Which Android phone to buy ?

[forums UseR]

Hello and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2010 All...

Can anybody tell me which Android phone is the best in the current market and if you could back it up with reasons would be even better.

Thanks

Srinivas

[Tim Holloway]

"Best" is a word that makes me grind my teeth. As they say: You Mileage May Vary.

The Motorola Droid is the "hot" phone right now. Although other than the fact that it runs Android 2.0, I'm not sure what makes it so much more wonderful than the others. I just abandoned a phone with better physical keyboard than the Droid has and don't miss it, myself, so I hope it's not the keyboard that's got people so excited. I got a firsthand look the other day at the shortcomings of the Android 1.x Bluetooth stack (or lack thereof), so maybe that's got something to do with it.

I have the HTC Hero, and I think it's really nice, especially with the HTC sensor extras. HTC has at least one other phone - the Eris, that seems to be a lot like it, but at a lower price. And, of course, HTC is also making Google's phone, although that's not presently available for public consumption.

Outside of those models, I'm totally ignorant.

[forums UseR]

Thanks for your reply!

My friend worked on Droid. And he may be partial just because of that reason. As he says it has the fastest processor sofar.

Also this HTC Hero video is impressive

My intention is to try to get my feet wet into SDK... ,

So from a developer perspective..., can you please suggest a better option ?

Or waiting for gPhone (from HTC) makes sense ?

[forums UseR]

Anybody wanna chime in mayb ?

Droid vs HTC Hero ?

What is the better option from developer perspective...

[Monu Tripathi]

My intention is to try to get my feet wet into SDK... ,...Droid vs HTC

Either of them will be useful.

I haven't worked with Droid; only HTC Hero. All I can say is, it is a good phone and you can exercise most of the APIs that the SDK provides, on it. (Cant compare it with Droid)

Also note that, Droid is the only phone that runs Android 2.0, presently. I saw its video on youtube and it looks very impressive. Devices will only get better with time.

I would go for Droid, if I have money, I think.

As an aside, you might also want to go through this blog; it helps understand what devices are running which version of Android and how developers should make use of this data.

[pete stein]

I've never "worked" on any phone, but I have just purchased a Droid, and all I can say is DANG, it's fast and a heck of a lot of fun. In fact, I've never ever had a phone that I've had so much fun with nor have been so impressed with. The Google SkyMap and FartDroid apps alone make it a worthwhile purchase.

Maybe I will have to play with Java micro edition (or whatever it's called now) to see if I can program one of my own apps for this beast.

[Monu Tripathi]

Maybe I will have to play with Java micro edition (or whatever it's called now) to see if I can program one of my own apps for this beast.

Android is the name!

[Tim Holloway]

Monu Tripathi wrote:

Maybe I will have to play with Java micro edition (or whatever it's called now) to see if I can program one of my own apps for this beast.

Android is the name!

Indeed. JME - formerly J2ME - is nothing like Android. JME is from Sun, Android is from Google. Totally different APIs, totally different core architectures. JME is still around - it's in BlackBerry phones, for example, but I actually think that Android is the better platform. As evidenced by my owning an Android phone.

[pete stein]

Tim Holloway wrote:

Monu Tripathi wrote:

Maybe I will have to play with Java micro edition (or whatever it's called now) to see if I can program one of my own apps for this beast.

Android is the name!

Indeed. JME - formerly J2ME - is nothing like Android. JME is from Sun, Android is from Google. Totally different APIs, totally different core architectures. JME is still around - it's in BlackBerry phones, for example, but I actually think that Android is the better platform. As evidenced by my owning an Android phone.

OK, sorry for showing my ignorance. Looks like I have a lot to read and more to learn. I have looked through the Google Android API page and I see now that you can in fact program with this phone in Java using the API. Is Java the primary language used for Android apps? or is it one of many?

[Monu Tripathi]

OK, sorry for showing my ignorance. Looks like I have a lot to read and more to learn. I have looked through the Google Android API page and I see now that you can in fact program with this phone in Java using the API. Is Java the primary language used for Android apps? or is it one of many?

Primarily, it is Java but developments have started using other programming languages(most notably Scala) also. You might find the following useful:
1. Android beyond Java
2. Which programming languages can I use on Dalvik?
3. Android development in Scala

cheers!

