your views on android tablets/phone

[Robert109]

whats your views on android may it be phones or tablets.
Im not that fond of them and it feels like if you want the latest android you have to buy a new device...dell streak will not be upgraded to honey comb....kinda a rip of i think.

Just of topic id love to see a internet tablet running ubuntu netbook.....i had ubuntu running on my old n8x0 slow and no sound but was fun

[Dutch_Master]

Well, in ICT stuff the "Law of the limiting advantage" applies almost instantaneously... When you by a product, it's probably outdated (sometimes ever literally) by the time you get home, as advances go so quick. When you purchased you Android device not so long ago, it was top of the bill, the latest and greatest you could find. You expect it to be useful for a period of time, mostly several years as it cost you so much money. Technology doesn't stand still however, and shortly after your expensive purchase a new version is launched, having even more capabilities and for lesser cost. But you're still stuck to that old device, as, for instance, you have a contract you can't cancel. But manufacturers made d*mn sure you can't just upgrade the OS, not even once, because they need to recoup the investment done in developing the hardware, *and* make a (huge) profit so their CEO's can stuff their bank accounts with triple-fat bonuses. That's monopolistic capitalism for you

So far, I resisted getting an Android device. The alternative is a Blackberry, but that's Closed Source outright... Nokia is a no-no full stop exclamation mark, now they've sold themselves to the Evil Empire

[nelz]

The problem is not with Android or the devices, it is the manufacturers that lock down the devices to prevent upgrading. I got bitten with this one on a Motorola Milestone, which is locked down hard and only upgradable when/if Motorola deign to release an OTA update. Phones locked in by carriers too are even worse.

That's why I now have a SIM-free Nexus S - vanilla Android with no restrictions on updates.

[ollie]

I've had a HTC Desire for a while now. It only took 1 week for it to be "rooted" and an alternate, updated Android installed. I use LeeDroid as available from T-Mod.org. This enabled me to get rid of the phone suppliers crap (who I don't subscribe to anyway) and still have the great HTC Sense interface.

I just wish that HTC (and the other phone manufacturers as well) would stop locking out all but one telco for each model. Surely the market would be bigger with all telcos able to supply every model. Why must you get locked into long term contracts with a telco just to get a new phone, especially when that telco has extremely poor coverage in the area I live?

[nelz]

That's not the case here, you can buy HTC phones SIM-free. They are easy to unlock too. I almost bought one, until I tried a Nexus S.

[bobthebob1234]

Nexus S.

Nexus S FTW!!!!

I got one and it is quicker and more responsive than win7 on my 6core 8gb ram computer!

[AndyBaxman]

Anyone had any experience with this:-

http://www.eshopbrokers.co.uk/products/ ... did=554900

On paper it looks like excellent value.

[guy]

I hope the Android market flourishes long enough for Darwinian selection to weed out the loser in the battle between the TiVo-ised and crapware-laden approach and the openly rootable download-what-you-want approach.

Can't imagine which will win.

[nelz]

There's room for both. For a lot of people, the phone as it comes is all they want. The problem for the others is knowing which are which

[ollie]

That's not the case here, you can buy HTC phones SIM-free. They are easy to unlock too. I almost bought one, until I tried a Nexus S.

I had been told that the new HTC Desire HD was exclusive to Vodaphone world wide. You can buy the phone outright and get it unlocked but that is through the local Vodaphone dealers.

[Rhakios]

That's not the case here, you can buy HTC phones SIM-free. They are easy to unlock too. I almost bought one, until I tried a Nexus S.

I had been told that the new HTC Desire HD was exclusive to Vodaphone world wide. You can buy the phone outright and get it unlocked but that is through the local Vodaphone dealers.

Even Amazon have it sim-free in the UK. Vodafone probably just have the exclusive rights to distribute it as a network provider.

[Robert109]

Iv only had a htc hero that i hated it with a passion so I got the dell streak...yes it was fast and seemed nice but doing some research I found out it wont be upgraded past 2.2 ...than I saw the sony experia play (psp phone) and it will be running 2.3 but again its out dated os since the new samsung 8.9 and 10 modles running android 3.0 due before the sony....
than theres silly problems like andorid apps not working well on larger screens
I loved mameo and I always wanted the nokia 900 only reason I didnt buy it was due to built quality being poor,
But hopefully even though nokia has teamed up with windows they will still be releasing 1 meego phone aka nokia 950 (not the n9)
and a meego tablet.

I wont lie I do love the apple ipad for the simpleness of it but Ill hold of till i see something with a proper linux os

[AndyBaxman]

The trick when buying an Android phone is to do your research. Network branded or adopted phones are best avoided as they come chock-full of uninstallable foistware and are hard (or impossible) to root or mod. You are also relying on the vendor to update the OS, which they may not do, or, if they do, it may make the phone actually worse. This is certainly the case with my Vodafone HTC Magic. They updated it to Froyo and it now runs with the speed and grace of a geriatric slug.

Probably the best bet would be one of the Google Nexus phones (either the original or the Samsung "S"). These are open by default, run vanilla Android and can easily be updated and modded by a competent amateur.

[nelz]

That's exactly why I bought a Nexus S. My Motorola Milestone was not tied to a network, but it was impossible to update by anyone but Motorola, who didn't seem interested in going beyond 2.1.

[leke]

So the prices finally came down enough for me to afford one. I'm waiting to pick this up from the post office:
http://www.expert.fi/haku?searchtext=ke ... de=anyword

It's droid 2.1. The default package is apparently crap, but some hacker has released an image that fixes power and scrolling problems, gives you the official market place and grants you super user access to install pretty much anything you want.