Android Invasion - part 3 of 3

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla Google in your pocket Functionality and Conclusion It has been a week since we popped our SIM card into the T-Mobile G-1 (AKA Google Phone, HTC Dream, Android Phone). We we're able to test it unlocked on our Rogers network in Canada and during a visit to lovely Atlanta, Georgia - we used it on its resident T-Mobile network with a pay-as-you-go refill card. Like with most new things, the G1 takes some getting used to. We initially found the Wi-Fi troublesome but realized during the course of our testing that it was pretty good at finding and connecting to wireless hotspots. Since we were using a pre-paid card (you need a T-Mobile monthly plan to bask in the glorious glow of 3G data, otherwise you're only good for calls and text). Read on for more functionality reviews on the G1 What is most frustrating about the G1 is the touchscreen. We really, really tried to like this device but when it came to dialing on the touchscreen that is where frustration began to fester. This is a serious flaw with the capacitive touch screen, that it is not sensitive enough and sometimes requires numerous button presses to get anything out of it. You can of course use the QWERTY keyboard but that is so counter intuitive. Since this is a phone and since you will need to make calls using the touchscreen is something to consider. We've had touch-based phones other than the iPhone, products from Samsung and from Sony Ericsson which are two years old but which work a lot better. I am not sure if this can be fixed via software, I hope so. It would be a shame for the G1 to get a bad rap because you can't effectively dial on it. Once you do get to call, however, you are rewarded with above average call quality. Clear but not loud, the G1's sound is pretty dependable. We're not too thrilled with the G1's ringtone selection or the ring volume. We missed a number of calls while the G1 was in our shirt pocket. How is that possible? Perhaps we've damaged our ears with too much heavy metal or maybe, just maybe, the G1's speaker is not up to par with what we are used to. So, setting vibrate as an option is a must if you don't want people who are calling you to think you are purposely avoiding them. Applications Free applications are perhaps the strongest feature of the T-Mobile G1 and the few that we have tried were pretty good. Searching the Android Marketplace is not unlike searching on the iPhone's app store. Navigation is straightforward and downloading is quick. We tried a few of the bar code applications, which use the built-in digital camera's autofocus feature and we were delighted to see that they worked well. It is still early days for the Android Marketplace but there are already a number of promising titles. Take for example the iSkoot Skype application, the likes of which you will never see on a jailbroken iPhone. Making it possible for users to make Skype calls via Wi-Fi, specially while traveling away from their home networks, is extremely useful. . Some of the games were a lot of fun and use the trackball as the controller, they aren't as engaging as the iPod Touch or iPhone accelerometer games though although the screen clarity and brightness is excellent. The G1 will not be the next gaming platform, it doesn't have the ease-of-use and three minute learning curve we've seen in other devices and again the screen isn't optimized for gestures or gaming. It must be noted that applications and games seem to continue running in the background even after you have exited them. You see, the G1 has no built-in program manager like Windows Mobile, so you can't go somewhere to quit apps. We find this disconcerting, since if the apps are running in the background they are no doubt sucking battery life. The only way to remedy this, is to shut of and restart the G1- a three minute penalty that most users may have issues with. The apps themselves don't have Quit screens so you just exit them or go to the home screen...its like a complicated relationship. You know, one that doesn't have the proper closure and which lingers at the back of your mind too long. Hopefully, this will be improved in subsequent firmware updates or someone will offer a good hack to manage apps better, save battery life and make everyone happier. Speaking of battery life, after a week of usage we can say that it is manageable but not optimal. With 20 minutes of surfing the web and checking GMail, three or four five minute calls and about 40 minutes of music playback and 30 minutes of YouTube videos--the battery is at 30% capacity. Yes, you need to charge it nightly and the G1 is nowhere near as efficient as an iPhone or a BlackBerry. The good news is, you can swap batteries if you need more juice. No, we're not thrilled with with the G1's battery life and it is one of the big reasons why we wont be making it our regular smartphone. It seems to drain quickly as soon as it is unplugged even if used very lightly. Conclusion In terms of day to day use, the T-Mobile G1, the first Android powered phone, feels like it isn't ready for primetime. Yes, it feels like a prototype in the throes of testing, unfortunately it is the early adopters and users who will need to do the testing. Did Google rush off to market with this device, we think they did- but so did Apple with the Gen 1 iPhone, which now works great with the updated software. We expect great things from Android and from Google, the G1's integration with GMail and assorted Google web apps is seamless but the lack of Microsoft Exchange integration and real push email means that the G1 is not yeat ready to play in the BlackBerry arena. The kludgy touchscreen and the odd app management system plus the poor battery life are deal killers for many business users and those that need to interact with their smartphones. We can't recommend the T-Mobile G1 as a daily driver and in a way, is just as well that it isn't available in Canada, or elsewhere for that matter. We are keeping our fingers crossed that when Android handsets are finally made available to the global markets and not just the USA, that the devices and the software will mature and be more usable. Android has a tough and steep mountain to climb in order to even start to think of doing battle with Apple, Symbian, RIM and Windows Mobile. These more mature mobile operating systems have little to worry about from this upstart....until they get their act together. The open source and free apps are promising but not compelling enough to jump ship and invest in this whole new environment. For now, the T-Mobile G1 will thrill early adopters and developers who need to develop around the system. Casual users are better off investing in the technology that is available today from more established makers.

