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Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Nokia C5-03: New design, running old software, hitting the market this holiday season for 170 EUR from IntoMobile by Stefan Constantinescu
Check out the video above. The first feature Nokia chooses to highlight is the fact that this thing has WiFi and 3G. Is the calendar on my laptop set wrong, or are we really in 2004? Oh and look, when you turn the device on there are icons for your favorite contacts and Nokia’s own map application, which makes walking around the city really easy! Hate to sound like a cynical jaded bastard, even though I am one, but is it any surprise why Nokia’s market share is in free fall in places like India where the brand was once loved by many? Come on Stephen, make things happen faster!Nokia has just announced the C5-03, yet another member of the C5 family, and one more way to confuse consumers with product names that feature hyphens. What’s so special about it? Nothing. Really. It’s got a 3.2 inch resistive, yes, resistive, touch screen with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels, 5 megapixel with no flash and weird 640 x 352 pixel video recording at only 15 frames per second. You also get WiFi, GPS, a compass, quadband GSM/EDGE support and triband 3G (900/1900/2100 Mhz) support. Standard 3.5 mm headphone jack, microUSB port and Bluetooth 2.0 all included. The C5-03 measures 105.8 mm x 51 mm x 13.8 mm and weighs only 93 grams. It has a 1000 mAh battery rated at 11.5 hours of talk time, and 25 days of standby time, assuming you turn off the 3G.
Other than that … it’s pretty? The two tone design is interesting, but under the hood is Symbian^1. When you’ve got Symbian^3 devices shipping, albeit only the N8 and C7, why would you release something like this to the market? Say hello to the typical Nokia attitude of “let’s make a 2 year plan and then bury our heads in the sand so as to ignore all outside factors and get this device out, regardless of the needs of our customers”.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Apple Will Take A Pass On 4G Networks For The iPhone In 2011— Sorry Verizon and AT&T by Steve Cheney
Back in August I broke the news that Apple was lining up a component purchase of several million chipsets from Qualcomm for a CDMA-powered Verizon iPhone due in January. Last week, over two months later, the Wall Street Journal confirmed this story.
Now that folks are finally celebrating the iPhone’s imminent arrival to Verizon, speculation has shifted to whether the January model will take advantage of Verizon’s “4G” network. 4G (not to be confused with iPhone 4) refers to the fourth generation of cellular standards, and both Verizon and AT&T have publicly released launch plans for 4G networks based on LTE in 2011.
This impending shift from 3G to 4G presents a major inflection point in the reign of the iPhone franchise. Does Apple move to 4G right away, or do they wait for the network to mature? Recall that Apple waited to support 3G for one entire cycle, opting to release the original iPhone on AT&T’s mature 2.5G EDGE network, despite wide availability of 3G by early 2007.
That situation mirrors what is happening now with LTE in 2011, and as these questions become front and center, I have some very interesting news to share about Apple’s plans.
First things first — the iPhone CDMA model due in January won’t support LTE. But here’s where it gets really interesting: sources tell me that the iPhone refresh in mid-2011 won’t support LTE either. Instead, Apple will produce a dual mode iPhone containing 3G flavors of GSM and CDMA, which operates on all carriers worldwide. If this holds true, Apple won’t support the LTE standard until some time in 2012.
A lot of you aren’t going to be very happy with this news, since 4G-enabled Android phones already exist on Sprint’s WiMAX network, and dual-mode LTE-enabled Android phones will start to emerge for use on Verizon’s new network in the first half of next year.
But as we cut through the hype on LTE, I believe Apple’s decision to wait may be the right one. While the carriers are promising LTE as an upgrade path that will drive new applications and higher speeds, the reality is that 4G deployments will take much longer than the carriers are letting on.
Apple doesn’t want to mess with the first generation of LTE chipsets, since they will be bulky and power hungry. Instead, Apple will make a unified model that works across 3G networks on all carriers, and innovate with incredible new features like NFC which mirror what they accomplished with FaceTime on iPhone 4.
