Anybody have an Android phone?

[Cruel Wind]

I'm going to pick up the new HTC Hero on Sprint this weekend. Anybody have any good recs for apps or anything? I was basically forced into getting a smartphone because my work blocked Gmail (just another reason to hate the Navy), and I can't hang with that shit. In the past I've only had whatever POS phone they give out for free when you sign a contract.

[CMorrigu]

I'm set to get a Hero on Sunday, as well. Although I'm considering waiting until Nov 1 for the Moment. If I don't like Android, I'm probably going with a Touch Pro 2.






http://www.unwiredview.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/HTC-Hero-Sprint-CDMA.jpg

Hero (http://www.sprint.com/hero)



http://www.ubergizmo.com/photos/2009/5/htc-touch-pro-2_468.jpg

Touch Pro 2 (http://nextelonline.nextel.com/NASApp/onlinestore/en/Action/SubmitRegionAction?isUpgradePathForCoverage=false& currZipCode=&upgradeOption=&nextPage=DisplayIntlSe lPhoneDetail&equipmentSKUurlPart=%3FphoneSKU%3DPPC T7380SP%26currentPage%3DphonePage&filterStringPara mName=&newZipCode=66251&x=0&y=0)



http://www.unwiredview.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Samsung-Moment-InstinctQ-Sprint-Android-1.jpg

Moment (http://www.sprint.com/moment)

[Sharky]

Since Sprint introduced their new $70 plan, I too am thinking about switching to an Android phone from Verizon. Though, Verizon just announced they are coming out with some Android pones before christmas. But I doubt they will match Sprints $70 plan.

[CO D0G]

I'm going to pick up the new HTC Hero on Sprint this weekend. Anybody have any good recs for apps or anything? I was basically forced into getting a smartphone because my work blocked Gmail (just another reason to hate the Navy), and I can't hang with that shit. In the past I've only had whatever POS phone they give out for free when you sign a contract.i've had a G1 for a little over a year now and i love it and android. like everything else, there are some minor issues, but it's easy for anyone to use without bein' too dumbed down like the iphone/ipod touch operatin' system is IMO. as for aps that i have and recommend, here are some:


must haves:
facebook for android (not as good as the iphone app, but decent)
Opera Mini (browser)
Pandora (streamin' music)
Places Directory (local info)
Ringdroid (make your own ringtones)
Sportstap (if you're into sports)
Toggle Settings (easy settings changes)
TuneWiki (music player w/streamin' lyrics)
Where (local info)


apps i'd also suggest:
CardioTrainer (cardio app that maps via gps and calculates calories burned, etc.)
Locale (settings change based on gps/wifi/cell tower location)
iRadio (streamin' radio)
Password Vault (keeps all your passwords locked down)
PicSay (basic photo editor)
Shazam (listens to live music and names the song)
ShopSavvy (compares prices locally or via web based on barcode scanner)
Twidroid (twitter app)

[CMorrigu]

Just got my Hero, have been playing with it for the past 3 hours. Holy crap, this is what a mobile device should be. Forget Windows Mobile, Android is where it's at.

[Wokisan]

Posted impressions of the phone would be great. The wife and I will probably be going to Verizon (high prices but has the best network coverage for our needs) once our old contract is up in Dec. I've convinced her to wait until Jan so I can have my choice of the Palm Pre, Storm 2, or Verizon upcoming android phones. She'll probably will be getting a Blackberry for all her business email.

[Cruel Wind]

Posted impressions of the phone would be great. The wife and I will probably be going to Verizon (high prices but has the best network coverage for our needs) once our old contract is up in Dec. I've convinced her to wait until Jan so I can have my choice of the Palm Pre, Storm 2, or Verizon upcoming android phones. She'll probably will be getting a Blackberry for all her business email.



I've had the Hero for about 12 hours. Can't put it down. I love this thing. I've been waiting for a really good android phone because I mostly have been trying to move away from windows and I don't have a Mac. So open-source is good for me. I'm super-impressed that I can ssh into my server at home and manage torrents and newsgroup downloads. Of course, that is on top of really great integration with Gmail and google reader and calendar (which I was already a heavy user of all of those). Not really planning on doing any work-related stuff with the phone. I'm a hobbyist python/django hacker and I've been wanting to learn some Java, so this is a pretty good reason to start to mess around with it. But the camera is pretty great and the touch-screen seems very snappy and I really like the Sense UI.

Thanks for the app suggestions too!

[virtual-human]

I had to give up Sprint in August after 9 years because I didn't have good enough reception after moving to another state. I got a VZW pay as you go in August in anticipation of Android devices coming to VZW this year, and now I've got to decide between the Motorola Sholes/Tao/Droid and the HTC (Desire?). Or waiting a few more months to see when that HTC 1GHz Snapdragon beast is coming. (http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-dragon-packs-1ghz-snapdragon-processor-800x480-screen) [ta]

[vcize]

I think I've finally had enough with the atrocity that is Windows Mobile, even though getting an alternative will mean I have to give up my $30/mo SERO plan.

So, I'm looking at the Pre, iPhone, or some Android phone and would be interested in hearing people's experiences with each.

Virtual, I know you were all about the Pre before it came out, did you ever get one?

[virtual-human]

I did, vcize. I f@cking loved it, and was pissed I couldn't get decent enough service up here to hang on to it.


The screen was great - capacitive, responsive, looked good. The keyboard was easy to type quickly on once you got used to it (didn't take too long for me coming from a Treo 755p). The browser rocked - internet on that was blazing, and pages looked good. The OS is really nice, and is coming along quickly. It already has a big developer/hacker community, and Palm is getting along really well about being open with the phone.


There were some early issues with the build quality (mainly the slider & some twisting associated with it, as well as some issues with light bleed along the edges of the screen) but those seem to be all sorted out. Also, the reception on it was a little poorer than the other phones I'd had, and this was a common complaint - I don't know if they've improved on this, but they do have free roaming on Verizon and it isn't a problem unless you're in a marginal coverage area (Sprint coverage in MA was better than friends had with Verizon). My father has one too and loves it.


I suggest going to PreCentral (http://www.precentral.net/) and poking around to see everything that's going on with it.


If I don't love Android, I'll probably go back to Palm when they hit VZW.

[CMorrigu]

Posted impressions of the phone would be great.


Here's what my impressions of the Hero are so far. Keep in mind that I am coming from having a HTC Mogul WinMo phone for 2+ years, and had a tame Samsung non-smartphone before that.


Looks very sleek and well-made. The trackball is a little weird, sticking out and illuminating as it does. Hardly any buttons. Feels good in the hand - not cheap/light, but decent weight and finish. Tilt is the opposite way of the Mogul, which is a bit strange to me.


The home screen is functional and probably perfect for most users, but can be customized. You have 6 other screens available - 3 to each side. Defaults are okay, but I soon customzied them all. Customization is easy, but takes time. I can see spending a lot of time back and forth as I use it until things fall into place the way I want.


On using the device, I primarily use touch and rarely the trackball. In fact, the trackball seems unnecessary. The onscreen keyboard is pretty good - can use thumbs in portrait mode pretty well. Landscape is better, of course. It autocorrects as you type, so most fat-fingers are taken care of. However, beware because it may 'correct' a word you thought was okay, turning it into a completely different word altogether. Once you figure it out, it works well. I do miss my hard keyboard, but this might work. You can use pinch gestures for zooming in some apps.


On applications, it comes with a nice selection. Integration with Exchange servers works well, as does Gmail, Gcal, etc. In fact, you can have your work appointments synced with Exchange at the same time you have your private ones synced with Gcal. That's a nice feature. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Aim, Y!M, Live Mess, etc integration is all there and seems to work just fine. Text messaging, contacts, and email all work well. Media player works fine, Youtube is excellent.


Android Marketplace rocks. Very easy to browse for new apps, see what they're about, view ratings, and also get the security warnings for what they access (network, contacts, camera, GPS, etc). Tons of free apps to download, and they do so in the background while you continue to shop/etc. Most of the pay apps/games I saw had free trials (or ad support) and then a low $1-2 cost. I grabbed some games that looked interesting and then most of the apps mentioned above.


Notifications - text messages, new tweets, etc all show up in the top status bar while you're doing other things. You can read the first part of the text message, for example, right there. You can drag that bar down to show the notifications, or use the menu to get to them. The indicator lights don't blink unless you have a new notification (or have configured them otherwise).


Configuration - lots of options, most are straightforward. Some seemed kind of shallow, I'd like to dig deeper or configure more granular options.


Battery - I have no idea under normal use, I've been draining it by playing with various things.


Voice - seems fine, I've only had 2 calls and haven't experienced anything particularly good or bad.


Issues - Still fighting the tilt direction and virutal keyboard - want a physical one. Don't like the limited calendar display options. Haven't figured out how to configure Exchange sync to certain hours.


Overall - This is worlds above WinMo. Android is where it's at. If the iPhone is anything like this, then I can begin to see the attraction. I will either keep the Hero or perhaps try the Samsung Moment on Nov 2 since it's Andriod with a real keyboard - either way, I'm staying with Android.


Now to go find other fun apps and reconfigure my pages. I may even start working with Scenes, which basically expands the number of screens to 49.

[Wokisan]

Here's what my impressions of the Hero are so far. Keep in mind that I am coming from having a HTC Mogul WinMo phone for 2+ years, and had a tame Samsung non-smartphone before that.


lol, I'm coming from a wait for it............a Motorola ROCKR sooooo I certainly value your opinion.


This will be my first smartphone and I'm approaching info overload. I've been listening to soooo many podcasts (Crackberry, Palmcast, gdgt, all of Leo's stuff) and have decided I need to just talk to peeps who are everyday users.


Take the Storm for example. Most reviewers HATE it but I've spent some time on my cousin's and its fine. I'm not getting it...it was a little slow but nothing worthy of the rage I've seen online.


I want a touchscreen but I still think I need a physical keyboard. That will limit my choices a bit.


Anyway THANK YOU!

[CMorrigu]

I want a touchscreen but I still think I need a physical keyboard. That will limit my choices a bit.


I'd say go with the Samsung Moment or equivalent. Stay away from WinMo, you'll just be disasspointed. Or try the Hero and see how it works for you. I'm slowly warming to the virtual keyboard. Really, any phone you'd need to use for at least a week to get used to. Some places give you a week or four to return a device if you don't like it, and some have loaner phones for you to try. In-store is a completely different experience from at home/car/game/dinner/wherever you go.

[Cruel Wind]

I want a touchscreen but I still think I need a physical keyboard. That will limit my choices a bit.


I'd say go with the Samsung Moment or equivalent. Stay away from WinMo, you'll just be disasspointed. Or try the Hero and see how it works for you. I'm slowly warming to the virtual keyboard. Really, any phone you'd need to use for at least a week to get used to. Some places give you a week or four to return a device if you don't like it, and some have loaner phones for you to try. In-store is a completely different experience from at home/car/game/dinner/wherever you go.



