never been the best at anything on the market, it's always been behind the curve, and yet people insist it's the greatest smartphone. It isn't, never has been, probably never will be. That's why the iphone has fanboys, because the people that use it are blind to the alternatives, they just flock around it.

I agree to a certain extent in that some people just blindly follow anything Apple, just because it looks 'cool'. However, I certainly don't agree that the iPhone has never been the best on the market. It also isn't true that it has always been behind the curve. Most smartphones now try to copy the iPhone. It paved the way for new smartphones so I'm not sure how you can say that it has always been behind the curve....

On another note, many reviewers have found the iPhone to be the best smartphone out there, or at least one of them. I think you are trying to overhype the HTC a bit too much in its current state, which is also far from perfect.

I do think that the upcoming HTC will give the iPhone a run for its money in all honesty. Although the new iPhone is also coming out. Then there is the Windows phone, which looks as if it could be interesting.

I'm far from an Apple fanboy (despite the fact that I own an iPhone). Yet to totally slate the iPhone is madness in my opinion. It has influenced so many companies and so many smartphones (including the HTC).

[leviramsey]

I'm trying to find an unlocked Canadian-market Motorola Milestone (aka the GSM version of the Droid).

We bought some from this place, the Swedish branch though. Worked fine and was unlocked.

http://www.expansys.ca/

Canadian site, but not a Canadian market phone...

3G: WCDMA 900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA, GPRS Class 12, WiFi

The US GSM providers (AT&T & T-Mobile) run 3G on 850 and 1900, so I'd only have EDGE service...

Telus offers it with 3G on those frequencies, but I haven't found any [reliable] site yet that offers the Telus version unlocked instead of the European version.

[TheDon]

I agree to a certain extent in that some people just blindly follow anything Apple, just because it looks 'cool'. However, I certainly don't agree that the iPhone has never been the best on the market. It also isn't true that it has always been behind the curve. Most smartphones now try to copy the iPhone. It paved the way for new smartphones so I'm not sure how you can say that it has always been behind the curve....

On another note, many reviewers have found the iPhone to be the best smartphone out there, or at least one of them. I think you are trying to overhype the HTC a bit too much in its current state, which is also far from perfect.

I do think that the upcoming HTC will give the iPhone a run for its money in all honesty. Although the new iPhone is also coming out. Then there is the Windows phone, which looks as if it could be interesting.

I'm far from an Apple fanboy (despite the fact that I own an iPhone). Yet to totally slate the iPhone is madness in my opinion. It has influenced so many companies and so many smartphones (including the HTC).

Before the iphone was even announced I already had a phone with pretty every feature the iphone had except for a multitouch screen, AND it could copy paste and send MMS, it even had gps!

The only thing the iphone has ever had going for it is the ui is a bit pretty, but functionally, it's never been the best, it just got popular.

Also, "upcoming" HTC? HTC have been in the smartphone market since waaaaaaaaaaay before apple.

[briggaman]

Also, "upcoming" HTC? HTC have been in the smartphone market since waaaaaaaaaaay before apple.

I know, yet 90% of their phones don't come close to the iPhone. When I said "upcoming" I was talking about the new HTC that is on the way (of which I am too lazy to find the name of right now).

It's all down to personal taste but I just don't see how anyone can deny the impact that the iPhone has had, or how almost everyone (including HTC) has tried to copy certain aspects of it.

[Anthony]

Key word there Brigga is 'impact'. Iphone was never the best smartphone, but thanks to Apple's marketing nous it has had a HUGE impact taking smartphones out of geekworld and into the mainstream. It is no longer sad to have a phone with internet et al on it. So now all smartphone manufacturers sell more units thanks to Apple creating a mainstream market.

I say that Apple created this mainstream market, but in Japan it was already there, as were really good smartphones. Unsurprisingly Apple haven't sold that many phones in Japan. So when Steve Jobs talks about how revolutionary the iphone is and was, he is conveniently ignoring Japan which saw that technology wise, it was nothing of the sort and was somewhat behind the curve.

[The_Rev]

Apple branding is very strong. Mac OS is about 5% of the market, its about 90% of the people who wont shut the **** up about which computer they have.

[TheDon]

Just got a HTC Desire today (only ordered yesterday, since when have people shipped things out on sundays?!?) and I already want it's babies.

If anyone has any recommendations for apps then I'm all ears.

[The_Rev]

Android apps? Here are a few of my personal favourites.

Guardian Anywhere - Teh sex.

It's a very fancy rss reader for The Guardian. Basically you set it up to download the newspaper overnight (via WiFi) and you can read the feeds in the morning when you wake up. It's free, and it's bloody lovely.

WiFi Analyser - Does exactly what it says on the tin. Charts neighbouring APs, signal degradation around the house, even recommends which channel you should transmit on.

Reality Browser 3.0/Layar - Augmented reality. Uses GPS and your phones camera to show you where points of interest (cashpoints, cafes, public transport) are in relation to you. Very cool for showing the phone off, very handy if you are lost in a strange town.

Wapedia - Very good Wikipedia browser. Certainly the best I have seen.

Movies - Nice cinema listings app, good for DVD reviews (via IMDB) too.

Soccer Livescores - Fantastic football scoreboard. Very simple, very elegant.

Handcent SMS - I prefer it to the HTC Sense messaging app. Gives a nice popup when you get a message.

Ringtones & Ringdroid are good for custom ringtones. I have multiple 8 bit tunes for my ringtones.

Twitter apps are much of a muchness.

Google Sky Map is fun. Google Goggles too.

Netcounter is definitely worth installing. Keeps track of how much data you use, you can set up alerts for daily/weekly/monthly thresholds.

Timeriffic is an interesting one, you can set your phone up to change to different profiles at different times of the day. Handy if you want to have it on vibrate only at work.

Skyfire and Dolphin are the two popular alternative browsers, I like the default browser myself, though Skyfire is good for streaming videos (read: porn) so it's worth an install.

Appbrain is worth bookmarking.

[limpid]

Timeriffic is an interesting one, you can set your phone up to change to different profiles at different times of the day. Handy if you want to have it on vibrate only at work.

Is there something similar for switching based on GPS?

[TheDon]

Timeriffic is an interesting one, you can set your phone up to change to different profiles at different times of the day. Handy if you want to have it on vibrate only at work.

Is there something similar for switching based on GPS?

I found one earlier, locale, but it's $10. Not found a free alternative yet, so might have to shell out for it. $10 for a lifetime of laziness doesn't seem too bad.

[TheDon]

Android apps? Here are a few of my personal favourites.

Some of those are simply awesome. Going to be running around showing off the augmented reality stuff, it's amazing.

How does skyfire compare to opera mobile?

[The_Rev]

Timeriffic is an interesting one, you can set your phone up to change to different profiles at different times of the day. Handy if you want to have it on vibrate only at work.

Is there something similar for switching based on GPS?

Yeah, like The Don said, Locale. Every app I listed is free.

Android apps? Here are a few of my personal favourites.

Some of those are simply awesome. Going to be running around showing off the augmented reality stuff, it's amazing.

How does skyfire compare to opera mobile?

I prefer Skyfire to Opera, Opera doesnt do much for me on my phone (HTC Hero) even though it was my preferred browser when I had an N95. I prefer the default browser to Skyfire, but Skyfire is very good for video.