Apple simply doesn’t want to be the guinea pig on new LTE networks that aren’t ready for primetime, and Steve Jobs knows not to trust the hype that’s spewed by the carriers on 4G. The truth is that 3G networks have many more years of life, and the transition to LTE will be much slower than the carriers want you to believe (LTE doesn’t even have its voice standard fleshed out yet).
This is why AT&T is upgrading modem cards in its basestations to support the newest flavor of 3G called HSPA+, and it’s why Verizon is rumored to be working hard on Voice over Revision A, which will allow simultaneous data and voice. These upgrades greatly extend the life of 3G networks, and hedge against the transition to LTE. And Apple is pushing the carriers to extend 3G.
So if you’re waiting for an iPhone that works on 4G carrier networks, it’s probably going to be a while. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about this story as the months unfold, especially as next summer’s iPhone approaches the “engineering verification test” stage. But based on my knowledge of both the supply chain and networking infrastructure, I feel pretty confident this is the way it’s going to play out.
_________________________
Contributor Steve Cheney is an entrepreneur and formerly an engineer & programmer specializing in web and mobile technologies.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
T-Mobile G2 Will Self-Repair if You Try to Root
The T-Mobile G2 gives us a little reminder in the joys of owning an Android handset. If your Android smartphone isn’t trying to self-destruct after a hack attempt, it will fix itself instead. Although both results are not really the desired end goal for a would-be hacker, I’d choose the latter. And the latter is almost exactly what the T-Mobile G2 is doing when the hacking community tries to root that smartphone.
MobileCrunch states its case:
That said, this is pretty much some BS. To force a user to use one and only one version of Android is an anathema to the spirit and letter of the Apache license under which Android is given away by Google. This move proves that carriers see Android as a cash cow. They don’t really have to spend any money on development so they can spend plenty of money on locking things down to their liking. It also flies directly in the face of those who see Android as the “freer” alternative OS.
For its reputation as an open platform, it seems less open these days as carriers start to abuse and lock down the platform. Carriers like Verizon and Sprint are loading up their Android handsets with crapware that users don’t really want, but there is no viable option to delete those apps.
Moreover, some Android handsets on Verizon’s network are being offered with Microsoft’s Bing as the default search engine. I couldn’t think of anything more blasphemous on a Google-powered gadget.
Most Android fans have been looking forward to the G2 since it doesn’t come with any funky interface and T-Mobile tends to leave its Android handsets alone in terms of bloatware – much like the G1. But if the XDA Developer Community can’t do its thing and make the G2 a little more open to other software and customizations because the phone resets itself, it’s pretty much a lost cause for those tinkerers.
[Via: MobileCrunch]
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Windows Phone 7: the important bits
Filed under: OS Updates, Windows Mobile, Microsoft
Windows Phone 7: the important bits
by Sebastian Anthony (RSS feed) Jul 19th 2010 at 9:00AM
Today saw the release of the first in-depth previews of Microsoft's next-generation mobile operating system Windows Phone 7. The problem is, I don't really care about the screen, or indeed any of the hardware. I'm not interested in half the things that Engadget or ZDNet have to say about the phone: I'm just interested in what the software -- the operating system -- enables the phone to do. I figured you might be the same -- after all, who wants to dig through a dozen pages of pictures and flavourless prose when everything you want to know can be boiled down to a bunch of bullet points?So, here's what Windows Phone 7 means for you, the software-enthusiast end-user:
I think that about covers it all. Overall, reviewers and developers are concluding that Windows Phone 7 is polished, fluid and very easy to use. In fact, most complaints seem to be about the lack of copy-and-paste and true multi-tasking. Sure, Microsoft isn't quite finished, but with WP7 phones due to arrive this winter, the platform must be very nearly feature-complete. I think it's safe to say that Windows Phone 7 will not debut with either a clipboard or multi-tasking.
- Using Windows Phone 7 will be very smooth -- there is a lot less emphasis on applications. You won't 'start the camera app' and then 'start the messaging app' to send a photo. You will just take a photo and then send it to a friend. As ZDNet puts it, the emphasis will be on how you interact with people rather than apps -- which is rather fitting, given our contemporary love affair with social interaction.
