Topic: Smartphone Megathread. It's the shit.

[gpw11]

Awesome..
I tried out a SNES emulator on my Omnia that basically put a touch SNES pad on the screen. It was ok but not ideal.

Yeah, honestly, apart from the DS, I've always found touch screen gaming sucks. The DS works very well because of the dual screens, stylus, hardware controls and the amount of time and effort that goes into the design of the games.  I've found that games which rely on the touch screen in other devices generally blow because there aren't hardware buttons, and using your finger often blocks an unacceptably large portion of the screen. Even the iPhone, with it's amazing screen just doesn't work right.

Do you still have your Omnia?  Does your battery last more than a goddamn day?

[beo]

i've been a big supporter of android since it's inception, but looking at the new version of windows mobile (or windows phone 7) is making me a little bit moist.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/windows-phone-7-series-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know/

if you look halfway down the page, you can see how each section gives a sliding view of a much larger landscape screen. i'd love to see this in motion, as it's unashamedly shits with great force all over the iphone's UI.

[gpw11]

Yeah, it is enticing, but I'm still a bit uncertain.  I like where they're going with this, but I wonder how closed it will be...obviously less than the iPhone, but Android?  Who knows.

As for the UI, I actually think iPhone is the worst currently.  Well, apart from the stock Windows Mobile one, but I don't think anyone actually rocks the stock interface - skinning is one of the main benefits of going Windows Mobile (or at least it makes your phone usable). 

Many of the stock applications on the iPhone are designed wonderfully, but the UI of the system as a whole just doesn't do it for me. 

Honestly, I think I'm leaning more and more toword Androd every day, but I will probably wait and see how Windows Mobile 7 turns out.

[Pugnate]

Honestly, I think I'm leaning more and more toword Androd every day, but I will probably wait and see how Windows Mobile 7 turns out.

Same, but it seems like it may at least be another 6 months for WM7 phones to be out.

[Xessive]

Yeah, honestly, apart from the DS, I've always found touch screen gaming sucks. The DS works very well because of the dual screens, stylus, hardware controls and the amount of time and effort that goes into the design of the games.  I've found that games which rely on the touch screen in other devices generally blow because there aren't hardware buttons, and using your finger often blocks an unacceptably large portion of the screen. Even the iPhone, with it's amazing screen just doesn't work right.

Do you still have your Omnia?  Does your battery last more than a goddamn day?

Oh yeah, sorry GPW, I forgot to mention the battery thing! When I first bought it (back in 2008) the battery was crap! It also had a flaw which caused it to drain instead of charge when it was hooked to PC via USB. Apparently this was a commn issue and was addressed in a firmware update. However, I did have to override my phone's OEM settings and make it think it was a Singapore phone before I could install the Singapore-exclusive firmware which addressed the problem.

After that the phone generally lasts a good 3 days (average use) it needss recharging.

Later I ran into another unrelated problem which bricked my phone. It can be repaired but it will cost me about $150. I'll take care of it when I get back to Abu Dhabi. For now I'm on my Xperia X1, which is hi-res but has a much weaker processor and lower RAM (animations are not quite as fluid, loading times can be a bit longer).

[Pugnate]

Pretty good article on Windows 7 mobile by anandtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3749

It is worth a read. I like the minimum requirements from MS (Amoled likely!). The article also does a good job of covering why WM has been a bit of a miss up till now.

I have a feeling that WM7 will finally allow MS to go past Symbian. MS seem to have realized that cramming the complete functionality of Windows on a small mobile is not the right approach.

All devices will have, at minimum:

    * Qualcomm SoC (Snapdragon platform is a likely choice)
    * WVGA Screen (AMOLED or LED, but likely AMOLED will be favored for reasons noted later)
    * 4 point capacitive multitouch digitizer
    * 3 Buttons (Windows (Start), Search, and Back)
    *  5 Megapixel Camera (assumably rear-facing)
    *  FM Radio
    * AGPS and Accelerometer
    *  WiFi

[gpw11]

Oh yeah, sorry GPW, I forgot to mention the battery thing! When I first bought it (back in 2008) the battery was crap! It also had a flaw which caused it to drain instead of charge when it was hooked to PC via USB. Apparently this was a commn issue and was addressed in a firmware update. However, I did have to override my phone's OEM settings and make it think it was a Singapore phone before I could install the Singapore-exclusive firmware which addressed the problem.

After that the phone generally lasts a good 3 days (average use) it needss recharging.

