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18 Android Phones, In 3 Flavors, By Year's End 152

Posted by kdawson from the age-of-the-android dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Andy Rubin, senior director for Mobile Platforms for Google, has announced that by the end of the year there will be 18 to 20 phones using the Android OS made by 8 or 9 different manufacturers. Google will offer three different versions of Android OS: a completely free and generic flavor with no pre-loaded Google applications; a slightly customized version that comes pre-loaded with Google apps like Gmail and Google Calendar; and a completely 'Google-fied' Android OS bearing all sorts of Google branding and integration with Google's services. Will Park reports that the expectation is that 12 to 14 of the upcoming Android phones will use the slightly-customized version of Google's Android OS requiring the manufacturer to agree to a distribution deal with Google that would allow the handsets to come pre-installed with Google-ware. The remaining 5 or 6 Android phones will come to market completely decked out with 'The Google Experience' and a Google logo on the phone. This third option provides risk and reward opportunities because the openness of the store could be a hit with consumers, but could also lead to poorly constructed or offensive applications that could give Google a taint. When it comes to apps, Rubin says: 'We want to abide by the law, but not rule with an open fist.'" Yes, it seems he really said "open fist," though he probably meant "iron fist."
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18 Android Phones, In 3 Flavors, By Year's End More

18 Android Phones, In 3 Flavors, By Year's End

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  • A Suggestion (Score:5, Informative)

    by Bangmaker ( 1420175 ) <bangmaker747 AT gmail DOT com> on Friday May 29, 2009 @08:58AM (#28138223) Journal
    Personally I think google can either epically win or fail with this move. One thing I see as very important is making sure not all of the phones are smartphones. The article suggests that several service providers will be in on the deal (already a step above apple in my opinion), however, if every phone delivered is a smartphone, much of the market will be lost. Not everyone can afford the expenses of internet and email that come with a smartphone. I would get the phone simply because it was running Andriod even if it weren't a smartphone.

    • Re:A Suggestion (Score:4, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:28AM (#28138627) Homepage Journal

      You can have a smartphone without internet access. Arguably, every fucking phone is a smartphone these days; My stupid MOTO RAZR V3i has a datebook, voice records, text/video/image notes, and my contacts; finally, it can sync to Lookout. The additional features are still useful; especially if you have an alternate way to get software onto the phone.

      • My brother bought a used blackberry and got tried getting a basic, just-minutes-no-internet plan for it. He left the store with the understanding that that's what he got, but when the bill came in he found out he couldn't not have internet service.

    • Re:A Suggestion (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ianmacfarlane ( 1509193 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:29AM (#28138637)
      A non-smart Android phone seems a bit like an oxymoron. I think that for people who don't want a smartphone and just want to make phone calls, Android isn't the right solution. That said, for people like you who want Android but don't want a phone, the future looks fairly bright, with Android being ported to netbooks and probably all sorts of other devices (I'd expect an iPod-touch competitor at some point).

      • "A non-smart Android phone seems a bit like an oxymoron."

        Dumb Androids dream of electric sheep.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mjwx ( 966435 )

        A non-smart Android phone seems a bit like an oxymoron. I think that for people who don't want a smartphone and just want to make phone calls, Android isn't the right solution. That said, for people like you who want Android but don't want a phone, the future looks fairly bright, with Android being ported to netbooks and probably all sorts of other devices (I'd expect an iPod-touch competitor at some point).

        What Android is set to do is make smartphones cheaper by making them more common. Most people (esp.

    • what's a "smartphone"? It's one that has some "freedom" in its software (freedom with very small f), i.e. you can decide what apps to put on it, as in S60 or WindMobile or the jesus phone. Or Android. They're more expensive simply because an OS like that needs more silicon to run on. (err,that and the fact that people will pay more for it). So what's the point of an Android-powered dumb-phone? If it's underpowered and the UI gets slow, noone will want it as you'd be better of with your Nokia 3310.

    • All mobile phones are becoming smartphones. Google (and Apple, and everybody) don't care for "normal" mobiles, in a few years you will be able to buy androids/iphones for very low prices.

    • Re:A Suggestion (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 0xdeadbeef ( 28836 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:38AM (#28138751) Homepage Journal

      One thing I see as very important is making sure not all of the phones are smartphones.

      Every phone is a smartphone. At this point, the distinction is as meaningless as the distinction between smartphone and PDA five years ago, when people were making noise about the supposed "death" of the PDA. It is all marketing gibberish. And in another five years, you'll have to go out of your way to not get a data plan.

