(sometimes not-so-) Smartphones

I started my journey with smartphones about a year back, I was an avid Windows Mobile user and I started with a very simple philosophy. This philosophy was based on the fact that I had, in the past, had experience with Windows Mobile as a platform for PDAs, and experience with the Dell Axim x51v, which was built by HTC.

So my philosophy was, combine HTC, with Windows Mobile (preferably something later than version 6), and you should come out a winner. I was wrong.

I ended up buying the HTC Touch Pro, from Telus Mobility, here in Canada. We don't have very good options for mobile networks here, and I don't want to get into the nuances of why Telus is superior over the other two of the big three (Bell, Telus, and Rogers). Needless to say, it took me a long time to arrive on Telus' door. Now that I'm here, I'm not leaving.

At first, I was really satisfied with the device, I even setup an exchange server for the purposes of sync-ing my contacts, calendar, etc. Though, I didn't have, at the time, a proper DNS or MX setup (nor did I know how at the time), so the system wouldn't RECEIVE any email, however, it worked for what I needed. I had to reset my phone a few times during the past year and the exchange server was instrumental for getting up and running quickly.

There are two major quirks with this phone, from this provider, that I can point to as a primary reason for me wanting to rid myself of it.

First, and primarily, is text messaging. Don't get me wrong, texting on the Touch Pro was a dream, however, the phone would wake up EVERY TIME a text was received. This means that the touch screen is active and there's a lot that can go wrong when you don't hear the text message alert tone and the phone is rattling around in your pocket for a few minutes. I had one instance where I "pocket dialed" someone more than half a dozen times (the same person!)...

I searched without luck to try and figure out how to fix the problem and eventually just lived with it until I got so fed up that I replaced the phone.

I know there are a lot of people who may yell and scream and jump up and down saying that there are apps for that, and ways to lock out the screen so that even if it comes on, it won't end up pocket dialing people. To them, I would say that I have yet to find a solution that isn't completely and totally irritating, every time you turn on your phone, that maintains the overall performance of the phone. There's a built-in screen lock, which requires a code to unlock, not convenient if you just want to quickly look to see who's sent you a text or email; there's also 3rd party applications like S2U2, which I actually tried for a time, but found the overall latency that it added to the phone was more costly than the convenience of having it.

Secondly, there was the phone. As a multimedia, email, texting device, as well as an organizer for contacts, and planning my day, The HTC Touch Pro was excellent in almost every regard, some areas a little less so, but overall, excellent. As a phone however, it just wasn't very good at all. Don't get me wrong, the overall experience, talking on the phone, etc, was adequate, and you could clearly understand the person on the other end and listen to what they had to say, additionally, they could hear you, etc.

That's not what I'm talking about.

After about 10-15 seconds on the phone, the display would turn off. The only way to re-activate it, is to hit the power button... with automated systems that have greetings longer than "hello", by the time you get the opportunity to make a selection, enter your parties extension, or enter your password (in the case of voice mail) the display is off. A minor gripe, I'll admit but still, every time. There's probably a way to change this, but at the time, I was so tired of fighting with the phone to get it to do what I wanted, that I just decided to live with it.

after that, the keypad wasn't always responsive. you could hit three or four keys before it would respond, but it would remember each button pressed on-screen, so you could, for the most part, punch in an extension even when it's not responding, and it would eventually send the tones. unfortunately, they register as very short taps, so the tones are also very short, which, with some systems, cause the numbers not to be recognized; this resulted in having to re-enter the same sequence, more slowly.

Additionally, the phone application, when ending a call, would completely lock up the phone for 10-15 seconds with no discernible reason. The system would spring back to life (all your taps would be recognized at once), and you'd end up back in business. Again, a minor gripe for sure, but should I really have to wait 15 seconds to suspend my phone after every call? This is wasting time in my life, and often I'm only waiting for it to respond long enough to exit from the phone application and shut off the phone so I can go and do something else.

Yesterday, I officially took the plunge; into financial termoil, and bought a new smart(er) phone. Since I'm always eager to try something new, I decided to give a go at an Android phone. I can, and have, used almost every other mobile operating system, and here's my general rundown:

Standard phones: with most 'regular' cellphones, an OS is an OS. the presentation and layout may vary, but the content is pretty much set. If you've seen one T9/"Predictive Text" input, you've generally seen them all. Buttons vary, eg. which button is the space bar and which one selects the next potential word, but beyond that, there isn't much variation. Even with that said, I prefer the OS you'll find on Samsung phones. It's fairly clean and responsive, without a lot of extras, which I like. I'm also a personal fan of Samsung. there isn't much that I'm not a fan of, other than Sony.

Apple and apple related products: I have a relative with an ipod touch, as well as several friends with the same affliction. There's others that I'm sure I know with iphones, but honestly, from what I've seen, other than the ability to call someone, and text, and the freedom to use a 3g network as opposed to being confined to within wifi range, there's not a lot of difference between the OSes. they're neat and organized with little variation. I don't like the interface myself, and with the lack of multitasking on the phone, I would rather not own one. Granted, on a small-format device like a cellphone, you're probably not going to be jumping between apps like you would on a Desktop, but still; knowing my MSN or gtalk is running in the background collecting messages for me, so that I'm available to friends and family for a large percentage of my day, is important to me, and I can't see that being feasible on one of these devices.

