Motorola Droid

[syntaxerror]

Anybody getting one?
Looks like a terrific phone. Shame the UK networks don't seem to be interested:

+ Great hardware spec + Android 2.0
+ Open to developers (No nanny-Apple software control)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO2FfpNZ8_0

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/10/verizon-motorola-droid-press_1.jpg

[Brian]

The Droid is gonna be my next phone. This phone is getting tons of attention and it's nice being a Verizon user to finally get something that is a strong alternative to iPhone(or iDrone as Shane calls it).

[Womp]

Oh I've been eying it with great interest. I just got a Blackberry Tour (Which I adore) and right now the only thing keeping me at bay from selling it and getting this (The Google integration makes me giddy) is that Blackberry Messenger is my life.

[compacho]

The more I look at the phone, the more it grows on me. I love its angled shape and black/gold color scheme. Kinda gives it a retro vibe. Too bad I still have 1 more year to go on my T-Mobile contract but I have read rumors that a T-mobile compatible version is in the works. Can't wait to go to Best Buy and try it out.

The biggest shocker here is that Motorola came up with this hardware design.

[compacho]

Hot damn, I just realized the guy in the video lives like 15 minutes away from me. I might hafta take some large friends of mine to his place. Afterall, he did show us his exact location on the GPS app :D

[syntaxerror]

I was initially interested in the HTC HD2 but for me, HTC really blew it by insisting on using WinMobile 6.5. A mobile O/S noboby seems to want (me included)
I have seen dreadful 1999-style screens in various reviews/videos
Also, the Windows Marketplace seems pretty dire. 250+ apps? Some of which are seriously overpriced

Android 2.0 really seems to be making big strides now (Google maps, Turn-by-turn navigation etc..)

[Darksol]

I'll be getting one soon.

For Europe, there is a 3G version called the Milestone that is shipping I think.

Basically iPhone + keypad + Freedom.

The magnetic dock looks sweet too.

[Turbo2Xs]

I got a Motorola Krave about 2 months ago which has thus underwhelmed me, so I looked at the Droid yesterday.

Oddly, the Verizon store didn't have one that was activated [wtf?] so I only got to play with the look and feel. It was good.

I liked it but didn't really $599 like it --without seeing how well (and fast) it deals with the internet as thats what I'm most interested in when it comes to phones. So, anyone deal with one in action?

[Darksol]

I should be getting mine on Monday.

[TheAlien]

Just passing along hearsay. Two friends of mine each got one last week. Both hate them based on service drops and slow internet speeds. One has still yet to be able to receive txt messages and says that the support is seriously crappy. I can vouch for this since I've had Verizon before. And try to get help on the website. While trying to help one of these friends set an mp3 as a ringtone, I ended up googling for anything that didn't have Verizon in the results. Verizon's site gave absolutely no help whatsoever. A co-worker has it's predecesor, also hates it. Other than service drop outs, no real reason given.

Since I don't have one, I can't say from personal experience. Just telling ya all what I've heard. I'd prolly stay away from it for a while.

[Darksol]

Just passing along hearsay. Two friends of mine each got one last week. Both hate them based on service drops and slow internet speeds. One has still yet to be able to receive txt messages and says that the support is seriously crappy. I can vouch for this since I've had Verizon before. And try to get help on the website. While trying to help one of these friends set an mp3 as a ringtone, I ended up googling for anything that didn't have Verizon in the results. Verizon's site gave absolutely no help whatsoever. A co-worker has it's predecesor, also hates it. Other than service drop outs, no real reason given.

Since I don't have one, I can't say from personal experience. Just telling ya all what I've heard. I'd prolly stay away from it for a while.

Your comment makes no sense since the Droid has no predecessor device. There weren't even Android phones on Verizon until this month.

[Womp]

^ I was just thinking that.

[yuckymucky]

One of my coworkers picked one up last week and I used it for about an hour and it is nice, very nice. The screen is absolutely amazing, besides the n900 nothing compares. The hard keyboard however is a whole different story, it takes a while to get used to. The keys seem really small, even compared to my Tour, and they are all flat so it is just awkward to type on. Android is pretty quick and snappy and the web browser is really nice.

If there was an Android port of BlackBerry Messenger and my contract was up I would most certainly consider switching over, I am not really sure that it is worth the $600 off contract price.

[TheAlien]

Your comment makes no sense since the Droid has no predecessor device. There weren't even Android phones on Verizon until this month.

Read much?

The last sentence is the only place I mentioned it's predecessor, which was the Android. No, the Android wasn't available on Verizon, but I believe the PHONE was Actually Sold to People.

The rest of my comment was just my sharing of experience and that of others who JUST BOUGHT THE PHONE.

So, your comment on what I said makes no sense, since it didn't pertain to anything I said.

Geesh, some people. Can't try to help without someone turning bitch. Go buy the damned thing and have fun with it!

[Womp]

Well, of course since this is the first Android based phone on Verizon's network there are likely to be some problems out of the gate, happens with many new products via some 'growing pains'. However there is already a huge ass update coming in the next few weeks that looks to solve many of these initial issues and bugs so I'd say the support is pretty good IMO.

Basically what you are saying is that texting is wonky (Which is obviously a network issue and not good) and that the internet browsing speed is slow which are genuine complaints. Engadget recently had a video up where they placed a Motorola Droid and an iPhone next to each other and had each phone's browsers load up the Engadget home page. Shockingly enough the Droid came through and fully loaded the page first while the iPhone was still 'thinking'. Take it with a grain of salt but that also comes in line with network speeds, something that like any data connection can be hit or miss depending on your signal strength.

For the record Android isn't a phone though, it is an OS that operates on a phone. Ultimately, like DarkSol, I must not be able to read either because when you say....


A co-worker has it's predecesor, also hates it. Other than service drop outs, no real reason given.


...it makes it sound like "its predecessor" being an older version of the phone we are discussing in this thread topic, the Motorola Droid, which of course does not exist - One Verizon or otherwise. Now if you are referring to say a G1 phone via AT&T that also runs the Android OS (Albeit older) and was the first of its kind, then that would make more sense. ;)

[Darksol]

Read much?

The last sentence is the only place I mentioned it's predecessor, which was the Android. No, the Android wasn't available on Verizon, but I believe the PHONE was Actually Sold to People.

The rest of my comment was just my sharing of experience and that of others who JUST BOUGHT THE PHONE.

So, your comment on what I said makes no sense, since it didn't pertain to anything I said.

Geesh, some people. Can't try to help without someone turning bitch. Go buy the damned thing and have fun with it!

Android is the name of the OS itself, not any particular phone. Verizon plans on having many phones using the Droid trademark though. The Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris were the first. You are truly very clueless on this topic. You should steer back to politics and not on technology which you MIGHT have some legs to stand on.

The very first Android device was the HTC G1.

[TheAlien]

Android is the name of the OS itself, not any particular phone. Verizon plans on having many phones using the Droid trademark though. The Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris were the first. You are truly very clueless on this topic. You should steer back to politics and not on technology which you MIGHT have some legs to stand on.

The very first Android device was the HTC G1.

Allow me to make this simple for you asslicks. I never said I knew shat about the phones from personal experience. I said two of my friends just bought the new one. They both hate it. A co-worker has a previous model. I couldn't care less what freakin one it is other than it uses the android os. I believe it's t-mobile. He hates it. If you don't want to use the info I provided, fine. But no, you all gotta be bitches and attack me 'personally' just for posting a simple observation. You guys really are ass-holes sometimes.

Ya know, I had a whole paragraph here in whether or not I have "legs to stand on", but it would be wasted on someone who is so self-absorbed as some of you are.

Like I said, if you don't want to use the info, skip the post, take your clueless asses to Best Buy and go buy your friggin phone.

[Womp]

Geez man, calm down. No one was being an asshole, just trying to understand what you meant. I even said that I assumed you were referring to the G1.

These phones are all new to me as it is and I'm trying to read up on them and learn about their pros and cons.

[CausalSpark]

Allow me to make this simple for you asslicks.

Oh, come on now. There's no reason for the name calling.

[Flare]

sits back...
http://comic-mint.com/media/client/0653_homer-eating-popcorn-small-c7873.JPG

[Turbo2Xs]

Oh, come on now. There's no reason for the name calling.Agreed... wow.

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed I guess...

But just for the attitude Alien, I'm buying TWO. One to use and one to smack you in the balls with. :D

[CausalSpark]

Agreed... wow.

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed I guess...

But just for the attitude Alien, I'm buying TWO. One to use and one to smack you in the balls with. :D


Better yet, use the flawless web browser to show him a picture of balls.

[Darksol]

We all like to thump our chests sometimes, and that includes me too :)

[Nectar]

I grew up with stuff like this. People you know behaving normally and then screaming, thrashing, and the sound of furniture being smashed.

[NE146]

We all like to thump our chests sometimes, and that includes me too :)

Personally, I just wave my erect weiner :D

[Turbo2Xs]

OMFG!! This thing is AWESOME!!! :D

$647.99 out the door but damn... very, very cool!

[Darksol]

why so much?

[TheAlien]

OMFG!! This thing is AWESOME!!! :D

$647.99 out the door but damn... very, very cool!
Well, I seriously hope it works out for ya. Outside of the comments my friends gave me, it looks like a pretty nice phone....way too expensive, but nice. Let us know if you have any of the problems I mentioned, drop outs, txt messaging problems, slow internet, stuff like that.

Try out Shazam. I heard it's available for your phone (again, I may be wrong...going on friends comments). Hold the mic to your radio and it'll tell you what song is playing. And I know there's a program that'll scan a barcode using the camera and tell you the nutrition details for it.

Again, good luck with your phone. If my friends are full of shat, this will be a good time to rub it in.

And for those of you who jumped all over me and called me clueless, please note that I never said I knew any details from personal experience so, get over yourselves.

[Nectar]

Cut the shat. The reason there's a curse filter is so we can cuss all we want without offending. Why do we care if the words are filtered out? Watch early episodes of South Park. It's actually better that way. We know exactly what you're saying by context but when you write "shat", I actually read it that way, and it makes it seem as if you got a strange northern accent.

[Turbo2Xs]

I had to buy it at retail price as I just got my Krave 2 months ago so... no upgrade or new contract pricing.

Anyway, I am SO loving this thing!

No problems with texting; in fact, it keeps your texts grouped like a chat program which makes it very easy to follow extended back and forth conversations.

This forum looks very good, much better than on the Blackberry which impressed me.

[Womp]

Yeah, I tested one at the Verizon store yesterday and it is pretty damned cool. The voice recognition is the bomb. Going to Google and saying "monroeworld" and then getting my results made me giddy as a little girl. The forums look great on the browser too, easily rivaling my iPod Touch browser. Even the keyboard isn't as horrible as I thought it would be and isn't quite as flat as pictures of it would lead you to believe. Currently I love my Blackberry Tour but this Droid is just the bees knees. With the great browser, Google GPS features, and the ability to download Podcasts directly, it would totally eliminate my need to carry around two devices and replace the reason I even own my iPod.

Oh well, unfortunately for me it would cost $199 right now with my yearly upgrade and I simply don't have that kind of cash laying around.

Anyone want to buy a jailbroken iPod Touch cheap? ;)

[Womp]

So Turbo and Darksol...

Any dropped calls so far?

[Turbo2Xs]

Not a single dropped call. While talking on the phone wasn't the motivating factor in my purchase, I have had several 5+hour calls [please don't ask :eek:] so I can't complain.

