Android Avalanche Approaching, Alliteration Applies Admirably

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
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Um… sorry. PCWorld reports that the trickle of Android phones we’ve seen this year will become an outright deluge in 2010, according to research company CCS Insight. If Microsoft doesn’t get its act together with Winmo 7 soon, they just might see Google hit them upside the head and steal market share in yet another area.

Unfortunately a large number of Android-based devices doesn't mean that there will be a lot of different looking phones, according to [analyst Ben] Wood. Besides more phones, the cost of Android-based smartphones will fall to "silly prices", according to Wood, who expects prices to drop to below €100 (US$150) without operator subsidies in the first half of the year.
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Let's hope they come with faster processors and/or more optimized android install. Reviews keep saying sometimes the devices get sluggish sometimes, but overall are very nice. Then again, most of the lower end devices are based around the same 500+ mhz ARM processor. I can't wait to see more of them show up with Snapdragon and Tegra chipsets.
 
dont worry microsoft... ill be your last winmo customer if it ever gets to that point :(
 
MS already lost out... WinMo 7 won't help them much, if at all.
 
I'm not sure its very impressive or newsworthy to predict what already happened. We've already seen a sudden and huge push towards Android by two major carriers. Verizon is marketing the hell out of the Moto Droid and they also have the HTC Droid Eris. Sprint is also pushing the HTC Hero, and they have the Samsung Moment. T-Mobile also has new Android phones, the Motorola CLIQ and Samsung Behold II in addition to the older but still good myTouch 3g (HTC Magic).

So now pretty much the only carrier without multiple Android phones to choose from is AT&T - but they are working really hard on charging more and more for the same crappy network, so no loss there. But if you really want an Android phone on AT&T, its still very possible. At work we have a Samsung Galaxy (imported) running with an AT&T SIM just fine.

CaptNumbNutz said:
Let's hope they come with faster processors and/or more optimized android install. Reviews keep saying sometimes the devices get sluggish sometimes, but overall are very nice. Then again, most of the lower end devices are based around the same 500+ mhz ARM processor. I can't wait to see more of them show up with Snapdragon and Tegra chipsets.
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The Moto Droid has the same fast CPU as the iPhone 3GS, and it shows. The latest update made it even snappier and more responsive - its great. That said, even the old HTC Magic running 1.6 is still pretty responsive and definitely usable.

krupted said:
dont worry microsoft... ill be your last winmo customer if it ever gets to that point :(
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I was a winmo customer right up until the launch of the Droid, and its amazing. Winmobile is lagging so far behind it isn't even funny. Its sad when companies like HTC have to try and dress up winmo because MS isn't doing anything with it.
 
I wonder what happened to WinMo. Maybe MS honestly doesn't want to compete in that market anymore? But then why would they run their Windows Phone ad campaign?

I have a Touch Pro with a custom WinMo 6.5.3 Beta ROM, and it's awesome. But that's only thanks to countless hours of effort by both me and the modding community in general. WinMo by itself does suck.

My next phone will be an Android unless MS really pulls off some magic with WinMo 7.
 
I have the HTC Hero and it's pretty good.

Sure the Market Place is a small subset of the Apple Store but it's growing fast.

The main issue here in north america is the fact that all the cool new phones don't have 3G 850 Mhz support at launch. So we are left behind and this sucks.
 
I think the only saving grace Microsoft has right now is their mobile office (unless Android has their Google Office-alternative). Before I got my netbook, my WinMo phone was my portable office device.

And with new Android based phones coming next year, I might as well hold off to get my first Android-based phone.
 
syntx said:
The main issue here in north america is the fact that all the cool new phones don't have 3G 850 Mhz support at launch. So we are left behind and this sucks.
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Not really. 3G 850 Mhz isn't any faster (besides, which 3G do you mean? GPRS? EV-DO?), its just a difference spectrum.