      What matters now is what platform the phone runs, and whether it allows the installation of applications from anywhere, or only from a centralized store and blessed by the manufacturer, or only from a centralized store and blessed by the carrier, or not at all. Google is putting a stake in the ground for the first category, the open category, the one that resembles computers as we all know them. Apple and the carriers want to turn phones into consoles.

    • One thing I see as very important is making sure not all of the phones are smartphones....Not everyone can afford the expenses of internet and email that come with a smartphone.

      Smartphones don't have to be "expensive". Personally I'm looking for one that has WiFi so I can avoid data plans completely. IMO android on a dumb phone sorta misses the point. If you're after a dumb phone any proprietary OS should treat you right...or right enough.

    • Its true that nearly all the carriers, with varying amounts of enforceability, require "smartphones" be on data plans that costs twice as much as even "featurephones", phones that also have touch screens, do email, web, calendar, etc. Typical (e.g. Verizon, Sprint) charge $30/mo for "smartphone" data versus $15/mo for featurephone data. It is of course a totally ridiculous "artificial market barrier", since a featurephone streaming music or video can easily use more data than a smartphone user that is disin

  • The Open Fist? (Score:5, Funny)

    by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Friday May 29, 2009 @08:59AM (#28138235) Homepage Journal

    Maybe he was just trying to coin a new term. He was talking about bitch-slapping.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by mamono ( 706685 )
      Or maybe, since "karate" means open hand, he didn't want to rule with his l33t fighting moves.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by ADT7 ( 1458965 )

        That's a fairly common misconception, it's literal translation is actually "empty hand" rather than "open hand".

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by hampton ( 209113 )

      Or perhaps about the Android's ability to display porn.

    • A fist is still curving your fingers around to match your palm. If we open that up a little, you make a fist and open it slightly... I hope that's not what he's talking about.

  • edition names? (Score:5, Funny)

    by societyofrobots ( 1396043 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @08:59AM (#28138237)

    Google Home Basic

    Google Home Premium

    Google Business

    Google-fied Ultimate

  • Open fist... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by xgr3gx ( 1068984 )
    So they can try to bitch slap the iPhone!
    Also - how does one 'pre-install' web based apps? I suppose you can have a special mobile client app, but all you need is a browser.

    • Also - how does one 'pre-install' web based apps? I suppose you can have a special mobile client app, but all you need is a browser.

      If you are referring to the Android Market and the apps as being web-based, that would not be true (well, the market is heavily 'web-reliant'. The apps are downloaded from the web and installed locally. Pre-installing an app is as easy as including it in the custom source build. And: w00t! More droids! MORE DROIDS! ...Seriously though, I think that I will stick with the custom/rooted builds, myself. :)

    • Sometimes a client app will perform better than the default web browser. I know I use the mint.com app for my iPod Touch instead of visiting the web site because the performance is much better.

  • welcome our open fisted overlords.

    please forgive me. :D

  • Huh? (Score:3, Informative)

    by sudden.zero ( 981475 ) <sudden@zero.gmail@com> on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:04AM (#28138307)
    I own a G1 and it already is " ... pre-loaded with Google apps like Gmail and Google Calendar" so my first thought is are they going to try and sell what I already have for more money and sell one with less features for the price of mine? If so that won't go over well. I mean $300 is great for a open source phone that I can write my own apps for like I currently have. However, if they go changing the recipe too much then they might screw it up!

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by morgan_greywolf ( 835522 )

      No, I think what the article is saying is that Google is offering scaled-back versions of Android, I'm guessing, so that more carriers will snap them up. Some carriers don't and won't want to offer phones with Google branding, pre-loaded Google applications, etc., since they want more 'control' over handsets than what Google was previously providing.

      • Of course since these are all ultimately android phones people will be making custom builds adding the features back and removing the carrier branding...

  • Competition brings Innovation (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Celeste R ( 1002377 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:07AM (#28138343)

    Alternatives to Apple's store are looking better and better. Sure, the company-branded software will be there, but being able to compete(!) gives Google a significant incentive to provide continually more functionality in its own software.

    Comparing Apple(s) to (google) Oranges isn't always easy though... mostly because the gphones haven't been made publicly available. Time will tell, and it's my opinion that Google is going about this in a fairly well thought out manner.