I really am warming to the virtual keyboard on the Hero. Wasn't too
sure if I'd like it at first, but the vibration feedback is a VERY nice
touch. It took me about 40-50 different times typing on it before it feels like second nature.

[Wokisan]

I want a touchscreen but I still think I need a physical keyboard. That will limit my choices a bit.


I'd say go with the Samsung Moment or equivalent. Stay away from WinMo, you'll just be disasspointed. Or try the Hero and see how it works for you. I'm slowly warming to the virtual keyboard. Really, any phone you'd need to use for at least a week to get used to. Some places give you a week or four to return a device if you don't like it, and some have loaner phones for you to try. In-store is a completely different experience from at home/car/game/dinner/wherever you go.






Yeah, I ain't touching Windows Mobile until WinMo7 which is still at least a year away. I'm not interested in 6.5. I still kinda think I will end up with a 'Pre but we'll see. I got 3 months to decide.

[CMorrigu]

Best way I've found to browse the Android Marketplace:


http://www.cyrket.com/


When you have your device, go into marketplace and through any setup you need to, then search for and download Barcode Scanner (http://www.cyrket.com/package/com.ixellence.ixmat.android.community). Run that app on your phone, and use the Cyrket website to search for apps. On the detail page for each app, you'll see the QR Code. Point your phone at it, line it up in the Barcode Scanner app, and it will show you the link to download to your device.

[BORIStheBLADE1]

I have been wanting an android phone too. I have Tmobile and have my eyes on this phone when it comes out next month.




http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Mobile-Phones/Motorola-CLIQ-US-EN

[Booyabobby]

Saw the pictures of Motorola android phone that coming out for Verizon. Besides the specs, it quite an ugly phone.

[Wokisan]

Saw the pictures of Motorola android phone that coming out for Verizon. Besides the specs, it quite an ugly phone.






Yeah, I was psyched about the specs and then I saw it..... hmmmm, and they think it is going to challenge the iPhone?? If they took the internals and stuck them in a HTC Hero casing I would be REALLY excited. I just don't like the way the 'Droid looks.

[CMorrigu]

I got a new Hero. Evidently, there's a known issue where some devices suddenly decide to stop receiving text messages. Other than that, I'm still loving Android and liking the phone.


Still thinking about that Moment, though.

[btcs41]

Im confused. Is Android the same as the new Droid? My Verizon contract is up soon, and Im thinking of getting something more robust and on par with the iphone. I hate AT&T--just cant see myself going to the iphone. Does anyone have this Droid everyone is talking about?

[CMorrigu]

Android is the Google phone OS.


Droid is the name for the model of phone V has that runs Android.

[Nitereaver]

The wife and I just got the Samsung Moment's. Wow there is alot of crap to do on these things. We charged the battery to full and proceeded to kill it just messing around with it. I love the fact I can turn on Wifi and get a great connection for d/l. So those of you who have had a droid for a bit, any new app suggestions?

[virtual-human]

So those of you who have had a droid for a bit, any new app suggestions?






I don't have an Android phone yet - I'm waiting to hear about the HTC Dragon/Passion until at least December, or at least if the DROID will get multitouch patched into the browser.


But when I do get one, I'll be checking out Fring:


http://www.androidcentral.com/fring-brings-free-voip-calls-android


http://www.fring.com/default.asp


Free VoIP on WiFi or 3G with Google<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> Voice> Talk sounds to me almost too good to be true.

[AJ in HD]

But when I do get one, I'll be checking out Fring:


i have Fring on my iPhone and it works fairly well using the skype extention through that. It's nice since my parents live outside of the country and I generally speak with them via computer/skype so with Fring I have additional option.


So basically +1 for Fring. [y]

[Sharky]

I don't have an Android phone yet - I'm waiting to hear about the HTC Dragon/Passion until at least December, or at least if the DROID will get multitouch patched into the browser.Have there been any previews of the Dragon/Passion? Does it have a real keyboard? Will it be on the Verizon network? Thanks

[Toothcake]

Really liking Fring so far but I hear the Skype extension has some problems on the Droid.

[Nitereaver]

I don't have an Android phone yet - I'm waiting to hear about the HTC Dragon/Passion until at least December, or at least if the DROID will get multitouch patched into the browser.









Multitouch for the browser is in the Verizon HTC Droid Eris.Check it out HERE (http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/htc-droid-eris-verizon/4505-6452_7-33799594.html).

[virtual-human]

I don't have an Android phone yet - I'm waiting to hear about the HTC Dragon/Passion until at least December, or at least if the DROID will get multitouch patched into the browser.Have there been any previews of the Dragon/Passion? Does it have a real keyboard? Will it be on the Verizon network? Thanks









Nothing but rumors (http://www.boygeniusreport.com/?s=passion+dragon) and more rumors (http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/26/htc-dragon-coming-to-verizon-as-the-passion/), Sharky. Best guesses are it'll be similar to an HD2 (aka Leo) with Android instead of WinMo. But who knows how HTC will decide to mix it up, or if they think that the target market wants a physical keyboard or not. It is supposed to be on Verizon, though, and quite possibly before the year is out (mind you though that the thing isn't even officially announced).











I don't have an Android phone yet - I'm waiting to hear about
the HTC Dragon/Passion until at least December, or at least if the
DROID will get multitouch patched into the browser.








Multitouch for the browser is in the Verizon HTC Droid Eris.Check it out HERE (http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/htc-droid-eris-verizon/4505-6452_7-33799594.html).








Yeah, but the Droid Eris has a 528MHz Qualcomm processor in it. [:S] Even if it does get Android 2.0 in the very near future, no thank you. If I was going to get something on the market today, it would be the Moto DROID in a heartbeat. It's just that knowing there could soon be a 1GHz Snapdragon-packing HTC Android beast running around, I want to wait to see some more info on that.

[Vampyre]

So I picked up a palm pre last week. I played with my buddies droid when he got it after playing with the droid I took that palm pre back and got a HTC hero.


I picked up a hero on saturday and omg android blows windows mobile out of the water. I came from a htc touch pro. I must of spent over 10 hours playing with the phone since saturday. Im still working on getting ringers setup for everything the way I like. I love being able to sync contacts and calendar with gmail. No longer will i lose all my contacts if the phone is stolen broke etc.


While playing with the phone every time I run into a problem or something the phone does not do that I want it to do a quick search on google finds a solution through a app on the market. For example i wanted to be able to add more ring tones to contacts etc well tone picker does just that. I wanted to have push e-mail for my 3 gmail accounts and have separate ringers for each account, k-9 does that. I wanted weather better then the htc stock app, weather bug does that and radar now shows instant moving Doppler. I wanted to down load podcast and be able to pause and come back to them, I got a list of apps to try out.


So far im loving it. Ill actually be able to keep up with twitter and update it easily with an app called peep. Up load stuff to youtube if i dont have my vado hd near by and catch something LOL. Im still trying to get a 100+ video.. One day :-P

Tonight im going to try missed call or handcent as i want separate tones for different peoples txt messages. I also think Im going to start doing some app reviews on youtube in the future.

The hardest thing so far with the phone is finding good normal but cool sounding ringers/notification sounds. I use this in at work and need semi professional sounding sounds. If anyone has some places they know about that has sounds like that lmk.

Learing to type on the b board is taking some getting use to but over the weekend I have become quite good at it and dont really miss a physical KB.

Battery is good. I must have had in on and playing with it for about 8-10 hours over sunday and the battery lasted on once charge that entire time.

After all this setting up of stuff. Does anyone know a good app or progarm that will back up the entier phone? that way if i get a replacment for what ever reason i can re run that app and it will restore the phone back to how it was with out having to download everything again and set all the ringers again?

[VDub2174]

So I decided that I'd like to try out the Samsung Moment from Sprint. It's one of the two Droid phones they carry. I'm gonna have to save up for it so I should have it within a few weeks (hopefully). I wanted to know what you Droid owners thought of your device?


I'm currently a BB Tour owner but wanted something new and exciting. I have this problem where I have to get a new cell phone every few months.....lol





http://www.mobiletechworld.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Samsung-Moment.jpg

[Wokisan]

So I decided that I'd like to try out the Samsung Moment from Sprint. It's one of the two Droid phones they carry. I'm gonna have to save up for it so I should have it within a few weeks (hopefully). I wanted to know what you Droid owners thought of your device?


I'm currently a BB Tour owner but wanted something new and exciting. I have this problem where I have to get a new cell phone every few months.....lol





http://www.mobiletechworld.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Samsung-Moment.jpg






Before you buy it be sure to check out the HTC Hero. One thing though...I don't think the Hero has an actual keypad....

[VDub2174]

Before you buy it be sure to check out the HTC Hero. One thing though...I don't think the Hero has an actual keypad....






I was looking at the Hero as well but I don't think it's the right device for me. I'm not a huge fan of touch screen phones but it looks like every device will eventually have it so I need to take baby steps [:p]. I figured getting a phone that has both a touch screen and physical keyboard would be best for me.

[Toothcake]

It doesn't take long to make the transition from physical to touch. Pretty much every touch/physical smartphone you mess around with is going to require a certain orientation to use the keyboard though.

[Nitereaver]

Wife and I got the Moments last month, I love it, the keyboard is awesome, dont know how I did without one before. I had a touchscreen keboard before this one and didnt care for it.

[Carpcrippler76]

I received the HTC Eris for Christmas and absolutely love it!!! The touch keyboard took me a little time to get used to it, but I've gotten the hang of it. I would recommend this phone to anybody that is interested in a Android, but doesn't want to pay for the Motorola droid. I also looked at both the HTC and Motorola before Christmas and I actually thought the Motorola felt cheap to me. I wasn't thrilled with the slide QWERTY keyboard and it was the thickest phone I've ever held. The HTC Eris is perfect for me as a beginner Android phone owner.

[VDub2174]

Wife and I got the Moments last month, I love it, the keyboard is awesome, dont know how I did without one before. I had a touchscreen keboard before this one and didnt care for it.









Glad to hear this!! Can't wait until I get mine.

[Toothcake]

I still love my DROID.

[Nitereaver]

Wife and I got the Moments last month, I love it, the keyboard is awesome, dont know how I did without one before. I had a touchscreen keboard before this one and didnt care for it.









Glad to hear this!! Can't wait until I get mine.






One thing to note, when you get these, the battery will die hella fast...at first. After a few weeks of draining it and charging it, it will hold its charge for a couple days if your not using the apps heavy (and turn the GPS off in the options).


There is a touchscreen keyboard on this unit as well if you dont open the slider, some people like that for one handed texting but after using the full keyboard I cant stand the touchscreen one. Some people get used to them, but I didnt.


