OT: Android Phone

i saw one of the bad asses comercials for the new Android Phone coming out next month but they didnt show any pictures of the phone. just a bunch of trash talking on the IPhone. has anyone seen this commercial and do you know where i can see a picture of this new Phone.

someone told me if you Google Motorola droid there's some leaked pictures around I haven't had any interest in looking. Be real tough to pull me away from my blackberry.

Yeah, looks like iphone has some competition. I prefer the htc hero over the droid. I still am not sold if the $30 monthly cost for data plan is worth it tho…

BTW funny verizon ad mocking iphone on at+t:

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

you know I never put together that the Verizon commercial was making fun of the apple one. "There's a map for that" and "There's an APP for that."

Verizon seems rather upset they don't have the iphone. But they ARE the better service. Despite ridiculously bad customer service and high pricing I DO get 3G service pretty much everywhere and my phone almost always has internet and a signal so I can't complain.

Despite the ad, rumors still persist that iphone may come to verizon. I don't see that happening or else iphone owners would leave at+t's crappy service in droves. But apple may be limiting iphone’s audience with just being on at+t. There is a storm of android support from multiple hardware makers and cellular services over the next 6 months… Things could get interesting in the next couple of years…

Yeah, looks like iphone has some competition. I prefer the htc hero over the droid. I still am not sold if the $30 monthly cost for data plan is worth it tho…


I got to play with a Hero over the weekend. I like it. There are some things that it does better than the iPhone. And there are some things that the iPhone does better. But, for general third party dev support, I have to say I think the iPhone has it beat. But that could change as more and more people start using Android phones. But for right now, I think Apple's App Store is just a simpler more friendly interface.

Despite the ad, rumors still persist that iphone may come to verizon. I don't see that happening or else iphone owners would leave at+t's crappy service in droves. But apple may be limiting iphone’s audience with just being on at+t. There is a storm of android support from multiple hardware makers and cellular services over the next 6 months… Things could get interesting in the next couple of years…

There's research to suggest that if Apple were to release it on other networks, their marketshare could skyrocket. There are a TON of people who won't get one simply because of the AT&T factor. In France when it was exclusive to one company, it had 15% of the marketshare. After the government forced them to expand, it rose to 40%. Not a bad thing at all. I just wonder what all carriers they would sign up with:
Sprint - dunno if Apple will think it's worthwhile, but would love to see it
Verizon - I thought for sure until the "There's a Map for That" came out a few weeks ago
T-Mobile - Definitely since they have to make ZERO hardware changes.
All-tell - Dunno if they're big enough to make it worthwhile.

Yeah iphone by far has the lion share of app support…makes sense because the iphone continues to sell well. IMHO most of the apps are junk or games, which are limited by its interface. Other than news apps, I haven’t seen that many useful apps. I have the touch. Android has the advantage that it is more open and it is not locked down as much as iphone. If android becomes more popular, I expect greater integration with the phone and google specific apps. Google has run into control issues with apple and at+t.

No doubt iphone would sell even better if it was available on other networks. At+t prob will do whatever it takes to keep it exclusive to their network tho. Their contract supposedly is ending soon. The smart phone OS war is definitely heating up. IMHO there are too many players now: BB, apple, google, MS, palm, symbian.

Yeah iphone by far has the lion share of app support…makes sense because the iphone continues to sell well. IMHO most of the apps are junk or games, which are limited by its interface. Other than news apps, I haven’t seen that many useful apps. I have the touch. Android has the advantage that it is more open and it is not locked down as much as iphone. If android becomes more popular, I expect greater integration with the phone and google specific apps. Google has run into control issues with apple and at+t.

No doubt iphone would sell even better if it was available on other networks. At+t prob will do whatever it takes to keep it exclusive to their network tho. Their contract supposedly is ending soon. The smart phone OS war is definitely heating up. IMHO there are too many players now: BB, apple, google, MS, palm, symbian.

It's not as locked down, but then there's two sides for that coin. On the one hand, it can help prevent shovelware (to an extent), but on the other, it's up to whether Apple will approve it or not. I don't think there's really any limits to what an App ~can~ do, it's what Apple and/or AT&T will ~let~ it do.

Honestly though, I would remove palm and symbian from the list of OS's. Palm has only announced/revealed two phones that I've seen for their new webOS. The Pre (MAJOR disappointment) and a new one for AT&T. Plus, they're about to be in a world of hurt legally with Apple if they don't drop their iPod emulation with iTunes. I know a lot of phones use Symbian, but I think we'll start to see more and more of the manufacturers switching to Android in the long run. Just a hunch.

I don’t see it as restricting shovelware on iphone, since the majority of apps are just that. Google has had a few disagreements with apple’s approval process, notably google talk and another google app (can’t think of its name) that apple claims it could cause confusion with iphone experience, or whatever. Thus if android really takes off, google’s app could have greater integration vs iphone…supposedly gmail already does. Yahoo also has complained about the length of time of approval. Part of the problem is with at+t’s restricting what an app can do over 3g vs wifi, e.g. skype and the maturity level of the app. Imagine if MS had the right to decide what could be installed on windows. Thus I do see possible lawsuits in the future since cell phones are basically ultra portable computers now. That is one of the reasons why ppl jail break the iphone to open it up more.

Why do you call the pre a disappointment? I demoed it. It is nice and has potential (tho I prefer a landscape kb). IMHO its biggest weakness is being on sprint. They may have to revisit their stance on web apps instead of dedicated apps tho. I think symbian still has a loyal following in Europe but you are right many cell phone makers are starting to use android.