    • Re:Competition brings Innovation (Score:5, Insightful)

      by stewbacca ( 1033764 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:16AM (#28138471)
      Seriously good point! While people are always bitching about Apple "lock-in", you can't deny that Apple's "lock-in" drives innovation from competitors. In the end, everyone wins.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by f0rk ( 1328921 )

        I think thats quite true when i think about it. Thank you apple for implicitly giving me an Android based handset.
        Apple ain't so bad anyways. You just have to look past em and see whats hiding in there shadow.

      • Re:Competition brings Innovation (Score:5, Insightful)

        by HateBreeder ( 656491 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:58AM (#28138985)

        It's not apple's "lock-in" that drives innovation.. it's apples success in a certain new area of the market, that makes other players want their share of the pie.

        The whole "open" and "free" talk from google is mostly marketing. I won't believe for a second that google went into the phone market out of ideology or the urge to make a "free" and "open" phone platform. They have a business model behind every move they make - and they are moving one step closer to having complete surveillance over their users.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by tnk1 ( 899206 )

          Well you would hope that Google has a business model behind it, anyway. It's always hard to tell with Google whether they actually have a plan to make money or they're just doing it because they feel like it. I mean, there's no other company that I can think of at that size which latches on to things like this and you can't tell for sure why they are doing it.

          Google makes a crapload of money, but that money is still mostly its search business, and so attributing business sense to Google on things other th

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Krneki ( 1192201 )
          What money can you make from surveillance? A single mistake and you are sued until you dry out.

          No, they money comes from advertisement. More people they connect to the net, more potential customers they have. Are they good or evil? I don't know, but as long as all of their protocols are open I'll consider them good.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mjwx ( 966435 )

          The whole "open" and "free" talk from google is mostly marketing. I won't believe for a second that google went into the phone market out of ideology or the urge to make a "free" and "open" phone platform. They have a business model behind every move they make - and they are moving one step closer to having complete surveillance over their users.

          Google's plan is to entice Android users to use google services allowing google to sell ad space. Yes, there will eventually be paid for google services on Androi

      • Seriously good point! While people are always bitching about Apple "lock-in", you can't deny that Apple's "lock-in" drives innovation from competitors. In the end, everyone wins.

        Unfortunately, it seems most entities are rushing to copy Apple rather than provide the less-lock-in alternative.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mdwh2 ( 535323 )

          Copy? How so? If you mean that companies are now "rushing" to bring out their old 3G Internet phones, minus features like Java, copy/paste, MMS, video, etc, then yes that would be unfortunate. It is unfortunate that the hype over the Iphone has reduced expectations in the mobile phone market, such that once basic common features like Internet access are now seen as a premium feature, and basic UI features such as copy/paste considered optional. I do worry that it means that companies will see the Iphone and

          • You're thinking iPhone. We're talking Apple store. I know they're related but they're not the same thing.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mdwh2 ( 535323 )

        you can't deny that Apple's "lock-in" drives innovation from competitors.

        I can. Given that vast amounts of continual innovation has been going on in the mobile phone market years before Apple decided to join the game late, a claim that Apple cause the innovation from the bigger players requires evidence.

    • In fact, there is at least one phone that is currently avaliable with Android: OpenMoko's FreeRunner.

      Pros:

      • Runs Android,
      • Open firmware,
      • open case design,
      • open hardware,
      • OS can be changed between Linux, Android and a few other,
      • Has 3-axis motion sensors, touchscreen, A-GPS, Bluetooth and Wifi
      • Takes SIM cards so it can be tied to many GSM networks (one at a time)

      Cons:

      • GSM only,
      • no 3G,
      • probably can't be locked to Google (because of the openness of the platform) so no "Android Ultimate Edition"
      • No

  • Android should scare mainstream phone makers (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Dr. Spork ( 142693 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:08AM (#28138361)
    I was looking at a Chinese iphone knockoff, thinking that the hardware seems decent, but I wouldn't trust the knockoff operating system. With Android, though, the cheap knockoff can legally have the very same operating system, since they don't have to pay license fees. This means that if Samsung or whoever come up with a neato handset that makes them lots of money, three months later a Chinese factory will be making identical-looking knockoffs with the same Google-made software. This might even be legal! If I were a handset manufacturer, I'd be very scared of the openness of Android, but as a consumer, I would seriously take a second look at those Chinese knockoffs that will soon come our way.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by pancakegeels ( 673199 )
      And yet, Chinese phone companies insist on FAKING android: http://www.cect.se/product_info.php?products_id=104 [www.cect.se] (non english site) http://www.androiddevelopment.org/2009/04/16/dream-g2-phone-made-in-china-looks-like-android-but-isnt/ [androiddevelopment.org] presumably because these phones are somehow cheaper to make or easier to tap.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cabjf ( 710106 )

      This might even be legal!

