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Android Hardware Thread - 2009 Edition

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1) $530 is not that much for an unlocked phone that I can now use T-mobile or AT&T's network when I want... where ever I want.
2) I suspect that the one price plan is not accurate as I have a hunch that those will come to be wrong. I don't see T-mobile not allowing other plans unless Google specifically told them cut and dry that this was the way it was.
3) If this is indeed the next kin to the "G1" and is a developer phone, I would expect that Google is going to be working on a unified Android platform. The Sense UI stuff while pretty is a hinderance in having a solid, one size fits all platforms across all carriers. Wondering if we'll hear something at CES regarding this and the Android platform in general.
4) In Summary: A $530 unlocked phone that has a 1GHz CPU w/ 512MB of RAM, multi-touch enabled screen w/ AMOLED tech, Bluetooth, WiFi, FM Radio, Android 2.1 and god knows what else... is practically a steal.
 
Can someone go over the pros and cons of locked vs unlocked.

I think I might get an unlocked version of this, so that I am not locked into a provider, and so I can sell this at any time.

Whoever has the best product on the market by mid January will get my business.
 
Husker86 said:
Not sure why you guys think it works that way...

If you take advantage of the Sprint administrative fee increase and cancel your contract you cannot sign up as a new customer for 6 months, you can probably turn your old account back on, but it will be the same way you left it.

The best you can do, if you want to stay with Sprint (which you do) is get a recurring credit, but they will not let you cancel and the re-sign up as a new customer.

You may think big corporations make stupid decisions, but they are not dumb, they know how people are going to try to screw them over and they block it :P
Click to expand...
Shoot. I didn't read the terms that far. :( PEACE.
 
tfur said:
Can someone go over the pros and cons of locked vs unlocked.

I think I might get an unlocked version of this, so that I am not locked into a provider, and so I can sell this at any time.

Whoever has the best product on the market by mid January will get my business.
Click to expand...

You just answered your own request. Unlocked phones give faaar more freedom than locked phones, and are generally easier to root, and aren't loaded down with carrier bloatware.

On the downside, they cost much, much more, because you're buying it straight from the manufacturer, without any subsidization.
 
Soo.. they have gotten Android to run on the Touch Pro 2 from HTC. The best hardware phone meets Android? I ran a build the other day and there are too many things not working right now (bluetooth, power management, few other things) but SMS, MMS, and phone calling works, although each of those has bugs that need to be ironed out.
 
The Abominable Snowman said:
Soo.. they have gotten Android to run on the Touch Pro 2 from HTC. The best hardware phone meets Android? I ran a build the other day and there are too many things not working right now (bluetooth, power management, few other things) but SMS, MMS, and phone calling works, although each of those has bugs that need to be ironed out.
Click to expand...
It's only the best hardware till Jan 5th. The HD2 is nice, but the physical keyboard is overrated and I think the hardware feels clumsy.
 
prodystopian said:
What is the point of getting the N1 unlocked in the US? Just to use it with a different T-Mobile plan than the one listed? It still only works with EDGE on AT&T right?
Click to expand...

I wondered the exact same thing. I mean I get why you'd want the phone itself as I still do. It would be nice to have on AT&T without a data plan as I don't NEED 2g/3g net and would be willing to just roll with wifi. Still I'm not gonna pay like $500 + for a phone to do that. Plus if I actually wanted to throw down for a data plan on AT&T I'd only get edge.

Considering AT&T is the only network the phone works on in the US besides T-Mobile it just appears to be the best new phone T-Mobile will have. Nothing wrong with this at all, and it's not be understated. It's their version of the droid a few months later with better specs. Still it's hardly an industry wide gaming changer.

I swear Europe has it soooo much better than we do in NA in terms of actual phone costs. Normally Europeans get screwed by higher prices and bad conversion rates, but this time American's are definitely the losers right now.
 
The Abominable Snowman said:
Soo.. they have gotten Android to run on the Touch Pro 2 from HTC. The best hardware phone meets Android? I ran a build the other day and there are too many things not working right now (bluetooth, power management, few other things) but SMS, MMS, and phone calling works, although each of those has bugs that need to be ironed out.
Click to expand...