Some apps I recommend:
<UL>
<LI>TasKiller (kills active apps in memory to keep your phone at optimum performance)</LI>
<LI>Mabilo Ringtones (Tons of Free ringtones)</LI>
<LI>Backgrounds (one of the best wallpaper apps I have found)</LI>
<LI>Pandora (Internet Radio)</LI>
<LI>Ringdroid (Create your own ringtones from MP3's)</LI>
<LI>ShopSavvy (Scans barcodes on products and gives you the cheapest price online, and localy...pretty sweet)</LI>[/list]


There is also one that I cant remember the name of (doesnt show the name on screen) that allows you to just hit the icon to turn Wifi on and off. If you leave it on all the time it will drain the battery as it searches for hotspots.

[Joebot]

I have the Droid and I lurves it.

[Wokisan]

I've decided on the droid but my wife is throwing a monkey wrench into the situation. I had thought she would be happy with the new Curve but she says the buttons are too small for her. She likes the Tour and I just can't let her get the Tour with the Tour2/Essex coming out very soon. So we are stuck with our old provider until the Tour 2 releases. [:@]


Our contract is up on the 6th so I'm hoping it will be released soon after that.

[VDub2174]

I like physical keyboards for typing. I've been able to learn where the keys are and can type without looking (for the most part [:p]).


Thanks for the app suggestions Nitereaver. I have Pandora on my Tour now and think it's great. I read a lot about Ringdroid, I make all my own tones now so I think that would be great for me. Some apps that I use now on a regular basis would be Ubertwitter, Facebook, Google Voice, and Google Talk. Those are constantly running in the background.


I've read some mixed reviews on TasKiller. Some people say it's great and others say it's a waste. This is one of those apps that I have to do some more research on to make sure I want it or not.





Hey Wok, rumor has it that the Tour 2 (Essex) is supposed to come out around Jan/Feb so it's not that long of a wait. The Tour 2 does look pretty awesome and to add to that, it has a trackpad!!!!!! Maybe it will come our early next month?

[Nitereaver]

TasKiller is pretty nice, at least on the Moment, and at least in my eyes lol. It may be one of the apps that doesnt like the actual DROID phone (and there are a few if you read the reviews in the App store). Taskiller doesnt affect anything until you want it to. Basically you click on the app, it opens, showing you the apps still residing in memory. It also shows you the amount of free memory for running aps (not storage). Usually after messin around on the web and with multiple apps you will get down in the 20mb range. If you run Taskiller and close out everything, you will end up with over 70mb or more/less depending on the apps/widgets you have that are auto startup. You also have the option to "kill" each app individually. Is it a program you MUST have? Probably not, but I like the ability to know my phone is running at top performance and not getting bogged down by apps that dont let go of memory after closed.


There is one app I have heard about but havent found yet that allows you to have more than the 3 "pages" of apps. I think it will boost it up to 6 or 10. Would like to get that one so I can put some of the widgets back up like the weather and crap. I'm a "neat freak" of sorts on my electronic devices. I only have 3 icons on my desktop pc and laptops. Same with my phone, I removed all the clutter and put the apps on each of the side pages, leaving my home page empty, only displaying the wallpaper. If I can get more pages on the phone I can put even more crap thats hidden when you turn the phone on. On the Moment you have the pull up menu on the bottom that holds all the apps so you dont have to put them on the screen but its a pain to find stuff once you start building a collection.

[Toothcake]

The reason TasKiller doesn't like the actual DROID is because the OS itself dictactes what is and is not using memory. There are three or four 'core' apps that are always 'running' on the phone but not actually drawing from the available memory. Closing these apps (either zapping or having them close out on a timer) will actually cause the phone to run slower as processing power is diverted. If a new process is opened, the phone decides to draw memory from whatever is running in storage to help the new process along. TasKiller, at least on the DROID, is redundant since the OS is doing the exact same job.


I do wish that app-makers would either make it so that falling back to the home screen automatically closes a program though. Newer folks usually forget to, and they also neglect to add in a 'Quit' button...meaning I have to FC it.


Nitereaver - I think you may be talking about GDE - The New Home Experience...which is actually a neat little app. I ended up refunding it since i'm still happy with the three home screens, but it fits your description pretty well.

[Nitereaver]

I do wish that app-makers would either make it so that falling back to the home screen automatically closes a program though. Newer folks usually forget to, and they also neglect to add in a 'Quit' button...meaning I have to FC it.


Nitereaver - I think you may be talking about GDE - The New Home Experience...which is actually a neat little app. I ended up refunding it since i'm still happy with the three home screens, but it fits your description pretty well.






I agree that they need to have the home screen close programs. That would be nice. Thanks for the heads up on GDE, I will check it out!

[VDub2174]

I found this (https://www.wirefly.com/eCommerce/SpecialOffer.aspx?cid=34088_e22be7e582cf413fb0732f 1527a51937) deal on wirefly.com, it gives me the Moment for $149.99 instead of $179.99 (after mail-in rebate) that Sprint is offering. Anyone use that site before?

[Toothcake]

I found this (https://www.wirefly.com/eCommerce/SpecialOffer.aspx?cid=34088_e22be7e582cf413fb0732f 1527a51937) deal on wirefly.com, it gives me the Moment for $149.99 instead of $179.99 (after mail-in rebate) that Sprint is offering. Anyone use that site before?






I had heard that they can pretty shady about how handle their rebates and actually know a few folks who filed complaints with the BBB. I know that they went bankrupt but somebody must've bought up the company if the site is still running. No idea about the service since the regime change.

[Nitereaver]

It's 149 at bestbuy right now. When we picked them up we got them for 100 each at Bestbuy, they seem to be the best place to go. They seem to run alot better deals than the actuall places do. I think when we got ours they had the hero for 100 too. Also if you go to Bestbuy its easy to switch your service if you have one they sell, they switch it all over for you, no calling and cancelling with your current provider.


LINKY (http://bestbuy.shoplocal.com/bestbuy/default.aspx?action=entryflash&amp;adref=header)click on the cellphone ad on the right side. Looks like its going to be that price until the 23rd.

[VDub2174]

Just looked at the weekly ad and it shows the Moment for $129.99 until 1/9/2010!!!!! There is a possibility I will be getting it on Friday [:D]

[Sharky]

Nexus One was just announce for Verizon. Also coming to Tmobile. I am glad I held out now. I was starting to think Verizon was not going to get this phone. Now I just need to be patient ... not coming out till spring for Verizon =(

[Booyabobby]

Nexus One was just announce for Verizon. Also coming to Tmobile. I am glad I held out now. I was starting to think Verizon was not going to get this phone. Now I just need to be patient ... not coming out till spring for Verizon =(









Same here. I'm leaning towards purchasing the Nexus One. That or the Palm Pre if it does come to Verizon. To bad we have to wait till spring for the Nexus.

[Toothcake]

Just got an email from Droidforums that Android 2.1 will be launching over the next few days. Haven't heard of any features beyond Google Earth and Live wallpapers at present. I'm assuming that some of the widgets present in the Nexus One demo will be included.

[VDub2174]

Just got an email from Droidforums that Android 2.1 will be launching over the next few days. Haven't heard of any features beyond Google Earth and Live wallpapers at present. I'm assuming that some of the widgets present in the Nexus One demo will be included.






Sweet!! Looks like I'll be purchasing mine just in time then [:p]

[Wokisan]

Nexus One was just announce for Verizon. Also coming to Tmobile. I am glad I held out now. I was starting to think Verizon was not going to get this phone. Now I just need to be patient ... not coming out till spring for Verizon =(






Grrrrrrrrr. Unbelieveable I am one day away and this big announcement comes out. I really want that Snapdragon processor but the Nexus One doesn't have a keyboard which I still feel like I must have. Virtual Keyboards are kinda irritating to me.


I don't think I'm going to wait and will just get the Droid.

[Toothcake]

Just got an email from Droidforums that Android 2.1 will be launching over the next few days. Haven't heard of any features beyond Google Earth and Live wallpapers at present. I'm assuming that some of the widgets present in the Nexus One demo will be included.






Sweet!! Looks like I'll be purchasing mine just in time then /emoticons/emotion-4.gif






Looks like they might've jumped the gun a bit. It'll be open sourced in a few days, but not necessarily released. It's still confirmed that everyone that can handle Android 2.1 will get it, it's just the timeframe that's unclear.

[VDub2174]

Two more days and I just might be a Samsung Moment owner!!!!!

[dboss]

Has anyone moved from a Blackberry to an Android on a corporate exchange network? I'm curious on your thoughts about the change and if your email is instantaneous as I currently have with my BB. I know people on our network have iPhones as well, but the response has been mixed about email receipt as some have around a 15 minute delay, while others say they don't see a difference between the iPhone and BB in email response.

[VDub2174]

I got mine yesterday!!!!!

[Toothcake]

Has anyone moved from a Blackberry to an Android on a corporate exchange network? I'm curious on your thoughts about the change and if your email is instantaneous as I currently have with my BB. I know people on our network have iPhones as well, but the response has been mixed about email receipt as some have around a 15 minute delay, while others say they don't see a difference between the iPhone and BB in email response.






I have a friend that uses his Droid as a business phone. I'll hit him up over the weekend and try to get his impressions.


Glad you got your phone, VDub!

[Booyabobby]

So Wokisan, what your impressions on the droid?

[virtual-human]

Do you guys read BGR? I just read his ridiculously biased Nexus One review and separately posted Android rant. He's really good at breaking mobile news but I almost want to stop reading it to not give hime the page hits!

[Toothcake]

He sure does love the Nexus One, although it seems like it's less to do with the phone (other than design) and more due to the Android 2.1 changes. He really lost me with his Android rant though. I'm not sure what his overall message was, but he did bring up good points about the Marketplace. I really wish that there was a professional touch rather than people trying to sell shitty apps for 100 euro. There's potential there, but I think Google needs to really needs to take a look at their app store and see what they hope to accomplish with it.





And for the record, the Droid does have multi-touch. I have a photo editor that makes good use of it. The Dolphin browser also uses multi-touch. It's less of an issue for me because I make due with the double-tap zoom just fine, but it is kinda weird that it hasn't been implemented in to the default browser. Still, a majority of the apps that feature multi-touch for web/photo browsing are free, so...





Comparing Android against the iPhone OS is just silly though. It took several iterations for Apple to get it right.

[Sharky]

Do you guys read BGR? I just read his ridiculously biased Nexus One review and separately posted Android rant. He's really good at breaking mobile news but I almost want to stop reading it to not give hime the page hits!Wow, what a bad bad review and commentary. Made him look very unprofessional and more like a high school blogger. The only person in the tech blog world I really trust anymore with a review now a days is Joshua fromEngadget. He has really taken a professional approach to his reviews and interviews lately that is refreshing. It's nice to see some of these blogs grow up as they age, unlike BGR and Gizmodo. They are moresensationalistsitestargetedtowards the High School / college crowds. Engadget is also to an extent; but when it comes to the big reviews and interviews Josh always steps in and make sure it is done professionally.

