Sprint - finally stepping it up

[[AK]Clay]

If I were buying an Android phone right now, I'd buy the Incredible hands down.

Which, alas, is limited to Verizon, which is not available to me If I had the choice, I'd look pretty close at the iPhone 4 on Verizon. Don't have the choice.

Don't you find the Incredible screen to be narrow? I just didn't care for it, I prefer the wider screen on my iPhone. But then, I only handled an incredible for maybe 30 seconds, so maybe I judged too quick.


Back to the EVO's battery life, the reviews make for interesting read. For benchmark: my iPhone3G battery is terrible. I can't go through an 8 hour day without having to recharge - and I don't even run it in 3G mode. I've gotten used to it - it's not hard to plug it into my charger in my car, office, home while I'm sitting there. I don't complain too much - I use my iPhone as a mini-laptop, so yea, it's going to suck power. Batt life is reasonable when I'm basically using it either as an off-line movie player (i.e. in an airplane), online when I'm using it only as a phone in idle mode, and when I use it to play music. But if I browse any or use the GPS (which still sucks power, even though the GPS doesn't actually work anymore), then it's drained pretty quick.

The EVO battery life for me (no 4G) sounds to be at least on par with what my iPhone is delivering, and actually a little bit better from what I'm reading. According to the USA Today review, the EVO and iPhone both lasted as long. And you DO have the option of buying a spare battery with a non-iPhone.

I also note that reviewers vary widely on how long the battery actually lasts. One of the biggest factor is how good the signal is. The phone in 3G mode with good signal lasts pretty long. But if weak or roaming, it sucks the juice trying to boost transmission power and constantly searching. Makes sense. Maybe that's why my iPhone batt life blows too.

Here are the specs on batteries:
iPhone 3G = 1150 mAh
iPhone 3GS - 1200 mAh
iPhone 4 = 1.25X (3GS) = 1500 mAh (based on Gizmodo)
Sprint EVO = 1500 mAh
Droid = 1400 mAh
HTC Incredible = 1300 mAH, (upgraded to 1500 mAh - same battery used in the EVO).

So the EVO's battery is quite good. But it still sounds like the Incredible outlasts it. That's where it gets confusing, because all reviews say it's not EVO's bigger screen that's drawing the power, it's the internals. It has the same processors as the Incredible, but interestingly, the Incredibles is underclocked )to <80% speed) to save on battery power. http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Late...e-a_10181.html After the creepy-crawly speeds of my iPhone 3G, I'll take the faster speed over longer battery.


One of the complaints about Apple is it is closed source and you have limited control. With Android, do I have enough control that I can manually adjust the processor clock speed on the fly? Can I adjust how hard it fights to maintain cell tower signal?

[[AK]Nuts]

From /.

For a while now Apple has said it doesn't want "widget-like" apps in the store; but where is the boundary of that fuzzy statement? The developers of My Frame, of which three versions had already been approved for the iPhone/iPad, found out that they had already crossed it when Apple informed them their app would be pulled. My Frame had options to overlay data on whatever photo was displaying: a Twitter stream, weather, etc. When one of the developers wrote to Steve Jobs on a whim to ask what unwritten rule their app had violated, Jobs wrote back: "We are not allowing apps that create their own desktops. Sorry."

"I see now why people are so angry at the 'murky' nature of the App Store, and I'm starting to agree with them. My Frame was approved by Apple 3 times (once for each version we released), and ... now, at version 1.2 they decide it's to be removed? How can a company be prepared to invest into a platform that can change at any time, cutting you off and kicking you out, with no course of action but to whine on some no-name blog? There is no alternative platform, despite what others may say about Android, it's immature and their app store(s) are a wild west nightmare. It really is Apple's way or the highway...."

[[AK]Squidly]

"I see now why people are so angry at the 'murky' nature of the App Store, and I'm starting to agree with them. My Frame was approved by Apple 3 times (once for each version we released), and ... now, at version 1.2 they decide it's to be removed? How can a company be prepared to invest into a platform that can change at any time, cutting you off and kicking you out, with no course of action but to whine on some no-name blog? There is no alternative platform, despite what others may say about Android, it's immature and their app store(s) are a wild west nightmare. It really is Apple's way or the highway...."[/I]

The rules are well defined. Despite the fact that this guy was able to slip his app through the review process a few times, he had to know that he'd eventually get busted. Build your business on grey areas and private APIs at your own risk, I guess.

[[AK]Hylander]

Another EVO Review

[[AK]Hylander]

Don't you find the Incredible screen to be narrow? I just didn't care for it, I prefer the wider screen on my iPhone. But then, I only handled an incredible for maybe 30 seconds, so maybe I judged too quick.

Not at all - it's virtually identical to my Droid actually.

[[AK]Hylander]

Verizon Has No Plans for Apple Support in the "Immediate Future"

[[AK]Clay]

Now that it's live, I was able to handle an EVO in the store today. I quite liked it. I haven't committed for sure, as I still have 2 months on AT&T with my iPhone 3G.