- The Start screen is still alive -- but unlike other mobile platforms where your home screen is merely dotted with app icons, you can create quick access buttons to almost anything, including your favourite songs or contacts. Being able to open an instant messenger chat with your best friend from the Start screen is pretty darn cool.
- Applications are going to be wider -- on WP7 you will find words trailing off the edge of the screen. Apparently it's a very natural cue that encourages you to swipe left or right to access the next page. I suggest you watch Engadget's video to see how this actually works in practice. Personally, I love the change: moving from a wide-screen desktop display to a hyper-portrait mobile phone is never pleasant.
- Much more stringent hardware requirements -- no surprise here, I guess. Windows Phone 7 has a (very sexy) list of minimum hardware requirements, including a multi-touch 800x480 screen and a flash-equipped camera. (Check the ZDNet article for a full list.)
- There will be no external storage on WP7 phones -- OK, this one's a surprise! I guess this is to please app developers and content providers... but time will tell! (Incidentally, WP7 phones must have a minimum of 8GB internal storage.)
- Hubs -- this is Windows Phone 7's shining glory. There are different kinds of hubs: People, Pictures, Games, Music + Videos, Marketplace and Office. Without going into exact details, these hubs provide easy access to every kind of media. In the case of Pictures, it shows your local camera photos, and your photos from Facebook. Games will contain all of the juicy Xbox Arcade/XNA games that also work on the WP7. For more details on how the hubs work, watch ZDNet's video.
- Configuration, settings -- like Android, Windows Phone 7 has a consolidated, global 'settings' menu where you can alter any setting for any application. Hooray!
Never mind! The iPhone still did very well without either of those features.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Run Android on Your Windows Mobile Phone
Interested in Android but think you need to buy a new phone to try it out? Actually, your Windows Mobile phone may already have the capability of running Android. Today we show you how and the type of phone you’ll need.
Installing Android
To run Android you will need a microSD card that is not HDHC (typically a card less than 2GB) and a supported Windows Mobile phone (see below). You can check your microSD card compatibility by looking at the card to see if it shows the “HC” label.
The microSD card will need to be formatted in FAT32. Plug the microSD card into the computer and right click on it and choose format.
Note: Formatting a microSD drive will erase everything on that drive. Make sure you have any important files backed up before you format it.
Now that the microSD card is formatted, the first step to installing Android is finding the right Android port for your phone (see below). You will need to find the port that works on your phone as well as the version of Android you want to run. Versions start at 1.0 but typically you will find ports for version 1.6 or 2.1.
Once you have found the right port for your phone and Android version you want to use, extract the files to a folder using 7-zip.
After the files have extracted there should be a folder called “andboot”. Go into the andboot folder and there will be another folder called “startup config” or “startup”. Open this folder and you will need to find the right startup.txt file for your phone. Inside each folder will be a single “startup.txt” file. Copy the file for your phone model to the root of the andboot folder. This file will tell Android what type of hardware you have, how big your screen is, how much RAM your phone has etc. so it is very important to choose the right file. If you are confused on what these phone names are please read below on finding your phone model.
Once you have moved the correct startup.txt file to the andboot folder, copy the entire andboot folder to the root of your newly formatted microSD card.
Plug the microSD card back in the phone and open the file browser on your phone and browse to the memory card. Make sure the phone is plugged into power before the next few steps because on some phones running on battery may cause the phone to hang.
Open the andboot folder and run haret.exe. If the right startup.txt file is in the root of the andboot folder you should be able to click “Run” and you will get a quick loading screen while haret turns off Windows Mobile and starts up Android.
You should get some scrolling text and probably a nice Android logo while the phone boots up the first time.
Note: The first boot is going to take a considerably longer time than subsequent boots. and you may need to calibrate your screen during the boot process so make sure you keep an eye on it.
Once the basic Linux settings are done your new “Android” phone will boot to a welcome screen so you can walk through the rest of the settings like setting up your email account.
