Android Thread

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 28 Oct 2009 01:15 am

Yeah, the Xperia X3 is looking to be hotness.

Also, I've heard rumblings that Android 2.0 will introduce backups of your system settings to "the cloud" so that when you change handset, everything is as it was. Nice.

Talez · Post by **Talez** » 28 Oct 2009 09:12 am

Android 2.0 feature list.

The new key-up stuff sounds like an improvement to the UI. Key-down UIs drive me nuts.

No word on cloud sync though. They could probably do it all via SyncML to a Google server quite easily with a new custom sync backend later on.

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 29 Oct 2009 01:21 am

That's not all though, it's just the Android SDK r1 feature list.

free turn-by-turn navigation, bitches!

asmodeus · Post by **asmodeus** » 29 Oct 2009 09:54 am

That's really going to make the data plans here too small. I was thinking of getting CoPilot, it's a bit expensive but with the current exchange rate doesn't seem too bad.

I can't really justify the expense for a bigger data plan though.. also some of the people that I know who have iPhones rarely use more than 200MB of data per month, so I'm hoping 300MB should cover me - I'll see how it goes for a couple of months.

mech · Post by **mech** » 29 Oct 2009 10:30 am

the only time I use a ton of data personally is when I tether it... it's nice having that option there. I've got a 1gb cap, which seems to be pretty good for a mobile plan.

Pariah · Post by **Pariah** » 29 Oct 2009 09:01 pm

hmmmmmm...

Misly · Post by **Misly** » 30 Oct 2009 12:10 am

No where near needing another phone yet, but when I do, android interests me. As long as innovation and convergence of technology is encouraged, also that I can use the hardware I buy to it's fullest extent and not be forced to use hardware limiting or crippling software that is also freely open to developers. Kids play in sandbox...

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 30 Oct 2009 02:49 am

Android is fantastic. If/when that thing comes out here, I'm jumping carrier to whoever offers it first.

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 04 Nov 2009 01:29 am

Fuck me dead. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Fuuuuuuuuuu.... With Motorola and SE on board the Android bandwagon, that pretty much leaves Nokia as pretty much the only 'big" handset manufacturer to not get with the program. I'd like to see what they can do with it if/when they get around to it though.

van · Post by **van** » 04 Nov 2009 08:37 am

With the Xperia using droid, my return to SonyEricsson is a much stronger chance...

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 04 Nov 2009 11:14 am

it's only rocking Android 1.6 for launch though. You'd think they would have done an HTC and realised that Donut was only a (relatively) minor update and simply targeted 2.0 for launching a new device. Apparently they're working on getting 2.0 out the door after launch though, but it's still a tad short-sightied

van · Post by **van** » 04 Nov 2009 02:18 pm

No biggy for me. A move to Android will be a while away yet. Still happy with my iPhone, and I've yet to jailbreak it.

asmodeus · Post by **asmodeus** » 04 Nov 2009 10:53 pm

I've had my Hero for a few days now. It's pretty nice, but touch sensitivity doesn't reach the very edges which makes pressing some of the stuff along the very edges a bit harder (like the stop button when loading a webpage). The included HTC headphones have no bass at all, so I'm using another pair and it's good enough.

Is there a decent MSN Messenger client? And is there an equivalent of Sherpa that works in Australia?

About the only thing I'm missing right now are the games that iPhone has. I don't understand why Gameloft doesn't just sell APKs on their website.. I went there to buy Oregon Trail but it tells me it's not available on my carrier.. why do they care what carrier I'm on? It's on the market, but I'm not going through the shenanigans required to get paid app access on Optus/Virgin at the moment.

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 05 Nov 2009 12:34 am

Don't you find it slow? Even with the official SenseUI ROM for my Magic, I find it annoyingly slow. Also, the contacts list is annoying because you can't filter it like you can the default Android contact list.

For MSN, I use eBuddy. It's not great, but it at least has Facebook Chat support, which is useful.

What's Sherpa?

I found an app that's pretty useful - Locale. It allows you to automatically change preferences etc depending on where you are. For instance, as soon as I rock up to work, my phone goes into Silent mode. As soon as I leave home, WiFi is turned off, and it's turned back on when I return.

asmodeus · Post by **asmodeus** » 05 Nov 2009 10:29 am

The speed seems fine to me... there are a couple of places where there's a minor delay, but nothing that's made me feel like it's not working well. It seems to be running a lot better than all of the video reviews showed when it was first released.

