Working full time at Betanews and going to school full time has really cut into my personal blogging time, but as we approach the holiday season and new year, I’m going to make an effort to better voice my personal opinions on Android and smartphone-related matters in general.
What am I looking forward to?
1.) Windows Phone– Don’t panic. I’m expecting a Windows Phone from Microsoft any day now, which I plan to rotate into regular usage. Before Android and iOS existed, I was a Windows Mobile user, and I do strongly believe Microsoft’s Web-based services are high quality. However, I don’t particularly think that Windows Phone has the best chance of survival until Xbox Live and Kinect can somehow be integrated into it…then they’ll change the game. For now, I’m just going to use the Windows Phone to master it, test apps, and generally enjoy it.
2.) Android Open Accessory– Admittedly I’m not much of an electrical engineer. I can’t read a schematic, and all of my “making” involves soldering wires to various parts of junk boards to circuit bend them. However, I talked to the folks at Sparkfun about the Electric Sheep board for ADK development, and I have high hopes for the platform, and I’m confident that someone with more skill than I will be able to make something completely mind-degaussingly awesome that we’ll all want to have.
3.) Asus Transformer Prime– A quad-core Tegra 3 tablet running Ice Cream Sandwich. I have grown to absolutely love my Samsung Galaxy 10.1. I thought tablets were pretty much a pointless luxury until I started using it for school-related productivity purposes and e-reading. Now I really have a grasp on some of their real value. So this super powerful device has me kind of excited.
4.) WIMM– Like Android Open Accessory, WIMM is not a a “three screen” application of Android, and therefore conjures up a special bit of excitement. I don’t wear watches, but from what I’ve seen from WIMM, I might have to change that.
5.) Samsung Galaxy Nexus– This is my next phone, it’s just a matter of time before I can get it.
I just got a very random, no-bullshit pitch from Marvel Digital (some Hong Kong company I’ve never heard of) for their TBT-10C 7″ Mercury Pad. If the iPhone 4 and 7″ Samsung Galaxy Tab had a random encounter at the Christmas party and this would be the unwanted bastard child.
The email just said the name of the product, listed its specs, listed the price, linked to the video I’ve embedded below, and said nothing else. It was actually kind of cool that there was no pitch. If that’s not exactly what most Internet geeks are looking for, I don’t know what is.
So here are the specs…
CPU : 1GHz Samsung S5PV210, ARM Cortex-A8 processor
Memory : DDR2 512MB
Storage : 4GB/8GB/16GB
OS: Android 2.3
LCD : 7″TFT, 16:9, 800 x 480
Touch Screen : Capacitive Multitouch
Camera : 0.3M forward facing 2 megapixel regular
SD Card : MicroSD up to 32GB
HDMI : 1080P HD Video Output
USB : USB Host 2.0, USB Device 2.0
Audio : Built-in Stereo Speaker, 3.5mm Stereo Headphone, Built-in Microphone
WIFI : 802.11 b/g
3G : External USB 3G Modules only (HUAWEI:E220, E1750, E156G, ZTE:MF637U)
G-Sensor : 360 Degree G-Sensor
Battery : 2250 mAH
Power : 9V/2A power adapter (100 – 240v input)
Power jack : 9V/2A power adapter (100 – 242v input)
Weight : 510 g
Here’s the price…
$259
and here’s ten minutes before this baby was conceived…
Tomorrow is Christmas and all I can think about is all the new stuff I’m going to have to keep track of at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in the first week of January. It’s going to be my fifth year in attendance as a professional journalist, and the previous years I’ve gone are starting to blend together in my mind. Fortunately, I can gauge the year in history by the amount of Android stuff I see there. Two years ago, there was only the smallest bit of Android-based stuff because the first open source version of the OS was only just released. Last year, the presence had increased significantly, and I saw a lot of new smartphones, a couple of e-reader/tablets and a couple of strange and unique contributions like desktop video phones and Android-powered Microwaves.
