Posted: August 13th, 2009 | Author: TimConneally | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
It’s an odd proposition, a Dell phone… If you would have come to me ten years ago and said Apple was making a phone, I’d probably have imagined something that looked like a white Computer Space cabinet.
Yet, ever since rumors of a Dell phone started circulating early last year, I mentally pictured pretty much exactly what it turned out looking like: A big old black box with the god-awful Dell “crooked-E circle” emblazoned hugely on the back.
But because I had already expected it to look a certain way, I became skeptical that it was created after the fact to “look like something Dell would make,” you know? Here’s what I’m talking about:
They look like they came out of the same Dell vagina.
I slapped together a picture from Boy Genius Report today and a picture of the Dell XPS Studio 13. Tell me that doesn’t look eerily similar. If someone faked this, it’s a pretty lousy job because the roots are showing. But, as Greg Graffin famously said, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction…because as far as everyone’s saying, this monster is real.
It’s supposedly being released on China Mobile under the code name “Benzine” (not to be confused with Benzene, which is probably a major component in it, as a plastic hunk of shit) and will supposedly run the Android-based “OMS” platform. It’ll be one of those “oPhones” you may have heard about.
Here are the specs that everybody’s reporting:
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE class 12
Size: 68.6cc
103g grams weight
Dimensions: 58 x 122 x 11.7mm
Display: 3.5″ nHD 640×360 LCD, 18-bit, 262K colors
OTA capable
Microsoft Exchange support
Google, AIM, Yahoo and MSN IM support
3 megapixel auto-focus, flash, 8x digital zoom camera with 30fps video shooting mode, built in photo editor
USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
A-GPS
On-screen QWERTY keyboard, hardwriting recognition, multi touch UI
MicroSD slot
It’s ugly…and the OMS UI is ridiculous. I’d go so far as to call it “bofungly,” a term my comic book geek friend once scribbled in one of my drawing books when we were coming up with ideas for super heroes.
China Mobile hired Wavy Gravy to do the UI.
It’s nothing short of a miracle the icons aren’t dancing bears. Thank God Android is skinnable…I assume the ability will be retained in OMS. It is “Open” after all (but it is China, so yeah.)
Despite all of this, why do I still want it?
It’s like when I see people “working” on their laptops at Barnes and Noble or Starbucks, they’re either on a Mac or on a Dell. And you know what I think when I see those people? Mac = Pretentious, Dell = Dork. I don’t think of the computing power or monetary value of their computer. It could be the $999 macbook and a $3,000 XPS and I’d still feel the same way.
Dell says “dork” and I closely identify with that.
Does that make me weird?
Posted: August 12th, 2009 | Author: TimConneally | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, iphone, palm, pre, WebOS | 2 Comments »
I like the Palm Pre…Maybe it’s because I like crap.
Palm’s phones were killer enterprise demons before the world went iPhone crazy and every company had to release a competitor. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great phone and everything, but I can’t help but compare it to the BlackBerry Storm…another example of an enterprise heavyweight trying to make something for the fat-fingered consumer to smear with his jelly-stained digits.
Palm tried to break into the consumer market with the Centro and really scored a hit, but at $99, the Centro’s margins were paper thin and an iPhone Killer* was needed. So we’ve got the Pre, equipped with WebOS.
And What better way to celebrate it than by creating homescreen skins that copy the design? The iPhone’s got one, and Android’s got one.
Well, yeah, see…it won’t be for long Palm apparently hit the designer of the “Palm Pre Android Theme” with a cease and desist order , so naturally I ran over to the Android Market and grabbed it. It’s free, why not?
Better Android Palm Pre theme
So here it is, not too shabby, eh?
The theme’s designer posted Palm’s C&D order in its entirety, and within it, Palm said:
“Without further investigation, Palm is willing to assume that you did not use Palm’s copyrighted images or adopt the Palm Pre Android Theme name with the intention of infringing Palm’s copyright rights or trading on the goodwill that Palm has developed in its valuable PALM and Palm Prē marks. Palm would prefer to resolve this matter amicably and without the need to resort to other legal remedies. However, we must receive written confirmation by [date redacted] 2009 that you will cease using the Palm Pre Android Theme name, as well as any other Palm or Palm Prē-based names for current or future software products, and that you will cease use and distribution of the Palm Prē user interface. Your failure to provide the requested written confirmation of this request in a timely fashion would suggest your intention to willfully infringe Palm’s trademark and copyright rights and could subject you to significant damages.”
So I advise you to go and pick it up, it’s not even that great of a theme, really…you could do a lot better. But what the hell, it’s kind of funny, it’s most likely going to go away (at least in name), and it’s MUCH BETTER THAN THE iPHONE’S VERSION.
*If you’ve ever read my writings on Betanews, you’ll know that I fucking hate the term “iPhone Killer,” almost as much as I hate the terms “Kerfuffle,” and “Perfect Storm,” but I’ll be damned if this hasn’t been turned into the name for all touchscreen devices designed with high consumer engagement but low enterprise value.
Posted: August 11th, 2009 | Author: TimConneally | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Geek, Google, Mobile, OS, Tech, Technology | 1 Comment »
Hey everybody! My name is Tim Conneally and this is Android Bakery, a place where we’ll look at the exciting new developments in Google’s mobile operating system: the hardware, the apps, and the lifestyle.
I chose the blog format because I’d like to write without having to limit my bias or tendency to think aloud. So for the first post in Android Bakery before we delve into any awesomeness, I will provide a full disclosure.
I am primarily a writer for Betanews.com, a developer and co-founder of Baltimore-based event mapping site Localist.com and stockholder in several wireless infrastructure and software companies: specifically Motorola, Alcatel-Lucent, and Nuance Communications.
I am a huge fan of Google and its services, so that’s why I got into Android even before the G1 was released. Since it’s been out, I’ve followed a number of burgeoning software companies as they’ve helped the platform grow, and I really love to watch the ecosystem change as it fulfills the demands of the mobile user.
My primary goal for this site is to have a single post per day: a review of an Android App released that day, a video of me flipping out about something, or an interview with software developers.
If you enjoy Android as much as I do, I’d love to hear from you, and I’ll have my first real post later tonight.