[Wokisan]

So Wokisan, what your impressions on the droid?






I'm really liking it man. Had some bad stuff going on lately so I haven't had the time to really dig into it but there are just so many apps out there which is a completely new phone experience for me.


I'm heavily invested in google (Gmail, google voice, calendar) and the way all that integrates into this phone is very smooth. I guess that is similar on most android phone though.


I am finding that I am actually (gasp) using the virtual keyboard more and more and actually liking it. I am still glad I went ahead and got the droid instead of waiting for the Nexus One.

[ppw]

I am finding that I am actually (gasp) using the virtual keyboard more and more and actually liking it.


when i first got my virtual keyboard, it was different, but i got used to it real quick. i do miss the real keyboard at times cause i could text with out looking





brings up a point.





now how many MORE accidents will occur because of someone TEXTING WHILE DRIVING?!?!?!?! ugh.

[Wokisan]

I am finding that I am actually (gasp) using the virtual keyboard more and more and actually liking it.


when i first got my virtual keyboard, it was different, but i got used to it real quick. i do miss the real keyboard at times cause i could text with out looking





brings up a point.





now how many MORE accidents will occur because of someone TEXTING WHILE DRIVING?!?!?!?! ugh.






The more manufactures continue to update Feature phones to be more similar to smartphones ie touchscreen, etc....you can bet accidents will get worse. Eventually every state will have to pass laws regarding cell phone use in vehicles....or we all get automated cars that drive themselves. Then we can text all we want...lol.

[ppw]

Eventually every state will have to pass laws regarding cell phone use in vehicles....


this is going to have to be a must i think


a few bad apples....


in our local paper, they list the accidents in our small town, and i would say that 75% of them are from teens/young adults who claim they "took their eyes off the road for a second to look at their cell phone".









automated cars that drive themselves.


i am SOOOO ready for this [y]

[Sharky]

Android 2.1 will allow 'voice to text' in all the text fields. So you should be able to text by using your voice. I have read it works well as long as you dont have a strong accent.

[AJ in HD]

Android 2.1 will allow 'voice to text' in all the text fields. So you should be able to text by using your voice. I have read it works well as long as you dont have a strong accent.






all of this just makes me wonder...


how much freakin' text do people need to type into a damn phone? Would be much easier to just use the damn thing to you know, make a phone call. I don't need no damn 'voice to text' to type a quick SMS...anything longer and seems silly to not just call the person.


my $0.02

[ppw]

Would be much easier to just use the damn thing to you know, make a phone call.


because there are some people that i dont want to TALK to. seriously.


but on another note, yes, it is much easier to pick up the phone and TALK to them. it IS a phone, afterall.... [;)]

[Toothcake]

I am finding that I am actually (gasp) using the virtual keyboard more and more and actually liking it.


when i first got my virtual keyboard, it was different, but i got used to it real quick. i do miss the real keyboard at times cause i could text with out looking





brings up a point.





now how many MORE accidents will occur because of someone TEXTING WHILE DRIVING?!?!?!?! ugh.






I've got a running tally of how many COPS i've seen driving while talking/texting on a cellphone. I started counting in the middle of December, and so far i'm up to 22.

[VDub2174]

I am finding that I am actually (gasp) using the virtual keyboard more and more and actually liking it.


when i first got my virtual keyboard, it was different, but i got used to it real quick. i do miss the real keyboard at times cause i could text with out looking






This is why I got the Moment, it has an actual keyboard!! [:)]
















Android 2.1 will allow 'voice to text' in all the text fields. So
you should be able to text by using your voice. I have read it works
well as long as you dont have a strong accent.





all of this just makes me wonder...


how much freakin' text do people need to type into a damn phone?
Would be much easier to just use the damn thing to you know, make a
phone call. I don't need no damn 'voice to text' to type a quick
SMS...anything longer and seems silly to not just call the person.


my $0.02





Whoa, whoa, whoa......................cell phones make calls? Since when? [:p]

[Booyabobby]

Android 2.1 will allow 'voice to text' in all the text fields. So you should be able to text by using your voice. I have read it works well as long as you dont have a strong accent.









What are other features or fixes does android 2.1 provide?

[ppw]

I've got a running tally of how many COPS i've seen driving while talking/texting on a cellphone. I started counting in the middle of December, and so far i'm up to 22.








that does not shock me... i see tons of cops driving and talking/texting. a great example, huh?

[ppw]

Whoa, whoa, whoa......................cell phones make calls? Since when? /emoticons/emotion-4.gif


textwhore!

[Sharky]

Android 2.1 will allow 'voice to text' in all the text fields. So you should be able to text by using your voice. I have read it works well as long as you dont have a strong accent.






all of this just makes me wonder...


how much freakin' text do people need to type into a damn phone? Would be much easier to just use the damn thing to you know, make a phone call. I don't need no damn 'voice to text' to type a quick SMS...anything longer and seems silly to not just call the person.


my $0.02


I'm a lazy sack, and hate talking to people unless it is a conversation that lends itself to a lot of talking. So I am looking forward to seeing how well this works. I hope there are quick ways to use it though ... for example, you could speak to the phone, "Text message, Eddie". And then start talking ... then say 'Send'.

[Toothcake]

Android 2.1 will allow 'voice to text' in all the text fields. So you should be able to text by using your voice. I have read it works well as long as you dont have a strong accent.






all of this just makes me wonder...


how much freakin' text do people need to type into a damn phone? Would be much easier to just use the damn thing to you know, make a phone call. I don't need no damn 'voice to text' to type a quick SMS...anything longer and seems silly to not just call the person.


my $0.02


I'm a lazy sack, and hate talking to people unless it is a conversation that lends itself to a lot of talking. So I am looking forward to seeing how well this works. I hope there are quick ways to use it though ... for example, you could speak to the phone, "Text message, Eddie". And then start talking ... then say 'Send'.










I really hope it works that smoothly. Supposedly there was a leaked Google document stating that Android 2.1 would be going live for the rest of the platforms on the 22nd. Guess we'll have to wait and see.


Personally, i'm looking forward to the voice-text feature, but also the increase in home screens and integrated weather/news widgets. I like weatherbug, but it can be finnicky.

[VDub2174]

Whoa, whoa, whoa......................cell phones make calls? Since when? /emoticons/emotion-4.gif


textwhore!









I am a whore of many things................................wait, that didn't sound right.

[ppw]

I am a whore of many things................................wait, that didn't sound right.


it sounded perfect. [y]

[virtual-human]

So I went ahead and got a Droid yesterday. It seems really nice so far: Very solid, screen is very impressive to look at, the sound quality coming into the device is great, and loading apps couldn't be easier.


There are a lot of little nice touch in-jokes for all the nerds out there, too, from ringers &amp; notification sounds with names like Captain's Log, Don't Panic, and Terminated, to funny facsimiles of music genres like the Buffet-esque Paradise Island and others for jam bands, hip hop, reggae, rock, and even Bollywood.


So far I've downloaded:


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Goggles:> Take a picture of something and it searches the internet for you (seems cool, haven't played with it yet).


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Sky Map:> AWESOME map of the night sky! It uses the digital compass and the accelorometer to show you what's in the sky behind the screen. If you point it down it even shows the South Pole and southern constellations. Since I moved out into the sticks I've often wondered what some of the things in the beatifully clear and dark night sky were, and now I will be able to figure it out easily. It even has a night viewing mode with red lines on a black screen so as to not mess up your night vision. So, so cool.


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Voice:> (duh)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Maps:> ...


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ringdroid:> (haven't played with it but have heard it's great for making ringtones. I've used Audacity in the past on my computer but it's nice to have a way to do it on the phone too.)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Shazam:> (haven't used it yet - identifies songs)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">ThrottleCopter:> like the flash game where you hold the mouse button to make the helicopter go through the cave


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ultimate Stopwatch:> just a stopwatch app, because I need to time things working on the animals at school


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">WaveSecure Beta:> (note - for the rest of this month you get free lifetime use for downloading it!) A security app that allows you to lock and delete your phone via SMS. It can also back up your data.





I've been on a crap $20 VZW pay-as-you-go since September, but coming from the Palm Pre before that, my early impression is that bone stock, there is a lot more customization, really easily accomplished. (Yes, the Palm app catalog has grown considerably since then). Clearly, it blows the iPhone out of the water in the freedom to customize department.


I really like that it has a hardware keyboard even though I've been leaning heavily toward using the virtual one so far. The keyboard is the main reason, after hearing that the Nexus One was not groundbreaking, that I went ahead and popped for the Droid (in addition to the wait for the N1 to hit VZW, and the early issues with reception). In case you've missed it, there were some benchmarks around that suggest the Droid keeps up very nicely with the N1 due to the superior graphics chip (PVR) in the Droid, while the Snapdragon CPU in the N1 has to handle a lot of that load.


Wokisan, if you made it far enough to read this and have more impressions on your new Droid, I'd love to hear them, or anybody else with an Android phone. Any other good apps, etc.?

[Toothcake]

So I went ahead and got a Droid yesterday. It seems really nice so far: Very solid, screen is very impressive to look at, the sound quality coming into the device is great, and loading apps couldn't be easier.


There are a lot of little nice touch in-jokes for all the nerds out there, too, from ringers &amp; notification sounds with names like Captain's Log, Don't Panic, and Terminated, to funny facsimiles of music genres like the Buffet-esque Paradise Island and others for jam bands, hip hop, reggae, rock, and even Bollywood.


So far I've downloaded:


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Goggles:> Take a picture of something and it searches the internet for you (seems cool, haven't played with it yet).


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Sky Map:> AWESOME map of the night sky! It uses the digital compass and the accelorometer to show you what's in the sky behind the screen. If you point it down it even shows the South Pole and southern constellations. Since I moved out into the sticks I've often wondered what some of the things in the beatifully clear and dark night sky were, and now I will be able to figure it out easily. It even has a night viewing mode with red lines on a black screen so as to not mess up your night vision. So, so cool.


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Voice:> (duh)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Maps:> ...


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ringdroid:> (haven't played with it but have heard it's great for making ringtones. I've used Audacity in the past on my computer but it's nice to have a way to do it on the phone too.)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Shazam:> (haven't used it yet - identifies songs)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">ThrottleCopter:> like the flash game where you hold the mouse button to make the helicopter go through the cave


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ultimate Stopwatch:> just a stopwatch app, because I need to time things working on the animals at school


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">WaveSecure Beta:> (note - for the rest of this month you get free lifetime use for downloading it!) A security app that allows you to lock and delete your phone via SMS. It can also back up your data.





I've been on a crap $20 VZW pay-as-you-go since September, but coming from the Palm Pre before that, my early impression is that bone stock, there is a lot more customization, really easily accomplished. (Yes, the Palm app catalog has grown considerably since then). Clearly, it blows the iPhone out of the water in the freedom to customize department.


