The Android Cell Phone Thread

[jayrock]

What's the best android phone on the market now? I know this might be dumb, but an Android over an iPhone?

galaxy s > iphone imo (bias obv)

if you're in the market for a new phone, i would wait. there is going to be a shit ton of dual core 4g phones coming out soon (probably Q2). and the iphone on verizon is okay if that's your thing, but you might as well wait for the lte version

[percy]

FL7yD-0pqZg

[neonecko]

^Super late pass.

[wild style]

Still makes me lol tho.

[neonecko]

Still makes me lol tho.

I saw a Geico(?) commercial made by this same dude the other day.

[wild style]

It's actually a website where anybody can make similar movies.

[percy]

lol yeh i know it is old but i only put it on for the guy who said "an android can really be better than an iphone?"

love the follow ups to it also

[TruMoo]

shutup wild style

ps: WANT

[Bislane]

^i'll take 1 phone if I can have 2 girls...

so if it's been close to four years since my last upgrade on t-mobile am I going to be able to convince them to give away an android? I'm pretty sure the cheapest one I saw (in the store) was about a hundred bones but my friend's evo is making me mass jealous. I love my BB but it's old as hell and the new pearl is in no man's/CA land still

[ILLuminate]

What does fragmentation have to do with that? Fragmentation is a term thrown around by people trying to disparage what is in reality, just a symptom of choice.

you're right, fragmentation doesn't have to do anything with what i said, i didn't finish my though there. it's a bad thing because first of all, developers have to make different versions of their apps for several phones instead of focusing attention on one device. generally, the big name apps tend to go to apple first. also if you've noticed, some carriers have essentially been delaying upgrades in the OS on older phones so they can entice customers to buy newer phones. Apple doesn't push out updates as often but in any case don't wanna deal with all that.

another point which is pure speculation, i wouldn't be surprised if apple developed a bbm-like service. a bunch of 3rd party devs have tried and pretty much failed to scale on android (kik for example) but obviously having a baked-in app for the iphone would be wildly successful.

at the end of the day, i want a simple-to-use, reliable and fast phone, and i trust apple the most to provide me with what i want in a mobile device.

[NatseOklim]

you're right, fragmentation doesn't have to do anything with what i said, i didn't finish my though there. it's a bad thing because first of all, developers have to make different versions of their apps for several phones instead of focusing attention on one device. generally, the big name apps tend to go to apple first. also if you've noticed, some carriers have essentially been delaying upgrades in the OS on older phones so they can entice customers to buy newer phones. Apple doesn't push out updates as often but in any case don't wanna deal with all that.

another point which is pure speculation, i wouldn't be surprised if apple developed a bbm-like service. a bunch of 3rd party devs have tried and pretty much failed to scale on android (kik for example) but obviously having a baked-in app for the iphone would be wildly successful.

at the end of the day, i want a simple-to-use, reliable and fast phone, and i trust apple the most to provide me with what i want in a mobile device.

Well, very few developers make different versions of their apps for different phones. The only one I can think of is Angry Birds (which "coincidentally" is when I started seeing tech blogs start using the term...). The reason that iphone got apps first, was due to ios having a larger user base than android, this is no longer the case, but developers take a while to catch up - I believe we're at a point where any smart developer will want IOS and Android versions released simultaneously.

People who push iPhones use the term fragmentation too freely, if you have a cheap android phone you may notice that you can't run some apps, yes. But if you go out and buy a decent phone, of a similar price point to an iPhone, you will be able to run 99.9% of apps. The difference being, that if you can't afford an iPhone priced handset, you can still get some form of an android phone. You're not priced out of the operating system.

When people say fragmentation, they mean the choice to buy a cheap phone, that may not run everything.

[jayrock]

yo, i can't run some iOS apps on my 2nd gen ipod touch

what do you call that?

[nicholas1987]

yo, i can't run some iOS apps on my 2nd gen ipod touch

what do you call that?

Planned obsolescence.

[nicholas1987]

Well, very few developers make different versions of their apps for different phones. The only one I can think of is Angry Birds (which "coincidentally" is when I started seeing tech blogs start using the term...). The reason that iphone got apps first, was due to ios having a larger user base than android, this is no longer the case, but developers take a while to catch up - I believe we're at a point where any smart developer will want IOS and Android versions released simultaneously.

People who push iPhones use the term fragmentation too freely, if you have a cheap android phone you may notice that you can't run some apps, yes. But if you go out and buy a decent phone, of a similar price point to an iPhone, you will be able to run 99.9% of apps. The difference being, that if you can't afford an iPhone priced handset, you can still get some form of an android phone. You're not priced out of the operating system.