The only observations regarding texting are:

* I was getting what seemed to be spam texts for the first week. Turns out that it was due to my not deactivating 'mobile email' on my previous phone before disconnecting it. Appears to be fixed.

* One person complained that my text message was gibberish and yet her message was gibberish. 1-700 but still :D

I am looking forward to an update as there are some niggling issues that need to be sorted out but I'm overall still very happy with the phone, the reception [I work in a VAULT and still get reception!] and even the keyboard [though it doesn't bring up the auto suggestions that you get when using the touch keyboard of which I'm not a fan].

The future looks good if they add multi-touch (available in Europe?), provide better development tools and cleanup the market place [too many iPhone crossover apps that don't regard this hardware properly].

@ TheAlien: Shazam is the bomb!

[Womp]

There is a huge over the air update hitting on Dec 11th to fix a bunch of stuff including the camera and voice dialing via bluetooth. The phone does have and is capable multi-touch, it just has nothing that supports it out of the box. Frankly it isn't an issue with me as even on my iPod Touch do I very rarely use the pinch zoom anyhow.

Thanks for the input! :)

[TheAlien]

@ TheAlien: Shazam is the bomb!

Glad you like your phone. I guess my friends are just douche bags...imagine that! And, fwiw, I posted in the palm pre forums that I'm getting a little frustrated with this phone of mine. It's a great phone, don't get me wrong. But damn, be nice if the Pre folks did a little something as far as apps. Only the homebrew stuff is making it out. And I STILL can't record video, like the salesman said I would be able to on the next update,,,,,three updates ago. Although the phone is great, and the service is fantastic, and the customer service is great, it's looking like the makers put the phone out and then all quit and went to work for Motorola. Oh, and the battery life on the Pre sucks. I actually had to get a spare battery.

And it's nice to see you actually took my advice FOR ONCE and got Shazam. Can I say I told ya so yet?

.

prolly not :o

[alexjlopez]

Another "failure to launch"?

Leading mobile publisher Gameloft has said that it is one of a number of companies scaling back investment in games and applications for Google's Android platform. (http://www.next-gen.biz/news/gameloft-significantly-cuts-android-development)

[syntaxerror]

Its plain madness that there seems to be no plans for a UK release as yet.
What is it with the Mobile phone scene? some companies act as if they want to go bankrupt

[Darksol]

So Turbo and Darksol...

Any dropped calls so far?

No dropped calls so far.

[Darksol]

There is a huge over the air update hitting on Dec 11th to fix a bunch of stuff including the camera and voice dialing via bluetooth. The phone does have and is capable multi-touch, it just has nothing that supports it out of the box. Frankly it isn't an issue with me as even on my iPod Touch do I very rarely use the pinch zoom anyhow.

Thanks for the input! :)

Voice dialing with Bluetooth is a must have feature for me. Glad to see I will not have to wait long.

[Womp]

Its plain madness that there seems to be no plans for a UK release as yet.
What is it with the Mobile phone scene? some companies act as if they want to go bankrupt

Isn't It coming to the UK next year as the Motorola Milestone or is that for Europe only?

[syntaxerror]

> Isn't It coming to the UK next year as the Motorola Milestone

I just read up on a news item regarding that. They REALLY should stick with the "droid" name which has a much better 'buzz' about it than Milestone

Still, better than nothing

[Darksol]

I thought it might be hitting the UK next month.

[Womp]

I got my Droid on Tuesday and so far I am loving it. Big learning curve coming off the Blackberry but man, this is one snazzy device. Call me nuts but I am actually enjoying the Android Marketplace more than the iPod App Store too.

I'll put a review up in a bit.

[Turbo2Xs]

Looking forward to the review as I'm not all that much a fan of the marketplace..

With an open development system there will always be those trying to make a fast buck on shoddy programs/scarcity/attempted cloning [just make it run yo!] - prolly my least favorite aspect of this phone; despite it's potential.

This ISN'T an iPhone, so please - stop porting halfass versions of your programs just to cash in!

Fags! ;)

[Darksol]

My Droid helped me with Black Friday shopping already. More to come on what I bought :D

[syntaxerror]

Motorola have scored big with this one ..

+ the snazzy name "Droid"
+ Nice logo - Red eye thing which reminds me of HAL 2000
+ Android 2.0 (Yay for freedom and no iNanny knows best)
+ Keyboard

This is the Susan Boyle of mobile phones

Also now available for order in the UK from http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=190234

[Womp]

Looking forward to the review as I'm not all that much a fan of the marketplace..

With an open development system there will always be those trying to make a fast buck on shoddy programs/scarcity/attempted cloning [just make it run yo!] - prolly my least favorite aspect of this phone; despite it's potential.

This ISN'T an iPhone, so please - stop porting halfass versions of your programs just to cash in!

Fags! ;)

Considering the amount of utter **** found on the Apple App Store (You have seen it I assume, and those apps are screened which is laughable in itself) I don't think saying that just because Android Marketplace is open development that it will be weaker due to it. On the contrary, not only is a ton of stuff free but I'm finding it more functional to boot. I paid $1.99 on my Touch for a XBOX 360 Friends app that will display and update my friends list without having to boot up the system or a PC to check. I not only found a similar app in the Android Marketplace for my Droid, but it was free, runs faster and even shows my achievements as well!

Not only that but all purchased apps bought via the Android Marketplace also come with a 24 hour full refund if you are not fully satisfied! So guess what? You don't like what you bought? Return it! :)

I haven't had time to get on this forum much lately to do anything other than read but I'll post a little review when I'm done playing with the phone some more.

At the moment though? It's owning me. I can't put the bitch down. It has some quirks but overall I am in total love. Right now my big beef is the when I want to hang up and once in a while the screen is black which means I don't have the ability to touch the 'end call' button. Once I had to do a battery pull to bring the screen back. Not so fun.

[Darksol]

At the moment though? It's owning me. I can't put the bitch down. It has some quirks but overall I am in total love. Right now my big beef is the when I want to hang up and once in a while the screen is black which means I don't have the ability to touch the 'end call' button. Once I had to do a battery pull to bring the screen back. Not so fun.

At least YOU CAN pull the battery.

[compacho]

I'm so jealous now. Ugh, if only the Droid was available for T-Mobile...

[Darksol]

I'm so jealous now. Ugh, if only the Droid was available for T-Mobile...

There is the Cliq which also has a slide out keyboard, but I don't need the MotoBlur software with all the facebook and myspace happenings.

[Turbo2Xs]

Not only that but all purchased apps bought via the Android Marketplace also come with a 24 hour full refund if you are not fully satisfied! So guess what? You don't like what you bought? Return it! :)
I'll have to look into that!


At the moment though? It's owning me. I can't put the bitch down. It has some quirks but overall I am in total love.
With you on that one pal! It's pure win... :o

[Womp]

At least YOU CAN pull the battery.

It was only that one time at least...heh. Basically what happens is the screen times out while on the phone, since the screen shuts off when it detects you talking, sometimes the proximity sensor can't make the connection you pulled it away from your face. I had it set to 30 sec time out and have now since changed it to 1 min and so far so good. Honestly right now that is the first big glitch I've discovered. Not having hardware 'send' and 'end' keys is a drag in this regard but I've gotten used to it. Being able to make one tap contact shortcuts on your main screen fixes the problem of having no quick dial hardware buttons as well.


I'm so jealous now. Ugh, if only the Droid was available for T-Mobile...


There is the Cliq which also has a slide out keyboard, but I don't need the MotoBlur software with all the facebook and myspace happenings.

I gotta say...I'm Mister Hardware Keyboard and all but I'm finding myself typing better using the digital keyboard in horizontal mode more than even the physical keys. It's crazy, I know, but its for some reason BETTER than the iPod one. The keys themselves are OK however my big issue right now is that the D-Pad makes the entire keyboard off center.

As for the Cliq, I'm sure it is decent and all but the Droid's screen and Android 2.0 additions such as the absolutely INSANE Google Navigation are truly mind blowing. Also since it contains Motorola's proprietary MotoBlur thing I am not even sure it can be upgraded to 2.0.

Last night I booted up my iPod Touch after not using it for almost a week and was knocked backwards at how 'crappy' the screen looked. You can't even see the damned pixels on the Droid screen...It's so beautifully clear and crisp and vibrant.

BTW, another sweet free app - StreamFurious. It's a collection of online radio stations that even includes Howard 101! Here I am at work right now, no 3G phone signal to be found behind my office lead walls, using the phone's WiFi to stream Howard 101 through the external speaker over this great totally free little app. As a side note...The external speaker on this phone is crazy loud. Whereas I was straining to hear audio through the Touch's, this one I actually had to drop to 75% due to loudness.

I used to think having WiFi on a cell phone like this was useless but I've quickly become a fan and now totally understand why people would want it available on top of their phone network signal.

[Womp]

I'll have to look into that!


Nothing to look into man. After going through about 5 different podcatcher apps (One of the main reasons I wanted an iPod Touch was downloading podcasts on demand through the device) and being disappointed with every one of them for one instance or another I finally gave in and dropped $6.99 by what everyone was calling the de-facto app for the Android platform to do it.

It's perfect. Totally polished and exactly what I wanted.

Right after I downloaded it I went back to my 'Downloaded' list and tapped on the app. Sure enough at the bottom was a button for 'uninstall and refund'.

My iPod Touch just lost yet another notch in its belt of tricks.

[Turbo2Xs]

Sorry Womp, but I despise the 'touch keyboard' and had no trouble (as a nOOb even!) adapting to the physical KB. The only thing I prefer about the touch KB is the spal chexer! ;)

[Womp]

Sorry Womp, but I despise the 'touch keyboard' and had no trouble (as a nOOb even!) adapting to the physical KB. The only thing I prefer about the touch KB is the spal chexer! ;)

I agree with you...Honestly, I mean I just came from a Blackberry with a gorgeous dare I say flawless portable keyboard but I've been doing pretty well. I think it may also not help that I am too lazy to slide it out sometimes as well. ;)

[Turbo2Xs]

See, I slide it for effect... kinda like I did with the Monadnock LEO baton. [ASP Baton it you're a nOOb to that kinda thing]

It makes people clench their aresholes that much more when you whip out. Whip it real good!

My major problem with the general 'touch KBs' is that you have to take too many steps to get simple things like " ' " for instance...

I'm the kinda guy that doesn't type in short hand and it gets very tiring switching back and forth when you want to use words like: they're, can't, she's, Canyon Bomber... er... never mind! :cool:

[syntaxerror]

Looking at some screenshots of the keyboard, do the two lower left/right blank keys do anything?

[Womp]

^ Nope.

I'm actually in the process of exchanging my Droid for a new one due to this damned 'wake' issue when I want to end a call and get a black screen. Only a battery pull fixes it. :P

[Womp]

I've had my exchanged Droid for almost two weeks now and knock on wood, zero point zero issues. This damn phone just gets better and better, and the newly released bugfix and performance update just adds to it overall.

As much as I loved my Blackberry and miss the crap out of Blackberry Messenger it would be horribly difficult to go back to it now.

[alexjlopez]

As much as I loved my Blackberry and miss the crap out of Blackberry Messenger it would be horribly difficult to go back to it now.

It sucks dude, I miss my Shane/Womp 24-hour hotline hehehe.

[Darksol]

The new 2.01 update is awesome. It was delivered well and sped up everything. It also fixed the damn camera issues.