[forums UseR]

Thanks Everyone of you, for the valuable feedback/reviews...
I bought Droid, and its impressive so far. Unfortunately, in my area, the data network is weak, so can't browse
I have to configure a wifi ? Anybody has a link for online manual...

[Tim Holloway]

I'm using the Hero as reference, so YMMV, but there should(?) be a menu on your home screen with "Settings", and the Settings should include a Wireless Controls submenu.

Just to be on the safe side, I'd RTFM, though. It took me more than one try to get it connected, and I've done this kind of thing before on a number of different platforms, including mobiles.

[forums UseR]

I didn't update my thread.

I spoke to Verizon customer service, and they gave me a better option.

Go to Settings-->Mobile networks, and check "Data roaming" option.

This enabled me to browse the internet. They assured me that I won't be charged extra because I am using roaming data network. The speed was not impressive, but I was able to download a free app "google listen" just fine.

I feel like I have a Swiss Knife in my hands literally...

So what is your favorite (could be "free") Android (Droid ) app, and why...

Hope to hear your valuable insights...

[S Santhosh]

Nexus One....anyone

[Dave Brown]

S Santhosh wrote:Nexus One....anyone

I've just upgraded from a G1 to the Nexus One and it truly is the best handset I've had to date, from a history of various PDA's and Phones.

The response time is fantastic, the whole development deployment process is pretty much instant now. I.e. developing in eclipse with the handset plugged in, hit Run and voila its there on display on the handset whereas on the G1 there was always a few seconds delay.

Switching between applications, camera etc is all much faster so if you're like me and developing something which requires the user to capture via the camera, it makes a difference.

All in all it's a great phone and highly recommended.

[Tim Holloway]

What leaves me scratching my head about the Nexus One is that some of the features that people rave about were already on the HTC hero. Most notably the 5 "home" screens. This, despite the fact that the Hero is running the older Cupcake version of Android.

Even stranger is the review I read yesterday complaining about the lack of multi-touch features. Although few of my Hero's apps are multi-touch capable, you can definitely pinch and stretch in the web browser (a useful feature!), and I believe Google Maps as well.

I think these features owe more to HTC than Google, but the Nexus One is, after all, an HTC phone.

[Dave Brown]

I installed the dolphin browser on my nexus one, which I was using on the G1, and that definately supports multi-touch.. Not sure about the default browser though.

[Monu Tripathi]

Though the new Android SDK supports multitouch, Nexus one does not(or as Nexus one fans would like to say: Google has disabled it!). But you sure have applications like Dolphin browser that provides these features.

[Dave Brown]

Dave Brown wrote:I installed the dolphin browser on my nexus one, which I was using on the G1, and that definately supports multi-touch.. Not sure about the default browser though.

An update to Android has just been released, now giving multi-touch capabilities to the default browser, maps, gallery etc..

[forums UseR]

Dave Brown wrote:

Dave Brown wrote:I installed the dolphin browser on my nexus one, which I was using on the G1, and that definately supports multi-touch.. Not sure about the default browser though.

An update to Android has just been released, now giving multi-touch capabilities to the default browser, maps, gallery etc..

Not yet for Droid

Anybody knows the timeline for Droid ?

Please feel free to share your experiences with Droid...,

Here is my take...

1. The navigation has been updated, which gives meaningful suggestions when you type anything...

2. All google apps are free, goggles, translation, listen, etc you name it, and its seamlessly integrated into Droid, all it takes is patience to search on the market.

3. Tons of free applications including banking, wordpress, etc... Although am little reluctant and suspicious to use such applications specially since I am not very confident on the security aspect of these apps

Can anybody shed some light on the security aspect of Android?

Do I even have to worry about security, because I am not exactly sure if these apps are built by the companies themselves?

What security mechanisms are used lets say in "Bank of America", "MyVerizon", and "WordPress" apps ?

Anybody using such applications on their "androids"?

(there is always an option by visiting the website directly, but the problem of zooming on every screen gets annoying when there is no multi-touch capability).

Hoping to hear from you!

[forums UseR]

Watch out for droid updates...

And coming to the security, you can find some more info here