I assume you are disappointed as you heard about AT&T rolling out 850 MHz 3G. Not to worry, though. From what I understand they are adding 850 MHz to their existing 1900 MHz. What they are doing is simply adding more capacity, not more speed. Sprint and Verizon already use multiple frequencies (800, 900, 1900, and 2100 iirc).

Also, I'm not sure if you know but AT&T and T-Mobile use different network technology as Sprint and Verizon. AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM/GPRS/EDGE. Sprint and Verizon use CDMA/EV-DO. So even if your phone supports 850 MHz (which the HTC Hero does, btw), it doesn't matter because you are on a completely different network tech. That is why you'll see "global" phones from Verizon and Sprint that use a SIM card, so that they can roam onto GSM networks.
 
I really, really, really want to stay on winmo. you have no idea. I love having everything that I do on it, but android is starting to look tempting.

I fell in love with my q9c until I started having problems where I need to reset it every month, else it gets sluggish and starts locking up out of nowhere. I love MS MyPhone as it saves me the trouble of re-adding a majority of my settings and configurations on the phone.

I got a winmo phone because I need a phone for work and for dicking around while sitting boredly somewhere (like now, as my girlfriend gets her nails done :eek: ). I figured with the plethora of free apps out there i'd be able to get all of that and then some, especially game wise. for the most part that seems to be true, but now it seems like in order to do anything on winmo, I need a phone with some potent hardware.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
I really, really, really want to stay on winmo. you have no idea. I love having everything that I do on it, but android is starting to look tempting.

I fell in love with my q9c until I started having problems where I need to reset it every month, else it gets sluggish and starts locking up out of nowhere. I love MS MyPhone as it saves me the trouble of re-adding a majority of my settings and configurations on the phone.

I got a winmo phone because I need a phone for work and for dicking around while sitting boredly somewhere (like now, as my girlfriend gets her nails done :eek: ). I figured with the plethora of free apps out there i'd be able to get all of that and then some, especially game wise. for the most part that seems to be true, but now it seems like in order to do anything on winmo, I need a phone with some potent hardware.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
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You're waiting for your gf to get her nails done? You need to rethink your life choices before your cell phone choices. =] Just trying to keep a fellow H brother true to himself.
 
HOCP4ME said:
I wonder what happened to WinMo. Maybe MS honestly doesn't want to compete in that market anymore? But then why would they run their Windows Phone ad campaign?
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Same thing as with IE. They decided it was 'good enough' and put most of their manpower on other stuff; then while they weren't looking the competition ate their lunch.
 
kllrnohj

You got me all wrong.

I am not talking about 850 Mhz speed or the ATT new towers or whatever technology superiority that brings...

Without 850 Mhz for 3G/HSDPA in Canada there is NO 3G compatibility. So we are stuck with EDGE.

It's also true for ATT in the US.
 
kllrnohj said:
Not really. 3G 850 Mhz isn't any faster (besides, which 3G do you mean? GPRS? EV-DO?), its just a difference spectrum.

I assume you are disappointed as you heard about AT&T rolling out 850 MHz 3G. Not to worry, though. From what I understand they are adding 850 MHz to their existing 1900 MHz. What they are doing is simply adding more capacity, not more speed. Sprint and Verizon already use multiple frequencies (800, 900, 1900, and 2100 iirc).

Also, I'm not sure if you know but AT&T and T-Mobile use different network technology as Sprint and Verizon. AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM/GPRS/EDGE. Sprint and Verizon use CDMA/EV-DO. So even if your phone supports 850 MHz (which the HTC Hero does, btw), it doesn't matter because you are on a completely different network tech. That is why you'll see "global" phones from Verizon and Sprint that use a SIM card, so that they can roam onto GSM networks.
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What he's saying is that you can't buy a European phone, bring it to North America, put an ATT SIM card in it, and get 3G. Which is true.
 
I'm a big fan of Windows Mobile, but even I can see why many people would rather use Android or iPhone. Here's a list of problems with current Windows Mobile phones.