I really like that it has a hardware keyboard even though I've been leaning heavily toward using the virtual one so far. The keyboard is the main reason, after hearing that the Nexus One was not groundbreaking, that I went ahead and popped for the Droid (in addition to the wait for the N1 to hit VZW, and the early issues with reception). In case you've missed it, there were some benchmarks around that suggest the Droid keeps up very nicely with the N1 due to the superior graphics chip (PVR) in the Droid, while the Snapdragon CPU in the N1 has to handle a lot of that load.


Wokisan, if you made it far enough to read this and have more impressions on your new Droid, I'd love to hear them, or anybody else with an Android phone. Any other good apps, etc.?









Movies by Flixter gets a lot of use out of me since not only can you check local theaters and DVD releases, you can also tweak your Netflix queue. In a similar vein, I like Where and use it mostly to check gas prices. Fring is a decent enough chat program that supports all of the major platforms including Skype...although calls seems a little screwy right now. Picsay Pro is one of the best photo editors out ther

[Booyabobby]

Congrats on the buy Virtual. I'm still debating on buying a droid. I been readin threads on androidforums.com with people having problems with their sms deleting by themselves. Proximity sensor not working very well. For example if you want to end a call, the screen will not turn on when moving the phone away from your face. Notifications sounds stopped working. Any of you guys still experiencing issues with droid?

[VDub2174]

Congrats on getting an Android phone!! I got the Samsung Moment about a week or so ago and I love it so far!





I downloaded a bunch of apps too. Some that I always use and some just for fun [:p] I have:

Google Voice
Google Talk
Facebook
Hancent SMS - customize your inbox and enable pop-up notifications
SportsTap - tons of sports scores
Dolphin Browser - great browser
Key Ring
ShopSavvy
Advanced Task killer
Skype Beta
BoozeMeter - can't wait to use this.....lol
Blackjack
Soccer Live
Amazon






Then I downloaded some widgets to turn on/off the GPS and Wifi.

[Toothcake]

Congrats on the buy Virtual. I'm still debating on buying a droid. I been readin threads on androidforums.com with people having problems with their sms deleting by themselves. Proximity sensor not working very well. For example if you want to end a call, the screen will not turn on when moving the phone away from your face. Notifications sounds stopped working. Any of you guys still experiencing issues with droid?









The proximity sensor has always been very zippy for me. As far as the SMS messages deleting themselves, was there any indication that the person was a heavy texter or using a texting app? The default setting allows for 200 messages in a particular convo before older messages are deleted. I have 147 texts in a convo with a person that started texting me in early December. They're all still there.


I did have a problem with the sound cutting out on my first phone, but that one had other problems and there has been some confirmation of the fact that there are two different varients of Droid out there. So far the only difference seems to be the keyboard, but based on the responses at droidforum, the 'bubble key' version that I have now is pretty much the standard one that everyone is getting...as opposed to the flat key version that I had on my first phone. No idea if there's anything beyond the aesthetic though.


The only weird quirk that my Droid has is that sometimes it will display a low battery warning even though I know for a fact that it's fine. LED warning and everything. It's done it twice now but goes away as soon the phone is restarted.

[Booyabobby]

Congrats on the buy Virtual. I'm still debating on buying a droid. I been readin threads on androidforums.com with people having problems with their sms deleting by themselves. Proximity sensor not working very well. For example if you want to end a call, the screen will not turn on when moving the phone away from your face. Notifications sounds stopped working. Any of you guys still experiencing issues with droid?









The proximity sensor has always been very zippy for me. As far as the SMS messages deleting themselves, was there any indication that the person was a heavy texter or using a texting app? The default setting allows for 200 messages in a particular convo before older messages are deleted. I have 147 texts in a convo with a person that started texting me in early December. They're all still there.


I did have a problem with the sound cutting out on my first phone, but that one had other problems and there has been some confirmation of the fact that there are two different varients of Droid out there. So far the only difference seems to be the keyboard, but based on the responses at droidforum, the 'bubble key' version that I have now is pretty much the standard one that everyone is getting...as opposed to the flat key version that I had on my first phone. No idea if there's anything beyond the aesthetic though.


The only weird quirk that my Droid has is that sometimes it will display a low battery warning even though I know for a fact that it's fine. LED warning and everything. It's done it twice now but goes away as soon the phone is restarted.









Here the thread about the text message problem. http://androidforums.com/support-troubleshooting/21319-raging-mad-my-droid.html In that thread, ChompSMS could be the issue. Hmm didn't know about the 2 different versions of the phone. Does the bubble keys help make typing on the physical keyboard better? I might wait after 2.1 releases and see if that fixes or introduces problems. What do you mean by zippy?


Other then that is sound quality good? picture taking quality any better? anything i should know about this phone? I don't plan on rooting the phone.

[Toothcake]

Congrats on the buy Virtual. I'm still debating on buying a droid. I been readin threads on androidforums.com with people having problems with their sms deleting by themselves. Proximity sensor not working very well. For example if you want to end a call, the screen will not turn on when moving the phone away from your face. Notifications sounds stopped working. Any of you guys still experiencing issues with droid?









The proximity sensor has always been very zippy for me. As far as the SMS messages deleting themselves, was there any indication that the person was a heavy texter or using a texting app? The default setting allows for 200 messages in a particular convo before older messages are deleted. I have 147 texts in a convo with a person that started texting me in early December. They're all still there.


I did have a problem with the sound cutting out on my first phone, but that one had other problems and there has been some confirmation of the fact that there are two different varients of Droid out there. So far the only difference seems to be the keyboard, but based on the responses at droidforum, the 'bubble key' version that I have now is pretty much the standard one that everyone is getting...as opposed to the flat key version that I had on my first phone. No idea if there's anything beyond the aesthetic though.


The only weird quirk that my Droid has is that sometimes it will display a low battery warning even though I know for a fact that it's fine. LED warning and everything. It's done it twice now but goes away as soon the phone is restarted.









Here the thread about the text message problem. http://androidforums.com/support-troubleshooting/21319-raging-mad-my-droid.html In that thread, ChompSMS could be the issue. Hmm didn't know about the 2 different versions of the phone. Does the bubble keys help make typing on the physical keyboard better? I might wait after 2.1 releases and see if that fixes or introduces problems. What do you mean by zippy?


Other then that is sound quality good? picture taking quality any better? anything i should know about this phone? I don't plan on rooting the phone.






Zippy as in quick. As soon as I take the phone away from my ear, the backlight kicks in. It's very natural and very quick.


It seems like the SMS problem is something that cropped up with 2.0.1. A little bit of search-fu also brought up the possibility that it's not hardware related since some folks with the Blackberry Storm have been having the same issue. I'm a pretty heavy texter, but I don't make a habit of keeping old texts. I can try and recreate the issue on my phone if it's a concern. I'll also be sure to poke around if 2.1 launches this month.


I prefer the bubble keys as opposed to the flat keys since it offers a little more feedback. I'm a very tactile typist and the raised keys help me navigate without looking. I could type quick with the flat keys, but I had to actually look at the keyboard as I was doing so. The raised keys eliminated that for me.


Admittedly though, I use the virtual keyboard more than the physical keyboard in part because I have a case. If you plan on putting a hard shell (I use Seido's Innocase) around the phone then it may make it a little bit difficult due to the fact that the top row is right up against the edge of the case.


No complaints about the sound quality. Some people have complained about static on calls but I haven't experienced it, and a majority of the complaints came prior to 2.0.1. Media sound quality is great, t

[virtual-human]

Thanks Tooth, Bobby &amp; VDub.


Sounds like the bubble keyboards are on the older phones? I wonder if they changed from one to the other or are using two manufacturers? Weird.


I forgot, I need to get Barcode Scanner too.


Only gripe I have so far is the slowness of the camera app.


Battery life was great today. Lasted from 11 last night to 5PM today, and I played with it quite a bit.


Also I love voice searching/voice commands. It works GREAT.

[Toothcake]

Thanks Tooth, Bobby &amp; VDub.


Sounds like the bubble keyboards are on the older phones? I wonder if they changed from one to the other or are using two manufacturers? Weird.


I forgot, I need to get Barcode Scanner too.


Only gripe I have so far is the slowness of the camera app.


Battery life was great today. Lasted from 11 last night to 5PM today, and I played with it quite a bit.


Also I love voice searching/voice commands. It works GREAT.






Actually, it seems like the bubble keyboards are the newer ones. There's two different serial numbers and everything.

[virtual-human]

Hmm. I just got one yesterday and it doesn't look like a bubble keyboard (although it doesn't feel completely flat).


I was basing it on this thread: http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/30955-one-first-droids-released-different-keyboard.html


This thread also seems to agree: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1608482&amp;page=1


Could you please point me to your experiences of the contrary?


What I'm seeing is that you can't solely tell by build date: they seem to have been making both at the same time. I wonder if for some reason they had two different manufacturers (with different keyboards) going to meet demand. Which doesn't make sense that they couldn't have them make the same one, but maybe there was/is a reason we don't know?

[Sharky]

If the keyboard on the Moto Droid was a 'bubble' key instead of flat, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I am just scared that I will never get used to it and end up using the virtual keyboard all the time instead. Any word on if Motorola is going to ammend the hardware to make the keyboard keys easier to use?

[Toothcake]

Hmm. I just got one yesterday and it doesn't look like a bubble keyboard (although it doesn't feel completely flat).


I was basing it on this thread: http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/30955-one-first-droids-released-different-keyboard.html


This thread also seems to agree: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1608482&amp;page=1


Could you please point me to your experiences of the contrary?


What I'm seeing is that you can't solely tell by build date: they seem to have been making both at the same time. I wonder if for some reason they had two different manufacturers (with different keyboards) going to meet demand. Which doesn't make sense that they couldn't have them make the same one, but maybe there was/is a reason we don't know?






Yeah, "older" is probably the wrong word to use in this case. Sorry about that. Obviously there's nothing really different about the phones except for the keyboard. The thread is here (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/8893-raised-keyboards-vs-flat.html) and seems to run the gamut of experiences. People say that they become rounded after use, but I don't think that is the case since the build numbers are different.

[Toothcake]

Also, by bubbled I don't mean an actual bubble shape, it just feels like there is more support from underneath that gives it a 'bubble' sort of feel. My first Droid didn't feel the same.


EDIT: Pics


http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3977/flatf.jpg


http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8584/raised.jpg

[Wokisan]

So I went ahead and got a Droid yesterday. It seems really nice so far: Very solid, screen is very impressive to look at, the sound quality coming into the device is great, and loading apps couldn't be easier.


There are a lot of little nice touch in-jokes for all the nerds out there, too, from ringers &amp; notification sounds with names like Captain's Log, Don't Panic, and Terminated, to funny facsimiles of music genres like the Buffet-esque Paradise Island and others for jam bands, hip hop, reggae, rock, and even Bollywood.