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Android Invasion - part 2 of 3

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla G1 Hardware Impressions The T-Mobile G1 is smaller than it looks in pictures. It feels nice in the hand and we absolutely love the matte black finish and the subtle rubber feel of the back cover. It is easy to hold, has a generally good grip and the weight feels even. This is one smartphone that we feel confident enough to carry without a case or even a screen protector. The only other device that made us feel this way was a BlackBerry Curve. More after the jump. We did use a makeshift InvisibleShield protector (from an iPhone) to cover the G1's screen but that was peeled off after a day since it really dampened the touchscreen's sensitivity and rendered it nearly useless (more on this later). With the keyboard tucked in, the G1 feels really well put together, the only gripe we have is the annoying placement of the camera button on the lower right hand side. It would have been, you know, more intuitive to use the scroll ball. As a result, taking snapshots with this button placed so far below is difficult if you have large hands or long fingers. ' We're bummed that the G1 does not have a proper headphone jack but uses a USB port (the same one you charge the device with) as the sole way to listen to music on headphones. The included headphones are awful in size and shape we found them a pain to use. The cord length is way too long plus the volume control and microphone remote is freaking huge and heavy. We wouldn't use this in the gym for fear of taking someone's eye out if it swings the wrong way. We just can't understand the reason why, with all the perfectly good headsets available out there, HTC and Google decided to cripple the G1 by limiting it to USB only audio. We hope to get some sort of adapter to circumvent this limitation. The touchscreen is nowhere as accurate or sensitive as what we are used to on the iPhone. I am not sure if our particular G1 has issues but with a screen protector on, dialing on the keypad was next to impossible. God forbid you need to reach 911 and the damn thing doesn't accept your key presses. Again, we only have the iPhone to compare it to, but there seems to be a hit or miss thing with this touchscreen. There's a shades feature which allows you to get more information from the status bar (which is on the top of the screen) by making a sweeping gesture. Well, we've only been able to get this to work once. Even after we removed the screen protector it was terribly difficult to click on icons, move them around or even manage the touch buttons. If this were a touch-only device, it would be pretty crappy. Thank goodness for the buttons, they are truly necessary. Keyboard Mode The QWERTY keyboard on the G1 could be better but it works fine. We find the mechanism that flips it open and close to be a bit violent. I guess the springy action and the resounding snap that follows is unnerving. When the keyboard is enabled, the screen automatically reverts to horizontal orientation. This happens quickly and is quite seamless. Now, the body of the G1 seems to feel a bit less solid, the screen tilts back a bit too much. A lot has been said about how tricky it is to type on specially since you need to compensate for the area where the buttons are but, like with most of the odd features of the G1, you learn to live with it. Next: Part 3 - Functionality and Conclusion

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Android Invasion - Part 1 of 3

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla The T-Mobile G1 or the Android smartphone, was released to the public (in the US and in the UK) last month and ushered in a new era of promise in the smartphone segment. For those users who have soldiered on with Palm, Symbian and Windows Mobile - the Google phone offered an alternative that married open-source goodness (unlimited number of free apps) and usability (GPS, 3G, Touch technology and a full-sized QWERTY keyboard) anchored with Google's slick interface. Android running on Rogers Many will pit the Android G1 against the Apple iPhone 3G, its just inevitable. These are two key devices that may be similar in some ways but, as we have found out, are fundamentally different. The iPhone has a year advantage of software, functionality and is a more mature product. It is a known quantity and works primarily because it is a closed system watched and controlled closely by Apple sentinels Here at the Canadian Reviewer we scoured the web for a chance to nab a unit for a long-term review. It arrived yesterday and we wasted no time in activating, unlocking and testing the T-Mobile G1 on our Rogers network. More Android Goodness after the jump Out of the Box This first part deals with the out-of-the box experience and the steps taken to unlock the T-Mobile G1. The unit we acquired was purchased in full without a contract so it came with a SIM card that was not yet activated. We have a prepaid T-Mobile SIM, which we use when we cross the border and we threw this into the G1. It worked. We set up an account (you sign into GMail) and it was ready to go. Next was to make the G1 work on our home network. For that we had to saunter off to Unlock G1, which takes the IMEI information and for a fee will send you an unlock code within the day. It worked. Like magic. Android G1 and Apple iPhone 3G (with case) Lets just say that the hardest thing about this process was the anticipation. Within 5 hours I had received the code, followed the instructions (read them well people, you only get one shot), and we were off to the races. Calling and SMS were enabled and we had a functioning Android phone on Rogers. Now we just needed to get EDGE working (Android G1 is 3G but uses an arcane frequency that is pertinent only to T-Mobile, how bloody gracious) and set up Wi-Fi for accessing information on our home network. Here is where things started to get tricky. Go to Part 2 of the review Go to Part 3 of the review