#1 Support

No matter what version of iPhone you have, you can get an OS update. Apple does support even their oldest iPhone products. If you have a Windows Mobile phone that has WinMo 5, then chances are you're stuck with that OS. That is, unless you visit www.xda-developers.com. Any Windows Mobile phone can run WinMO 6.5, so long as someone cooked a rom.

#2 Drivers

Yea, driver support is lacking on Windows Mobile, specifically 3D acceleration. It's a total mess, and there are people who own phones for 3+ years with 3D accelerators, that don't function because they lack drivers. A lot community work was done to get those drivers, but they're buggy and not very compatible.

#3 Touch screen sucks

Windows Mobile slows down drastically when you use the touch screen. It uses an incredible amount of CPU usage, just to use the touch screen. Stuttering and drastic slow down in applications usually occurs when you use the touch screen. Only WinMo phones made in the past year don't show drastic CPU usage when using the touch screen.

#4 Web Browsers suck

I have to admit they're not completely terrible, but I've not seen anything move nearly as smoothly on WinMO, compared to the iPhone. The good news is that Skyfire does have full support for flash. So YouTube and flash animations work perfectly in that web browser. Otherwise, surfing the web isn't anywhere as smooth as iPhone.
 
Apparently, there's a WinMo 6.5 patch coming soon that will significantly upgrade the touchscreen experience but I haven't seen much more about that since my report a couple of weeks ago.
 
syntx said:
kllrnohj

You got me all wrong.

I am not talking about 850 Mhz speed or the ATT new towers or whatever technology superiority that brings...

Without 850 Mhz for 3G/HSDPA in Canada there is NO 3G compatibility. So we are stuck with EDGE.

It's also true for ATT in the US.
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Ahhh, gotcha. Sorry for misunderstanding :)

That sucks. The main reason I didn't get the HTC Hero and stay with Sprint is because they didn't have 3G in the area I'm now in, whereas Verizon did.
 
kllrnohj said:
I was a winmo customer right up until the launch of the Droid, and its amazing. Winmobile is lagging so far behind it isn't even funny. Its sad when companies like HTC have to try and dress up winmo because MS isn't doing anything with it.
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i dont disagree. i think wm6 is awful for todays standards. it barely gets the job done, and overall i pretty much hate it.

but its still a windows device, it still has more 'apps' then anything, and i wont stop using it. but if wm7 isnt anything short of spectacular, i will start thinking of other phones again.
 
Seriously, I've had the touch 32 GB for a good 6 months now and I am pretty much bored with it. Yea, lots of apps, but nothing cool like a good browser with flash, no Java, unable to customize the "desktop". Really, it's boring.

Android will kick ass, specially for nerds and if carriers are opportunists they could do amazing things with this OS.

Also, it based on Linux and it shows, lots of ported apps, like openSSH, some KDE apps, some Gnome apps, etc...
 
windows mobile is a dead and rotting corpse is windows mobile 7 isn't literally the single best mobile OS ever created....

which would mean completely starting over from scratch....

anyone wanna guess what the odds of that are?
 
brucedeluxe169 said:
windows mobile is a dead and rotting corpse is windows mobile 7 isn't literally the single best mobile OS ever created....

which would mean completely starting over from scratch....

anyone wanna guess what the odds of that are?
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"if windows mobile 7..."

damn lack of edit
 
Just grabbed a Moto Droid this week. It's a pretty fun phone if you don't want to go the iPhone ATT route. I'm interested to see if they allow the new Android updates to be installed on the hardware at some point. If they move to 2.1 soon...will the Droid allow the update? Or are they going to have to hack it like they do with the WinMo phones.
 
kirbyrj said:
Just grabbed a Moto Droid this week. It's a pretty fun phone if you don't want to go the iPhone ATT route. I'm interested to see if they allow the new Android updates to be installed on the hardware at some point. If they move to 2.1 soon...will the Droid allow the update? Or are they going to have to hack it like they do with the WinMo phones.
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The Droid is a "Google Experience" phone so it's likely that we can update the software to 2.1 whenever it comes out. The 2.0.1 update that recently rolled out was staggered (as they usually are) but you could find the files and do the update yourself, if you were so inclined. Heck, there's a tethering app out there that will let you tether the Droid without paying anything extra and far before any official tethering plan or app that VZW will roll out.
 