They're nice, I'll give them that. They have good hardware, and apple knows what they're doing when it comes to hardware. but the support is lacking.

Blackberries: You've seen one, you've seen them all. I guess that's good in a way. other than the fact that some don't have keyboards, and it's now all done on-screen, there isn't much variation here. A friend of mine bought a blackberry a week or more ago, and I finally got a chance to play with it the other day. I found myself thoroughly bored with the interface, almost searching for something to do on the phone. These are, very much, work devices. if you're not emailing, sending texts, talking on the phone, or using it for something else, likely related to that, you're probably not using it at all. Don't get me wrong, a blackberry has it's place, but if I wanted an overpriced, souped up Nokia 5190, I'd buy one.

Which brings me to my next point,

Symbian: I'm not sure why this deserves it's own catagory, but I'll roll with it. Symbian is a beefed up version of the same, recycled operating system that's been used on Nokia phones since they could program one in. I first experienced the early, almost "beta" version of symbian on the 5190, and again on the 6190, and again on the 7210. When a friend of mine literally destroyed his 7190 out of pure frustration, I decided to move in a different direction. I havn't kept up to date with development of this operating system; I don't think many have. To be honest, it's almost sad to see how much Nokia has fallen. Their phones are usually of fairly good build quality though, so if you're not in the smartphone market, Nokia's are usually solid devices.

As a smartphone though, I wouldn't choose a Nokia over a blackberry. just wouldn't happen.

Saving the best for last, Android.

Google keeps out pacing itself, and I hope this keeps up. Everytime I see some new, supposedly amazing google application or device or something, I remain skeptical; even if I sometimes get in on a beta (eg. google wave). I usually end up plesantly surprised, but I usually keep away from google's products until they've proven themselves in the market. I moved to Google Chrome as my primary browser and have slowly adopted most of google's online offerings through a multitude of gmail accounts. There are some products they've come up with, that are currently US only that I would be eager to try out, despite my skepticism (eg. Google Voice).

With all that being said, Android is a truly unique platform, in the sense that it supports and almost promotes free software distribution, while allowing for the potential of proprietary, 3rd party applications to be installed as well. As an operating system and as a standard, it's truly a beautiful product, regardless of the hardware.

Hardware helps though, and there's a lot to choose from with google's offerings. They've created an almost invincible alliance with HTC, who seemed to be, until recently, lost in a haze of making products for other people (eg, Dell Axims). Now, with HTC at their side, Google seems to be blazing forwards with a new momentum, taking over a vastly expanding market; cellphones. They aren't without competition, and I'd be lying if I said I knew a lot of people with Android phones. But interest remains high, and improvements to existing devices and releases of new ROMS is fairly common, to devices that will support the new features.

After looking over the options, I decided to get a Motorola Milestone from Telus. I chose this option for 3 reasons.

First, I decided on the Milestone, because of the keyboard. Being a long time cellphone keyboard lover (starting with a Nokia 6865? from Rogers), I've long since loved having a keyboard for texting on my cellphone. With the addition of MSN and gtalk, as well as Email and Web browsing, not to mention the social networking applications, etc; a keyboard makes sense.

Next, why the version from Telus? The price of a Milestone from expansys.ca is actually LESS than the base cost of the Milestone handset from Telus. However, Telus was offering me a discount on buying a phone by renewing my contract and agreeing to re-start my 3 years with them... I'm only a year into my contract and it looks like the Touch Pro won't make it 2 more, so I'm okay with that.

Finally, the Milestone is advertised as coming with an 8GB MicroSDHC card. This is for all the various applications and content you'll want to put on your device. This phone is a multimedia powerhouse, with a WXGA display, so 8GB is more like a minimum than anything. With that said, Telus was offering the Milestone with an included 16GB MicroSDHC card. I later discovered this is a Class 2 card, but the performance of my specific card seem to be more around Class 4-6, so I've been fortunate.

Overall, the purchase cost me less, I also ended up grabbing up a power adapter for my car, and an otter case for it, I still have yet to get a holster style case for it, which I've done with every phone I can remember (since the 7210). But this too will come with time.

Initial impressions are good. There's lots of free software in the Android market, and I'm overall pleased with the performance of 2.1. I'm somewhat disappointed at the video format compatibility, even with x264 encoded video, an mkv file will still not play natively on the phone. the x264 codec should be directly compatible with the h.264 decoder built into the phone, however, the media player will not demux the mkv file.

I have a lot of testing and discovery left to do with this phone, and I hope it's a plesant experience overall. So far, so good. And there's a built-in slide-unlocker... even though the phone will remain "off" when getting a text! woo. So far, all my gripes about the Touch Pro are gone, I wonder what other gripes I'll find.

If you're curious and want me to check something, just leave a comment, I'll be happy to try something out on the phone and get back to you. I'll be happy to answer any other questions that may be posted too :)