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  • Android Phones

    Well as mentioned in the iPhone4 thread I ended up going for the Samsung Galaxy S instead.

    It arrived at lunchtime (right on schedule Mr Optus, thanks!) and Ive had a few moments to play.

    It looks more like an iPhone than anything else except it has a Google logo on the back.

    First impression is the amazing screen on it. 4 inches, bright, clear and easy to read. I tried web browsing on it, it works fine but like all phones is painful to use.

    I also setup my email (IMAP4) so I can read it while out and about. Email works well and apart from the keyboard (which is just ok for short replies) I can see me using it often on the road so now CSrs should get an even faster reply to queries. (faster than current near instant?) ;-)

    Widgets are funky, weather, AAP next snippets etc and I can see that having a few on a home page will be useful for information at a galance.

    Tonight Ill fiddle with some other apps after I get my contacts across from the Nokia and will see what I like.

    High on my shopping list now is a bluetooth keyboard for the car so when I have to write a longer email or post to the website I can use the phones little screen and a real keyboard to type.

    Any bluetooth keyboard recomendations for Andrid devices?

  • #2
    Re: Android Phones

    I managed to get a new folder up and add shortcuts to it in the HTC which is handy, although it seems you can only add a folder to a home screen. I like the idea of being able to throw programs from the "all programs" screen into folders.

    Great speed on the internet at home on the little baby.

    Cheers

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Android Phones

      Originally posted by 1B343E235A0 link=1281426344/0#0 date=1281426344
      Tonight Ill fiddle with some other apps
      have a look at Launcher Pro, its probably my favourite app so far. Replaces the default launcher to give you up to 7 home screens and some other cool little features too.

      Ive been using a Google/HTC Nexus One since the start of the year and its the best phone Ive had in a long time. Certainly a better smartphone than any of the parade of Blackberry handsets Ive had. The biggest surprise is call quality - easily the best Ive had in a very long time.

      Best of all, its not an iSheep iPhone

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      • #4
        Re: Android Phones

        I scored a HTC Desire back in May mainly because I can access the Telstra Staff plan. I couldnt be happier with the phone and, like hazchem I made a point of not getting an iPhone.

        The call and music quality is brilliant and love the screen. The only downside is that it chews up battery juice fairly quickly.

        Worthwhile Android apps are Advanced Task Killer and Wifi Analyzer but there are more apps than I can poke a forky stick at. One thing i dont like a is the Google data sharing and ads that come with free apps.

        Ill check the Launcher Pro. Have you compared with other desktops/launchers?

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        • #5
          Re: Android Phones - Cybercrims turn to Smartphones

          An article about danger lurking in Android apps in todays SMH

          Download the wrong wallpaper application for your Google Android phone and you could get one that will harvest the phone and voicemail numbers, and data that can be used to disclose your location.

          Mobile security firm Lookout discovered 80 such Android web apps in late July, which have since been taken down by Google, said John Hering, Lookouts CEO.

          The information was being transmitted to a website based in China.

          The wallpapers, showing ponies, basketball scenes and other innocuous images, were downloaded more than a million times.

          Hering and other security experts attending the Black Hat and DefCon cybersecurity conferences in Las Vegas recently say such hacks underscore the potential for spreading malicious web apps on Android handsets, iPhones, BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile phones

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          • #6
            Re: Android Phones

            With Android, the latest version is 2.2, so be wary of cheapo phones with 1.5 or 1.6.

            Not exactly a phone, but Ive been researching 7" tablet PCs from China with the Android OS, and the Rockchip chipset.

            Very light around 350 grams --- I want that instead of a 3 kg notebook sitting on my lap as I netsurf while watching tv.

            Unfortunately these are first or second generation, still on the superseded Android 1.5. Certainly cheap at under $200, but at this stage limited memory 128 mb, limited storage around 1 gb sd card, no 3g but wifi or usb modem instead.

            Tempting, but might be patient and wait for the next G. You know what its like with electronics: the next generation is twice as good for half the price

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            • #7
              Re: Android Phones

              and released the week after you buy the old one.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Android Phones

                Originally posted by 627F726563647F100 link=1281426344/5#5 date=1281484391
                With Android, the latest version is 2.2, so be wary of cheapo phones with 1.5 or 1.6.

                Not exactly a phone, but Ive been researching  7" tablet PCs from China with the Android OS, and the Rockchip chipset.  