So far I've downloaded:


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Goggles:> Take a picture of something and it searches the internet for you (seems cool, haven't played with it yet).


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Sky Map:> AWESOME map of the night sky! It uses the digital compass and the accelorometer to show you what's in the sky behind the screen. If you point it down it even shows the South Pole and southern constellations. Since I moved out into the sticks I've often wondered what some of the things in the beatifully clear and dark night sky were, and now I will be able to figure it out easily. It even has a night viewing mode with red lines on a black screen so as to not mess up your night vision. So, so cool.


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Voice:> (duh)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Maps:> ...


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ringdroid:> (haven't played with it but have heard it's great for making ringtones. I've used Audacity in the past on my computer but it's nice to have a way to do it on the phone too.)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Shazam:> (haven't used it yet - identifies songs)


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">ThrottleCopter:> like the flash game where you hold the mouse button to make the helicopter go through the cave


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ultimate Stopwatch:> just a stopwatch app, because I need to time things working on the animals at school


<span style="text-decoration: underline;">WaveSecure Beta:> (note - for the rest of this month you get free lifetime use for downloading it!) A security app that allows you to lock and delete your phone via SMS. It can also back up your data.





I've been on a crap $20 VZW pay-as-you-go since September, but coming from the Palm Pre before that, my early impression is that bone stock, there is a lot more customization, really easily accomplished. (Yes, the Palm app catalog has grown considerably since then). Clearly, it blows the iPhone out of the water in the freedom to customize department.


I really like that it has a hardware keyboard even though I've been leaning heavily toward using the virtual one so far. The keyboard is the main reason, after hearing that the Nexus One was not groundbreaking, that I went ahead and popped for the Droid (in addition to the wait for the N1 to hit VZW, and the early issues with reception). In case you've missed it, there were some benchmarks around that suggest the Droid keeps up very nicely with the N1 due to the superior graphics chip (PVR) in the Droid, while the Snapdragon CPU in the N1 has to handle a lot of that load.


Wokisan, if you made it far enough to read this and have more impressions on your new Droid, I'd love to hear them, or anybody else with an Android phone. Any other good apps, etc.?









Yeah, in the irony of all ironies I am barely using the physical keypad now. Imagine that.....lol. However it is vital when using my NES and SNES emulators which are just so great. Having all my classic NES/SNES games...ON MY PHONE is freaking awesome even if sometimes the buttons are tough to use on them.


Here are my favorite free apps



<ul>
Google Voice
Advanced Task Ki

[virtual-human]

Thanks, Wok. I had been on the fence about Lookout. I saw the post last week on Android Central about it and had already looked at it earlier today, so I went ahead and uninstalled WaveSecure in favor of Lookout. Does it have much of an impact on battery life in your experience? Do we actually need antivirus protection on Android? I wish it had lock &amp; wipe functions too, like WaveSecure.


I also grabbed Pandora (loved it on the Pre), DroidLight, and ShopSavvy.


Thinking about Dolphin (I miss multitouch) but I saw some opinions that it was slower and that the rest of the browser was not as good, so I figure I'll give the stock browser a try for a while before checking it out. How does everyone here who uses it feel about it?


Also got Key Ring, which is supposed to let you have all your store key card bar codes stored on your phone. I hope it works, because half the time I forget the part of my keys with those tags on it when I go into a store.


I have that stock Power bar with toggles for WiFi, BT, GPS, brightness, etc. on one of the side home pages or I'd get WiFi &amp; GPS widgets.

[Booyabobby]

If the keyboard on the Moto Droid was a 'bubble' key instead of flat, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I am just scared that I will never get used to it and end up using the virtual keyboard all the time instead. Any word on if Motorola is going to ammend the hardware to make the keyboard keys easier to use?






There are rumors of a Nexus two having a physical keyboard but it just rumors at this point. Nothing about the droid. People on the androidforums.com says it takes getting use to the physical keyboard. But most are converting to swype keyboard app. You basically type by sliding your fingers across the virtual keyboard. Here a demo of swype. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRUoWUhcRlE) I type like shit on my Env Touch physical keyboard. It be the same on the droid. So im not worried about that. I just dont wanna buy a droid and have it brick on me. But so far i maybe buying one soon. Like i said, just waiting to see what 2.1 brings to the table besides live wallpaper and multiple gmail accounts.








It goes in lock/sleep mode SO quickly. I have changed the setting
but it doesn't seem to make a difference. So I am constantly having to
enter my unlock 'combination'









What do you have it set on? And how fast does it go to lock/sleep mode? Do you have problems with the proximity sensor? Meaning the phone wont wake up when moving the phone away from your face to end a call?

[Toothcake]

I really don't recommend running Advanced Task Killer or any other killer app. Here's a post explaining why. (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/1480-please-read-do-not-worry-about-apps-running-background.html) That thread seems to suggest that the problems people are having with the proximity sensor/blackouts may actually be caused by ATK.

[virtual-human]

Yeah everything seems to say Droid + task killer = bad things

[Sharky]

But most are converting to swype keyboard app. You basically type by sliding your fingers across the virtual keyboard. Here a demo of swype. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRUoWUhcRlE)Wow! that is very cool. I am def getting a N1 instead of Moto Droid now. Thanks for the video.

[virtual-human]

<p class="rteleft">The following from http://www.androidcentral.com/swype-explains-policy-behind-its-distribution:
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="rteleft">There's been a little confusion over Swype (http://androidcentral.com/tags/swype), the finger-sliding keyboard that has proven to be quite popular on Android (in unreleased beta form) and on Windows Mobile (http://www.wmexperts.com/tags/swype).
The software made its way onto blog posts and forums, gained
popularity, and then was quickly pulled. (And, yes, we know some of you
were sanctioned in the forums because of it and a little confusion on
our part.) Today, Swype explained the reasoning in an AndroidCentral post (http://admin.androidcentral.com/download-beta-version-swype-android#comment-15169). Here's an excerpt:
<blockquote style="padding-left: 30px;">
<p class="rteleft">"One
might ask why we don't just release it ourselves and save everyone the
hassle? The reason is that we have spent seven years building Swype and
we want to try to make a living selling our software. Our current
business model is OEM licensing. We do plan to get to
direct-to-consumer distribution but it is a different sort of business
with unique challenges and thus it is hard to say when.
<p class="rteleft">So
far we have released Swype on the Samsung Omnia II on the Windows
Mobile 6.5 platform and we have a number of Android device launches as
well as some additional mobile OS launches coming up soon. Because our
partners are highly sensitive about their product releases we really
cannot say anything further."
</blockquote>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="rteleft">We're reposting the entire statement after the break.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Hi everyone,
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">We would like to provide an update
regarding the unauthorized distribution of our Swype software for the
Android platform. We realize that many sites are now distributing this
software and several are providing installation instructions.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">We
are glad that you like Swype, but we did not release or leak it for
distribution and do not support any downloadable versions . More
specifically, any current versions of the Swype software for the
Android platform were distributed to business partners or journalists
and were done so under Non-Disclosure Agreements or a EULA, and with a
time-out feature.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">One might ask why we don't just
release it ourselves and save everyone the hassle? The reason is that
we have spent seven years building Swype and we want to try to make a
living selling our software. Our current business model is OEM
licensing. We do plan to get to direct-to-consumer distribution but it
is a different sort of business with unique challenges and thus it is
hard to say when.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">So far we have released Swype on the
Samsung Omnia II on the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform and we have a
number of Android device launches as well as some additional mobile OS
launches coming up soon. Because our partners are highly sensitive
about their product releases we really cannot say anything further.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Stay tuned at www.swype.com (http://swype.com/) and look for a better, more feature complete, and legal version coming soon to a phone near you.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Regards,
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The Swype Team
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">PS.
Our lawyer has asked us to remind everyone that Swype does not
explicitly or implicitly condone the unauthorized copying and
distribution of the Swype software and to inform you that the Swype
software is proprietary to Swype, Inc., is the copyrighted work of
Swype, Inc., and Swype, Inc. has and always will reserve all of its
rights.

[VDub2174]

It goes in lock/sleep mode SO quickly. I have changed the setting but it doesn't seem to make a difference. So I am constantly having to enter my unlock 'combination'










I downloaded a widget to turs off the auto-lock feature. My phone doesn't need to be locked while I'm at home.

[Toothcake]

Well that kinda sucks. I can't really blame the developers though. Hopefully it sees an official Android release soon.

[Booyabobby]

I really don't recommend running Advanced Task Killer or any other killer app. Here's a post explaining why. (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/1480-please-read-do-not-worry-about-apps-running-background.html) That thread seems to suggest that the problems people are having with the proximity sensor/blackouts may actually be caused by ATK.






Doesn't the droid come with a built in app killer?

[Toothcake]

It's not a separate program, but rather part of the function of the OS/processor. I tried using ATK with my first Droid and had nothing but problems. My brother used it on his Droid and had a variety of issues. I can leave GPS synched and make a couple twenty or thirty minute calls over the course of the day in addition to surfing the web and still don't need to recharge my phone for at least a full 48 hours. The integrated monitor does just fine.


EDIT: Thought about it a little bit. There's a application manager and a list of running processes too, if that's what you meant.

[Booyabobby]

EDIT: Thought about it a little bit. There's a application manager and a list of running processes too, if that's what you meant.






Yes that what i meant. if someone wanted to close an app, that app manager can do it right?

[Toothcake]

EDIT: Thought about it a little bit. There's a application manager and a list of running processes too, if that's what you meant.






Yes that what i meant. if someone wanted to close an app, that app manager can do it right?









Yup. It displays how much memory is being used and how much can be gained by closing it.


In the case of ATK, most of the programs closed (GtalkService and AndroidKeyboard) will just reopen again a few minutes later. ATK leads to a nasty case of OCD and really doesn't do a damn thing.

[Sharky]

Has there been any battery test directly comparing the Moto Droid and the Nexus One? I know it's not really fare since the two are on separate networks, but it would still be nice to see if the Nexus One's supposedly energy efficient Snapdragon chip and smaller battery can keep up with the Moto Droid's larger capacity battery.

[Toothcake]

The only thing that i've found so far is this. (http://melody801.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/nexusone-vs-droid.jpg) The N1 gets a little bit longer talk time, but the Droid can last longer on standby.

[Toothcake]

Throwing up a a link to download Swype (http://www.androidcentral.com/download-beta-version-swype-android) since it's no longer available on the marketplace. The sit mods claim that this is part of an officially sanctioned beta, but there was still a post from the Swype legal team, so I dunno. Installation instructions are included, but it does require that you have a file manager installed (I recommend Astro). It's supposed to be for Droid and N1 users, but apparently the N1 is having problems based on it's screen size.

[Wokisan]

Evernote is now available in the Android marketplace.





One other thing. I can not post in the forums here on my Droid using Dolphin or the standard browser. I select the text area and it will not bring up the keyboard and I can't use the hardware keyboard either.