Tip: If you are running Android on a phone that does not have an active data plan but does have wifi, you can get around the startup screen by tapping on the welcome screen in this order: top left corner, top right corner, bottom right corner, bottom left corner then tap the Android logo. You can then enable wifi and join a network and set up your gmail account manually.
It is usually recommended that you leave your phone alone while it syncs your information for at least 10 minutes. Once the initial syncing is done the phone should start running faster and you can play around with installing apps. If you don’t wait for the phone to fully sync you may have problems with apps crashing prematurely and a force close dialog popping up.
Change any settings and install any apps you want, they will be saved to your memory card and ready on next boot. All phones that run Android from the microSD card will automatically boot Windows Mobile when the phone restarts. To run Android again, just open the file browser and run haret.exe again.
Android Ports
There are a few different Android ports for Windows Mobile devices and each one supports a different family of device; each family of device has a varying amount of hardware support. Most phones will support the touch screen, hardware buttons, cell phone radio, and data connection, but some ports may not support bluetooth, GPS, or power management. This is not a complete list of Android ports available, but it should cover the most popular Windows Mobile phones.
Almost all Android development on Windows Mobile phones started with the development on theHTC Touch (also known as the HTC Vogue and the Verizon xv6900). The HTC Touch has 100% of the hardware features working and even some features that were not available in official Windows Mobile ROMs. One of the main differences between Android for the Touch and Android for every other phone is the Touch allows for Android to be flashed to the phone’s ROM (NAND memory). This was a big break through for Android development and has increased battery life and speed greatly. Running Android on the Touch can be done following the steps above but it is recommended to run Android by flashing the phones NAND memory. To learn how to do that, start at the Android Touch FAQ thread at XDA-Developers.Android ports for the HTC Touch can also be used on the following phones with varying success.Note: HTC phones all have proper names that come from HTC and in many cases each carrier will give the phone its own branding and rename the phone to something else. For example, the HTC Titan was called the Mogul on Sprint and the xv6800 on Verizon. To find the Android port for your phone, start by finding the proper HTC name of your device. Start on HTC’s site to discover your device’s official name.
- HTC Nike (Neon)
- HTC Polaris (Touch Cruise)
- HTC Kaiser (TyTN II)
- HTC Titan (Mogul, xv6800)
XDAndroid supports the most popular touch screen HTC Windows Mobile phones and if you bought a touch screen HTC Windows Mobile phone within the past year, most likely this port will support your phone. XDAndroid runs directly from the phones microSD memory card on the following phones:
- Touch Pro (Fuze, RAPH, RAPH800, RAPH500)
- Touch Diamond (DIAMOND, DIAM500)
- Touch HD (BLACKSTONE)
- GSM Touch Pro2 (TILT2,RHODIUM, RHOD400, RHOD500)
- GSM Touch Diamond2 (TOPAZ)
You may also want to look at threads for the following phones to check the status of Android on these phones.Andromnia is an Android port for Samsung devices. Currently this port is in the pre-alpha stages and things like the headset speaker does not work. But if you want to test it out it supports the following phones:Wing Linux isn’t as quickly developed as XDAndroid but should get the job done if your phone isn’t supported by any other port. Wing Linux supports the following phones to varying degrees:
- Samsung i900 (GSM, supported worldwide)
- Samsung i910 (CDMA, used by Verizon in the US)
- Samsung i780 (Mirage)
- Samsung i907 (AT&T Epix)
- HTC Artemis
- HTC Elf, HTC Elfin
- HTC Excalibur, T-Mobile Dash
- HTC Gene, HTC P3400
- HTC Herald, T-Mobile Wing
- HTC Opal, HTC Touch Viva
- HTC Pharos
- HTC Prophet
- HTC Startrek
- HTC Wizard
- Asus P320, Galaxi Mini
Sony Xperia 1
HTC Leo (HD2)
Extra links
If you still can’t find what you are looking for I recommend checking out these links for more information.