[Shane R. Monroe]

It sucks dude, I miss my Shane/Womp 24-hour hotline hehehe.

Me too :( I miss group chat

[syntaxerror]

> It also fixed the damn camera issues

Can you confirm whether the fix cures the delay in launching the camera via the hardware shutter button in comparison to using the camera ICON method?
Also, does the fix improve the time it takes for the focus to kick in?

Thanks!

[Brian]

I'm a little late to the party but I just got a Droid for Christmas from my girlfriend. I'm so in love with this phone! It's crazy how many awesome free apps there are. I just downloaded Manga Droid (free) and it seems like every issue of every manga ever made is in there. Any app recommendations Womp?

[Shane R. Monroe]

You rat bastards are going to have me in a Droid this July aren't you?

Sigh ... But.. I LOOOOVE my Berry ....

[Womp]

By then there will be even better Android phones on Verizon however the chances of them having a physical keyboard like the Droid are unfortunately pretty slim.

The apps and customization on this thing blow me away.

It'll be updating that app posting later tonight, stay tuned. :)

[Brian]

Holy crap thanks for the reccomendation guys. The bar code scanner is so awesome! And I never noticed how many apps were running in the background till I fired up Advanced Task Killer. Soooo useful. And Astrid is awesome now I don't have to make to-do lists all the time and cram the papers in my pockets. This phone makes me giddy haha.

[Womp]

Holy crap thanks for the reccomendation guys. The bar code scanner is so awesome! And I never noticed how many apps were running in the background till I fired up Advanced Task Killer. Soooo useful. And Astrid is awesome now I don't have to make to-do lists all the time and cram the papers in my pockets. This phone makes me giddy haha.

Refresh...I just finished up my apps post. ;)

I used ATK when I first got my Droid as well however I have found it isn't really necessary anymore. Android seems pretty good at throwing the memory usage around where needed

[compacho]

I'm so jealous. I wish I could be more involved in this thread :(

[Darksol]

Womp, we may need an official Android App thread :) .

[Turbo2Xs]

*Update*

Been awhile since I've posted but...

- The 2.01 update fubar'd my contact list; they're all there but now they're spread out over my "contact" and "Favorite" tabs though I only ever had 1 favorite. Not sure how to fix this.

- Some of the apps are still weak with properly using the hardware; for instance I have a speedometer program that uses the GPS and at times it doesn't know you're not moving instead reporting a speed when you're not even moving.

-I get hangup issues like Womp said but not the kind that require battery removal.

+ The physical keyboard really is easy to adapt to and I can almost type as fast on it as a real keyboard - remember, I don't have a background in this sorta thing with phones.

+ Still awed at the screen.

+ Rarely loses signal even in places where they're trying to block it - hospital for instance.

+ Excellent battery life

+ Easy computer integration.

+ Internet is very, very good though some sites like FB give me problems. In FBs case, sending emails is iffy though commenting etc is fine.

+ Still great potential once it matures.

+/- The apps overall are getting better though I find it odd that we all seem to have pretty much the same stuff in the end (per Womps list and others)

Bonus:

Look into an app called "Screebl" as it lets you set the boundaries of normal use that prevents the phone from 'sleeping' when you're using it naturally. I loved it because I got really tired of reading articles and having the display time out. With this app... well, just look it up. Even has a video explaining it's function.

[Womp]

Turbo ~ I was experiencing that 'no screen end call' issue pretty much day one but I'm happy to report that this replacement has been great so far.

[Womp]

Just a heads up...I posted a blog entry about this phone and some small feelings about it. :)

[Demolition Man]

Looks like I'm going Droid in a few days myself. Looking to get a new phone and the Iris (or is it Eris) looks to be the one for me. :D

[Womp]

Eris. Understand the differences between the phones though. The Eris lacks some of the punch found in the Droid however it comes in a smaller package. Either way it seems to be a solid phone as well.

[Demolition Man]

Eris. Understand the differences between the phones though. The Eris lacks some of the punch found in the Droid however it comes in a smaller package. Either way it seems to be a solid phone as well.

I played with both of them at Verizon a month ago. Honestly outside of the keyboard the Eris pretty much has what I need. Touch screen, mp3 player, camera, and yes... it makes phone calls.

[Womp]

http://i48.tinypic.com/2645o1t.jpg

Total ownage. :)

[syntaxerror]

And mine:
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll234/syntax_photos/droid_m.jpg

I am having to set the date to 17 Nov 2009 in order to fix a camera auto-focus bug for Milestone
At least until we get the 2.0.1 update. I hope Google does not forget to patch the Milestone (especially now Nexus One is imminent)

[Womp]

The 2.0.1 update was posted online for download, at least for the Droid...Wonder if it works for the Milestone. It was easy to do and I was able to do the update before they sent it to me OTA.

[Nous Anima]

The Nexus One (with Android 2.1) is being officially announced right now.

800 x 480 high contrast AMOLED screen, 1ghz snapdragon processor, all the usual sensors and features you've come to expect on practically every recent smartphone.

Now, about the price ... let's wait and see.


EDIT 1: Oooh , apparently it supports voice input for every text widget (so you can use speech to edit text messages, emails, tweets, blogs, and anything that you would otherwise have to type text into). I assume this will become available on most android handsets when they are updated to v2.1 of the OS.

EDIT 2: $529 for the handset (no contract), $179 with T-Mobile , but I am guessing they'll have to drop their prices when it becomes available on other networks in a couple of months. So, not very cheap right now.

[Darksol]

The Nexus One (with Android 2.1) is being officially announced right now.

800 x 480 high contrast AMOLED screen, 1ghz snapdragon processor, all the usual sensors and features you've come to expect on practically every recent smartphone.

Now, about the price ... let's wait and see.


EDIT 1: Oooh , apparently it supports voice input for every text widget (so you can use speech to edit text messages, emails, tweets, blogs, and anything that you would otherwise have to type text into). I assume this will become available on most android handsets when they are updated to v2.1 of the OS.

EDIT 2: $529 for the handset (no contract), $179 with T-Mobile , but I am guessing they'll have to drop their prices when it becomes available on other networks in a couple of months. So, not very cheap right now.

Making it a semi T-Mobile exclusive is not going to make it do wonders with sales in the US.

[Nous Anima]

Making it a semi T-Mobile exclusive is not going to make it do wonders with sales in the US.It isn't , it'll be available on Verizon and Vodafone apparently, very soon.

Also: DROID and the other phones will get the Nexus One software once it's open sourced in the next few days.

[Darksol]

It isn't , it'll be available on Verizon and Vodafone apparently, very soon.

Also: DROID and the other phones will get the Nexus One software once it's open sourced in the next few days.

Officially available you mean :)

[ChairoNoMe]

The Nexus One (with Android 2.1) is being officially announced right now.

800 x 480 high contrast AMOLED screen, 1ghz snapdragon processor, all the usual sensors and features you've come to expect on practically every recent smartphone.

Now, about the price ... let's wait and see.


Unlimited free GPS using Google Maps is a great selling point, considering that I have a TomTom that I'm not willing to spend $100 to pay for the map upgrade.

An article (http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_nexus_one?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Ind ex+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29) I read said that it doesn't support multitouch. They better get this fixed before launch otherwise it's one flawed phone to add to the pile.

Also, they better do something about the sluggish interface. Every Android-based phone I've played with in the store has delays and slow performance, such as when switching aspect ratios. I'm hoping the fast processor fixes this.

[Darksol]

Unlimited free GPS using Google Maps is a great selling point, considering that I have a TomTom that I'm not willing to spend $100 to pay for the map upgrade.

An article (http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_nexus_one?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Ind ex+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29) I read said that it doesn't support multitouch. They better get this fixed before launch otherwise it's one flawed phone to add to the pile.
.

Multitouch has nothing to do with what is possible. The Droid variant in Europe, the Milestone, has Multitouch support . The reason it is not in the US is due to Apple. Apple appears to have a strong hold on the IP regarding multitouch in the US. It is actually available in some high end smartphone handsets that don't ship in the US.

Try looking up the Dolphin Browser in the Market for a multitouch browser.

[Womp]

Unlimited free GPS using Google Maps is a great selling point, considering that I have a TomTom that I'm not willing to spend $100 to pay for the map upgrade.

An article (http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_nexus_one?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Ind ex+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29) I read said that it doesn't support multitouch. They better get this fixed before launch otherwise it's one flawed phone to add to the pile.

Also, they better do something about the sluggish interface. Every Android-based phone I've played with in the store has delays and slow performance, such as when switching aspect ratios. I'm hoping the fast processor fixes this.

The GPS via Google Navigation is one of the reasons I wanted this phone and let me tell ya...It's amazing. Voice and all.

As for multi-touch, outside the digital keyboard typing I don't care much. I never used pinch and zoom on my Touch as it was but it would obviously speed up typing on the digital keyboard; luckily my Droid has a physical one. ;) The devices have multi-touch support, just not out of the box.

[Womp]

The Nexus One (with Android 2.1) is being officially announced right now.

800 x 480 high contrast AMOLED screen, 1ghz snapdragon processor, all the usual sensors and features you've come to expect on practically every recent smartphone.

Now, about the price ... let's wait and see.


EDIT 1: Oooh , apparently it supports voice input for every text widget (so you can use speech to edit text messages, emails, tweets, blogs, and anything that you would otherwise have to type text into). I assume this will become available on most android handsets when they are updated to v2.1 of the OS.

EDIT 2: $529 for the handset (no contract), $179 with T-Mobile , but I am guessing they'll have to drop their prices when it becomes available on other networks in a couple of months. So, not very cheap right now.

You'll also be able to install direct to SD card as well in an upcoming update. Right now Google didn't allow it due to dev security or whatever. heh.

The speed overall doesn't seem much different from the Droid and the Droid also has a better graphics chip for 3D etc than the Nexus does supposedly.

[ChairoNoMe]

Multitouch has nothing to do with what is possible. The Droid variant in Europe, the Milestone, has Multitouch support . The reason it is not in the US is due to Apple. Apple appears to have a strong hold on the IP regarding multitouch in the US. It is actually available in some high end smartphone handsets that don't ship in the US.

And that's one reason why I don't want to support Apple. That seems like an overly broad, over-reaching patent. All it does is harm the smart phone market.

[Nous Anima]

You'll also be able to install direct to SD card as well in an upcoming update. Right now Google didn't allow it due to dev security or whatever. heh.

The speed overall doesn't seem much different from the Droid and the Droid also has a better graphics chip for 3D etc than the Nexus does supposedly.I don't think the DROID has a better cpu or gpu for that matter, they're very comparable (they both support 720p HD for example) but I do think the snapdragon has the edge as it can be overclocked up to 1.5 ghz. Take that with a grain of salt as I'd have to look carefully at the specs of the snapdragon cpu before I can tell you which one is better for sure. In any case, the Droid's omap3430 has *a lot* of power as it is, no complaints there. In terms of performance it's going to be the minimum spec for 2010, but that doesn't mean it's lacking in performance (it's more powerful than all previous gen consoles, for example - and I don't mean handheld consoles).

Now ... if they make it possible for all apps to be installed on an SD card (thus removing the ridiculous 128/256mb storage limitation) then I'm going to consider getting one for myself.

On another note: the Palm Pre (and compatible handsets) will also now support game development with native opengl 3d support (same specs as the droid more or less - different screen res of course) AND they will also allow for games and applications to be installed on an SD card!! If that is true then it's fantastic news.