      Maybe in China it could be. There is still the issue of copying the hardware which no doubt has trademarks and patents covering various portions of it.

    • Wonder how updates would be delivered to these phones - G1 owners got the 1.5 "Cupcake" update delivered "over the air" automatically, and I think both G1 and G2 (HTC Magic) owners are expected to get the 2.0 "Donut" update delivered in the same way. Presumably, so long as you've got a data contract which does not discriminate against services, this could work fine. Hmm, yet another reason we need Net Neutrality!

    • I was looking at a Chinese iphone knockoff, thinking that the hardware seems decent, but I wouldn't trust the knockoff operating system. With Android, though, the cheap knockoff can legally have the very same operating system, since they don't have to pay license fees.

      Indeed; a lot of the Chinese family-industry phones are technically fascinating (and quite cheap). Having a real OS would make them much more attractive.

      Unfortunately, it's not quite that easy --- remember that Android is designed for a two-chip system, where one processor runs the user apps (and is the one running Android), and another processor running a quite different operating system handles the GSM stack. On the G1, for example, there's a massive 20MB-or-so operating system image for the radio processor. This usually runs some embedded OS like Nucleus, and is highly proprietary, signed to be tamper-proof, and is deeply regulated; in most countries, tinkering with the radio image will cause your local telecommunications regulator to slap you round the face with lawsuits before you can blink.

      I don't know where the Chinese knockoffs get their GSM stack but it's probably ripped off from a commercial product --- copyright doesn't mean much there. Which means they're probably not properly licensed by the GSM people, which means that it's very unlikely you'll be able to legally operate them in other countries. They may work, but that doesn't guarantee anything --- and if the device has a bug in its GSM stack which causes a local outage, you'll be in a world of legal pain.

      • Wow, thank you for that informative reply! I didn't realize the thing about the two chips with two different operating systems. So is there no open-source competitor for an OS like Nucleus? Since you say that it is deeply regulated, I assume not.

        • Wow, thank you for that informative reply! I didn't realize the thing about the two chips with two different operating systems. So is there no open-source competitor for an OS like Nucleus? Since you say that it is deeply regulated, I assume not.

          A lot of phones are like that. The G1 actually has between three and five processors (the documentation is unclear) --- an ARM11, an ARM9, either one or two OMAP DSPs, and a GPU that may or may not be programmable. The reason why it's done like that is the GSM or CDMA stack has really hard realtime requirements, and operating systems that are good at running application code (such as Linux or Windows Mobile) typically aren't as real time as is needed.

          Lower end phones usually just have two processors: an A

    • As somebody that has imported and sold Chinese manufactured devices, I can tell you that if you buy it directly from China factory you have at least a 1 in 10 chance that it is dead on arrival, a 1 in 5 chance that it be dead withing 1 year and a 1 in 2 chance that it has some slight imperfection.

      The more complex the device the worse it is.

      As an importer, the only way to live with this is to do our own QA checks and that's because we have the products branded with our logo. Many importers (that don't use th

      • My iPod just died. I'd love to get an off-brand 120GB mp3 player for $250/10=$25. Link please?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Toonol ( 1057698 )
        As a consumer, a cheap but shoddy knockoff product with tons of patent violations and little DRM is EXACTLY what I want.
      • The only strange thing about your argument is that your "brand-taxed" iPod was also made in China. They can do QA in China as well as anywhere, but it will cost you a premium.

  • Taint... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Heh... they said 'taint.

  • Slap! (Score:3, Funny)

    by stewbacca ( 1033764 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:14AM (#28138439)

    Yes, it seems he really said "open fist," ..."

    What did the five fingers say to the face? SLAP! I'm Rick James, bitch!

  • when using an open fist near the taint!

  • If updates are free, why buy new phones? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ianmacfarlane ( 1509193 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:24AM (#28138573)
    Given the fact that Android updates (well, the one update) thus far have been free (the G1 update to Cupcake), how are the carriers going to encourage people to buy new handsets every 18 months? Obviously there can be things like improve cameras, sexier designs, bigger screens, faster processors etc, but I can see a lot of people sticking with what they've got for longer if the experience when using the phone is exactly the same. Obviously the carriers could also try rather artificial things like tying new services with new contracts etc, but I don't see that being so successful.