XDA-Developers forum
PPCGeeks forum
Connect-UTB
HTC Linux
![sshot-2010-07-07-[22-09-07]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vrQTOmXDUZQUcjR-tI0LJJ9FymoTBAsKqrAEpJDLJk68apgd8yF55W0ZrMATOJAykTA6rg1lLxcLSLxp7zjKoBovDwUAOTsh1935WHf9ugIrTedbZmPH8V_HAKjXw26ZEHpIDim_vkLbY4DNCY=s0-d "sshot-2010-07-07-[22-09-07]")
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Review: T-Mobile GarminFone
Short version: A competent and useful, but ultimately limited handset. Recommended for GPS lovers, but not for Android lovers.
Features:
- Dedicated Garmin Navigation function
- 3.5″ 320 x 480 display
- Garmin “Breeze” interface
- MSRP: $199 (incl. $50 rebate) with 2-year agreement (T-Mobile)
Pros:
- Navigation is fantastic
- Bright and responsive multi-touch screen
- Breeze interface ain’t so bad
Cons:
- Kind of chunky
- Lack of many Android creature comforts such as LED indicator light, home screen widgets
- Breeze interface ain’t so good, either
Full review:
Many Android phones these days focus on adding a dedicated social layer, with widgets crammed in every cranny for this or that notification service or social network. Location data and maps, however, are rarely treated as anything more than standard functions of the phone, relegated to the standard Google Maps. The GarminFone pretty much takes the complete opposite tack here, sacrificing even core Android functionality to the all-important feature: navigation. If that gets your heart racing, this may just be your phone. If you’re skeptical right off the bat, however, I don’t think there’s much value in it for you.
The key feature of the GarminFone is its dedicated navigation app. It essentially functions as a complete Garmin GPS device, almost completely independent of signal and data connection. You can use Google Maps if you want, but the pre-loaded database of roads and destinations in the Garmin app is often far more convenient, and you can search via Google from within it, so the only reason to use Google Maps is if you prefer the look (I do, personally), or for using other Google meta-mapping services. In any case, the Garmin navigation is simple, powerful, and fairly attractive. Garmin compares the phone’s abilities to one of its higher-end devices, which can use data services to get traffic and other data.
I found its database to be reasonably comprehensive for established locations, and its directions were accurate. It didn’t have a few newer places, but it’s easy enough to get them via Google Local Search. The multiple views possible make it suitable for driving or walking, and the voice cues were well-timed and easy to follow. Multi-touch was in full effect, allowing for quick zooms. The map was responsive, but not nearly as fluid to move around as I’d like.
The GarminFone has a separate display for satellite signal, which is handy but occasionally futile to consult — it’s not like you can wave it around and get a better connection with the satellite. It’s reassuring when you’re driving, however, to look over and see that yes, you have full bars on satellite, and it’s not going to suddenly think you’re a quarter mile behind of where you actually are.
Hardware
The phone’s form factor (a collaboration with Asus) is, depending on your perspective, either pleasantly plump or overstuffed. The main body feels solid and it’s a pretty good-looking piece of kit. The buttons stick out a bit far, however, especially the on-off button: it protrudes from the rounded top and was constantly being hit when I put in a pocket or bag. It also has the annoying Android 1.6 habit of occasionally not turning off when you tell it to, then when you hit the button again, turning off and on real fast. Why can’t people seem to design a screen on-off button that works properly?
I could have done without the touch-sensitive buttons. They’re responsive enough and give a little buzz when you hit them, but they’re pretty easy to hit on accident. The square D-pad takes a little getting used to, but works as expected.
Unforgivably, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack. Come on, people.
The GarminFone does come with a competent car kit too, which I did not have time to mount. It includes a dash mount and charger; it grips the phone via the contact points on the side.
The rest of the phone
If you are a person who relies on GPS to get you where you’re going, this could be a killer feature for you. GPS unit and phone in one — a life-saver for a few of you out there. But what about its performance as a smartphone?
Not so good, unfortunately. The first thing you likely noticed was the custom interface. It puts all the focus on navigation, and unlike other custom interfaces (Motoblur, Sense), it’s almost completely non-customizable. What you see is what you get.