Later I ran into another unrelated problem which bricked my phone. It can be repaired but it will cost me about $150. I'll take care of it when I get back to Abu Dhabi. For now I'm on my Xperia X1, which is hi-res but has a much weaker processor and lower RAM (animations are not quite as fluid, loading times can be a bit longer).

Interesting.  I guess I'm just going to have to live with it.  I have the newest official firmware, but my carrier's alternations to the ROM probably had a negative effect.  Oh well.  I certainly can't get 3 days, but a lot of it could be all the custom shit I've got on there (too lazy to test again).

As for that Anandtech article, it seems that consumer and press impressions of Windows 7 Phone Series is overwhelmingly positive at this point.  It'll be interesting to see how it will turn out.   I think gaming on touch phones is played up way too much right now, or at least headed in the wrong direction.  Fun little distractions?  Yes.  Full fledged games the like of PSP or DS games?  No...at least not any that require anymore than pointing controls.  For all the hype that Halo-clone on the iPhone got, I've never played something so awkward in my life.

The required hardware specs is a very good idea on Microsoft's part and like I said before, I'm excited to see what may come out of this.  Sad to see all the customization go, but as long as it still remains to be a better platform for productivity software than Android (?) and the iPhone (!!), I'll probably be sold.

[gpw11]

Aparently, word has come out that there will only be three chassis designs for WM7.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/02/windows-phone-7-series-to-have-three-chassis.ars

I imagine there must be a fair ammount of variation allowable within each category.

[Xessive]

Windows Phone 7 certainly looks interesting however it has two major deterrents for me: it won't be backwards compatible (not that big a deal) and there's a possibility it won't be open, software-wise (locked down like an iPhone).

I think that would be a bad move from Microsoft since people will just hang on to their WM6 devices or hop to Google Android.

My mind is already quite open to the idea of switching to Android. What's the general impression on the HTC Legend? (as I understand it's the successor to the HTC Hero)

[Pugnate]

Oh boy:

http://gizmodo.com/5483632/apple-files-lawsuit-against-htc-for-infringing-on-20-iphone-patents

[Xessive]

Oh boy:

http://gizmodo.com/5483632/apple-files-lawsuit-against-htc-for-infringing-on-20-iphone-patents

Man, fuck Apple. I don't care how "cool" the iPhone is I'm not getting one.  I'm gonna have to seriously consider walking into all the Apple stores I know and trashing them. Or I could just distribute flyers and posters that illustrate Apple corporate misbehaviour in 3rd world countries.

[gpw11]

"Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor"

See, just no.  Most of those patents should not have been granted in the first place.  Patent laws are good and you need them, but the patent system (especially in the states) needs to be reformed. Majorly. I don't know when it went wrong or if it was ever executed properly, but now more than anything they have the ability (mainly through technology) to actually deal with patents in a reasonable manner.  Not all of the shit could be avoided, but enough of it.

Invented the radio?  You can patent it. No, you may not patent "box that receives signals over the air" but you can patent exactly how you made that happen. EXACTLY. For a while.  First person to put a radio in the car?  No, you can't patent that...EVER.  Cobra's example?  No, you may not patent that in any way or form.  So on and so forth.

Anyways, Jobs seems a bit of a Tyrant, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's hitting his Waterloo moment soon (well, actually I would...they still make some great shit).  In the last six months or so, Apple has been losing a lot of the people they've been winning over in certain market segments. Namely people that spend a lot of money on tech and look at the internet a lot.

And, found this to be sublime at the moment:

Steve Jobs: Good Artists Steal

[Cobra951]

Invented the radio?  You can patent it. No, you may not patent "box that receives signals over the air" but you can patent exactly how you made that happen. EXACTLY. For a while.  First person to put a radio in the car?  No, you can't patent that...EVER.  Cobra's example?  No, you may not patent that in any way or form.  So on and so forth.

That's spot on.  I have a hard time describing a boundary of what's sensible and what isn't.  It seems obvious, but when I try to put it in words, I fail.  For one thing, I would invalidate all software patents and all business-process patents--right now.  That's not hard for me to spell out.

[Pugnate]

Interesting:

http://kotaku.com/5485826/report-sony-to-launch-new-playstation-smart-phone-in-2010

[gpw11]

That would be really cool, but they really need to adapt to use Android or something.  Does SE have a smartphone OS?