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Origami Unfolded: the demise of the UMPC – Analysis

Origami Unfolded: the demise of the UMPC – Analysis By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla It’s been two years since Microsoft made a bid for Ultra Mobile Computing or UMPCs with their then codenamed Origami Project. The UMPCs were next generation devices which would offer full PC computing power in a slate-like device between the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and the TabletPC form factors. UMPCs were aimed at savvy users who wanted lightweight portables that would replace their notebooks. UMPCs were also designed to have enough muscle to be used as desktop machines when hooked up to external monitors, keyboards and mice. It was an exciting proposition and some of the early prototypes offered a compelling feature sets for a traveling computer that’s no bigger than a paperback book and which can manage communications and basic computing. Already there were micro-computers from OQO and Sony which were pushing the envelope on how small a portable device could be but these specialty devices were too expensive for mass consumption. Continue for the rest of the story. Enter Origami Soon, devices from Samsung, TabletKiosk, Raon Digital, ASUS and others showed up running Vista on low-consumption VIA, Intel Celeron and AMD Geode processors. The prospects looked good and interest was apparent. The reality, however, was that the ultra-mobile platform left a lot to be desired. For one thing, the slate form factor without a keyboard was a challenge for new users who were not too familiar with the TabletPC interface. Battery life, a biggie, proved to be another stumbling block. Many of the devices shipped with batteries that struggled to cough up two hours of usage. Considering that these devices relied on Bluetooth, wireless Internet and batteries to be truly mobile, the impact of compromised battery life was palpable. There was also a wide variety of form factors, most UMPCs were slates but a number of them integrated thumb boards or keyboards but due to their diminutive sizes were hard to use. Still, small keyboard is better than no keyboard, especially if you consider that these devices are primarily for email, instant messaging and communicating via the Internet. Expectations unmet We personally had the chance to review some of these devices. While there was no denying their compact footprint, the novelty soon wore off. Working with a stylus is not for everyone and certainly not for journalists, students or anyone who needs to input large amounts of text. Cost was also an issue with most of the UMPCs, many tipped the $900-dollar ceiling that most people were willing to shell out for a “tricked out” PDA. Some of the current models cost double that, tipping the scales at close to $2,000.00 – clearly within premium notebook territory. The high cost, underpowered performance and meager battery life spelled disaster for the UMPC niche even as newer models espoused the ability to run Vista and integrated faster processors, SSD (Solid State Disk) drives and the ability to run on EDGE networks via SIM cards. The entry into the market of affordable netbooks, the first wave of which sold at the fraction of the price of UMPCs gave users a more affordable option for secondary computers. Netbooks offered keyboards, functionality that was closer to traditional PCs and lightweight Linux operating systems that managed basic computing tasks and lowered the purchase price. Two years later, the big story is the ascension of the netbook. Manufacturers are falling all over themselves trying to come out with the right mix of price and features. With all the sub $500 netbooks on the market, similarly outfitted UMPCs, often selling for three times the amount, are left in the wayside as curious odds and ends that appeal to a shrinking niche market. A Blurry future for UMPCs The fate of the UMPC is in the balance. Microsoft has not actively updated the platform and this is likely because of Vista’s perceived weakness and the introduction of the upcoming Windows 7 OS. The new OS, which is essentially Vista done right, will hit stores by fall 2009, it will be interesting to see if Origami or UMPC initiatives will be tied into this new release. You have to think though, that by 2009, the netbook phenomenon might be hitting critical mass. That, and the cloud computing direction that Microsoft hopes to take with its Microsoft Azure online services initiative might have something else in store for us. UMPCs are partly responsible for the ramping up of usable, low-consumption components and the commoditization of the computer into a personal device. All the R&D that went into Origami and UMPC certainly did not go to waste, you only have to look at the $300 netbooks made by the same manufacturers and realize that they simply paved the way for things to come.

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