I think I will stay out of this....that commercial is BS though, maybe if the Verizon 3G was compared to AT&T's 2.5G or EDGE (similar speeds) it shows a different story, plus you can web and talk simultaneously on AT&T's GSM, but not on CDMA.

I don’t see it as restricting shovelware on iphone, since the majority of apps are just that. Google has had a few disagreements with apple’s approval process, notably google talk and another google app (can’t think of its name) that apple claims it could cause confusion with iphone experience, or whatever. Thus if android really takes off, google’s app could have greater integration vs iphone…supposedly gmail already does. Yahoo also has complained about the length of time of approval. Part of the problem is with at+t’s restricting what an app can do over 3g vs wifi, e.g. skype and the maturity level of the app. Imagine if MS had the right to decide what could be installed on windows. Thus I do see possible lawsuits in the future since cell phones are basically ultra portable computers now. That is one of the reasons why ppl jail break the iphone to open it up more.

Why do you call the pre a disappointment? I demoed it. It is nice and has potential (tho I prefer a landscape kb). IMHO its biggest weakness is being on sprint. They may have to revisit their stance on web apps instead of dedicated apps tho. I think symbian still has a loyal following in Europe but you are right many cell phone makers are starting to use android.

As far as the shovelware, I meant think about how bad it WOULD be if there wasn't the approval process and restrictions. And I think it just depends on what you use the phone for as far as stuff being shovelware. You stated that news readers were pretty much the only thing useful. I heartily disagree, but will concede that there is definitely still a lot of shovelware. But the good stuff rises to the top. And when Apple introduced the Genius functionality to the App store, I have found literally DOZENS of handy new apps that I would not have found otherwise. Are they things I use on a daily basis. No. But that's how I have all my apps organized anyway. Stuff that gets used constantly, front page. Other stuff on the following pages based on activity.

It's the Google Voice app that was up and then pulled off because it "duplicates" features found on the phone itself. But I fear Google may have opened up a can of worms with Voice overall as the FCC is likely to start "regulating" it. Vonage for a long time said it wasn't like regular phone service and therefor shouldn't be required to pay the fees/taxes a regular POTS provider would have to. They lost. Google is trying to say the same thing with Voice (let alone the Voice App for the iPhone).

I agree that the Pre had a ton of potential, but the lack of support has totally killed it IMO. I'm not sure Sprint was an issue... I don't expect the new one (Pixi?) to do much better on AT&T's network.

Know what I'm still rockin' boys?

http://www.4bakers.net/nextel/i305r_l.gif

She's a tank.

The commercial was sweet but lame at the same time. Open development? why would the average person care about that. Camera flash? the people that would care about that Im guessing might actually be carrying a camera you know..

Know what I'm still rockin' boys?

http://www.4bakers.net/nextel/i305r_l.gif

She's a tank.

Oh ya? I'm lugging this brick around:

http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac282/claudinei1/Cellphone/PalmTreo650.jpg


TREO 650...LOL!

I use the G1... it's pretty good. I never liked Apple's take on utilitarian design and I've always enjoyed Google's services so it made sense.

I've seen the pictures of the Droid... it looks alright. It's supposed to be fairly thin, just a bit thicker than the iPhone, but it has a slide out keyboard. Otehr than that the thing is pretty shemeh looking.

I don't know the exact specs but it's said to be running Android 2.0 and comes with a beefy processor. Overall the phone is probably going to be the best one yet. Only time will tell though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYM-XTqcec

Reminds me of this commercial:

k7nsBoqJ6s8

and no one even mentions the Garmin Nuviphone which by the way is running a Linux OS, and has the second best Touchscreen on the market (to the iPhone)

and no one even mentions the Garmin Nuviphone which by the way is running a Linux OS, and has the second best Touchscreen on the market (to the iPhone)

The Garmin Nuviphone got one of the worst phone reviews I've ever read...

Case and point Garmin completely screwed the pooch on their new phone.

http://gizmodo.com/5374720/garmin-nuvifone-g60-gps-phone-review-do-not-buy

Plus the screen is a resistive touch screen, not capacitive... ew.:huh

The Garmin Nuviphone got one of the worst phone reviews I've ever read...

Case and point Garmin completely screwed the pooch on their new phone.

http://gizmodo.com/5374720/garmin-nuvifone-g60-gps-phone-review-do-not-buy

Plus the screen is a resistive touch screen, not capacitive... ew.:huh

Have you used one? I do work in the industry, so I play with all sorts of different phones (Yes for AT&T but I am not a phone rep, I sell the TV and Internet)

I really like how the phone works, and I carry both an iPhone for my personal, and an Epix for my corporate line.

Have you used one? I do work in the industry, so I play with all sorts of different phones (Yes for AT&T but I am not a phone rep, I sell the TV and Internet)

I really like how the phone works, and I carry both an iPhone for my personal, and an Epix for my corporate line.

Not personally, no. But the review spells out many things that are functionally wrong with the phone.

Resistive screen in an age of capacitive screens.
No "home" button.
Awkward design choices. (ABCDEF keyboard?? :gamer)
Bad camera and web browser.
Paying for "apps" that are 100% free on my own Android phone.

I haven't personally tested any of this out, but I trust Gizmodo isn't flat out lying about this phone.

I went iPhone a couple months back and am really pleased thus far. This is my first experience with AT&T phone service and so far so good. I was slightly annoying that you could not send/receive pics via texts but that was made avialable a couple weeks after I got the iPhone. The only thing I wish they would make available (officially) is tethering.

I do expect others to make serious challenges to the iPhone, but it's not like Apple is going to stand still either, their new product line-up is looking impressive. I expect the iPhone to stay up near the front of the smart phone craze.