The oversized buttons on the main screen are there forever, so get used to them. The App drawer opens from the side, which isn’t really any better or worse if you ask me, but I’ve always felt a little weird opening it up horizontally and then scrolling vertically. You can, of course, download all the apps you want, which appear in chronological (and arrangeable) order in the app drawer. Rearranging is a slow process, however, and the way moved apps push the others down makes it a sort of puzzle to get them the way you want. The always-accessible left-hand column of the app drawer is handy, but honestly not nearly as handy as having multiple home screens.
There is the widget screen, of course, which you can fill with widgets, but not apps. Holding down the home button brings you to the last used widget, though I would prefer it brought you to an anchor, such as the center widget screen or the last used apps widget.
The included apps are a mixed bag. The “vanilla” e-mail app is attractive and functional, though it shares many quirks with its sibling, the default 1.6 email client. Messaging is pretty standard, but has a few incomprehensible design choices: why does it default to the message text box when you start a new text, instead of the “to” box? And why isn’t there a “send” button when I’m typing my message in landscape mode? Little UI lapses like this are scattered about the phone, and although they’re only slightly frustrating and at most result in a few lost seconds, it sucks to know that they’re never likely to be fixed.
It also comes with a few other location- and navigation-centric apps like Ciao and Garmin Voice Studio. As for the location-based extras, that’s something that is better handled by Google and/or social apps like Foursquare, so I didn’t get much use out of them and I doubt many users will, either.
Typing on the keyboard was a pleasant experience, I found; the auto-complete feature and vibrating keys were problematic, though, and led to lots of mistakes. Otherwise the screen was responsive and accurate enough that I was typing almost as fast as I can on my G1’s hard keyboard.
Frustratingly, some applications have their notification or display settings buried in the universal Settings>Applications menu, instead of their own context menus. Why this is, I have no idea, but it’s a pain. Speaking of notifications, there’s no LED notification indicator. What the hell? I rely on that thing! I also found that a custom notification sound I use faded in instead of simply playing, leading to a rather weird phased effect. That might be an isolated problem, though.
Battery life was quite good, which was surprising considering the amount of satellite callouts it was doing. The hours quoted in its specs are probably within reason — after a full day of checking email, doing some browsing, and checking maps fairly often, I still probably had four or five more hours left.
Conclusion:
To be honest, despite my various issues with the UI, I found it easy and intuitive in general. The real argument against it, however, is not that it isn’t usable, but that it will never be improved. It’s running Android 1.6, and is almost certainly never going to get the 2.1 or 2.2 treatment. The many features and optimizations (to say nothing of useful apps) present in those and upcoming versions will never be yours if you get the GarminFone. Again, for those among you who just want a good smartphone and a good GPS unit in the same device, this is likely not an issue, but for people who put the phone first, it is a potential deal-breaker.
The GarminFone is a handy and unique device, especially for people who are used to dedicated GPS units, but whether it’s worth the trade-off in smartphone features is a choice you’ll have to make. It succeeds well at what it tries to do, but it remains to be seen whether that’s enough.
Product page: T-Mobile GarminFone
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Feature: Ars reviews the HTC EVO 4G
The HTC EVO 4G is arguably one of the most ambitious smartphones ever to ship with Google's Android mobile operating system. Exclusive to Sprint, the device is one of the first to deliver 4G network connectivity. Its appeal is boosted by impressive hardware specs and a roster of outstanding capabilities, like support for high-definition video capture. It comes loaded with HTC's unique user interface enhancements and custom applications, which round out its feature set nicely.
Despite its strong assortment of merits, the device falls short of greatness due to mediocre battery life and a handful of other limitations. In this review, we'll take a close hands-on look at the EVO 4G.
Hardware
The EVO uses the same 1Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor that powers the Nexus One; it also sports 512MB RAM, 1GB of internal storage, and a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen that renders at 800x480. A 1.3MP camera is embedded on the front for video chat, and there's an 8MP camera with an LED flash on the back. As for wireless connectivity, the EVO is a CDMA device with support for EVDO, WiMAX, WiFi, and Bluetooth. These specs make the EVO a step up from Google's Nexus One handset. Although both devices have the same processor and the same amount of RAM, the EVO has a bigger screen, a better camera, and twice as much internal storage.