[Xessive]

Well the Xperia X1 has WinMo 6.1 and I believe the X2 uses 6.5 (I could be mistaken about the X2, just can't be bothered to check right now). I do know that the Xperia X10 will sport Android.

I know some of the other Pocket PCs had a proprietary OS and some had Symbian OS (Satio and Vivaz).

[gpw11]

Interesting.  Well, MS recently verified that there will not be any backwards compatibility at all.  The shitty thing for me is that WM 6.x is the only OS with Microsoft Project apps on it right now. 

[gpw11]

Holy Shit!

If it's not apparent from the video, what's happening here is a guy is demoing how easy it is to develop games for the Xbox360, Windows, and Windows Phone 7 Series all at once (I assume using XNA or some other MS development platform). 90% of shared code, but the cool thing is he's showing that he starts playing a game at work on the PC,  finishes work, gets on the bus, continues where he left off on his phone (same level and everything), and then when he gets home he finishes playing on his Xbox.  It's like Steam Cloud, but across actual platforms (and hence useful).

[Pugnate]

Awesome! This has definitely climbed on top of my list.

[idolminds]

April fools?

*Checks calendar*

Oh.

The new Windows Phone 7 platform will avoid multitasking third-party apps, nix support for user-replaceable memory cards, and demand that all apps be installed from Windows Phone Marketplace, a Microsoft  executive said Monday.

Remind you of anything?

[Pugnate]

wtf

[Cobra951]

Applesoft!

[Xessive]

More reason to switch to Android.

[gpw11]

Yeah, WTF? No cross application cutting and pasting either.  Looks like I'm pulling the trigger on either an Android phone or a Blackberry next time.

I get what they're doing and think they'll do a good job of it, but they're also leaving all the features people liked on the cutting room floor.  The Windows Mobile OS has only lasted this long because people have looked to it for multi-tasking, cut and paste, and backwards compatibility with pretty much every mobile productivity app ever.  The shitty UI and instability were a bitch, but in fixing that they're also taking away a lot of what makes the OS viable.

[Xessive]

This just in on the Windows Mobile chopping board: Skype Mobile is no longer available for WinMo!!!

Unfortunately, Skype Lite – a version of Skype for your mobile phone – and Skype for Windows Mobile are no longer available for download from our site.

We’ve chosen to withdraw Skype Lite and Skype for Windows Mobile because we want to offer our new customers an improved mobile experience – much like the version that has proved so popular on the iPhone, and which is now available on Symbian phones. Our focus is on providing a rich user experience that allows you to enjoy free Skype-to-Skype and low cost calls as easily on the move as you do at your desktop.

We felt that Skype Lite and Skype for Windows Mobile were not offering the best possible Skype experience.

Sure, it wasn't ideal but it was an option!!

The good news is that if you already have it you will still be able to use it. Thankfully I have an OCD compulsion to backup all programs I download and use so I still have the most recent cab installer. Skype can also still be found on various 3rd-party WinMo sites and servers.

[gpw11]

Soooooo....instead of updating it, they pull it? I find this kinda suspicious. Does anyone have Skype for the iPhone?  I know when it was initially released, you could only use it on wifi, not cellular data (3g).  I don't know about Skype-Lite for Android, but the winmo version was fully usable over any data connection.   The one limitation was that by default you had to have it on speakerphone or through a headset (wired or bluetooth).  For some reason, voice through the ear piece was locked ( a lot of finger pointing that didn't make much sense...MS's fault, the carrier's fault, Skype's fault). There were ways around on most phones though.

That said, it was a polished program so I wonder what actually brings this about. Something tells me it's getting pulled because it doesn't have the wifi limitation.

[gpw11]

The news that Skype Beta has also disappeared from the Android Market makes the above excuses ring pretty hollow, and the news that Skype intends to continue delivering their software on Windows Mobile and other platforms if they have deals with carriers such as on China Unicom and Verizon reveals the truth rather clearly.

http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=13728

I don't know if that's reliable or not, but it does kind of make sense. Licence to the telecoms companies and cook it into the Roms.  Only accecable by subscription or if you have a high tier data plan (like Verizon used to do with GPS).  Greeeat.

[Xessive]

Fackin' Hell man. That would effectively defeat the purpose of Skype. It won't be too long before they realize why people use Skype to begin with.

[gpw11]

New iPhone leaked...maybe

[Pugnate]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3697/intel-alleges-windows-phone-7-not-optimized-for-high-performance-wont-support-it

[Pugnate]

New iPhone leaked...maybe

That whole affair was really entertaining. Even the Daily Show got into it.