Competition is always a good thing.

[Womp]

Right, I know the Nexus with a Snapdragon has a faster CPU but I was reading that the Droid while having a lower CPU top off actually has a better GPU than the Nexus. Weird.

As for running apps off the SD memory....Here is the source taken from the Gizmodo live blog of yesterday's conference:

http://phandroid.com/2010/01/05/application-storage-on-sd-card/


Some more great news coming from the Q & A section of today’s Press Gathering for the Nexus One pertains to Application Developers and Application Storage. Currently, most Android devices only have 256MB of app storage - unless you have a rooted device and an application that allows you to run stuff from your SD card (AppsToSD). This limitation was stressed in the Q & A and truthfully, it has been a big complaint and sticking point for detractors. Fortunately the folks at Google are addressing this problem and it sounds like a fix for installing applications to the SD card which will be included in the core OS in the near future.

Q: Why 512MB for app storage only?
A: They store apps in the internal ROM and not on the SD card now, for piracy reasons, but they will offer an upgrade soon for installing apps on the SD card.

Applications saved to the SD card memory will be encrypted so that it will be incredibly difficult to pirate any applications. Gotta protect those devs! We say “incredibly difficult” because when it comes to the l33t h4xors out there we don’t want to suggest anything is impossible. This upgrade will knock off one major complaint developers have in regards to Android application development in comparison to the iPhone’s application storage. Watch out world because after this upgrade, the ANDROID MARKET IS TAKING OVER!!!

[Nous Anima]

Sounds good! I hope "soon" means very soon.

[Darksol]

Right, I know the Nexus with a Snapdragon has a faster CPU but I was reading that the Droid while having a lower CPU top off actually has a better GPU than the Nexus. Weird.

As for running apps off the SD memory....Here is the source taken from the Gizmodo live blog of yesterday's conference:

http://phandroid.com/2010/01/05/application-storage-on-sd-card/


First of all based off CPU architectures, clock speed is not everything. I think the OMAP processor is very competitive with the Snapdragon even though I cannot make any direct comparisons. I recently procured a new Windows Mobile phone with a Snapdragon but I cannot compare as that would be also comparing Android vs Win Mobile ruining the comparison. A snapdragon CPU can run FPSESE (playstation emulator) very well though :). I am not suprised that the GPU on the Droid is good because it is probably a PowerVR GPU which was the company who used to be in the PC market and did the graphic solution for the Dreamcast. I am not sure what GPU is in the Nexus.

[lion2]

Has anyone tried the SNES, Genesis and Gameboy Adnvace emulators on their Android handsets. My next phone might be Android based but I need to know if these emulators run full speed. Now this is full speed without sound. I do not require sound.

[Womp]

My minimal time with the GBA emu was decent...Not perfect but playable with auto frameskip on. You know, I'll try loading up some other stuff later and let you know. You can use the D-Pad and keyboard etc for control.

[Turbo2Xs]

I believe they all run full speed without sound - I've played around with the Nes and Genesis and they both run fine but the controls are rather abysmal. I also have a problem paying [spoiled?] for an emulator. Of all the money I've paid to various developers, I never even considered paying for Magic Engine [a TG-16 emulator].

It just seems wrong unless they're paying the original game [rom] owners. Hm.

[lion2]

My minimal time with the GBA emu was decent...Not perfect but playable with auto frameskip on. You know, I'll try loading up some other stuff later and let you know. You can use the D-Pad and keyboard etc for control.

Great I would appreciate that. My current windows mobile phone has a keyboard and many games work well with the keyboard.


I believe they all run full speed without sound - I've played around with the Nes and Genesis and they both run fine but the controls are rather abysmal. I also have a problem paying [spoiled?] for an emulator. Of all the money I've paid to various developers, I never even considered paying for Magic Engine [a TG-16 emulator].

It just seems wrong unless they're paying the original game [rom] owners. Hm.

Are you using the keyboard to control the games? From experience with my current phone some platform games like Super Mario Brothers, Sonic The Hedgeheg work really well. Puzzle games work great at the slower levels. Also many RPG's work perfect because they dont require fast movements. I never even bothered to try fighting games like street fighter because I know it will be impossible. Anyway I mostly play RPG's on my phone so I'm sure I'm not going to have any problems with the controls.

[Womp]

I think the issue is that the D-Pad is on the right of the Droid's keyboard...



In any case, Flash is coming to the Droid (And Nexus One)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlWOocHwcLo

Dying to see how Apple will respond to this because quite frankly this is huge IMO. As long as there are ad filters that is. heh.

[ChairoNoMe]

One More Thing: Multitouch on Nexus One Is Just a Hack Away (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/one_more_thing_multitouch_on_nexus_one_is_just_a_h .php)

Okay, apparently getting multitouch to work on the Nexus One is trivial. They've already done it on the Droid and basically a hacker should have a hack available shortly.

That said, this looks like a killer phone. I'm going to have to recommend it to my partner as he is in the market for a smartphone and we are both on T-Mobile and we would like to stick with them.

Also, I didn't realize that the Nexus One is out and available right now. You can get one right here (http://www.google.com/phone).

[Womp]

Yep, outside the lack of keyboard, less included memory and a smaller screen it is basically identical to the Droid. It's a faster processor but at the moment no one can see a difference in speed between it and the Droid although the Droid has a better GPU for handling 3D effects.

Solid phone but I need a keyboard.



BTW, I was playing the Gameboy emulator. It's flawless and plays great! Probably stick to slower paced games at the moment though to get used to the D-Pad.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2sb8rnt.jpg

[alexjlopez]

Very nice! :)

[Darksol]

Android 2.1 coming to the Droid.

The Backflip coming to AT&T

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/01/07/motorola-backflip-up-close-and-hands-on/

The pressure is on Apple.

[Womp]

Flash on Droid.

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/mobile_demos_fp10.1.html

I love when you try to access Adobe's flash site on an iPhone/Touch and get that "Apple won't allow you to have this" message. LOL!

[lion2]

BTW, I was playing the Gameboy emulator. It's flawless and plays great! Probably stick to slower paced games at the moment though to get used to the D-Pad.



Great news to hear. On my phone I remap the buttons to use the FPS keys (W,A,S,D) as the d-pad, have you tried that?

[Womp]

Great news to hear. On my phone I remap the buttons to use the FPS keys (W,A,S,D) as the d-pad, have you tried that?

Nah, these buttons are already flat as it is just for basic pressing much less game control. D-Pad works well enough to be better than using that setup, even if it is on the right side. :)

[syntaxerror]

> Has anyone tried the SNES, Genesis and Gameboy Adnvace emulators on their Android handsets. My next phone might be Android based but I need to know if these emulators run full speed

I tried Donkey Kong Country via Snesoid and it runs at 98% or so. Just the odd jitter with the sound in certain places. Perfectly playable though


I'll be damned if I can stop playing the Android game "Trapped" at this moment though. Very addictive!
Other pick up and play games:
PapiJump, Abduction, Frozen Bubble

I am re-living the age of enjoyable games again!

[romshark]

Interesting story:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/android-photo-backup-app-reveals-burglars-identities-stupidity/

Some guys stole a couple Droids and started messing with the cameras. A free app uploaded the pics to the owner's account, and the police identify and arrest them.

Now that I have a Droid, I should look into this app.(it's called Lookout).

[Darksol]

Most Motorola handsets will have multitouch from here on out (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/01/13/most-motorola-handsets-will-have-multitouch-from-here-on-out/)

Awesome!

[Nous Anima]

I love when you try to access Adobe's flash site on an iPhone/Touch and get that "Apple won't allow you to have this" message. LOL! That's one obvious thing Apple has to fix in the next firmware release. It's quite silly how the browser works great (better than most) and then you need to access some flash content and you can't. Combined with a higher res screen next time around this should stop being an issue.


Yep, outside the lack of keyboard, less included memory and a smaller screen it is basically identical to the Droid. It's a faster processor but at the moment no one can see a difference in speed between it and the Droid although the Droid has a better GPU for handling 3D effects.The difference is large enough to be noticeable when you try something that's really pushing both the cpu and the gpu. The snapdragon has an ATI z430 gpu which is quite a bit more powerful than all of the previous gen consoles, in most cases, and around 2 to 3 times faster than the iphone 3gs and droid! I think it's the same chipset used in the Toshiba TG01 and the HTC HD2 by the way so the Nexus One isn't alone at the top - but it won't stay there for long.

EDIT: The above should be correct assuming the Nexus One does indeed have the Z430 GPU core (http://www.trustedreviews.com/graphics/news/2008/06/12/AMD-Brings-Xbox-360-Graphics-Mobile/p1) ... and that the drivers are working optimally yielding the peak theoretical numbers as expected. I seem to be getting conflicting information though, e.g. here (http://www.glbenchmark.com/phonedetails.jsp?benchmark=glpro11&D=Toshiba%20TG01&testgroup=system). I will investigate further (not that it matters much - any one of these devices should have more than sufficient performance).

[Womp]

Most Motorola handsets will have multitouch from here on out (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/01/13/most-motorola-handsets-will-have-multitouch-from-here-on-out/)

Awesome!

It really is a bunch of BS. If it is the true reason and everyone is afraid of some Apple patent, then Apple can go to hell for holding back technology.

[Darksol]

It really is a bunch of BS. If it is the true reason and everyone is afraid of some Apple patent, then Apple can go to hell for holding back technology.

It is not BS. In Europe there are more devices shipping with multitouch. The Milestone has multitouch.

[Brian]

Okay. I'm tired of Abduction and I don't like Bejweled. I need new Droid game ideas.

[Womp]

It is not BS. In Europe there are more devices shipping with multitouch. The Milestone has multitouch.

Dude, of course I know this. Obviously there is some weird AMERICAN legal wrangling though and it involves Google vs. Apple.

:)

[Brian]

Dude, of course I know this. Obviously there is some weird AMERICAN legal wrangling though and it involves Google vs. Apple.

:)

Or Apple vs. any company. It seems like they go after everybody for everything.

[syntaxerror]

Milestone owners, you can now ROOT your phone just like Droid owners:

http://beefsack.com/blog/post/p/How+To+Root+Motorola+Milestone

[Womp]

Here is my current middle home screen...I think I'll stick with it for a bit.

http://i47.tinypic.com/29uwxea.png

For some reason taking the screen shot whited out my top notification bar, weird.

[syntaxerror]

That looks sweet. Whats widgets & apps are you using?

[Darksol]

Just got the latest 3.4 Google Maps. They added multitouch!

[Womp]

That looks sweet. Whats widgets & apps are you using?

Shoot sorry man, I missed your post. I've actually removed the calendar...I was also using Home ++ (The replacement GUI) but it is buggy as hell so it is gone as well.

The battery/memory widget is called Mini Info Widget. The weather was something else I ended up uninstalling because it wasn't very accurate unfortunately - Back to Beautiful Widgets. heh. I just did a total reformat and gained almost another 100 megs of RAM! No clue WTF that was about...

[Demolition Man]

How do you do a total reformat anyways Womp? I would really love to be able to get rid of some of the useless junk on my Droid such as "Corporate Calendar" and such.