The EVO's build quality is modestly higher than average, but isn't excellent. It has a solid feeling in the hand and the screen is very robust. Unfortunately, the back plate doesn't slide off like on other HTC handsets—you have to snap it out with your fingernail. When I remove the back plate, I always feel like I narrowly avoided causing damage. When it goes back on, it never really feels like it has snapped all the way in. The power button is a bit mushy and doesn't always respond right away. The phone doesn't feel cheap, but these characteristics detract a bit from the build quality.
The EVO has a power pushbutton on the top edge of the device and volume toggle buttons on the right edge. These are the only actual physical buttons on the device. There is a row of capacitive buttons at the bottom of the device's face, right below the touchscreen. These capacitive buttons perform the standard Android operations: home, menu, back, and search.
The Android compatibility specification requires devices to make those functions immediately accessible to users, so they're found on every handset that has the Android market installed. The order of the buttons differs from one device to another, however. The N1 and Motorola Droid both use the following order: back, menu, home, search. The EVO swaps the home and back buttons so that home is the furthest on the left.
Unlike the Droid and the N1, the EVO has no directional pad or scroll ball. This doesn't really hamper basic navigation because Android's user interface is heavily designed for efficient touchscreen interaction, but there are a few cases where the absence of directional navigation hardware is frustrating.
When I'm browsing the Web on a mobile touchscreen device, my fat fingers often click the wrong link by accident. On my N1, I regularly use the scroll ball when I'm trying to hit a specific link that has many others in close proximity. I really miss being able to do that when I'm using the EVO. I also miss having the scroll ball when I'm trying to navigate or select text that I'm editing. On the EVO, I often have to resort to using on-screen arrow keys for moving through text.
The EVO has a metal kickstand that pops out so that the device can be propped up in landscape orientation and placed on a flat surface. It's extremely useful for when you want to watch videos, but it doesn't hold the phone firmly in place. The device will tip over if you hit the top-right corner and will slide around on the table if you push the touchscreen.
Screen
The EVO's 4.3-inch screen is considered by some to be the device's principal selling point. It's roughly half an inch larger than the display on the N1, but it's the same exact resolution. This means that you don't necessarily get to see more content—it just stretches everything to a bigger size. This is evident when you look at the EVO closely next to an N1.
You won't be able to fit more icons on the home screen, for example, but there are some cases where the large screen is very beneficial. For example, it makes the browser's "small" font size easily readable. Even the "tiny" size is manageable on the EVO if you have good eyes. You can change the browser's default font settings and use one of those sizes in order to take advantage of the better screen and see more text at one time.
The EVO's large screen is particularly nice for watching videos or reading e-books. I did some tests with the third-party Aldiko reader application and found that reading on the EVO's big screen is much easier on the eyes than reading on my N1.
The single most profound advantage of the EVO's larger screen is that it makes the touchscreen keyboard significantly easier to use. Having bigger keys makes an enormous difference for on-screen keyboard usability. My error rate during fast typing is dramatically lower on the EVO than it is on the N1. The EVO is big enough that I can even type with two thumbs in portrait mode, which is something I can't do on my N1.
The big screen has some advantages, but there are also some downsides. It makes the device cumbersome and awkward to use for one-handed operation. I often have to reposition it in my hand so my thumb can reach the top-left corner of the screen or slide down the notification pane. Much like a tablet, the EVO tends to be more comfortable to work with when used in landscape mode with two hands. When using it with one hand, I find that it works better to balance it on the ends of my fingers rather than bracing it against my palm. Holding it in one hand isn't uncomfortable, it's just awkward to operate it that way with your thumb.