[gpw11]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3697/intel-alleges-windows-phone-7-not-optimized-for-high-performance-wont-support-it

Now why would Intel do that? From my understanding, this is a cpu targeting smartphones rather than devices like netbooks.  The OS isn't demanding enough? Batteries love that.  The performance is there to scale to the needs of applications. Seems weird.

And by cutting out Symbian and Windows Mobile, they are left with Android and the iPhone.  If they can land the Apple contract that's huge, but if they don't they are pretty much fucked.   

[Pugnate]

Basically it is because MS isn't promising them long term benefits. This is a different Intel from the P4 days. They have roadmaps planned for two years from now, that are publicly announced etc. It is actually how I knew that Intel was going to release a 6 core i7 processor twelve months ago.

It is their new policy. It helps the consumers because they are constantly innovating, and it helps them because they have new products to sell at all times. They are apparently only working with those companies that work with their roadmaps.

[Pugnate]

Very cool news article on Android going past iPhone

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/21/cashmore.iphone.cool/index.html

[iPPi]

I've got an Android smartphone now -- a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 -- I'm really liking Android.  The drawback of the SE is that it is currently running an older version of Android - 1.6.  Sony is planning on releasing an upgrade to 2.1 by Q4 this year and include HD video recording.  I'm hoping they will upgrade to 2.2 as well, as report on Android 2.2 are pretty impressive (3-5x faster than 2.1, integrated Flash support, and more).

[Xessive]

Nice, iPPi! I've already decided that my next phone will be have Android but I'm still undecided as to which make and model. I'm leaning toward HTC so far.

[PyroMenace]

I can upgrade my phone in July, and Sprint is releasing this HTC EVO Android phone next month. I'm thinking about buying it.

[gpw11]

I've got an Android smartphone now -- a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 -- I'm really liking Android.  The drawback of the SE is that it is currently running an older version of Android - 1.6.  Sony is planning on releasing an upgrade to 2.1 by Q4 this year and include HD video recording.  I'm hoping they will upgrade to 2.2 as well, as report on Android 2.2 are pretty impressive (3-5x faster than 2.1, integrated Flash support, and more).

The X10 seems like a sweet phone. How are you liking the custom Sony interface?

I've also pretty much settled on Android UNLESS my provider has a wicked data plan promotion with the new iPhone coming out. The iPhone is sweet, but locked down pretty heavily and it would suck to buy one and find out it couldn't be jailbroken later for whatever reason.  That and I already have two working iPods that I have different uses for. As long as Android continues to get good/great developer support, I can't see it going wrong. I think the only major problem with Android at the moment is fragmentation of the operating system, but as long as that doesn't effect developers, I don't know how much it matters in the overall scheme of things.

Window 7 is slowly becoming more and more something I'm not interested in.  A little too iPhone-like, not open enough.  It's not about the custom interfaces, it's more that it already seems like the little apps like Microsoft Project compatible programs won't be making it....and the old ones won't be compatible.  I'm holding off as long as I can because I'm probably going to be paying full price, but as soon as a 2.2+ device with a GOOD slider (none of this Milestone/Droid shit), I'll probably be hooked.

How is Google Calender/Task integration?  I use Outlook for all my scheduling stuff, can that still be done on Android?

[Pugnate]

OK I am pretty sure this is my next phone:

&feature=player_embedded

I have a question. Google keeps firing new updates for its Android OS. How good are the phone companies at keeping up to date?

[gpw11]

Wow, that's pretty badass.  I'm getting more and more tempted to ditch the Omnia every day now, although I still think I'm going to be needing a hardware keyboard on whatever phone I choose.

As far as the updates, it really depends on the phone and the carrier.  It really seems to vary, so I'd make sure you're at least willing to stick with the version it ships with.  An update on popular phones is likely, but there are no guarantees.  For instance, Samsung has recently come under fire not not providing an update to the Behold (I think), which is rocking 1.6.  apparently part of their marketing campaign was that it would be upgraded to 2.0 in the future and that isn't happening. 

The phone hardware market is moving very quickly these days, but they're still a very big investment.  If there's a phone out there that you want and having updates available is an important feature to you, it might be best to wait until it's out for a few months and see what the environment is like as far as official or user provided updates. The shitty thing with that is that by that time there's probably two more phones around the corner that interest you.

I should note that I only really know about the update situation in North America...where telecoms companies seem to have more dick-head policies and shit like that.