On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 5:59 PM, Lori Paniak <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ldpaniak@fourpisolutions.com">ldpaniak@fourpisolutions.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div><div></div><div class="h5">On Wed, 2010-10-13 at 12:42 -0400, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:<br>
> On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 11:57 AM, Johnny Ferguson<br>
> <<a href="mailto:hyperflexed@gmail.com">hyperflexed@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> On 10/12/2010 10:05 AM, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:<br>
> On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 9:41 AM, Insurance Squared<br>
> Inc.<br>
> <<a href="mailto:gcooke@insurancesquared.com">gcooke@insurancesquared.com</a><br>
> <mailto:<a href="mailto:gcooke@insurancesquared.com">gcooke@insurancesquared.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/11514901" target="_blank">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/11514901</a><br>
><br>
> Microsoft launches phones. Actually looks<br>
> interesting, not that<br>
> I'll be getting one personally :). Looks like<br>
> they've got an app<br>
> development kit, for all you programmers.<br>
><br>
> Not much in the way of details in the video, but I<br>
> expect everything<br>
> will be closed source.<br>
><br>
><br>
> This is not their "phone". It says Samsung on the<br>
> handset. This is version 7<br>
> of their Windows Mobile (previously known as WinCE).<br>
><br>
> They had an initiative to have their own Microsoft<br>
> branded phone, called<br>
> Kin <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Kin" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Kin</a> but<br>
> they discontinued it.<br>
> Maybe<br>
> because Google discontinued directly selling their<br>
> Nexus One? I don't know.<br>
><br>
> As for Windows for Mobile phones, the phone I used<br>
> until over a month ago<br>
> was made by HTC, and had Windows Mobile 5. I liked the<br>
> hardware, but<br>
> hated everything about the operating system.<br>
> EVERYTHING! It was desktop<br>
> centric still, hard to navigate, many options<br>
> missing, ...etc.<br>
><br>
> Everything they said in the video is available already<br>
> in Android (and I<br>
> assume<br>
> Apple too). The only exception (at least for Android)<br>
> is the "all your<br>
> friend's<br>
> activity in one place", so as to not go in and out of<br>
> apps all the time.<br>
><br>
> Someone will write an app that does that I am sure.<br>
><br>
> HD Video? Already have it! Easy navigation? Check!<br>
> AMOLED screen? HTC<br>
> Desire and Nexus One have it, and a bunch of others.<br>
><br>
> Apple and Microsoft can keep their monopolies. I like<br>
> Android, and not just<br>
> because it is Linux underneath. It is functional,<br>
> open, extensible and has a<br>
> large app base.<br>
><br>
> What's a good droid phone in Canada? Essentially my definition<br>
> of good is the ability to control the software that runs on my<br>
> phone.<br>
><br>
> Really depends on whether you want to go the rooted phone route, or<br>
> just<br>
> stick with the stock O.S.<br>
><br>
> I have not tried rooting myself, since any time I read about it, there<br>
> is partial<br>
> support for this piece, or that part does not work. Mainly drivers. I<br>
> want the<br>
> full functionality (magnetic compass, accelerometers, GPS, WiFI, GSM,<br>
> ...etc.), not partial functionality. I installed ConnectBot and that<br>
> gives me<br>
> a shell. I can do ls, ps, top, ...etc. This is not root though. Also I<br>
> installed<br>
> ASTRO, and it allows me to install non Market apps. So if I am<br>
> inclined<br>
> to do so, I can download the Android SDK, Eclipse and I can write apps<br>
> for the phone, without having it rooted. The only thing you can't<br>
> change<br>
> is the operating system itself, but you can do whatever on the app<br>
> level.<br>
><br>
><br>
> I heard others on this list have rooted Android phones, so please<br>
> share your<br>
> experiences with this.<br>
><br>
> Apart from rooting, look for a phone that has the Android Market<br>
> enabled. Do<br>
> not get a phone that has no market since it would be quite useless.<br>
> Some<br>
> carriers do lock the market out for some retarded business reason.<br>
><br>
> Also get Android 2.1 or higher. I heard 2.2 has a just in time<br>
> compiler and<br>
> therefore potentially faster code execution.<br>
><br>
> Depending on who your carrier is, an unlocked GSM phone gives you<br>
> certain freedoms, such as switching to another provider, or using a<br>
> SIM<br>
> card abroad if you travel, specially outside of North America.<br>
><br>
> If you are looking for a phone with a physical keyboard, then don't<br>
> get<br>
> the Motorola Milestone (a.k.a. Droid in CDMA networks), which I own.<br>
> The reason is that the keyboard is almost unusable. It works fine as<br>
> a<br>
> touch phone, and is feature rich otherwise.<br>
><br>
> One thing that I considered was to go on Kijiji and find a used phone.<br>
> Some are like $200 to $250 or so, even with a semi recent Android<br>
> 2.1.<br>
> Be sure to investigate that route before you pay $400 or so for<br>
> Milestone/<br>
> Droid, or $500 for an HTC Desire (the same as Google Nexus One).<br>
><br>
> Examples:<br>
> LG EVE (has keyboard)<br>
> <a href="http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-phones-PDAs-ipods-LG-EVE-3G-5-0MP-Andriod-Touch-Screen-Amazing-Phone-W0QQAdIdZ234531931" target="_blank">http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-phones-PDAs-ipods-LG-EVE-3G-5-0MP-Andriod-Touch-Screen-Amazing-Phone-W0QQAdIdZ234531931</a><br>
><br>
> Acer Liquid E (decent specs, but heard they heat up)<br>
> <a href="http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-phones-PDAs-ipods-New-Acer-Liquid-E-Android-2-1-smartphone-W0QQAdIdZ235386649" target="_blank">http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-phones-PDAs-ipods-New-Acer-Liquid-E-Android-2-1-smartphone-W0QQAdIdZ235386649</a><br>
><br>
> Go wild ...<br>
> --<br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div>I picked up a Samsung Galaxy S a couple of weeks ago. It is a wonderful<br>
device with a big, bright AMOLED touchscreen and plenty of features and<br>
performance with Android 2.1. I have not rooted it or felt the need to<br>
upgrade to 2.2.<br>
<br>
The only downside is that the phone is only available in retail through<br>
Bell. I just got off the phone canceling my contract with them for<br>
several reasons which I will save for another thread.<br>
<br>
Bottom line is if you are going to get the Galaxy S (or any other phone)<br>
and might have to call customer service one day, don't sign up with<br>
Bell. Buy the phone unlocked (or outright from Bell - the unlock tool<br>
is freely available in the Android Market) and sign up with a different<br>
provider.<br></blockquote></div><br>That is what I did: buy the phone unlocked off of Kijiji. I bought the Motorola<br>Milestone that way, despite it being a Telus device, and I am with Rogers.<br><br>My daughter bought an HTC Desire (same as Google Nexus One) also<br>
from Kijiji, also unlocked.<br><br>My usual rant about the North American mobile phone market will have<br>to wait for another time.<br>-- <br>Khalid M. Baheyeldin<br><a href="http://2bits.com">2bits.com</a>, Inc.<br><a href="http://2bits.com">http://2bits.com</a><br>
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