I tried Android on my Touch Pro (it has the same processor and RAM as the TP2) and the build that I tried, had the same problems. I hope it can be fixed.
 
Brettison said:
I wondered the exact same thing. I mean I get why you'd want the phone itself as I still do. It would be nice to have on AT&T without a data plan as I don't NEED 2g/3g net and would be willing to just roll with wifi. Still I'm not gonna pay like $500 + for a phone to do that. Plus if I actually wanted to throw down for a data plan on AT&T I'd only get edge.

Considering AT&T is the only network the phone works on in the US besides T-Mobile it just appears to be the best new phone T-Mobile will have. Nothing wrong with this at all, and it's not be understated. It's their version of the droid a few months later with better specs. Still it's hardly an industry wide gaming changer.

I swear Europe has it soooo much better than we do in NA in terms of actual phone costs. Normally Europeans get screwed by higher prices and bad conversion rates, but this time American's are definitely the losers right now.
Click to expand...

Do you live in Atlanta too? Since it's At&t's backyard, Edge speeds here are actually fast. I get about 200kbps, normally on my HD2. It's not 3G, but at least it isn't GPRS.
 
Pimpwerx said:
You're with Sprint too? Someone said we could cancel next month due to some contract change. I'm gonna do that and re-up with them to get whatever phone crops up during the cancellation period. Something to keep in mind should that a new Android set get announced for Sprint. I don't think I can beat the price for such great coverage. PEACE.
Click to expand...


Yep I'm with Sprint. I'm a happy customer too. But tell me more about thiss cancelling next month thing? Is it for everybody that's in a contract?
 
Brettison said:
I swear Europe has it soooo much better than we do in NA in terms of actual phone costs. Normally Europeans get screwed by higher prices and bad conversion rates, but this time American's are definitely the losers right now.
Click to expand...
Only problem is, while we used get the cool phones first, now Apple and Android have come along, US comes first on releases. :(
 
mckmas8808 said:
Yep I'm with Sprint. I'm a happy customer too. But tell me more about thiss cancelling next month thing? Is it for everybody that's in a contract?
Click to expand...
Meh, someone else pointed out that there's a 6 month between cancellation and opening a new account, otherwise I guess you have to pay the ETF. It was a thought, but I guess I need to read the terms and conditions more closely. PEACE.
 
mckmas8808 said:
Yep I'm with Sprint. I'm a happy customer too. But tell me more about thiss cancelling next month thing? Is it for everybody that's in a contract?
Click to expand...

If you see the increased administrative fee on your bill after January 1st then you can cancel your line without the ETF if you are under contract, however like I said before and like Pimpwerx re-stated, they let you cancel the line, as in leave Sprint, which means you need to find a new carrier since you cannot re-sign up with Sprint for 6 months as a new customer. So if you want to go somewhere else, you can take advantage of it, if you want to stay with Sprint they sometimes can give you a recurring credit in these cases for re-upping your two year agreement.
 
JonathanEx said:
Only problem is, while we used get the cool phones first, now Apple and Android have come along, US comes first on releases. :(
Click to expand...

Europe has gotten most of the high-profile Android phones first: Dream, Magic, Hero, X10.

The Droid also was also only out a few weeks before the Milestone. The phones that release in Europe first take 3-4 months to make it to the US.
 
I stand corrected. Name changes confuses me on where they were first.

Still, I'm rather miffed that I'm having to wait for Milestone's exclusivity to a website expires in the hope of getting a good deal on the contract, and there's no hints the UK will get the Nexus soon. That's more of Google being US first, I suppose. Yes, I'm self centered.
 
JonathanEx said:
I stand corrected. Name changes confuses me on where they were first.

Still, I'm rather miffed that I'm having to wait for Milestone's exclusivity to a website expires in the hope of getting a good deal on the contract, and there's no hints the UK will get the Nexus soon. That's more of Google being US first, I suppose. Yes, I'm self centered.
Click to expand...

It's funny, I can name 10 online stores where you can buy a Milestone in the US
 
DrFunk said:
It's funny, I can name 10 online stores where you can buy a Milestone in the US
Click to expand...
Lucky. In the UK, it's exclusive to expansys. Or something like that. If any carriers will do a decent subsidisingthingy is not clear yet, exclusivity is about to run out.
 