[Darksol]

Motorola Devour and Megan Fox Superbowl commercial

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/07/motorola-hops-in-the-tub-with-megan-fox-during-the-super-bowl/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+weblogsinc/engadget+(Engadget)&utm_content=Google+Reader

[Womp]

Droid 2.1 rolling out this week!
(http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/motorola-droid-update-to-android-2-1-will-start-to-roll-out-th/?s=t5)


We knew Android 2.1 was coming for the Droid, but we'll confess -- we didn't expect it to come this soon. Motorola is now reporting via its official Facebook page that it's "happy to relay the 2.1 upgrade to Droid will start to roll out this week," going on to tease that it "will have more information to share on other device upgrades later." There's no detail on what the Droid update will entail or whether it'll roll out to every user this week (we doubt it), but by all indications, this is a promising sign that Moto's keeping the pedal to the metal, we'd say.

Sounds like we are getting multitouch browser etc at last. Two of the things missing though (And found in Nexus One) are animated wallpaper and that fancy 3D app tray. Quite frankly I am glad they were dropped since they are not very functional and would just eat at the battery, not to mention that new app tray was slow to move around compared to the simple slide in the current one.


How do you do a total reformat anyways Womp? I would really love to be able to get rid of some of the useless junk on my Droid such as "Corporate Calendar" and such.

You have to root the Droid. When I did a reformat, it was basically because I unrooted it back to stock and wiped it all. Doing that won't get rid of the 'useless junk' however. :/

[Darksol]

How do you do a total reformat anyways Womp? I would really love to be able to get rid of some of the useless junk on my Droid such as "Corporate Calendar" and such.

Some of us need that corporate calendar and email thank you very much :). Until Android 2.0 had to use third party crap.

[TheAlien]

Okay. I admit. I was wrong.

Mark your calendars. Notify the press. TheAlien was wrong.

I just checked out the Droid. Other than the service it's connected with, super phone. As much as I love my Pre, I'd trade it in in a second if it was on Sprint, and pay the full price. Since they didn't have a working demo and could only go by what the salesman said, I couldn't check to see if you can do more than one thing at a time, but I think you guys mentioned in here that you could. So, there you have it.

I was given bad information, passed it on without checking it out for myself, and made an ass of myself. Good thing I don't do that with my political threads. :D

[Womp]

Okay. I admit. I was wrong.

Mark your calendars. Notify the press. TheAlien was wrong.

I just checked out the Droid. Other than the service it's connected with, super phone. As much as I love my Pre, I'd trade it in in a second if it was on Sprint, and pay the full price. Since they didn't have a working demo and could only go by what the salesman said, I couldn't check to see if you can do more than one thing at a time, but I think you guys mentioned in here that you could. So, there you have it.

I was given bad information, passed it on without checking it out for myself, and made an ass of myself. Good thing I don't do that with my political threads. :D

Doing more than one thing at a time is child's play with this thing. :) It is one of the key things it absolutely excels at and one of the big reasons I was interested in it to begin with - It is amazing how something as trivial as multitasking Pandora, web browsing and email could seem like such an mind blowing technological achievement....At least to an iPhone user. hehe.

I've had it for almost three months and it is the best phone I've ever had, hell, one of the best gadgets I've ever owned period. Everyday it amazes me with something new.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I will be joining you guys in July!

[Womp]

I will be joining you guys in July!

Which is when the true bitching in this thread shall begin!

;)

[yeti]

Hi,

Ive had my droid a couple of weeks now and loving it.

So, i was wondering if everyone is using the default browser? I still use the default and another, Xscope lite

Xscope is pretty snappy and supports full-screen mode, tabs etc. I will likely make this my first paid app

[Demolition Man]

I will be joining you guys in July!

Looking forward to hearing you talk about them Droidberries in July.

[lion2]

I sort of joined the Android bandwagon. By sort of, I mean that I still have the same Windows Mobile phone, but some hackers were able to get Android 2.1 working on it. I didn't have to flash my phone either because I run android like I would execute another application. I just click an icon and then it boots off the SD Card. To get back to windows I just reboot the phone.

Anyway, this allowed me to more thoroughly test out the Android OS and some apps. I'm really liking the OS and all the apps available and am definitely getting an Android phone next. I would actually use Android full time on my phone if it weren't for some missing features and bugs with my phone(GPS not working, accelerometer not working, random crashes when using the marketplace).

[Womp]

Hi,

Ive had my droid a couple of weeks now and loving it.

So, i was wondering if everyone is using the default browser? I still use the default and another, Xscope lite

Xscope is pretty snappy and supports full-screen mode, tabs etc. I will likely make this my first paid app

Default stock browser for me...Does everything I need it to do and with no gluttonous overhead.

I don't need multi-touch two finger zoom etc. XScope isn't bad but it takes up 7+ megs of space and I cannot stand that overrated Dolphin browser.

[Womp]

Trying out the 'hacked' ROM from Sholes.info. It is a $5.00 'donation' via the Marketplace or a free download off their site. It allows for the automated process of rooting (similar to jailbreaking your iPhone), backing up and then replacing the stock ROM with this one where you can customize a bunch of features and hacks before applying it. Some of these things are available in the 2.1 OS found in the Nexus One but now placed onto your Droid, others are simpler such as the Smoked Glass theme with transparent notification shade.

Here is a screen shot of my home page, of which there are now five available.

http://i47.tinypic.com/bgtp5i.jpg

[Shane R. Monroe]

I join the Droid Wars this week .. it's ordered .. just waiting for delivery. :)

[Darksol]

I join the Droid Wars this week .. it's ordered .. just waiting for delivery. :)

Good deal! Welcome to the new Masters of the Mobile Universe club.

[Demolition Man]

So..... how soon before we have that infamous Photoshopped picture of Shane with the Blackberry replaced with a Droid? ;)

[bitblt]

Well I don't own a DROID but I think I can join in some of the Android fun. :)

As some of you may know I'm an "early adopter" so I've been on the Android scene for more than a year now. My Android phone is the original Google G1 (aka HTC Dream). The G1 is a first generation Android phone with similar specs to the MyTouch3G but also sports a slide-out keyboard and a track-ball. Compared to second generation Android phones like the new DROID and Nexus the G1 looks somewhat pedestrian (http://www.t-mobileg1.com/).

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01088/connected-graphics_1088789a.jpg

Specs wise the G1 has a 528MHz processor, 3MP cam, and only 192MB of RAM. However these limitations in specs can be overcome by ROOT hacking. For example my hacked G1 is currently overclocked to 580MHz during heavy processing. The overclocking feature only kicks in as needed so there is little impact on battery life. I also have Apps2SD running so I can literally download hundreds of apps from Android Market directly to my 8GB SDHC memory card. Loading apps from SD is a little slower than loading them from internal RAM but is quite useable. Best of all because the G1 has been around the longest there are lots of custom ROMs available (http://db.androidspin.com/android_build_information.asp?android_build_base_o s=&android_developer_id=&NumberOfReleases=9999&go=go) for free. Custom ROMs allows me to run the latest Android/HTC features found on newer phones.

Here are some screenshots of SenseHERO-1.4 (http://db.androidspin.com/android_build_screenshots.asp?build_id=42) (G1/MyTouch3G) with the amazing looking HTC Sense UI, multi-touch browser, Flash, etc.
http://db.androidspin.com/buildphotos/42-1.jpg

Here are some screenshots of KiNgxKxlick Espresso2G1 v1.3 (http://db.androidspin.com/android_build_screenshots.asp?build_id=153) (G1/MyTouch3G). This ROM reminds me of an iPhone.
http://db.androidspin.com/buildphotos/153-1.jpg

Here are some screenshots of OpenEclair v1.2.1 (http://db.androidspin.com/android_build_screenshots.asp?build_id=166) (G1/MyTouch3G) that includes Nexus One features like Voice Input and Live Wallpaper (now my everyday ROM).
http://db.androidspin.com/buildphotos/166-15.jpg

My G1 phone contract is almost up and I’m considering many different choices for my next Android phone. Of course there is the DROID and the Nexus to consider. The DROID has the keyboard I like but the Nexus has the 1Ghz Snapdragon processor and better GPU. The Nexus also has the "Voice Input" feature the can be used instead of the touch-screen keyboard (not the same as Google voice search). My main problem with Nexus One however is that many emulators and games require a physical keyboard.

http://cogadget.com/cogadget/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Download_01_Nexus_One-540x442.jpg

Some other considerations are the many HTC models coming out soon that will sport the 1Ghz Snapdragon processor with HTC Sense UI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKTDSfbcbBU&feature=player_embedded#) (watch this video). There will also be the Sony/Ericsson Xperia X10 ( http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/xperiax10#view=specifications) and the surprisingly innovative Lenovo Lephone (http://gizmodo.com/5445485/lenovo-lephone-looks-prettier-than-the-nexus-one) with detachable keyboard.

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/file/1.689805.1257164299/X10-specifications-sensuous~black.pnghttp://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_lenovo_lephone_official_0.jpg

[Darksol]

Had what was basically their SenseUI on many Windows Mobile phones, never impressed. Kind of a long post to hail a phone over a year old. BTW, I have owned a G1 as well.

I'll wait for the upcoming 1.5 GHz Snapdragon phones when they come out. The Droid can last until then. In any case all of these posts are starting to show that Apple iPhones are starting to look primitive in comparison.

[bitblt]

Had what was basically their SenseUI on many Windows Mobile phones, never impressed.

Did you watch this video HTC Sense UI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKTDSfbcbBU&feature=player_embedded#)? HTC has a better looking interface than DROID or Nexus IMO. Of course it's just eye candy and the newer phones will proabbaly be ROOT hacked to run the latest HTC Sense UI as an option in the future, like my humble G1. :)


Kind of a long post to hail a phone over a year old. BTW, I have owned a G1 as well.

Why so negative on this subject? I wasn't putting down your precious DROID. I like it better than Nexus. I also wasn't trying to "hail" a first generation phone but rather point out the benifits of ROOT hacking and the loggevity it can bring to older models. :p


I'll wait for the upcoming 1.5 GHz Snapdragon phones when they come out. The Droid can last until then. In any case all of these posts are starting to show that Apple iPhones are starting to look primitive in comparison.

I may skip second gen and go straight to gen three. ;)

I agree about the iPhone. It's too restricted and is "old news" these days. Apple better step up their game less they be left behind in the dust. (Déjà vu)

[compacho]

Microsoft's new OS looks slick as hell. MS seems to be leading with design instead of playing the usual catchup.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/02/02-15-10winphone2.jpg

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/windows-phone-7-series-hands-on-and-impressions/?s=t5

Now I have think long and hard about my future phone.

[bitblt]

Now I have think long and hard about my future phone.

Wow, I watched a video and the Mobile 7 interface does look pretty slick. Nice job by the Microsoft kids. However I don't think Apple or Microsoft offerings have the same level of openness that Android phones have. I also don't think Microsoft has a thriving marketplace or as many phone manufactures onboard with them.

[Darksol]

Windows Phone 7 has some slick things but not earth shattering for something to ship late this year. At least they can put back into the 'competitive' category. But for those people who want to use an iPhone or Droid for enterprise tasks or their jobs, I expect MSFT and Windows Phone 7 will blow them out of the water with Outlook and other Office related apps.

[Womp]

I'm not impressed...Looks like a mess, almost like they are trying too hard to be different. But yeah, it may go well with the Blackberry business types.