This year, aside from the Verizon LTE Android phone that we’re expecting, everyone thinks CES 2011 is going to be all about tablets.
I have my reservations about that prediction.
Yes, Motorola is undoubtedly revealing an Android tablet of some sort, and LG, NEC and Dell have all said they will be showing something off too…but other than that the field is pretty wide open.
Speaking of LG though, there’s a company who’s in the Android space way less than it should be. Last year I saw two Android phones from LG, and earlier this year the company pledged more presence in the area, but frankly I was highly unimpressed with its smartphone attempts. Many of the phones LG showed off last year were solidly based in the pre-iPhone, post BlackBerry design ethic. The company’s got a lot of clout in consumer electronics, but last year it looked to be focused solidly on its TV sector, maybe a tablet would kickstart interest in their smartphones.
A ton of Android-based tablets pour out of China every day. I mean, just check out dealextreme and you’ll be treated to a new piece of shit $99 plastic tablet running Android 2.2 every day of the week. I really hope predictions for CES 2011 will be proven wrong and that there will be something to take my breath away, because I want to see how far companies have taken Android out of its comfortable niche of portable/pocketable touchscreen devices.
Specifically, I want to see OTHER devices running it, like point and shoot cameras, pocket camcorders, media players, clocks and watches, game systems, in-car systems, DVD players and TVs, set top boxes, digital toys, and home automation gadgets.
Frankly, after hearing that Samsung is on track to sell 10 million Galaxy S smartphones before this year is even out, I’ve accepted that Android is now the mainstream smartphone OS. It has reached the average user who upgrades his phone only when his contract runs out, and my efforts will be best invested in tracking the smartphone market overall, and the specific unique applications of Android’s open source branch.
They do it to me every time. A carrier announces something that I want, and then starts teasing for something a little further down the road. It makes it very hard to be an early adopter, for sure.
Tomorrow, the most powerful Android phone on T-Mobile, the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant will land. Unfortunately, it’s not an HSPA+ capable device, and the rumor is that T-Mo is going to launch their faster networks on July 21, just one week from today. The first phone capable of taking advantage of the new network is rumored to be the HTC Vision…which won’t launch ’til September. And even then, we don’t know the specs of it.
We do know the Vibrant is powerful, and I have handled the beautiful thing. It’s skinny and the screen is big and bright. If I pick one up tomorrow, it won’t be with any great hesitance or regret. I just can’t help but wonder what’s next.
I’ll update with the Samsung Vibrant tomorrow if it’s available in stores. It’s certainly not available as an upgrade on mytmobile.com. It’s been in their database of phones for weeks, but you couldn’t order it.
Wirefly is offering the Cliq XT Titanium for free with a 2-year contract/data plan. Cliq XT has no physical keyboard, LED flash 5 megapixel camera, FM radio tuner, and touch-sensitive trackpad. 3.1″ touchscreen, MotoBLUR (based on Android 1.5), 802.11 Wi-fi, and A2DP Bluetooth. It’s a decent phone that didn’t get a lot of hype. If you know somebody up for upgrade on T-Mo, or somebody looking for a free entry-level smartphone that you’d like to turn onto Android, this is a damn good start.
All the way at the other end of Motorola’s line is the upcoming Droid X. It’s going to be huge in size and power and I’m going to go up to New York next week to get in on the launch event. Bear in mind, they didn’t invite me this time even though I’ve gone to the launch of two other Motorola Android devices this year and Sanjay Jha is my bro. I emailed them today, though…so I should be covering it quite thoroughly when they get back to me. …And with my newfound love for instant YouTube videos, I’ll have tons of hands-on video of it.
The particularly funny thing about the Droid X ad above is that it’s INCORRECT. The Droid X absolutely does not have an HD screen. It can capture HD video, but that’s different.
