The power of the community

I talked to Mint.com about their Android App before it was released a couple of weeks ago.  Even though they developed for the iPhone first, they had a lot of positive things to say about Android:  Development is easier, less restrictive, and more community-supported.

After actually launching their app, they have already issued version 1.2 thanks to all the user feedback they got.  In case you missed my review on Betanews, Mint is a personal budgeting app that accesses all your online banking records, investments, and lines of credit and gives you a live snapshot of your finances and where you stand in your budget.  It doesn’t allow transactions to be made, so it’s a bit safer than some of your regular banking apps.

Version 1.2 has 1.2 in response to user feedback.  The new version of Mint for Android allows users to view their financial data in landscape mode, it now works with hardware keyboards (including Shape Writer,) it
enables widget viewing in a 4×1 area, and  offers improved categorization and cleaner refreshing.

Once you get over the initial skepticism of putting all your financial records into Mint, you find that it’s a really handy app.  I find myself using the live folder of my recent transactions very often.  It’s the first time I’ve really put live folders to good use.

How I really feel about my antiquated G1

…So the G1 may not be updated beyond Cupcake (Android 1.5)…

As an Android early adopter, I do not feel screwed.  Do I care that I shelled out all that money for the G1 just to watch it get put out to pasture in less than a year?  Nope.  I can’t imagine that any other G1 owner would really be that upset either.

Know why?

Because we didn’t want the G1 when we bought it.  We wanted the first Android phone.  We wanted the first Google phone, and we got both of those things.  If anything, the G1/Dream actually made the whole experience worse for a lot of people.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love the phone, I really do, and I am now painfully attached to the keyboard/trackball layout.  But overall it’s janky and I now have a legitimate reason to shop for a new phone.  The first one on my list is the Motorola Sholes simply because it has a keyboard and there more Android devices without one.

I understand that a physical keyboard lends to a phone’s overall creakiness, and the iPhone is therefore built like a goddamn rock.   My G1, on the other hand, cracked to shit when I dropped it once and it feels all wobbly most of the time.   But I simply do not wish to sacrifice the already tiny screen real estate (and use a soft keyboard)  for the sake of a stronger chassis.

I mean, are you nuts?   People and their virtual keyboards, man.  How fucking small of a screen do you want?

Your virtual keyboard cuts the workspace down to 1 inch. Good Job.

Knowing this, how can you honestly consider an onscreen keyboard a viable interface?  Couldn’t they have come up with some kind of stupid gesture-related “handwriting recognition” alphabet like the old Palm Pilots used to have?  I mean,  ONE INCH OF WORKSPACE….your screen is about this big:

This doesn't look so awesome for running apps.

Now I know these two devices end up having the same real estate because I have both of them and I measured.  The LG eNV is actually a o.9″ so I rounded up, and the iPhone’s screen space in notepad and messaging was 1.1″  so I rounded down.

I know Motorola hasn’t had a killer phone since the RAZR, but I’m putting a lot of stock in the Sholes, since it’s one of the only Android Phones in the near term that has a keyboard.