Size
The EVO felt in my hand to be about the same size as my iPhone - which is interesting because so many reviewers made a huge deal about it's size being too big. Seriously, this is a non-issue. The size is the same as an iPhone in a slim silicone protective case, actually a little smaller. I'm sure it'll bulk up if you put a case on the EVO, so OK, if that's a big deal, don't put a case on it.

Screen
The huge screen was nice - real nice. It wasn't the ray of light from heaven that so many reviews made it out to be. But it does make my iPhone screen look tiny and humble. I bet once you go with something like this, it'll be tough to step back down to a smaller standard size screen.

Interface
Some of the interfacing is going to take time to adjust. I was typing some text, and missed a space. So I touched the text area expecting a bubble to pop up, a la iPhone, and roll around to find the spot, and insert the space. Instead I got a pop-up menu and ended up cutting most of my text . I think you're supposed to use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move around. Which seems silly - it's a touch screen, why use arrows?

Street Nav
The built in turn-by-turn navigation looks really cool - with voice guidance to boot. With a screen bigger than some TomTom's. iPhone doesn't come with this built in! But I have to say, I like the way the iPhone has integrated maps, directions, and searching all into the one program. On the Android, you have to use one app to look up say Angelo's Pizza, which will then give you directions to it. But if you want to see landmarks along the way, via satellite images, then you had to go to another map app. Which doesn't have the built in ability to just type in a business name and look it up. A lack of polish in interface, where Apple shines.

General GPS use
But I like having multiple pins show up on my map. For example, if I'm hunting, and there are multiple blinds in my area. I'd like to have the ability to see position on the satellite map via GPS (street maps are useless in the woods). And I want to see where all the blinds are via tacks at the same time. On the iPhone, you can only see one tack at a time. I'm hoping with Android you can see multiple.

Phone
Phone quality seemed fine. I called Deanna's phone and it worked. Which amazed me, because she's on AT&T - and so normally in paperweight mode.

Camera
The camera was good - very serviceable and a big improvement over my 2MP iPhone camera. But for an 8 MP camera, I wasn't very impressed. Unlikely that it will be taking many wallpaper photos.

Speed
At last, 3G speed - ironically in a 4G phone. In central WI, I'm doomed to forever be one step slower than what's out there. Processor speed was great, making it pleasant to use.

Cost
The phone cost is quite reasonable (~$300 minus $100 after a silly rebate game) - about the same as most other high-end cell phones, and cheaper than a few. But the extra $10/month 4G charge (in a zone that will not be getting 4G) is irksome. Basically, the phone costs an extra $240 because of this. Annoying. But in totality, 2 year cost of ownership still sounds like it's going to be competitive, and probably cheaper than a comparable iPhone or Verizon plans. Plus 8 GB or RAM is lame - so figure another $75 for a 32 MB MicroSD card. I figure 2 year cost of ownership is somewhere around $2200. (How much are you paying now for 2 yrs of ownership?)

$30/month to make it a mobile hot-spot isn't going to happen (=$600 adder to 2 yr cost of ownership bottom line). But you can opt in/out at will - so who knows, if I'm on a trip somewhere with others. I can see me turning it on for that month if I can VPN my work PC through it - hotel internet access can be as much as $20/DAY.

Battery life
No idea, it was plugged in the whole time. It's a smart phone, only a fool expects a smartphone to last very long in use without being near a charger or spare battery. I'm figuring maybe 2 hours of GPS usage, so when I'm out in the field, I'll be bringing a charger pack. When only used as an idle phone, I expect it to last at least 2 days between charges - but based on some reviews, I may get much less. Concerning, but manageable.

Compatability
One thing - all my iPhone/iPod docking stations and integrated devices will become expensive night lights. I wonder, do they make adapters that slip into and connect to the iPod sized docking stations, that you can then slip an EVO into?

Will I buy one?
Probably. This makes my iPhone 3G seem pretty dopey. Even the iPhone 4 shown on Gizmodo looks to be a step below this unit.
-AT&T is a poor service provider in my region, and offer no coverage for Deanna's drive or city of employment. So they, and the iPhone with it, are out. That, and I just don't see what the iPhone is going to have that this wont.
-Verizon won't even sell me a phone in my Zip code (and they're reportedly expensive for a good smartphone plan) - so they're out.
-Which leaves Sprint. I don't see Sprint coming out with an even better phone than this in the next 2 months. That, and this is a really sweet phone.

[[AK]Bribo]

I thought this was amusing.

http://adamsdayoff.tumblr.com/post/6...roidscreenshot

[[AK]Beaker]

OK so Clay and I have 2 months to decide on phones. I am leaning toward an entry level smart phone. I thought I'd try the Palm Pixi. Because it's cute and small (I'll admit it!)

It doesn't have wi-fi but when I travel I almost always have my netbook. And when I go between home and work I have computers in both places.

How often do you use your wi-fi on your phone if you have a computer with you?

Does anyone have any experience with the new Palm OS? I don't really foresee using this as a smartphone very much maybe some Navigation, but not really for apps or gaming or music. (I have an itouch for music that I haven't turned on in months.) So an app store is not a factor in what I do.

[[AK]Squidly]

Palm wouldn't be my first choice.