JonathanEx said:
I stand corrected. Name changes confuses me on where they were first.

Still, I'm rather miffed that I'm having to wait for Milestone's exclusivity to a website expires in the hope of getting a good deal on the contract, and there's no hints the UK will get the Nexus soon. That's more of Google being US first, I suppose. Yes, I'm self centered.
Click to expand...

The HTC Bravo is coming out in Europe in April, and it's pretty similar to the Nexus/Passion, other than optical pad instead of trackball and possibly less RAM. Given the similarity, I guess they might not bother to release a version of the Passion, but I could be wrong.
 
These animated backgrounds are killer.
Thankgod, they updated the media player.
 
I hope Sprint gets a nicer Android phone soon. I'd drop the Pre in a heartbeat if I could get the Nexus One or other similar snapdragon phone.
 
I'm more interested in getting that OS onto my Droid now more than anything...Hardware speaking it seems really to be no more snappy either, looks like some of the lag in the 2.0 on the Droid was just that - The 2.0 OS.

Can't wait, it only gets better.
 
Ok, I'm thinking about taking the Android/Google plunge. I made an ill-advised thread and I'm reposting the OP here.

I'm on AT&T with the iPhone 3G currently. I really don't have coverage issues since I'm in Orlando most of the time. That's not the problem. It's mainly shitty customer service on AT&T's part and the expense. I love the phone, however, and I'm so used to it now. So it sucks I'm now considering dumping it due to the carrier.

The other issue is price. On AT&T with 450min, data, and unlimited text, I'm paying roughly $105 per month after taxes. A student discount gets me 8% off only the voice portion of the plan. Which takes about $3.50 off the final bill... whoohoo. I would also be faced with a $100 contract termination fee(and more like $90 by the time I cancel for real), which is pretty easy to eat now. And I'm sure I can sell the iPhone for $200-250ish to recoup some costs/break even on setting up new service.

With Sprint, for 450min(which includes unlimited mobile to mobile to any carrier), unlimited data, and unlimited text for $70 per month. Then a 10% student discount is added bringing the bill to $63 before taxes and probably like $70-75ish after all taxes.

Verizon seems like it would be good too with the Droid, but unfortunately the overall price is identical to AT&T with comparable features. No student discounts available either.

T-Mobile really didn't seem worth it after doing some research. Pretty irrelevant due to price similarities and device options, IMO.

With that, I think I am going to have to settle with the Sprint Network. I can at least keep my contacts and number, which is good.

I'm looking at the HTC Hero and am happy with some of the reviews but a bit apprehensive with the issues regarding performance. How significant are they compared to an iPhone 3G? Is Android 2.0 supported now? How is the software and/or hardware keyboard? How is handling music considering my library is managed by iTunes and .mp4a/p formats? How are software/firmware updates in general? How are you guys liking it after it's been around for awhile? Am I going to go crazy ditching the iPhone for this device? I know there is a Hero thread on here, but my question was more on Android phones in general plus I just wanted some updated impressions.

I've read briefly on the Samsung Moment, which wasn't too impressive sounding and also the Touch Pro2, which I think is a pass due to price and lack of Android. Should I wait until deeper into Q1 2010 or the summer? I don't know if I can since I'm faced with saving $35 monthly lol.
 
Byakuya769 said:
wtf verizon... you better have something good to make up for passing on this.
Click to expand...
That was only a rumor, and judging by the accuracy of other "rumors" i'd say the idea that Verizon passed on this is bullshit. It's even more obvious when you consider the leaked plans and how they plan to sell the phone in the tradtional way. What would Verizon pass on? There was never any revolutionary business model.
 
XMonkey said:
That was only a rumor, and judging by the accuracy of other "rumors" i'd say the idea that Verizon passed on this is bullshit. It's even more obvious when you consider the leaked plans and how they plan to sell the phone in the tradtional way. What would Verizon pass on? There was never any revolutionary business model.
Click to expand...

why wasn't it offered to them is the question then...
 
Considering all the ad money that went into Droid, why would Verizon want this so soon? They're not going to sell a lot more phones just because it has better processing power.
 
