Android Thread

[Talez]

Super Mario Live Wallpaper.

[lestat]

The mario wallpaper is cool, we need a sonic one.

[General Chaos]

That's what I said!

How much load would that wallpaper put on the phone?

[Madmya]

Heh, I actually downloaded that wallpaper yesterday. Definitely need a sonic one, I'd be there in an instant.

Live wallpapers do use up more battery, but they look so much nicer!

[AgOnNy]

Froyo should be arriving soon for Desire... I hope....

[van]

Do we need to wait for Telstra to issue its own Froyo update, or will it come through directly from HTC?

[lestat]

That's what I said!

How much load would that wallpaper put on the phone?

Compared to other live wallpapers, it's pretty good, you can smoothly flip screens and access the menus without any perceivable slowdown. The wallpaper also has a fps setting, which you can use to adjust how much cpu it uses.

Do we need to wait for Telstra to issue its own Froyo update, or will it come through directly from HTC?

You need to wait for telstra to issue the update, which htc does anyways on their behalf. Generic handsets will likely get it earlier although right now no one really knows what date that will be, the nexus one just got the real final froyo FRF85B.

The guys on xda have been able to build a desire port from the recently released froyo source, so that looks very promising, better than the current roms which are just hacked nexus ones.

[selfish]

that is pretty cool. i do like the android home screen, i wish the iphone had something similar.

is "no homescreen widgets" apple's new "one button mouse"

[selfish]

i just feel like, if I got an android phone, I'd have to give a shit about everything in it, instead of not having to care about most of it.

[Madmya]

You'd be wrong. Straight out of the box everything works, no need to fuck around with anything except for the obvious like linking your email and facebook if you wish.

It gives you the option to customise though. You can customise a shitload more than an Apple phone. It's all about choice. And the urge to customise comes naturally once you've become used to the phone. And I'm not forced to use fucking iTunes.

[unfnknblvbl]

The guys on xda have been able to build a desire port from the recently released froyo source, so that looks very promising, better than the current roms which are just hacked nexus ones.

Cyanogen has stated that CM6 (Froyo) will be coming to the Desire (among other device). I never really paid attention to Cyanogen's work during the 1.x stages; other people built faster ROMs. Since CM5 though, I've come to think of him and his team as somewhat of a miracle worker, as it's just so damned fast on such underpowered hardware.

[selfish]

And I'm not forced to use fucking iTunes.

Does it work with itunes though? I use it, and don't hate it in any way?

What about the concerns about apps only working on some hardware and not others, are they real?

[lestat]

And I'm not forced to use fucking iTunes.

Does it work with itunes though? I use it, and don't hate it in any way?

iSyncr is an app that allows you to sync your itunes lib with your android phone, also as mentioned before here doubletwist which is very itunes like hooks into your itunes db and wmp db and allows you to sync stuff onto your phone.

What about the concerns about apps only working on some hardware and not others, are they real?

From what I've observed, app restrictions working on particular devices is mainly OS version related, ie some apps won't work with 1.5 android because it lacks the necessary APIs it needs. There was a big jump in the API between 1.5/1.6 and 2.0 devices, but generally I personally haven't come across any issues with apps on 2.1. 2.2 adds more cloud specific features/support so I guess any app designed around those features wont work with 2.1 devices.

[selfish]

relatedly, how about upgrading to the latest OS - isn't there something about having to wait for the manufacturer to make a rom for it, or the carrier, or something? forgive my ignorance.

[unfnknblvbl]

Ordinarily, yes. It's up to the carrier to request an update be made available for a device before it gets released in your region for whatever reason (I know, it's fucked up). However, if there's an active development community for the handset, then you'll never be short of updates. Also, if the handset has a custom UI, there's likely to be a larger delay between the AOSP distro and the one that gets delivered. For instance, the HTC Hero skipped v1.6 altogether, and is only just now getting v2.1, while the HTC Magic (a functionally identical phone) got the 1.6 update very quickly, and is reportedly getting 2.2 in a few weeks.

The thing about an app not working on a particular handset is not really relevant - devs can target specific devices & OS versions in the Market so that anything else won't even show it in a search result.

...speaking of which, AOSP 2.2 hit earlier this week, and already there's a fully functional build out for the HTC Magic, and Cyanogen is reporting that the first experimental versions of CM6 will probably be out this weekend. Sweet.

[lestat]

The guys on xda have been able to build a desire port from the recently released froyo source, so that looks very promising, better than the current roms which are just hacked nexus ones.

Cyanogen has stated that CM6 (Froyo) will be coming to the Desire (among other device). I never really paid attention to Cyanogen's work during the 1.x stages; other people built faster ROMs. Since CM5 though, I've come to think of him and his team as somewhat of a miracle worker, as it's just so damned fast on such underpowered hardware.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=712615" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Open desire 1.3 is out, pretty much everything works now, very impressive, just some LED issues left, this is a desire froyo built from the source.

[Misly]

I cant get passed the missing camera flash on the Galaxy S. I am leaning more towards the Galaxy Beam now.

Demo of the Galaxy Beam's projector:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnQVn3c6 ... re=related[/youtube]

A lot of fun to be had with this

[selfish]

holy shit that is amazing, pity the phone itself is huge and ugly

[lestat]

More android love in Australia, Vodafone have released the nexus one in Australia, now available on their plans.

http://store.vodafone.com.au/handset-htc-nexus-one.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They also have the htc legend available, which looks nice with its unibody aluminium shell.

Vodafone/3 just revamped their plans too, which now include data on just about all of them, $49 plan gives you 500mb now, which is perfect for a smart phone, for an extra 10 a month you get the nexus one.

[unfnknblvbl]

LOL $79/month

[Talez]

They also have the htc legend available, which looks nice with its unibody aluminium shell.

Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah... Lois, this is not my lestat.

lestat is praising a phone for design without regard to its last generation 320x480 screen? Shouldn't he be doing his crazy self-congratulatory endzone dance?

Oh wait. It's an Android phone? Ah that explains it! Carry on all!

[Madmya]

Ohhhh what a surprise. An apple fanboy comes in spouting style over substance.

[Talez]

No. I'm busting lestat's chops.

[unfnknblvbl]

I'm being sorely tempted to jump ship to Optus for that Galaxy S, especially if there's going to be a port of CM6 for it...

[lambchop]

looks like htc are changing the screens on desirers in order to meet demand, glad i got mine when i did!