    • People got rid of perfectly fine-working good-reception Mototola V555s to get Motorola RAZRs with half the battery life and maybe half the reception. They bought the phone on the basis of fashion. There's no reason to believe that trend will stop any time soon. Fuck, people buy new toasters because the old one doesn't match their new food processor and shit, they'll definitely buy a new phone. Also, the phones die! It's not like they're built to last. If you can get a replacement two-year-old phone for your insurance deductible of $40 or sign a new contract and get a shiny new phone that flashes colored lights when it plays your mp3 ringtones for $100... Well, you might get a refurb oldie, but most people will take the "upgrade".

      • Also, the phones die! It's not like they're built to last..

        not so sure about that, am still waiting for my 3 yr 6600 to die, have dropped it from 6 feet many times and has got drenched in the rain a few times
        only had to replace the battery after 2 yrs as standby was only 2 days by now and 2hrs talktime, bought original nokia battery, get a weeks standby and 5-6hrs talktime, use iot for occasional gaming as well

        same for my nokia 1108, have dropped it from the 1st floor to the ground(though it was grass,but still) and has survived many rains

        similar can be said for my

    • I had been wondering this when my dad started getting all excited about iPhone 3.0 (incidentally, it fixes a few of the reasons I settled on a G1).

      My guess is that they'll be relying on a mixture of improved hardware (802.11n for example, or from a cheaper non-GPS phone to one that does do GPS) and fashion.

      Though this is also something hitting PCs, especially with Win7 working on more basic hardware, where the continual round of buying a new PC every n months is moving towards every 2n or 3n months as

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by webreaper ( 1313213 )
      It's all about the hardware, not the software. iPhone firmware updates are free too, but people will still upgrade from 2G to 3G to the 3.0 hardware to be released later this year.

      For me, I upgraded when WinMo devices moved to having built-in GPS, and I will upgrade my HTC Magic when my contract runs out to get a faster, lighter device with a longer-lasting battery, better (OLED?) screen, 3D projector, built in zero-gravity travel device, etc etc etc.

      People upgrade because they want new shiny toys. A ne

      • For years I upgraded the OS on my HTC Blue Angel. WM2003 -> WM5 -> WM6 -> WM6.1. When I upgraded from my still working perfectly Blue Angel to HTC Diamond, it was to get the built in GPS and the same power in a much smaller form factor.
    • iPhone updates are also free. Even so, Apple stores are hardly vacant when a new hardware revision comes out.

  • Read closely... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by grayn0de ( 1301165 )

    Rubin says: 'We want to abide by the law, but not rule with an open fist.'

    I think he does mean to rule with an iron fist.

  • Okay, I do genuinely realize that flavor in this context is actually being used as a synonym for "version", but considering the general shape and size of cell phones these days, did anyone else think that the notion of cell phones having flavors might be just a little bit... ummm.... kinky?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Toonol ( 1057698 )
      Well, they have tones, hues, and textures. Flavors and scents aren't THAT farfetched. Although the fart apps will really suck, then.

  • Sprint? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hansamurai ( 907719 ) <hansamurai@gmail.com> on Friday May 29, 2009 @09:39AM (#28138763) Homepage Journal

    Now if only Sprint would get off their butt and release their phone. I really want an Android phone but not willing to switch over to T-Mobile just for the phone.

    • Couldn't you just buy an Android dev phone now and swap the SIM out of your Sprint phone?

      More money up front, of course, but no contract obligation and you have root access to the phone.

      Disclaimer: I haven't received my dev phone yet (it's supposed to arrive today!), so I'm not certain this will work. I'm planning to toss in the SIM card out of a Walmart Special prepaid phone I have hanging around, but that's a T-Mobile unit.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by rufus t firefly ( 35399 )

        Couldn't you just buy an Android dev phone now and swap the SIM out of your Sprint phone?

        More money up front, of course, but no contract obligation and you have root access to the phone.

        Disclaimer: I haven't received my dev phone yet (it's supposed to arrive today!), so I'm not certain this will work. I'm planning to toss in the SIM card out of a Walmart Special prepaid phone I have hanging around, but that's a T-Mobile unit.

        Would work well if Sprint didn't use CDMA, which unfortunately precludes the use of SIM cards [yahoo.com].

      • Update: Got my Android dev phone, and the SIM card from the prepaid T-Mobile phone works fine (note that several people below pointed out that Sprint is using CDMA, so it will NOT work with that carrier).

        Caveat: the phone is set up to require a data plan for activation, which you don't get with the prepaid T-Mobile plans. Fortunately, there's a way around that [androidcom...center.com]. :-) (note my comment on replacing the single quotes with the proper characters).