[Sharky]

So, now I am leaning towards going with Sprint instead of Verizon. Sprint has some very good family data plans. I can get unlimited everything for 3 people for $150. That is $50 each, and then a 10% Credit Union dicount on top of that, making it $46! Verizon has 'tweaked' their data/voice plans, and now the cheapest I can get it for is $68. And that only allows 1400 minutes, compared to Sprints Unlimited any mobile / 1500 to landlines.

I am really surprised that more people are not jumping ship over to Sprints family plans. They are much much cheaper than everyone elses, and they have some decent phones; with new sure to come. I have a few friends that have them and they said the network has been fine. I think I am finally ready to tell Verizon to stick it.

[Wokisan]

I am really surprised that more people are not jumping ship over to Sprints family plans. They are much much cheaper than everyone elses, and they have some decent phones; with new sure to come. I have a few friends that have them and they said the network has been fine. I think I am finally ready to tell Verizon to stick it.


I think it just comes down to coverage. I liked Sprint's plans but their coverage in our area is not close to Verizon. My wife gets a corporate discount with Verizon but it is still expensive as crap though (we have the 1400 family plan with unlimited messaging and data for both phones).

[AJ in HD]

One other thing. I can not post in the forums here on my Droid using Dolphin or the standard browser. I select the text area and it will not bring up the keyboard and I can't use the hardware keyboard either.


have you tried changing the content editor in your profile to "Plain Text"?


Go to Edit Profile&gt;Site options&gt;Content Editor&gt;Plain Text


This is what works to make posting happen from iPhones/touch so it might work with other mobile devices.

[Wiglag]

One other thing. I can not post in the forums here on my Droid using Dolphin or the standard browser. I select the text area and it will not bring up the keyboard and I can't use the hardware keyboard either.




You might have to change your settings in "Edit Profile" up top under Content Editor change it to "Plain Text"

Edit: Looks like AJ beat me to it!

[VDub2174]

Sprint is awesome in my area!! Haven't had any problems with them for a long time now.

[Sharky]

Sprint is awesome in my area!! Haven't had any problems with them for a long time nowFrom what I understand, they are good around my state too. I live in Raleigh, NC, where they just launched their new 4G network. Good to know I was lucky enough to be one of the tfirst build outs for the upcoming technology. Too bad no phones support it though.

[BigDaddyJay]

I just ordered a Nexus One which is being delivered tomorrow. I'm hoping to get Swype to work on it (If not, I'll try one of the others that were mentioned in Tooth's link).

I know I'll grab facebook and pandora - I'll let you know what I think of it after a couple of hours. I have a BlackBerry Curve for work (still keeping it) so I can post some comparisons.

BDJ

[Wokisan]

One other thing. I can not post in the forums here on my Droid using Dolphin or the standard browser. I select the text area and it will not bring up the keyboard and I can't use the hardware keyboard either.


have you tried changing the content editor in your profile to "Plain Text"?


Go to Edit Profile&gt;Site options&gt;Content Editor&gt;Plain Text


This is what works to make posting happen from iPhones/touch so it might work with other mobile devices.

Thanks.



Interesting...so what is the difference on the site now that I have switched to plain text (I'm not on my phone at the moment)?
Come to think of it I wonder if this will help some of the quirkiness that Chrome has on the site as well. Sometimes I would click 'quote' and the whole page would reload...lol.




***edit*** I see! The smilies and stuff do not appear in a pop-up.



Now that you all have so nicely answered my question..............



I DEMAND that the Generalissimo admit that it was in fact ME who supplied him with the answer to the question that...........um......I asked to appear to not be knowledgeable. This was merely a clever rouse to once again show my supremeness in relation to AJ, or something like that.

[Wiglag]

Sprint is awesome in my area!!

Just don't go up to the poconos with it... I love sprint, but I can never get reception on the mountains up there while other carriers have no problem.

[virtual-human]

So, now I am leaning towards going with
Sprint instead of Verizon. Sprint has some very good family data plans.
I can get unlimited everything for 3 people for $150. That is $50 each,
and then a 10% Credit Union dicount on top of that, making it $46!
Verizon has 'tweaked' their data/voice plans, and now the cheapest I
can get it for is $68. And that only allows 1400 minutes, compared to
Sprints Unlimited any mobile / 1500 to landlines.

I am really
surprised that more people are not jumping ship over to Sprints family
plans. They are much much cheaper than everyone elses, and they have
some decent phones; with new sure to come. I have a few friends that
have them and they said the network has been fine. I think I am finally
ready to tell Verizon to stick it.





Sprint coverage in MA was awesome. People at my work all had Verizon and there was crap reception. In the office they'd all miss calls and there was one spot in the place they'd go to to make a call. Up here, different story, and I had to ditch Sprint after 9 years. I miss Sprint's pricing...






One other thing. I can not post in the forums here on my Droid using Dolphin or the standard browser. I select the text area and it will not bring up the keyboard and I can't use the hardware keyboard either.






One thing that was awesome with the Pre was support of the Enhanced content editor so my settings didn't have to suffer on the computer.

[VDub2174]

Sprint is awesome in my area!!


Just don't go up to the poconos with it... I love sprint, but I can never get reception on the mountains up there while other carriers have no problem.






Good thing I'm not going to the Poconos any time soon [:p]

[Sharky]

Virtual,

How did you like the Pre? I really like the form factor of the Pre and Pixi when compared with all the other phnes. I also like the OS. I have read that battery life is not so good though. How many hours did you get with moderate use?

[Toothcake]

Can always cheat and use the HTML editor to enter text. It's what I do. The limitations are the same but it doesn't require.swapping everything out.

[VDub2174]

Can always cheat and use the HTML editor to enter text. It's what I do. The limitations are the same but it doesn't require.swapping everything out.






We can just type IN the HTML editor to post?

[virtual-human]

Overall, I liked it.


I also really liked the form factor of the Pre, although I do prefer landscape keyboards (though it's still easy enough to type fast on the portrait one on the Pre and the Treo 755p one I had before the Pre).


The OS was really cool. Yes, it was a little rough around *some* of the edges, but honestly I thought it was better than the iPhone OS right off the bat. My main gripe was that built-in app wise, they left out a lot of the Personal Information Manager stuff that had made Palm great, like good Task List, Notepad, Alarm/notification features. I think the app store and homebrew have solved those gripes by now.


Battery life was a conern, but after a couple of weeks, not as much of one as you might think. I think there is some kind of break-in with that battery - it dies really, really fast for like a week and then (usage patterns aside) it improves. The OS updates also improved battery life. Turning the brightness down on the screen, which I really didn't find bothersome, helps. Turn-by-turn Navigation kills it REALLY fast, but doesn't it always? Pandora is also a drain, but it is still usable. You should be able to get through a workday fine with moderately heavy usage (I found I used my phone, especially the awesome web browser, a hell of a lot). You probably still want the car charger to top off when you're in the car, and definitely if you plan on using the free turn-by-turn nav. Also, it's a least kind of convenient that it uses a standard micro USB so you can always just plug it in to your computer for some juice if you don't want to carry a wall charger. The inductive charging accessory is also a must just because it is so easy, and cool. It also replaces the back with a nicer looking, and grippier matte black than the original shiny, more slippery back.


Don't consider the Pixi. It doesn't have the same processor or other hardware that makes the Pre a high end phone. As for the Pre, I loved the form factor, especially when it was closed. It was just the perfect size to hold or put in a pocket. It did feel somewhat cheap and like breakage was somewhat of a concern. It definitely doesn't have the build quality of the Droid or the iPhone. I know you're talking about Sprint now, but these are things it sounds like they fixed on the VZW version - better slider, and they took out that face button, which was implicated in some cases of the screen developing a crack near the button. The VZW version also has more RAM and more storage.


Overall, I think the Pre (not the Pixi) compares very favorably with Sprint's current lineup, and also even the iPhone, which has a comparable screen resolution. I would personally probably pick it over the Hero. However, when the next wave of Android phones hit, with higher resolutions and faster CPUs, I don't know if it still will. The Droid is, IMO, easily a better phone though.

[hoggle5000]

I've been using the Palm Pre through Sprint for the past few weeks, and I'm quite happy with it. Have not had a problem with battery life at all either. There is a large update coming sometime in Feb, that will allow it to record video, and will have adobe flash as well. I had debated between this and the Hero, and I chose the Pre, and don't regret it at all. It may not have all the apps, but it's really not a big concern. The online browser was actually the big selling point for me.

[Toothcake]

Vdub - yep, you still can't format text but it's nice not having to worry about swapping out settings depending on whether you're on a phone or a PC. Just enter the text in to the HTML editor, update and post.

[Wokisan]

Been using the Launcher+ beta. I love it. I keep trying different home screen replacements but I'm not feelin' any of them. Launcher+ gives me more home screens and I think that's all I need until Android 2.1 comes to the Droid. A little unstable though...had to force close it twice today. Still I'm loving it.

Also, Beautiful Widgets just added a TON of cool looking skins. Best paid app ever. Well worth it!

[Toothcake]

What actually comes with Beautiful Widgets? I'm a sucker for widgets, but want more home screens before I buy it. I really liked GDE, but i've heard that it's taken a dive lately. Hurry up, 2.1

[Wokisan]

What actually comes with Beautiful Widgets? I'm a sucker for widgets, but want more home screens before I buy it. I really liked GDE, but i've heard that it's taken a dive lately. Hurry up, 2.1



<ul> 2 Home widgets (a large and a small version) with the nice weather animations separate widgets to turn on/off Bluetooth, GPS, Wifi separate widgets for plane mode, vibrate, silent the latest version has a ton of skins (about 15 or so)[/list]If you get it try the 'naked android' skin. Takes the background box from behind the letters. Looks very nice!

[Wokisan]

Here are some pics...kinda hard to see.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4314634238_cf434d66f9.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4313897915_7100e7954e.jpg

[VDub2174]

Vdub - yep, you still can't format text but it's nice not having to worry about swapping out settings depending on whether you're on a phone or a PC. Just enter the text in to the HTML editor, update and post.









Sweet!!

[Toothcake]

Pretty sexy, Wok. Thanks for the pics. I might pick it up after I get acclimated to the widgets in 2.1. Does the weather background change depending on area weather or am I mistaken?

[Wokisan]

Pretty sexy, Wok. Thanks for the pics. I might pick it up after I get acclimated to the widgets in 2.1. Does the weather background change depending on area weather or am I mistaken?


Yep. It animates as well.

[Nitereaver]

Just so those of you that have the Samsung Moment know, there is an update for the software. You have to go to a store with a service center to get it though. They said the next updates will be able to be downloaded. I havent got it yet, going to go tomorrow. A few things it looks like they added was somestuff to extend battery life, and Android 2.0.

