Android

As I was saying the other day, I got an HTC Desire with Android 2.1. Comments.

First of all, what I had and why I changed it – I had been using for 3 (4?) years a Nokia E90 – a brick, Symbian, keyboard. I wasn’t very happy with it, but I wasn’t bothered enough either. It’s just that I dropped it (for the nth time!) and this time it broke altogether. The keys came out 🙁 .

What to replace it with? First of all, I think phones have reached the point where computers are right now – the hardware isn’t so important, the operating system and the applications are the ones that matter. In this context, I look at the 4 operating systems on the market: Symbian, iOS, Android and Windows Phone7. I gracefully ignore anything like Nokia’s embarrassing Linux test versions which will probably have no future, or Blackberry which I personally don’t like. From those 4, Symbian is probably dying – I conclude in my mind that I am keeping it on the list only for historical reasons. Out. iPhone 4 is something worth testing, especially since iPad gave me such a good feeling. But with the problems it has, I would rather wait until spring. MS released Phone7 but there are no phones with it. We are looking forward to it; then we’ll wait for the second patch, and so probably in the fall of 2011 we’ll have something to buy. And buying Windows mobile 6.5 now, at the end of the road, is not an option. We are left with Android – apparently mature operating system; no major version is foreseen this year; it doesn’t appear to have any consistent bugs. The problems of this operating system are a) Google closed the Nexus range – I wonder why? And b) as long as Google’s interest to develop this operating system is non-financial and exclusively oriented towards attracting clients in the system, I wonder how long it will be sustained. I don’t think a free product can withstand a long time… Anyway, considering the fact that everyone is talking about it and I don’t know what it is about, I say it’s time to try it.

Ok, Android. But what hardware? I read a little bit and I stop at HTC Desire and Nexus One as being the top of the range. Nexus is on its last legs, so I am clearly left with HTC (I should tell you once about this company; it’s extremely interesting how they managed in 10 years to make a name for themselves out of nothing and about their plans for the future).

So I am looking to buy: free market, 2000 RON; I call Vodafone – 300+ EUR. If I extend the 250 subscription, if I get internet 150 (funny detail – I have had internet for 3 years at 17 EUR… Now I changed it for 7 EUR. I was the fool for not asking all this time, because they certainly were never going to call and tell me it got cheaper!!!). OK, in 2 hours I had the gadget. Internet, sync with Exchange and Axigen in 10 minutes. Great.

Comments after 4 days of use:

The OS is well made, easy to understand and use.  But it’s very comprehensive, especially compared to iOS. It has many settings, which gives it flexibility, but which significantly complicates one’s life. The phone part is easy to use; there are many applications, for everything. Freer than with iPhone. Security possibilities are significantly better than in the case of iOS (but who’s using them? 🙂 ). Hardware – it moves fast, the screen is OK. Standard micro-USB charger; 3.5MM earphone jack.

From the problems I encountered: the biggest is the confusion between “google account” and “gmail account”, because, just as with iPhone/iTunes, in order to have access to applications you need a google account. That is what they say and that is what the login screen says. But it’s not true; you need a gmail account. I have a google account with an email that is not a gmail one, an account I use a lot for all google applications, including (a very important aspect) to log in WiFi through airports in spots sponsored by google. But this account doesn’t work on the phone – I had to create a gmail account. That email account started to sync – and it seems there is nothing I can do to stop it – emails with the phone. And I don’t want thaaaaat!

Regarding hardware, the only important drawback is that in standby mode, the volume buttons change the ringer volume, going as far as putting in silent if you go way down with them. And the volume buttons are placed exactly where you hold the phone from. So, in 4 days I happened to put it on silent twice; my wife called and I didn’t pick up :-(. What’s more, I don’t understand why you need a trackball next to a touch screen anyway…

So, all in all – I’m happy with it.

Later edit – after a month:

Probleme aparute:

Problems that appeared:

1. Applications don’t shut down… ever, unless you install a special application. So you end up with a looooooot of traffic. I got the full taste of it the second day of HTC, abroad, when I spent 200$ on internet for absolutely no reason. So a Task Killer is more than necessary, though I find the whole thing stupid. Now with the new update it’s even more complicated.
2. You can’t set your current city; apparently from nowhere. So if you want to set the time and it doesn’t automatically get it from the network, you’ve got a problem.
3. It has a big problem when syncing the calendar with Exchange. Error: “Client/Server conversion error”, details here.
4. There is no LinkedIn application. There are promises to come.

Still happy with it, but moderately so.

(English version by Teodora Popescu)