I've never used the default Android UI outside of the emulator, so I'm not sure what I'm missing. I would like an easy way to disable the HTC Sense in specific parts though - I'm not really using any of the additional features like linking contacts to their Facebook accounts and similar.

Sherpa shows you stuff that's nearby to you, but it's US only. http://androinica.com/2009/08/11/sherpa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... le-future/

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 05 Nov 2009 04:04 pm

hrm.... there's something like that in Layar, but it's not really the same.

Still pretty nifty though.

asmodeus · Post by **asmodeus** » 05 Nov 2009 09:58 pm

Actually, the Google Places Directory is kind of similar. Unfortunately it's measuring everything in miles and I don't see a preference to change it to kilometres. Maybe I should finally learn how long a mile is in km...

The Places directory isn't brilliant though, but it seems passble - it lists a few places around here that closed years ago, right next to what is there now. Also some places that I know of that are good aren't listed.

I discovered a couple of places near work that I didn't know about while I was waiting at the train station on the way home though.

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... droid.html

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 03 Dec 2009 09:36 am

so Google Navigation has been released for Android 1.6, but it's USA-only.

Thankfully, some enterprising chap over at XDA-Developers got it working elsewhere in the world, so I gave it a go last night on my bike. Obviously, I can't report on how the visuals behaved, but it sounded pretty accurate, coming from my phone pouch. Especially interesting was the way it adjusted to the way I changed where I was headed mid-trip - it was quite good at rerouting and telling me the best way to get where I was ultimately heading.

asmodeus · Post by **asmodeus** » 06 Dec 2009 09:58 pm

unfnknblvbl wrote:so Google Navigation has been released for Android 1.6, but it's USA-only.

Thankfully, some enterprising chap over at XDA-Developers got it working elsewhere in the world, so I gave it a go last night on my bike. Obviously, I can't report on how the visuals behaved, but it sounded pretty accurate, coming from my phone pouch. Especially interesting was the way it adjusted to the way I changed where I was headed mid-trip - it was quite good at rerouting and telling me the best way to get where I was ultimately heading.

Does it have a bike friendly route mode? There's many roads in Brisbane that I wouldn't want to go near with a bike.

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 06 Dec 2009 11:55 pm

I suppose you could try walking mode, but that's not really much different as far as I can tell. The biggest downside of using it like that though is that the screen doesn't turn off, which is entirely pointless if it's shoved into a pouch on your bag or whatever.

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 11 Feb 2010 06:26 pm

Just in case anyone's interested, there's a new OSK out and about for Android called Swype. I've been using it for a few weeks now, and it's ludicrously good. You just sort of scribble a line across the OSK and up comes your word. They reckon you can get 40wpm using it, but that's probably some extreme example.

Instructions and download linkage at:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622144" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Madmya · Post by **Madmya** » 07 Apr 2010 03:04 pm

Apparently the Xperia X10 is going to be released in early May on Vodafone and Three according to this: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... roid-army/

So, what's the general consenus on what's the best of these new Android phones coming? I know Desire runs Android 2.0 or 2.1 and X10 is 1.5, but from the sounds of it isn't a big deal for the X10.

Looking forward to these new phones.

Cardsy · Post by **Cardsy** » 07 Apr 2010 03:15 pm

Yeah not sure, maybe ask Pat three years from now?

unfnknblvbl · Post by **unfnknblvbl** » 07 Apr 2010 07:04 pm

the Desire is 2.1 and the Xperia X10 is 1.6

TBH, I'd go the Xperia - SE have already indicated that they'd be upgrading it as quickly as possible, although the case itself apparently feels a bit crap.

Madmya · Post by **Madmya** » 07 Apr 2010 07:07 pm

The Xperia has always had the upper hand, frankly because I like Sony Ericsson's. But the last preview I read mentioned that it's a custom built Android 1.5 and it not having 2.0 or 2.1 wasn't a big deal to the guy who was writing the article.

Although one drawback I've read about is that it doesn't support multi-touch?