Android 2.1 with HTC Sense
600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor
512MB ROM/384MB RAM
3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen (320×480)
5-megapixel camera
2GB microSD card included
Dimensions 4.1″ x 2.3″ x .46″
Weight (with battery): 3.8 ounces
Battery: 1200mAh
Quadband EDGE (850/900/1800/1900), dual band HSPA (850/1900)
Digital compass, WiFi, aGPS, HSPA 7.2
Available on June 20, $129.99 after $100 mail-in rebate and 2 year contract.
It kind of reminds me of the HD Mini which didn’t end up coming to the states. I’ll ping HTC in a minute to see if they’re gonna give out more info.
I contemplated going to a coffee shop and settting up like this as a part of the review I’m writing. You know, to see what kind of reaction I’d get. I still don’t know if I should or not.
I’m lying on the floor watching the Olympics with a stomach full of vindaloo and a post-prandial coffee in my hand.
I’ve got to tell you…I’m kind of glad that I’m not in Barcelona right now.
Though I did really want to go to GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2010, the exciting announcements so far haven’t been anything extremely shocking.
The first noteworthy announcement today was that Sony Ericsson’s first Android device, the gorgeous Xperia X10, is now the parent a full family of devices. The new members of the Sony Ericsson Android family include the X10 mini and X10 mini pro. It’s a bit like the iPod line now, you’ve got the full-sized version, and the miniature ones (one with keyboard, one without, lots of color choices.) Not a bad way to go, actually.
Here’s the features and stats right from Sony Ericsson:
Timescape UI
“Four corner control”
5 megapixel camera and video
QWERTY keyboard – slide and text for quick and easy messaging (Mini pro only)
X10 mini and X10 mini pro support HSPA 900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 850/1900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900.
Xperia X10 mini:
Size: 83 x 50 x 16 mm
Weight: 88 grams
Phone memory: Up to 128MB
Memory card support: SanDisk microSD, up to 16 GB
Memory card included: 2GB
Operating system: Google Android 1.6
Processor: 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227
Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 4 hours
Standby time: GSM/GPRS: Up to 285hrs
Talk time UMTS: Up to 3.5 hours
Standby time: UMTS: Up to 360 hrs
The X10 mini will be available in selected markets from Q2 in Pearl White, Black, Pink, Lime, Red and Silver
Xperia X10 mini pro:
Size: 90 x 52 x 17 mm
Weight: 120 grams
Phone memory: Up to 128MB
Memory card support: SanDisk microSD, up to 16 GB
Memory card included: 2GB
Operating system: Google Android 1.6
Processor: 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227
Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 4 hours
Standby time: GSM/GPRS: Up to 285hrs
Talk time UMTS: Up to 3.5 hours
Standby time: UMTS: Up to 360 hrs
The X10 mini pro will be available in selected markets from Q2 in Black and Red.
It’s the first Samsung device to run Android OS 2.1. and the first Samsung device in South Korea. Kind of a big deal when they’re supposed to do a lot with this whole Bada thing. Called the SHW-M100S, the new device will arrive in March on SK Telecom. This means I can head over to the random SK Telecom store I found in Little Korea and maybe be able to get my hands on it.
Some early features/specs listed:
Android 2.1 with TouchWIZ UI
800MHz processor
3.7″ AMOLED touchscreen (WVGA),
5 megapixel camera with 720p video capture
802.11n
Full GPS
T-DMB mobile broadcast TV
Motorola just announced another new device, the MotoROI.
We’ve had the MotoRAZR, MotoROKR, MotoRIZR…but, MotoROI? what the fuck does that even mean?
I laughed when I first saw it because we commonly encounter ROI in venture capitalist blogs and such as “return on investment,” which would be kind of hilarious in Motorola’s case…it’s effectively investing everything in the Android platform, and this is what we get. Is that really what they’re going for here?
If his device ran Android 1.6, it would have been perfectly named MoTOROID!
Seriously though, I’m looking for what they’re going for in Korean. There’s a popular Korean site called “Roiworld” which has fashion games for little girls and shit. I’m having trouble because 저는 한국말 잘못 해요 and pretty much the only things I know in Korean end in a “da” or a “yo.”