[compacho]

Lol Womp how can you fault them for that. You want them to not try at all then? The design here is just $$$. But I'll have to see what kind of developer support it'll get in the future. For my job, I need to use twitter and facebook alot.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Well, here's the thing ... I know a bunch of WinMobi 6.x people that are f'ing fed up to no end with MS and their lack of support for their phone. They all want to move - and Berry works a treat with Exchange.

[Darksol]

I'm not impressed...Looks like a mess, almost like they are trying too hard to be different. But yeah, it may go well with the Blackberry business types.

The Exchange mail and calendar client on the Droid ****ing sucks, and I own one. I will have to get a copy of Touchdown just to have close to the same email capabilities I had before. Too bad they don't have a Blackberry client.

[Flare]

Question. Can I do tethering on the Droid or the Droid Eris?

I am planning on getting a Driod (and the free Eris that is recently being offered) in a family plan for me and my wife.

We are temporarily living in an area where there's no internet service (dialup only). However, there's 3G by Verizon in that area.

We will move to town in a couple of months, so I don't want to buy a card and pay a couple of months of service (or get a separate contract for a MiFi device) if instead I could just get a Driod (which I was planning to anyway) and then just "share" the internet via Bluetooth or cable.

Is this possible, either legally or via a hack?

[Shane R. Monroe]

Legally? No. In fact, they specifically tell you you're not allowed to tether and they can kill your account if they catch you doing it.

[alexjlopez]

I've heard great things about MiFi for people who live where they can't get a good DSL or cable. Seems like a nice alternative since it works with up to 5 devices when you're at home (computers, consoles, handhelds, etc.) and you can take it with you wherever you go.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Kinda pricey though ... like $50 a month for a quota'ed account?

[Flare]

Plus, I'm only gonna be in that area for a couple of months. I don't really see the need for a MiFi after that.

Paying $70 (family voice plan) + $30 + $30 (two data plans) is already high enough.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Welcome to America ... where the only thing more inflated than the deficit ... is the cell phone plans ..

[Darksol]

Question. Can I do tethering on the Droid or the Droid Eris?

I am planning on getting a Driod (and the free Eris that is recently being offered) in a family plan for me and my wife.

We are temporarily living in an area where there's no internet service (dialup only). However, there's 3G by Verizon in that area.

We will move to town in a couple of months, so I don't want to buy a card and pay a couple of months of service (or get a separate contract for a MiFi device) if instead I could just get a Driod (which I was planning to anyway) and then just "share" the internet via Bluetooth or cable.

Is this possible, either legally or via a hack?


Do a search for something called PDANet. Works like a charm. And if you buy the registered copy only $30. Or use the free version forever if you don't care about SSL connections.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Oh I wasn't meaning it COULDN'T be done .. just not legally :)

[Flare]

I see there's an offer online. Buy a Droid for $200, get another one free. That's $100 a pop.

You guys think it's a good offer? Maybe there's something else coming down the road and that's why they're discounting it so much? I know the Nexxus One might eventually reach Verizon, and I've heard it's a slightly better phone.

[Flare]

Regarding insurance; what is your recommendation when buying a Smartphone with Verizon?



Total Equipment Coverage (WPP + Extended Warranty), Advanced Devices ($7.99/month)
Asurion Wireless Phone Protection (WPP), Advanced Devices ($6.00/month)
Extended Warranty ($1.99/month)
Decline Insurance ($0.00)


Is there one that you think it's the best choice? I've heard how even with insurance, if you lose or break your phone, you still pay up or they give you a crappy one as replacement.

[Flare]

I notice there's a special $50 discount on top of the low price (code: webonly50) . So I would pay $149 for two droids...

I wonder if they would match this at the store. I'll go there this afternoon and check.

[bitblt]

I notice there's a special $50 discount on top of the low price (code: webonly50) . So I would pay $149 for two droids...

That seems like a smoking deal! How long is the contract and how much for the data plan on each? I might be interested in this offer too.

[Flare]

That seems like a smoking deal! How long is the contract and how much for the data plan on each? I might be interested in this offer too.

It's a 2 year contract. I built a Family plan with the cheapest talk only option (700 shared minutes) for $70 a month; then $30 a month for each phone for unlimited data.

I would make a down payment of $149 and the first bill would be $130 plus $35+$25 for one-time activation fees.

[Womp]

Right now my wife and I pay around $125 a month total (After taxes, surcharges etc) for the Berry and Droid and two data plans on a 700 min no texting plan.

And yes you can tether...

http://www.marketmatador.com/2009/11/23/droid-does-tethering-how-to-guide/

You can also root (Jailbreak for the the iPhone people) your Droid and do it without buying separate software from what I understand. I know the SholesMod ROM I installed gives me the option of installing WiFi tether.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/10219-tether-capability-android-wifi-tether-wireless-tether-root-users.html

[WorknMan]

Unless I missed it somewhere in this thread, I haven't really heard a lot of talk about the Droid vs Blackberry. So, somebody wanna spill the beans?

[Flare]

Right now my wife and I pay around $125 a month total (After taxes, surcharges etc) for the Berry and Droid and two data plans on a 700 min no texting plan.How do you manage to pay that if the data plan is $30 a pop, and the lowest family plan is $70? All before taxes?

Did you get in with a cheaper family plan?

[alexjlopez]

Unless I missed it somewhere in this thread, I haven't really heard a lot of talk about the Droid vs Blackberry. So, somebody wanna spill the beans?

Not much of a comparison, really. Blackberry will never have the range of apps that Android or iPhone have, period. But it does what it does well--reliable email and push messeging.

[Flare]

Anybody here who owns a Droid (or any other Verizon smartphone) and also use Exchange for your email... what's with this $15 a month surcharge for "exchange email"? That's just retarded, it's just data!

Are you able to get away with pushing email from Exchange without paying extra? How would they find out?

[WorknMan]

Ok, so if I understand correctly, Blackberry for heavy email/messaging, Droid/iPhone for everything else :)

Now, I'm gonna ask a few questions, cuz I know that many of you are much more current on this stuff than I am ...

I'm thinking seriously about ditching the landline, and I'd rather go with Verizon when I break off of my parents' family plan and go it alone (which rules out the iPhone), so is the Droid still the best Android phone, or should I be considering something else? Is now a good time to jump in, or is there a new killer phone right around the corner?

Do you guys think Windows Phone (Mobile 7) will be an Android killer? And what about flash and multitouch on Android phones? Is that baked into a firmware update for Android, or only available in certain models?

[alexjlopez]

I think iPhones are coming to Verizon sometime this year and are android phones are coming to at&t.

As far as android phones go, droid seems to be the most popular. Depends on what you're looking for--droid has the physical keyboard, nexus one has the 1ghz procesor and no keyboard (touchscreen input). Dell is coming out with the Mini 3 (smartphone size) and Mini 5 (tablet sized, kinda), and there are supposedly models coming from HTC and other manufacturers. Lots of choices soon, but droid and nexus one are on top right now it seems.

[bitblt]

Android is a fast moving train and more than 60,000 phones are being sold every day. Nexus and Droid are the Android stars of the "moment". A few months ago HTC Hero was the star. There are lots of phone manufactures jumping on the Android bandwagon with each offering new features and specs. There will be over 100 different Android phone choices in 2010. HTC will offer 8 handsets through T-Mobile alone in 2010. The Sony/Ericsson Xperia X10 (http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/xperiax10#view=specifications) (eye candy) will arrive in the US on AT&T networks. Acer would offer 3-5 Android Phones this year. Even PC/laptop manufacturer Lenovo will be offering an Android phone called Lephone with detachable keyboard (http://gizmodo.com/5445485/lenovo-lephone-looks-prettier-than-the-nexus-one).

[WorknMan]

Hmmm, well maybe it's better to just wait awhile then :)

[Womp]

How do you manage to pay that if the data plan is $30 a pop, and the lowest family plan is $70? All before taxes?

Did you get in with a cheaper family plan?

I'm on an old America's Choice plan that I don't think they offer anymore. I also get a cool 22% off my bill every month thanks to my work discount. ;) Basically we pay $65 per Smartphone a month. Considering we barely go over 200 minutes a month of our 700 and that everyone we call is already a Verizon cell phone customer (Which means free In Calling) we pretty much have unlimited minutes.



Ok, so if I understand correctly, Blackberry for heavy email/messaging, Droid/iPhone for everything else :)

Now, I'm gonna ask a few questions, cuz I know that many of you are much more current on this stuff than I am ...

I'm thinking seriously about ditching the landline, and I'd rather go with Verizon when I break off of my parents' family plan and go it alone (which rules out the iPhone), so is the Droid still the best Android phone, or should I be considering something else? Is now a good time to jump in, or is there a new killer phone right around the corner?

Do you guys think Windows Phone (Mobile 7) will be an Android killer? And what about flash and multitouch on Android phones? Is that baked into a firmware update for Android, or only available in certain models?

We ditched our land line a while ago. Right now the Nexus One and the Droid are the most state of the art Android OS phones out at the moment. The Nexus is coming to Verizon in the next month or two...Depends if you want a physical keyboard or not but you really cannot go wrong with either phone in terms of tech - They are both great. There are already a load of new Android phones in development and coming down the pike to Verizon and other companies so you may want to...


Hmmm, well maybe it's better to just wait awhile then :)

...Yeah...Give it a few more months or so. :) The Motorola Devour comes out in March but looks pretty low key and uses Motorola's tweaked Android OS called MotoBlur which isn't really all that great unless you are a social networking freak.

[Darksol]

Flare, this is probably the deal you saw

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1876330

[lion2]

I'm thinking seriously about ditching the landline, and I'd rather go with Verizon when I break off of my parents' family plan and go it alone (which rules out the iPhone), so is the Droid still the best Android phone, or should I be considering something else? Is now a good time to jump in, or is there a new killer phone right around the corner?

Do you guys think Windows Phone (Mobile 7) will be an Android killer? And what about flash and multitouch on Android phones? Is that baked into a firmware update for Android, or only available in certain models?

Well there will always be some new phone just around the corner, its just a matter of how long you are willing to wait. Mobile World Congress introduced lot's of Android phones that are supposed to be released this year. Unfortunately Wireless Carriers are very secretive about what phones they are releasing and when, so you basically have to go by leaked photos and rumors to know what's coming out.

So far Window Phone 7 does not look like an Android killer to me. Some advantages that Windows Phone had are being removed in 7. The OS will not be skinable, multitasking is not allowed by user apps, development is no longer open and no backward compatibility with older apps. Does all that sound familiar? ( iPhone! ;) ) While the OS did impress me the downsides really put me off. However, Microsoft representatives said that they will show more of WP7 at their MIX event next month. This event is geared more towards developers so it would probably show what support they will be getting.

[Flare]

Flare, this is probably the deal you saw

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1876330
Yeah, I forgot the activation fee being waived also... I spoke with a Verizon sales rep at a store yesterday... he wasn't sure he could match that offer... too bad for him.

[WorknMan]

Yeah, I might just go ahead and pick up a Droid, unless there's another android phone coming out real soon that has a physical keyboard on it. I'm not sure I want to wait another 6 months. On the other hand, we'll see how easy it is for me to kill my landline phone while keeping my DSL service. I'm assuming I'll probably be routed through a couple dozen 800 numbers and have to submit to a rectal exam, with miles of red tape.