Totakeke said:
Considering all the ad money that went into Droid, why would Verizon want this so soon? They're not going to sell a lot more phones just because it has better processing power.
Click to expand...

But they could however use a high-powered Android phone that doesn't have a keyboard. Not everyone wants the Droid.
 
Oh, slight update to my post. T-Mobile may still be in play afterall. Looks like for a comparable plan to Sprint, it's $10 more, which is still $25/mo less than AT&T. Then I think I still get a discount; I'll have to call them tomorrow. I'd be happy with $80/mo if T-Mobile is getting these new phones sooner rather than later.
 
Onix said:
But they could however use a high-powered Android phone that doesn't have a keyboard. Not everyone wants the Droid.
Click to expand...

Except most of the times it's the extra bulk or smaller screen size associated with the keyboard that people would rather not have a keyboard, and Droid doesn't have those issues. Anyone here really doesn't want Droid just because it has a keyboard?
 
Byakuya769 said:
why wasn't it offered to them is the question then...
Click to expand...
Well if it wasn't offered to them, it could be because Verizon has an extremely tough review system for phones they support and Google didn't feel like dealing with that only to have a phone that works on one network. If they passed it up, most likely it's because Verizon struck a deal with Motorola and the Droid and releasing such a heavy hitter so close to the Droid's release would put some strain on their relationship with Motorola because it would cut into Droid sales.
 
Totakeke said:
Except most of the times it's the extra bulk or smaller screen size associated with the keyboard that people would rather not have a keyboard, and Droid doesn't have those issues. Anyone here really doesn't want Droid just because it has a keyboard?
Click to expand...

I personally don't like the form-factor ... no.


I used to be very pro-keyboard, but my HTC tilt's hasn't really held up well (pressure sensitivity varies dramatically between each key at this point ... I want to throw it through a wall most days :p). That concern, tripled with the Droid's keyboard simply being a bit poor in design, and the phone's overall square aesthetic, makes me want to pass on it.

As for extra bulk, well wouldn't the Droid be even thinner without a keyboard? :p Either way, I want to try out the non-keyboard route for my next phone, and the overall design of the N1 seems quite compelling to me. I would think it simply makes good business sense for a wireless company to carry a keyboard-less and a keyboard phone at the top end of their smartphone lines. That way you cover the bases.
 
Totakeke said:
Except most of the times it's the extra bulk or smaller screen size associated with the keyboard that people would rather not have a keyboard, and Droid doesn't have those issues. Anyone here really doesn't want Droid just because it has a keyboard?
Click to expand...
+1 here.

That and it's an already old design w/ a hardware keyboard holding it back, along with a design that doesn't do the overall phone mechanics any favors.

As far as an Android phone, it's good, but could be better. Obviously this is the angst coming from the Verizon users that now have to either a) wait for a variant of the N1 to come to Verizon or b) jump Verizon and come to Tmobile/AT&T.
 
Pctx said:
+1 here.

That and it's an already old design w/ a hardware keyboard holding it back, along with a design that doesn't do the overall phone mechanics any favors.

As far as an Android phone, it's good, but could be better. Obviously this is the angst coming from the Verizon users that now have to either a) wait for a variant of the N1 to come to Verizon or b) jump Verizon and come to Tmobile/AT&T.
Click to expand...

pretty much. The droid is a good contender, but the sliding mechanic and its stylings just don't do it for me.
 
If it doesn't cost anything sure, but considering the restrictions shown on T-Mobile's plans for the Nexus One, obviously it doesn't come easy and not without costs.

All it comes down is to personal preference and especially aesthetics, few are going to tap into the extra processing power, but is that enough for Verizon just to accept Google's terms even if it is offered to them?

And I'm talking about for Verizon here, sure everyone wants all the choices available to them.
 
I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but if existing customers want to get the N1 and didn't meet the requirement before, they have to change to the 79.99 plan right, but what does the single line accounts mean. Does it mean I can't have a family plan with it even if I had talk, txt and web?
 
LINK.AGE76 said:
I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but if existing customers want to get the N1 and didn't meet the requirement before, they have to change to the 79.99 plan right, but what does the single line accounts mean. Does it mean I can't have a family plan with it even if I had talk, txt and web?
Click to expand...
Correct. Correct.... at this time, that's what we know.
 
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