        After tweaking the database, setting up the phone to talk to my WiFi

    • Same here. I'm tempted by the Pre, but this little voice in the back of my head says "Don't do it!"

      I've been with Sprint since 2002 and have little to complain about, but they're takin' their sweet ass time with putting out an Android handset.

    • whee [androidonhtc.com]

  • the goog abides (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    'We want to abide by the law, but not rule with an open fist.'

    It's good to know that the Goog abides.

  • 18-20 phones (Score:5, Funny)

    by mrv00t ( 858087 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @10:42AM (#28139511)

    ...announced that by the end of the year there will be 18 to 20 phones using the Android OS...

    Doesn't sound like awfully lot to me. That's like about 2 phones sold per month.

  • Features I'm Looking For in My Next Phone (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Greyfox ( 87712 ) on Friday May 29, 2009 @11:38AM (#28140133) Homepage Journal
    • Wifi (Must be able to connect to my home network at home)
    • SIP Client (Must be able to connect to my Asterisk server at home)
    • Bluetooth tethering for a MacBook Pro (For those rare times when I'm not near a wifi access point.)

    A few years back I bought an unlocked Nokia E70 and that provided all this functionality, but T-Mobile kept breaking the data plan so I couldn't use the phone with my notebook. This rendered the data plan pretty much worthless, since doing anything on its postage-stamp-sized screen pretty much sucked. The battery life also wasn't that great, though you're never going to get awesome battery life doing what I was doing with it.

    An unlocked Android phone would be capable of doing all that stuff but probably not on a 3G network. Nokia's E90 communicator also has all the features I want, a bigger screen than the E70 and a beefed up battery. I'd probably have to import one again, though. And I'd need to find a provider the phone is compatible with who allows tethering.

    A good half of my cell phone woes are due to cell company suckage here in the states. The features I'm after have been widely available in Europe for ages now and we can't even manage them here even with the iPhone forcing things forward.

  • There's an app for that!

  • I made a poor decision not to return my G1 within the 2 week "trial period". Now I'm stuck in a two-year T-Mobile contract with an Android-specific data plan. I could cancel, but thus far, I'm not annoyed enough to shell out $400 for the privilege of changing to another phone with another carrier that will no doubt annoy me too.

    While I've adapted to the phone's limitations, my initial experience has really soured me on this particular piece of hardware, even though I think the Android OS is decent enou

    • Would T-Mobile even know that I had done so?

      Quite likely, my provider tells me exactly what hardware I'm using.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      While I've adapted to the phone's limitations,

      Could you please elaborate on this?

      I bought a HTC Dream outright and unlocked (A$900, yes we get shafted in AU) and most of my problems are with the HTC Dream platform. The only major issue with Android the OS is that memory management could be better, open two memory intensive app's (E.G. street view or PicSay) and it slows everything down but this is true for any multitasking OS. I have other minor issues with Android but it does exactly what I bought it

  • I've had an iPhone for nearly a year now and I've recently gotten my hands on an Android device.
    Android has an amateurish summer project feel to it when compared to the polished iPhone OS. You can argue the technical merits of an open platform and hackability till you are blue in the face. It doesn't change the fact that Android is like the Linux desktop experience compared to the Windows or Mac desktop experience - it's an experience only a geek could love simply because he's willing to overlook the warts

    • I can't compare Android to the iPhone (never used either) but I'd say Windows is the UI with warts and horrible usability where as KDE gives me freedom, flexibility, choice, and a great UI. I don't understand people saying only a geek would love Windows. I've converted my 60 year old Mother, who finds KDE far easier and more intuitive than Windows. I've converted my wife, family, and tons of friends who aren't computer savvy at all. When I do Linux installs for people, I always offer to reinstall Window

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      I've had an iPhone for nearly a year now and I've recently gotten my hands on an Android device. Android has an amateurish summer project feel to it when compared to the polished iPhone OS. You can argue the technical merits of an open platform and hackability till you are blue in the face. It doesn't change the fact that Android is like the Linux desktop experience compared to the Windows or Mac desktop experience - it's an experience only a geek could love simply because he's willing to overlook the warts

  • I remember the rumors last year that HTC had a prototype for the G2 with a high resolution screen that was supposed to launch in January of 2009. When it didn't, HTC said the hardware was ready, but Google's software was holding it up, and we'd see a launch in April of 2009. My cell contract is up, and I really need to switch, but I'm holding out for a decent Android phone. When can I honestly expect to see one?

    And given that HTC does make a phone with a high resolution screen, and all the rumors LAST YE

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