                Very light around 350 grams --- I want that instead of a 3 kg notebook sitting on my lap as I netsurf while watching tv.

                Unfortunately these are first or second generation, still on the superseded  Android 1.5.  Certainly cheap at under $200, but at this stage limited memory 128 mb, limited storage around 1 gb sd card,  no 3g but wifi or usb modem instead.

                Tempting, but might be patient and wait for the next G. You know what its like with electronics: the next generation is twice as good for half the price  
                Robusto - I didnt think 2.2 had been released yet. It should be a free upgrade when it comes out.

                Mate Cnet has a write up of those cheap ipads from China - they hated them so much it was amusing. But im sure they will improve.

                Cheers

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Android Phones

                  Originally posted by 7B7269707B767E130 link=1281426344/2#2 date=1281476092
                  Launcher Pro, its probably my favourite app so far. Replaces the default launcher to give you up to 7 home screens and some other cool little features too.
                  I have read that Launcher Pro is good, the Samsung already has 7 home screens so it would have to offer more for me to run it. Ill have a look sometime though.

                  Originally posted by 7B7269707B767E130 link=1281426344/2#2 date=1281476092
                  The biggest surprise is call quality - easily the best Ive had in a very long time
                  The Nexus One has noise cancelling... it was nearly enough for me to get it. The Samsung has good voice quality... chalk n cheese comapred to the Nokia but I did find that the speaker phone is a little soft even on full volume.

                  Originally posted by 617C716660677C130 link=1281426344/5#5 date=1281484391
                  Not exactly a phone, but Ive been researching7" tablet PCs from China with the Android OS, and the Rockchip chipset.

                  Very light around 350 grams --- I want that instead of a 3 kg notebook sitting on my lap as I netsurf while watching tv.
                  As long as you are near a power point! I looked at those while in Shenzhen a couple of months ago and found the battery life was about 40 minutes... not quite the device for reading a book on the beach ;-)

                  The 10" ones were about $100 so if you were to use them in the lounge room next to power point they would be fine.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Android Phones

                    TG, too true.... but its useless refusing to keep up with the technology -- the technology makes sure your old gadget becomes unusable or something out of the steam age, in the end.

                    Ozscott, yes, Ive read a lot of reviews, made many comparisons. The tablets pretty much use the same chips as mobile phones. And unfortunately, they also use similar-sized batteries trying to illuminate a much bigger screen.

                    I guess they are, at the moment, a more convenient way to surf than the mobile phone.

                    Apple Ipads of course are no comparison, with their shmoooth capacitive screens (versus sluggish resistive for Chinese tablets), but they are 4 times the cost, and, significantly, dont support Flash, which most internet sites use.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Android Phones

                      I found a bug!
                      Well after finding it I googled 100s of others with the same problem and it seems the google developers have known about it for a long time.

                      The Android IMAP4 client doesnt do deletes very well (or at all actually).

                      Read an email using IMAP4, hit delete, refresh and it appears again.

                      So when I get home all the mail that I acted on during the day reappears and I have to delete it again.

                      Hmmm... seems K9 mail client addresses this but I would have hopped that the native Google email client would have worked.

                      Anyone else see this with IMAP?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Android Phones

                        Might be worth checking the mailbox settings (server-end if you can get to them) to see if there is a toggle-able setting to allow/disallow deletes from imap4 connected clients

                        Straw grasp but could be worth looking into.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Android Phones

                          Nice tip AndrewG, Ill see if I can but the same mail server works fine with MS Outlook clients configured for IMAP4 on 3 different PCs so yeah, might be a straw grasp.

                          I do some contacting work for the ISP so getting access wont be too hard.
                          8-)

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                          • #14
                            Re: Android Phones

                            if it works with other imap4 connected outlook clients then I doubt it will be anything server side.

                            was worth a shot tho.

                            another possibility
                            "Go to your mail account settings for the IMAP account and select incoming server settings. Change "Delete mail from server" from "Never" to "When I delete from inbox.""

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Android Phones

                              Thanks but sadly, I dont get the options in the settings for anything to do with delete. A skim through the Android forums shows it is fairly common on a whole host of handsets from different companies.

                              K9mail is the answer to everyone elses questions too so I think thats the next step.

                              ...although I would like to see the IMAP mail server logs to see what the phone is actually trying to do. (Out of nerdy curiousity if nothing else.)

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