The EVO's on-screen keyboard in landscape mode
Several readers have written in to ask if the EVO is comfortably pocketable. That's a tough question to answer because it depends a lot on the size of your pockets. The phone fits fine in my loose-fitting corduroy pants, but it's not going to be pocketable in tighter jeans. Its dimensions make it feel more like a small tablet than a large phone. In fact, it's very similar in size to Nokia's N810 Internet Tablet. I personally consider it pocketable, and I haven't had much trouble carrying it with me in my pocket while traveling.
If the EVO had a higher-resolution display, the larger screen size would be an unambiguous win and the awkwardness would be a relatively small price to pay. Unfortunately, because it has the same resolution as the N1 and other Android phones with smaller screens, it ends up largely being a wash. Whether the large screen is actually useful to you in practice is going to depend on what you do and how you like to use the phone.
A size comparison: the Nokia N810, HTC Evo 4G, and Google's Nexus One
If you're thinking about getting an EVO and you typically operate your phone with one hand, I strongly recommend trying the device before you buy so you can see if it's comfortable for you. It might be a non-starter for users with small hands. If you want to watch a lot of videos or read books, then the screen size has got some big tangible benefits.
Although the EVO's bigger screen offers a better typing experience than smaller Android-based devices, I wouldn't necessarily endorse it as a good device for heavy messaging. Users who do a lot of typing are still probably better off buying a device with a physical hardware keyboard. Android's on-screen keyboard completely obscures the contents of the screen in landscape mode, which makes it frustrating to use for Internet chat or SSH.
Motorola Droid X: $199 on July 15th for Verizon
A few minutes ago Verizon and Motorola got together to announced the new Droid X Android smartphone, and we’ve got all the details for you. First and foremost, the Droid X will ship with Android 2.1 and a new customized UI. It boasts a 4.3-inch 854x480 display, 1GHz TI OMAP 3640 processor, 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, 720p video capture, and 8GB internal storage. It’s also got a flash card port that supports up to 32GB of storage, and the phone does ship with a 16GB card. The Droid X can also act as a mobile hotspot, providing WiFi access to up to five other devices, multitouch keyboard (thank you!), DLNA support, and even an HDMI out.
We know you are wondering when Froyo (Android 2.2) will hit the phone, and Verizon says that will happen later this summer, alongside Flash 10.1 support. You’ll be able to pick up the Droid X on July 15th from Verizon Wireless for $199.99 with two-year contract after rebate (rebate? really? still?) and if you wanna add the hotspot feature, that will be an extra $20 per month with a 2GB cap. Similar to how AT&T made all customers with upgrade dates through 2010 eligible for the iPhone 4 right away, Verizon is doing the same for the Droid X.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Even With Pre-Order Failures, iPhone 4 Sells Out In Under A Day
Well that didn’t take long. Not even 24 hours after the iPhone 4 became available online for pre-order, it is completely sold out. Earlier today, reports had AT&T being out of the device. Now the Apple Online Store is out of them too. They’ll still let you pre-order one, but you won’t be getting it on June 24 (launch day). Instead, Apple is saying the next batch of phones will ship by July 2.The fact that Apple blew through their entire first run of iPhone 4s in something like 20 hours is impressive any way you slice it. But it also begs the question: how fast would the device have sold out if the pre-order system actually worked today? I don’t think it’s a stretch to think the iPhone might have been gone twice as fast.
As we covered last night, when the iPhone 4 first went up for pre-order on Apple’s website, there were massive failures in the system that prevented people from completing their orders. Those failures carried into this morning and even this afternoon and people still were having difficulty ordering the phone. Some were able to order it from AT&T’s site, others weren’t. Some were able to order from the new iPhone Apple Store app, others weren’t.
The system seems to be running smoothly now, but again, if you place your order on Apple’s site, it will state that you phone will ship after launch. The July 2 date currently listed is just 8 days after the current June 24 launch — but that’s also the ship date, so it could arrive a few days after that.
Right now, if you’re hoping for an iPhone 4 before July, your best bet may be to hope Apple releases the elusive white iPhone 4 (which didn’t go up for pre-sale last night) into the wild before then. Or hope that Apple saved a few to sell in stores to those that didn’t pre-order.
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