Will VZW do evil things to you for tethering without permission though?
 
DanNeely said:
Will VZW do evil things to you for tethering without permission though?
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i suspect the whole the tethering app is alot like the old pdanet concept, where the app is completely invisible to the carrier, and they can't really tell if another machine is using the data or not...
 
Is it bad that I'm still using the HTC G1? I'm still satisfied with it, but are other newer phones that much faster?
 
Dougjwjr said:
Is it bad that I'm still using the HTC G1? I'm still satisfied with it, but are other newer phones that much faster?
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The Droid has 2 main advantages:
1) Much higher res screen: 854x480 (2.6x more pixels than your G1), and its a bit larger of a screen.

2) Speed. The Droid has the Cortex A8 - and its pretty fast. The main difference I noticed is in scrolling lists with large amounts of data and with rotations. Screen rotations on the Droid are near-instant. This is in comparison to the HTC Magic (myTouch 3G), but I believe its guts are the same as the G1.

I have a coworker who just went from the G1 to the Droid, and he is quite happy with it. According to him, the G1's keyboard is a bit better and he misses the trackball on the front, but other than that the Droid is an improvement all around. And for those wondering about apps you buy, they are tied to your google account so you still have them even if you switch carriers.

kirbyrj said:
Just grabbed a Moto Droid this week. It's a pretty fun phone if you don't want to go the iPhone ATT route. I'm interested to see if they allow the new Android updates to be installed on the hardware at some point. If they move to 2.1 soon...will the Droid allow the update? Or are they going to have to hack it like they do with the WinMo phones.
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Historically Android phones get newer updates. The G1, for example, now runs the same 1.6 that other Android phones do, and there isn't any reason to expect they won't get an update to 2.0 at some point. Updates are delivered over the air, so you'll have to wait for Motorola to make a new ROM, and then for Verizon to pick it up and push it out. Typically that means a delay of ~2-3 months after a new version is launched on android.com to when it is pushed out to phones, although its quite possible the Droid will get them faster.

Serpico said:
If Android doesn't kill WinMo then the Google Phone will: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/12/google-phone-unlocked-confirmed/
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Doubtful. Google already sells 2 unlocked phones on their site. Buying the phone at full cost is a model that just doesn't work in the states.
 
I dropped my Blackberry for a Droid. So far its been a great phone.

They also announced recently that the Verizon Droid Eris running 1.6 will get the upgrade to 2.1 as well. So I'm assuming all the other phones will get the upgrade as well.
 
Dougjwjr said:
Is it bad that I'm still using the HTC G1? I'm still satisfied with it, but are other newer phones that much faster?
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Don't feel bad, I still love my G1 and have no plans to upgrade for another year. That's when my Tmobile contract is up and we'll see what I go with at that time. Until then, I'm quite happy to continue using my G1. It's nowhere near as bad as some people say.

kllrnohj said:
Historically Android phones get newer updates. The G1, for example, now runs the same 1.6 that other Android phones do, and there isn't any reason to expect they won't get an update to 2.0 at some point. Updates are delivered over the air, so you'll have to wait for Motorola to make a new ROM, and then for Verizon to pick it up and push it out. Typically that means a delay of ~2-3 months after a new version is launched on android.com to when it is pushed out to phones, although its quite possible the Droid will get them faster.
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My understanding, from something I read a while back, is that the G1 doesn't have the memory or storage space for Android 2.0 and therefore can never get it.
 
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