When people say fragmentation, they mean the choice to buy a cheap phone, that may not run everything.

So... I work for a software company so I am pretty familiar with all this. I really like Android and iOS, they're different though and made for different people and purposes.

The thing about Android though is... Motorola HTC and Samsung are in the business of selling phones, not developing a software platform. So the problem is Moto slaps on Motoblur, HTC slaps on Sense, and Samsung just pumps out new models monthly. All of these phones end up not getting software updates when they first become available or not at all in some cases. Usually only the Android flagship models come with the most up to date software like Droid did, then Nexus 1, the Nexus S, etc etc.

It really depends who the user is. If you want to play emulated games and you are pretty tech savvy-- Android all the way, it has better GPS and a few other things. But... if you're not very tech savvy an iPhone is just plain easier for most people.

I wish I could afford to have both and I still really want a Nokia Maemo/Meego phone just for some quirky things not available on iOS or Android (but may be possible on WebOS but they only have two poorly designed phones so meh).

Also, I just want to add Android and iOS aren't really competing for the same groups. Android is murdering Symbian, Blackberry, and Windows, but it's not really affecting iOS adoption.

Here's another thing... the reason apps like Infinity Blade, Dead Space, Netflix etc etc come to iOS first is because the users are much much more likely to purchase apps, even if there are fewer users. It's the same logic that ads during Mad Men cost more than say ads during some CNN show, because the audience is more likely to be purchase the product.

I can link some stuff if needed but most of what I'm referring to comes from Asymco.com a software consultancy group led by mostly ex-Nokia people.

[red]

^i'll take 1 phone if I can have 2 girls...

so if it's been close to four years since my last upgrade on t-mobile am I going to be able to convince them to give away an android? I'm pretty sure the cheapest one I saw (in the store) was about a hundred bones but my friend's evo is making me mass jealous. I love my BB but it's old as hell and the new pearl is in no man's/CA land still

T-mobile has been giving G2 discounts lately. Last week it was offered free online. Call them and ask to be transfered to the loyalty department. They'll probably give it to you for free.

[red]

Playstation games on Android:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/sony-announces-playstation-suite/

[jayrock]

Playstation games on Android:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/sony-announces-playstation-suite/

holy shit.

sure made this little guy a whole lot more interesting

[Solix]

Pretty sure it's because of that guy that they decided to add PSN to all Android phones. They probably figured "fuck it" and realized they'd make more money anyway.

[jayrock]

yeah for sure. touchscreen gaming is kinda lame imo though, outside of games designed solely for that (angry birds, rocket bunnies, etc.)

i'm not a huge gamer anyway, but if i could carry madden w/ a ps type controller at all times... i would be much more inclined to take public transit instead of driving haha

[Stylish Pilot]

Getting my droid rooted tomorrow. Looking forward to it. The guy rattled off a lot of things he would put on there. Cyanogen ROM with Gingerbread?? does that make sense. I basically want to be rooted for free mobile hot spot and visual customization. also screen shot stuff too. Not too techy when it comes down to all the software aspects of everything.

[destructodisk]

lol, you're paying someone to root your phone for you?

[Stylish Pilot]

Yup, Although reading up and watching a few videos on it makes it seem really easy. I'd rather just have him do it.

[chantheman]

which droid do you have?

[Stylish Pilot]

Droid 2

10 char

[Stylish Pilot]

Well, just went ahead and did it myself. I mainly wanted it just for the Wifi Tether. Don't want to put any custom ROMS on it or anything. So i'm satisfied.

[nicholas1987]

I know this is an Android thread, but man I really want to have a phone that can dual boot into Android *and* WP7. Triboot into WebOS, or Meego would be awesome. Supposedly VMWare is working on this, but who knows when it will be ready. *sigh* One can dream.

[evisu 2000]

hd2 can dual boot.

[nicholas1987]

hd2 can dual boot.

Not stock though That's more of what I mean so I don't have to worry about getting software updates.

[august_]

I haven't seen any discussion in here so far about the Motorola Atrix, which is coming out relatively soon. A dual-core processor (1GHz a core) that can also be used to power a netbook/laptop? Really looking forward to purchasing this when it comes out in March.

http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Mobile-Phones/Motorola-ATRIX-US-EN

Using a Galaxy S right now, and all I can say is that I am beyond frustrated. Samsung has the shittiest customer support ever. Where is the Froyo that we were promised so many months ago when the phone first came out? Gingerbread is already out, and Ice Cream is on the horizon, and we still don't have Froyo? FUCK

[Ed x TWWK]

which galaxy do you have?

I'm on a T-Mobile vibrant and running froyo. they released the update through the Samsung kies desktop software, no ota stuff.