As for Windows Phone 7, one advantage I can see is that it uses managed code, so it should be possible for developers writing .NET apps to port their code from desktop to mobile (and vice versa) without a lot of rewriting involved. On the other hand, I imagine it'll be closer to the end of the year before we start seeing any of those phones come out, and probably mid-late 2011 before they really catch on. By then, my contract should be almost up :) I figure anybody who knows VB, C#, Python, Ruby, etc might be interested in writing apps for this thing.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I would love to write .NET apps for my phone. Although I'm guessing the phone would be lightweight ... Maybe WPF or Silverlight enabled.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Remember, if you're on Verizon, they have TWO incentives ... "Annual Upgrade" and "New Every Two".

New Every Two is really pretty sh*tty when you break it down ... essentially it's $100 off a phone. That's it ... ONE phone ... The Annual Upgrade gives you "New Every Two" Pricing, but NO $100 phone allotment.

So, if you want a Droid, and your contract is HALF over, you can go on Verizon Wireless right now and get a Droid for $199 (extending your line of service 2 years from that point). If you go into a store and do it, you will have to pay $299 - and you'll get a $100 Visa card rebate back.

And, if you do it RIGHT NOW, you can get a FREE Droid with the purchase of a Droid - IF you have an "eligible line". This means, another one of your lines is available for "Annual Update" or "New Every Two". Otherwise, you can't get it -- UNLESS .. you're willing to open ANOTHER LINE for $10 a month.

Now, if you do the math ... Sometimes you can come out WELL AHEAD.

Let's say Line #1 (yours) has 6 months left - you can buy the Droid for $199 (or $299 - $100 rebate).

Your wife's line, Line #2 has 13 months left - so you CANNOT get the free droid for her - her line isn't eligible.

HOWEVER ....

You CAN open a NEW line of service - Line #3 - for $10 a month and get the FREE second Droid (a $200 value). In 13 months, you cancel Line #2 - you spent $130 on the third line for the 13 months - but you still got a $200 phone. So you're +$70 at this point - you got BOTH you and the wife a new Droid and in effect, only extending yourself ONE MORE YEAR over your original contract.

I hope this all makes sense - because it's a GREAT way to get a GREAT phone, save some money and stick it to Verizon a little :)

[bitblt]

Some people might now know this but you can have your land-line number put on your mobile phone. This is useful for people who are considering eliminating their land-line altogether but want to continue using the same phone number they have had for many years.

[joejet]

HOWEVER ....

You CAN open a NEW line of service - Line #3 - for $10 a month and get the FREE second Droid (a $200 value). In 13 months, you cancel Line #2 - you spent $130 on the third line for the 13 months - but you still got a $200 phone. So you're +$70 at this point - you got BOTH you and the wife a new Droid and in effect, only extending yourself ONE MORE YEAR over your original contract.

I hope this all makes sense - because it's a GREAT way to get a GREAT phone, save some money and stick it to Verizon a little :)


Can someone explain to me how i can take advantage of this? I have the Tour for work (work plan so thats out of the mix)... my wife has some LG verizon phone so i am only paying for 1 phone/line. May finally cave to my 16yr old and get him a phone... so i see i can get a $199 droid, and get a 2nd one Free (maybe i can give it to my other son or play with it myself)... if each has 2 year activation - cool... but how do the family plans work with a dataplan? I see a family plan adding a 2nd or 3rd line seems to add only $10 or so to the plan per line - which seems too good to be true, but does the $29.99 fee get added per phone? So going from 1 phone to 3 i pay addiitonal $20 for the lines AND $60 per month for 2 data plans??

Dang this is confusing.

[bitblt]

The short answer is a "family plan" is for talk and messaging only. 3G data plans are an extra cost for each phone that uses it. T-Mobile has the cheapest 3G data plan for $25, that I know of.

[Womp]

Remember, if you're on Verizon, they have TWO incentives ... "Annual Upgrade" and "New Every Two".

New Every Two is really pretty sh*tty when you break it down ... essentially it's $100 off a phone. That's it ... ONE phone ... The Annual Upgrade gives you "New Every Two" Pricing, but NO $100 phone allotment.


It's $50 now...It is no longer $100 and hasn't been for awhile. It is why I couldn't justify waiting till May just to save $50 on the Droid.

Basically new every two gives you $50 off a new phone, or a free phone that is $50 or under (LOL!) and then the annual upgrade at 'discount pricing'. So if I had waited until May and did my new every two I'd of gotten the Droid for $149.99 at today's price, but with my annual discounted upgrade $199.99 instead of the $600 retail.

[WorknMan]

I checked out the plans on Verizon for the Droid and immediately started bleeding from the asshole. $40 for the lowest voice plan and another $30 for data, and that's not even including texting. God DAMN!!!! Combine this with the price of cable every month, and it's no wonder why so many people are broke.

On the plus side, subtract the monthly price of my landline phone and a 20% discount I'll get through my employer, and it doesn't hurt *quite* so bad :) But I wonder, if you were to just pay the full price for the phone up front, can you get a cheaper monthly plan if you don't buy the phone through Verizon?

[Womp]

Texting plans are for losers, get a Google Voice invite and enjoy unlimited free texting. ;)

[Shane R. Monroe]

I need a Google Voice invite for my wife ....

[WorknMan]

Yeah, I just found out about GV recently. Applied for an invite yesterday... figured I'll probably get in sometime in 2011 :confused:

[Dragon57]

Texting plans are for losers, get a Google Voice invite and enjoy unlimited free texting. ;)

Educate me here fellows. How does this work?

[WorknMan]

In terms of SMS messages, they're routed to/from your Google Voice number so they don't cost you anything. However, I've also read that it doesn't support MMS messages, so if somebody tries to send you a text msg with a pic, it just drops off into the ether. Also, I've read that it can't do text messages through gateways, so if somebody sends you a text message through AIM (or whatever), it won't get delivered.

Probably a good alternative to this is to give your close friends and family your real phone # and give everyone else your Google Voice #. But then again, you're still paying for text :(

[Womp]

I just tell everyone to SMS me at my Google Voice and have asked them to make a separate 'Chris text' contact in the address book of their phone. Since I don't have a texting plan each one costs me like .25 a pop which is ridiculous and now with Google Voice it isn't even an issue.

As for pictures? Don't care - The phones have email. ;)

[WorknMan]

Since I don't have a texting plan each one costs me like .25 a pop which is ridiculous and now with Google Voice it isn't even an issue.

When it comes to text messages on cell phones, do you get charged every time you receive one? If so, and assuming I didn't like someone, what would happen if I had control of a botnet and just commanded all of those PCs to start sending email texts to their phone?

I also wonder the same thing about websites/services that lock users' accounts after so many tries. What would happen if somebody wrote a script that just kept trying to log into a few million different accounts until they were all locked. I bet the support staff would be pissed :)

[joejet]

When it comes to text messages on cell phones, do you get charged every time you receive one? If so, and assuming I didn't like someone, what would happen if I had control of a botnet and just commanded all of those PCs to start sending email texts to their phone?


You pay for texts you receive... happened to my wife - no text plan, people texted her and not only do you pay the per text fee but you pay a "data" fee on top of that... she got 2 texts by mistake one month and bill came in like $13 more that month! So gave her a text allowance, then the next fun thing we got hit with was that texts with pictures are different than just texts! So yes, another call to Verizon to bitch, but in this case i added a data BLOCK to the phone so she just cant get images. You can do the same thing and block texts, but until you do, you can get nailed when you get texted.

Its amazing how the phone company continues to find a cash cow.

- First it was long distance - now VOIP services/unlimited calling squashed that.
- Then it was ringtones - most people figure out how to use mp3 squashing that
- Now its text messaging... hopefully google or someone else can squash that also.

Having a blackberry - it makes me sick what people pay for limited texting....when i get full email and unlimited data.

[WorknMan]

According to Neowin.net, the Nexus One will be coming to Verizon (http://www.neowin.net/news/google039s-nexus-one-coming-to-verizon-on-march-23) on March 23rd. If this turns out to be true, and there's no other big announcements from now until then, that bitch is gonna be mine :) There's also an article about the first Windows Phone 7 (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/27/exclusive-lgs-windows-phone-7-series-early-prototype-unveiled/) phone being shown off, and possibly due out by September. But, I don't think I wanna wait that long.

BTW: We should rename this thread to 'The Official Smartphone Thread', or at least 'The Official Android Hardware Thread' so we can open up the discussion a little more :)

[Womp]

Just installed the Bugless Beast 0.8 ROM, it adds official 2.1 to my Droid...

http://i39.tinypic.com/5nt3wj.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/286scnt.jpg

HTC Keyboard is kick ass!

[Demolition Man]

Is there really any benefit of these hacked ROMs besides getting 2.1 early?

[bitblt]

Custom ROMs can give you features found on newer phones. For example I have Motorola blur, HTC sense, as well as Nexus One Live Wallpapers running on my HTC dream. Custom ROMs also give you root access to your phone, so you can do Nandroid backups, WiFi tether, CPU overclock, as well as run Apps2SD so you can download applications from the Android market and install them on your SD card.

[WorknMan]

Custom ROMs can give you features found on newer phones. For example I have Motorola blur, HTC sense, as well as Nexus One Live Wallpapers running on my HTC dream. Custom ROMs also give you root access to your phone, so you can do Nandroid backups, WiFi tether, CPU overclock, as well as run Apps2SD so you can download applications from the Android market and install them on your SD card.

I was just thinking about this today while running a Python hack to strip DRM off a Kindle ebook I just bought so I would be allowed to highlight/clip text... how nice would it be to get a device like this, and not have to 'root' it, jail break it, or somehow f**k with the firmware just to get it to do what I want.

I plan to pick up a Nexus One soon (assuming it's released on Verizon), and I'll probably be doing the same thing as you guys when a newer version of the OS is released for phones newer than mine, with features that I want.

[Demolition Man]

Ah.... makes sense to me now. Is there a good spot on how I can get Bugless Beast 0.8 on my Droid?

[bitblt]

I was just thinking about this today while running a Python hack to strip DRM off a Kindle ebook I just bought so I would be allowed to highlight/clip text... how nice would it be to get a device like this, and not have to 'root' it, jail break it, or somehow f**k with the firmware just to get it to do what I want.

I plan to pick up a Nexus One soon (assuming it's released on Verizon), and I'll probably be doing the same thing as you guys when a newer version of the OS is released for phones newer than mine, with features that I want.

Android OS is an open source Linux kernel and Java OS hybrid. The source code for the latest AOSP 2.1 (Eclair) is available to everyone. Root access is taking low level control of your phone, so you have the power to do things that might brick your phone.

The HTC Dream/G1 and the MyTouch3G have compatible hardware and also have the largest community of developers making ROMs for them. These phones have been around awhile and the hardware is well understood so they have a LOT of custom ROM options available.

http://db.androidspin.com/android_build_information.asp

The HTC Dream/G1/MyTouch3G have had custom ROMs with Android 2.1 (Eclair) since Jan 13, only eight days after the Nexus One was released.

However, it seems the develpment community over at xda-developers (http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php) is shifting away from Dream/G1/MyTouch 3G and are now focusing more on the Nexus One. There are quite a few custom ROMs available for the Nexus One already. The Droid will probably get attention too because of the keyboard, you can't run emulators or Quake 2 very well without a keyboard.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Ah.... makes sense to me now. Is there a good spot on how I can get Bugless Beast 0.8 on my Droid?

Start here ...

http://rootyourdroid.info/

[WorknMan]

Android OS is an open source Linux kernel and Java OS hybrid. The source code for the latest AOSP 2.1 (Eclair) is available to everyone. Root access is taking low level control of your phone, so you have the power to do things that might brick your phone.


So, what's your point? From what I've read, you have to take advantage of a system exploit in order to root these phones, which doesn't really make them fundementally different than anything else I have to hack in order to obtain their full functinality.

[bitblt]

So, what's your point? From what I've read, you have to take advantage of a system exploit in order to root these phones, which doesn't really make them fundementally different than anything else I have to hack in order to obtain their full functinality.

My point is that Google is not trying to stop people from hacking phones or from making changes to the OS. Google does not send out "cease and desist" letters to development groups unless it involves Android Market wares. This is not the case with Apple and iPhone jail-breaking.

The only reason why Android phones don't come rooted out of the box is because the average Joe could easily destroy their phone. Minimal protection is put in place to protect the end user.


EDIT:
BTW the so called "exploit" is simply running a built in utility to update the phone's OS. The Droid, Nexus One, Dream/G1/MyTouch3G all have this same utility and are all "rooted" the same way. It's not like Google, HTC, T-Mobile, or Motorola are trying very hard to stop people from doing this. The only reason why rooting your phone voids your warranty is because it becomes a support issue for the phone manufacturers and carriers.

[WorknMan]

EDIT:
BTW the so called "exploit" is simply running a built in utility to update the phone's OS. The Droid, Nexus One, Dream/G1/MyTouch3G all have this same utility and are all "rooted" the same way. It's not like Google, HTC, T-Mobile, or Motorola are trying very hard to stop people from doing this. The only reason why rooting your phone voids your warranty is because it becomes a support issue for the phone manufacturers and carriers.

I'm not claiming this to be a DRM issue or anything. I'm just saying that this stuff should come standard out of the box. Or at the very least, be extendable enough so I can hack it without fear of bricking or voiding the warranty.

Anyway, changing the subject...
If the Nexus One was going to be released for Verizon on March 23rd, wouldn't we have an official confirmation by now? (AFAIK, all we have currently is a date from some anonymous Google employee.) Of course, I'm assuming phone releases are like game releases, where you can walk into a store and buy one on launch day ...

[Darksol]

I'm not claiming this to be a DRM issue or anything. I'm just saying that this stuff should come standard out of the box. Or at the very least, be extendable enough so I can hack it without fear of bricking or voiding the warranty.

Anyway, changing the subject...
If the Nexus One was going to be released for Verizon on March 23rd, wouldn't we have an official confirmation by now? (AFAIK, all we have currently is a date from some anonymous Google employee.) Of course, I'm assuming phone releases are like game releases, where you can walk into a store and buy one on launch day ...

If it was coming out on the 23rd, you would know. The Nexus isn't so sexy it would be kept a secret especially since Verizon is not the first carrier to get it.

[WorknMan]

The Nexus isn't so sexy it would be kept a secret especially since Verizon is not the first carrier to get it.

Don't you mean it wouldn't be kept a secret?

[Womp]

If I had both phones in front of me I'd still take the Droid. Nexus seems to be a bit buggy and besides, Droid has a bigger screen. ;) I do kinda like the Nexus form factor but that track ball is useless.

[Darksol]

Don't you mean it wouldn't be kept a secret?

Yeah thats what I meant.

[WorknMan]

According to Android Central, Verizon will probably not be selling the Nexus One in stores, which would make returning the phone a bit of a pain :(

[Womp]

Droid 2.1 update is commencing via OTA (Over The Air) transmission starting Thursday the 18th. Bout bloody time.

[Shane R. Monroe]

You gonna go official 2.1, Womp?

[Demolition Man]

Running Smoked Glass 6.0.1 on my Droid which is based off of the official 2.1 firmware. Its fantastic. The phone feels much faster and easier to use. No need for me to get the OTA 2.1 update now. :)

[Shane R. Monroe]

That's what I'm running now ... Seems to be pretty solid.

[Womp]

I may go official then root if possible. All these new roms are running off the upcoming update but I'm sure officially it'll be running more optimized.

We'll see but for now I am enjoying Smoked Glass as well. :)

[Demolition Man]

I can't imagine the official being more optimized over Smoked Glass. Even if it is the folks who do Smoked Glass will somehow manage to get theirs to be better than the official eventually.

[Womp]

I meant optimized in terms of bugs and the battery life...I just don't know if these things are as apparent in a hacked ROM or not.

[bitblt]

I meant optimized in terms of bugs and the battery life...I just don't know if these things are as apparent in a hacked ROM or not.

I'm sure they will make a custom ROM based off the official 2.1 OTA for Droid after it's released. You will get the best of both worlds eventually, the official 2.1 release code with supervisor permission and other root privileges. Just hang tight. :)

[ChangoBoy]

I'm replaceing my Blackberry Curve with a Droid this weekend.
Over the past year I just kept my curve in my pocket and I scratched the hell out of it.

Can anyone recommend a case to keep my new Droid pretty?
Do Screen protectors work? (Like on the DS?)

[Shane R. Monroe]

The slider of the droid makes it hard to put a case on it ... However, they DO have some "shell" clip on types.

The screen seems a lot more durable than the DS - I haven't used a protector and it's good to go.

[Womp]

The Droid uses Gorilla Glass and is really damned durable. That doesn't mean it can't scratch or break but mine has been protector free since I got it 4 months ago and not a blemish to be found, although I don't treat my Droid like a wild disgusting pig either - I love it and fondle it as if it was a part of my own anatomy.

In any case, mine is naked.

[yeti]

Mines been naked for couple of months too and no problems either

Im think im going to pick up one of these "pouch" types Proporta Maya II Case (http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=186931), just to keep him snug in my pocket

[bitblt]

How To Update Your Motorola Droid To The Official Verizon Android 2.1 Update (http://www.androidspin.com/2010/04/01/how-to-update-your-motorola-droid-to-the-official-verizon-android-2-1-update/)

http://www.androidspin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Motorola-Droid-300x252.jpg

After delaying the Android 2.1 update rollout for Motorola Droid users, Verizon has finally begun pushing the software to its subscribers. Sadly, it’s a very slow process and less than 10,000 users received Android 2.1 so far. The good thing is that you shouldn’t wait for Verizon to push the software update as you can manually upgrade to Android 2.1!

***Please note that you are going to lose root on your Droid for the moment.***

[Womp]

Awesome new Droid ads from Verizon. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GytCEf4Ojpw&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXwel89p59c&feature=channel

[Demolition Man]

A number of the hacked ROMs are using 2.1 now. So I'm not too worried.

[Womp]

I can't seem to stick with one layout...

http://i39.tinypic.com/2m7djs9.jpg

The burden of not owning an iPhone - Customization OCD! ;)

[Shane R. Monroe]

I'll wait for official mod support.

[Womp]

Official mod support?

[Shane R. Monroe]

Well, the 2.1 official release, rooted and distributed through a mod channel...

[bitblt]

I'm sure they will make a custom ROM based off the official 2.1 OTA for Droid after it's released. You will get the best of both worlds eventually, the official 2.1 release code with supervisor permission and other root privileges. Just hang tight. :)

What did I tell you guys . . .

DROID 2.1 UPDATE ALREADY ROOTED (http://www.androidspin.com/2010/04/02/droid-2-1-update-already-rooted/)

[Shane R. Monroe]

This is Red Five ... I'm going in ...

[Shane R. Monroe]

Do it the easy way:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/34031-all-those-rooted-droids-wanting-2-1-a.html

Works a treat .. restoring my apps now .

[alexjlopez]

This is Porkins, standing by. Might want to pull up, Red Five--reports are surfacing that the 2.1 update nerfs the Droid's graphics processing power (http://www.androidcentral.com/did-21-update-slow-your-droids-graphics-processing-power)?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TweQ0VJhUD0&feature=player_embedded

[Womp]

Porkins....err Shane....just hang tight, I'll keep you updated. I'm going to hold out for a new release of smoked glass most likely anyway, it has beem running fantabulous.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I already updated...

The reason it seems slower ... it locks in at 550mhz ... where most mods lock in at 600mhz. They will fix this.

[Womp]

The difference from 550 to 600mhz is so minuscule that I really doubt that is the issue. That said I cannot believe you downgraded.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I honestly don't see the difference. I ain't a cycle counter.

[Demolition Man]

I already updated...

The reason it seems slower ... it locks in at 550mhz ... where most mods lock in at 600mhz. They will fix this.

Just get one of the overclocking hacks and apply it. Then buy SetCPU which will let you set how fast the Droid is running at. I got mine running at 800mhz with no problems.

[Womp]

Yeah, I've been through all that myself but I don't see the point of overclocking this phone when it already moves quick enough to support all it needs already (live wallpaper excluded). I'd rather keep my battery life as much as possible.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Just get one of the overclocking hacks and apply it. Then buy SetCPU which will let you set how fast the Droid is running at. I got mine running at 800mhz with no problems.

Which hack did you use?

[Demolition Man]

Which hack did you use?

You might already have one set if you installed Smoked Glass 6.0/6.0.1. Download SetCPU and see what happens.

If it doesn't work = http://alldroid.org/threads/16047-Smoked-Glass-Boot-*Updated-03-08*-(ALL-Builds-Voltages-42-Kernels)

I'm using the 1100 one myself. While I don't go beyond 800 when I over clock I have the 1100 there in case I need a little extra juice for something.

Also I recommend getting TempMonitor as well. Its a good idea to have something to keep tabs on your Droids temperature. My Droid sits at around roughly 85-90 degrees when in heavy use which is pretty normal when at stock settings from what I understand.

[Womp]

^ See, this is what I am talking about...What is the point in going that high? Are you trying to run Crysis?

;)

I've tried overclocking before and can do everything the same as I do at stock speed while also not destroying the battery. I don't get the draw.

[alexjlopez]

Droid get's an add-on d-pad and buttons hehe. :)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/14/game-gripper-puts-your-droid-s-d-pad-where-it-belongs-video/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPcQ4g7crLE&feature=player_embedded

[Womp]

Droid get's an add-on d-pad and buttons hehe. :)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/14/game-gripper-puts-your-droid-s-d-pad-where-it-belongs-video/


F*** iPhone.

:::hugs his Droid:::

[alexjlopez]

Verizon's Droid Incredible is official, $199 (http://phones.verizonwireless.com/htc/incredible/). :)

[yuckymucky]

Those of you that went to Android from BB, how was the change? How much do you miss BBM?? My IT dept is considering shutting down our BES so that would make my BB pretty much unneeded for me so I have been checking out the Incredible or the Droid, I really like the Droid. I have a BB storm 2 right now, which after using BB for the past 5-6 years is pretty much the best BB I have ever had and I am hesitant to give up BBM, however with threaded texting I might not really notice it.

Forking over the $500+ retail for a new Droid is not going to be fun though. I guess I could sell off all my old BBs to help though.

[Womp]

The only thing I missed early on from the BB transfer to Android was BB Messenger and after a week that was gone...

I could never use another BB again.

As for texting, Google Voice is simply stellar.

[Shane R. Monroe]

BBM was a huge crush initially too - since most of the people I communicated with commonly were still on it when I moved to Droid. Now, everyone is moving over to GTalk, so I'm good. Messaging on Droid is like IMing ANYWAY, so the people without BBM or GTalk, I still talk to almost identical to that that DO have it.

[Darksol]

Running Bugless .4 Froyo image with latest xTheme making it look like Droid X. Next best thing until Droid X ships!