[VDub2174]

Just so those of you that have the Samsung Moment know, there is an update for the software. You have to go to a store with a service center to get it though. They said the next updates will be able to be downloaded. I havent got it yet, going to go tomorrow. A few things it looks like they added was somestuff to extend battery life, and Android 2.0.






I read that on Androidcentral.com but some stores were acting like they never heard of it.....lol I'm gonna check it out though.

[Toothcake]

Just so those of you that have the Samsung Moment know, there is an update for the software. You have to go to a store with a service center to get it though. They said the next updates will be able to be downloaded. I havent got it yet, going to go tomorrow. A few things it looks like they added was somestuff to extend battery life, and Android 2.0.






Hopefully they push you guys to 2.0.1 since it fixed most of the problems with 2.0. Hope you guys enjoy the upgrade!

[Toothcake]

Just in case anyone hadn't heard: Motorola announced what exactly is coming in Android 2.1. (http://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-details-exactly-what-youre-getting-droid-21-update) The list of features is for the Droid, but I wouldn't be surprised if it applies to other Android phones (sans the N1) as well. I was disappointed by the lack of live wallpapers and the new app launcher, so I rooted my phone to see what I may be missing.


I used two different ROMS as I was getting my impressions. The first isn't a proper version of 2.1, but rather a majority of the 2.1 apps integrated to a 2.0.1 framework. It made it a lot more stable and easier for testing. The other was an N1 port with some optimization for the Droid, but it did contain live wallpaper and the new app launcher and was fairly stable despite that...it really made me wonder why not just include everything.


I didn't overclock anything because I wanted to try it vanilla first. My original settings were either saved by default, or in the case of a nandroid install, restored through MyBackUpPro. I wanted to try out the update in a real world scenario so I moved everything over.


The live wallpaper is neat but loses it's novelty fairly quickly. They can also slow down scrolling across the homescreens but it's largely dependent on how many icons you have. Personal enjoyment falls down to whether or not you care about the background, whether you want to show off, and whether battery life is a concern. The new app launcher is nice but it definitely feels sluggish and there is noticeable slowdown. The shortcut buttons on the home bar are hopefully introduced in some form -- it's nice having a shortcut to the phone and browser.


Overall i'd say Droid owners aren't missing out on much. The 3D gallery is awesome and we're getting it. I used Bugless Beast to try out the pinch-to-zoom and voice input to text fields -- which is actually really good.


The bottom line is that other than a few aesthetic changes and some new features, 2.1 is pretty much exactly the same as 2.0.1.

[Wokisan]

So Toofy...I see you rooted your Droid... how tough was it and just how risky is it?

I know the Pre has a program where even if you really muck it up you can just reset it to factory......is theresomethinglike that for the Droid?

[Toothcake]

So Toofy...I see you rooted your Droid... how tough was it and just how risky is it?


I know the Pre has a program where even if you really muck it up you can just reset it to factory......is theresomethinglike that for the Droid?






I rooted it with a terminal emulator and by copying some files on to my sdcard. I had a basic idea of what I was doing but found a really helpful guide, and other than a lot of typing it wasn't very difficult at all. The danger comes from what you do with it after it's rooted, but from what I've seen, you really need to try and break something to brick the phone. Paired with the fact that a majority of the problems that you COULD cause require an app it makes everything relatively safe.


There's an app that'll root the phone for you, I think that it's listed as Sholes on the app store. It's a paid app and it also locks you in to using Sholes ROMS (IIRC) so it's a little more limiting in that regard, but it's definitely easier to install.


I've unrooted so that I can see what Droid 2.1 is bringing (now that the 'official features list' may no longer be relevant) but I definitely enjoyed overclocking the phone to 800mhz so I might go back if there's a delay in the rollout.

[dboss]

OK, I'm a Verizon Blackberry user and I'm SO on the fence about what
I want to do. I'm pretty much set on getting an Android phone at this
point because I'm just done with BB's and their lack of advances and
continued use of compression on their phones.

Anyways, I'm
looking at choosing between either the HTC Droid Eris or the Motorola
DROID. I've read people's impressions the DROID here, but I'd like to
hear from some of you about the negative things I've heard as well. So
on that note I'll list a couple points about each phone and see if
anyone can elaborate on those points.

Eris: Lag on the current Android OS 1.x. Its supposed to get an update to 2.1 as well, but without user reviews of 2.1 on the Eris I'm scared to rely on 2.1 to fix the lag issues.
Battery life is just SHIT! Just an outdated phone at this point? Exchange support is kinda crappy?


DROID: Onscreen keyboard isn't as good as the Eris. I have no clue why there would be a difference, as they're both Android phones... Haven't found much info on the battery life...How is the battery life on the DROID? Its just BIG and kinda ugly in comparison to the Eris. I'd much rather have a smaller phone like the Eris as I always put my phone in my back pocket to carry it.
This might be my biggest issue. A friend of mine played with someone else's DROID for awhile and he said that he thought the navigation panel (bottom row of standard buttons, menu, etc.) were off center. Mainly that he'd push the bottom of the key and it wouldn't register the touch. Now he's also an iPhone user so I don't know if that would factor in at all. I'm also pretty sure I've read this on a few forums before. Is this true with a DROID that anyone here has? How tight is the slider? Any issues with it being kinda flimsy? What's the difference between the build dates? That seems to be an issue talked about everywhere, but I don't know if there's something particular I should look for. Same as the Eris, the Exchange support is crap, but most say its a little better on the Eris which is kinda surprising...Anyone have experience in this area?


Sorry for all the questions, but thanks in advance for your help!

[Toothcake]

I can only comment on the DROID since it's the only one I own. I've had it since the week after it launched and I'm currently on my second phone. I had to replace my first DROID because of really crappy battery life. My replacement DROID hasn't had any of the problems that I had with the original.


1. Is this an impression you read online or personal experience? The only other touch screen phone that I've owned in the LG Versa which is completely lacking a physical keyboard, and the DROID virtual keyboard is a LOT better than what it was on the Versa. The virtual keyboard was a little shakey on Android 2.0 but the 2.0.1 update made it much more improved and Android 2.1 is supposed to improve it further. I text quite a bit and pretty much only use the onscreen keyboard with the default app and I've never had any problems. I haven't used the Eris though so I can't comment make any direct comparisons.


2. Battery life was a big issue for me since I'm used to leaving my phone unplugged for a few days. I was also on guard since my first DROID had massive battery drain. Thankfully though, I haven't had any problems with the replacement. The biggest drain on the battery is the display. I put my phone through it's paces when I went out west to visit my mom in California. It wasn't odd for me to make a few 30-40 minute phone calls throughout they day and leave Pandora to stream for at least an hour while I browsed the web. For that particular day my battery was at 40% roughly 18 hours later. The quickest i've been able to drain the battery is in 8 hours but only because I pretty much left the display on 100% of the time while I was using Fring (an IM app) with full brightness because I was in the car. The longest i've left the phone unplugged is 3 days and 8 hours and that was with light use. For the average day of moderate use though, it's not unusual for me to wait at least 32 hours before having to charge the phone.


I was surprised by the battery life even when I overclocked it to 850mhz. The battery life is solid for a smartphone.





3. Pretty much all of the added bulk comes from the physical keyboard. If you don't think you're going to be using it that much (I don't, but I still it's nice to have) then I totally recommend going with the Eris or waiting for the Nexus 1. For my part, I have a Seidio Innocase cover which adds a little bit more bulk, but it still fits in to my back pocket fine. It's totally a matter of preference in that regard.





4. Never had any problems like this on either of my DROIDs. As long as my finger lands on the button then it responds. The only time that it doesn't is if a program is about to force close, but that pretty much only happens with a shitty app. It may even be a non-issue once 2.1 launches. I expect (mostly hope) that there will be an on-screen virtual shortcut bar similiar to the one on the N1. Moto is being pretty tight-lipped about the details though so at this point it's just hearsay and feeble hopes.





5. This was a concern for me too after a few months, but I'm happy to say that it when the keyboard is locked, it doesn't move unless there is some lateral pressure applied to it. Sometimes when I'm laying on the couch and move around it'll slide open a little bit, but there's barely an inch of clearance and certainly not enough to provide enough leverage to snap the thing off.





6. Pretty much the only difference people have noticed with build dates is that sometimes the keyboard is different. Earlier build dates have a flatter set of keys while later ones have a more bubble shape. It's a source of contention among the community and not every one is reporting the same findings, so the easy answer is - no.





7. Can't really comment on this one. I do know that there are a variety of apps on the market, but since I don't use Exchange I can't really offer any strong opinion one way or another.

[dboss]

Thanks for the reply Toothcake! I have to say, I think you just sold me on the DROID based on the battery information alone. That's just OUTSTANDING! I purchased a BB Tour in July when it first came out and I could barely 18 hours out of it. Needless to say, it went back because this was a big issue for me coming from a Curve that could go two days without needing a charge. Oh, and I think the keyboard info I had was from 2.0 so its good to hear that its been corrected. I'll report back once I have a new DROID in my hands. [:P]

[Toothcake]

Thanks for the reply Toothcake! I have to say, I think you just sold me on the DROID based on the battery information alone. That's just OUTSTANDING! I purchased a BB Tour in July when it first came out and I could barely 18 hours out of it. Needless to say, it went back because this was a big issue for me coming from a Curve that could go two days without needing a charge. Oh, and I think the keyboard info I had was from 2.0 so its good to hear that its been corrected. I'll report back once I have a new DROID in my hands. /emoticons/emotion-4.gif






Definitely run it through it's paces, but I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised. I usually leave the GPS function turned on 24/7 and the gmail server push option 5-7 hours over the course of the day and I was just blown away about how well it performs over my first one.

Just keep in mind that the phone is designed to be customized so it may not have all of the features that you want as soon as you power it on, but there are plenty of apps to streamline the phone however you like it. It's a design decision that took me a while to get used to, but now that I am it's something that I can appreciate.


Hope you like it!

[Toothcake]

Just so I can say that I contributed hard data about battery life and so no one thinks that I am exaggerating:


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/Toothcake/1266864459135.jpg


I know it's hard to see; I tried to sharpen it up as best I could. That's the battery usage for my phone and subsequent bar graphs detailing what's sucking up the battery. The phone resets the counter to 0 every time it is plugged in or restarted. For the purpose of this test, I restarted the phone when it was at 40% -- so the scope of this test was from 40% down to 10-15% when the phone starts giving you a low battery warning.


Time elapsed from when I restarted the phone to plugging it back in was 21 hours and 13 minutes. You can't see the full spread of programs that I was using nor their percentile, but voice calls took up a majority of the battery at 78% (45min), phone idle at 10% and cell standby at 8%. Further on down the lists were things like Wiki-Tap (I looked up curling while I was at the bar last night), Twitter, and the browser.


So pretty damn good. 40% charge and 21 hours with a fair amount of usage.


Playing around with the latest Bugless Beast release that includes live wallpapers...hopefully Moto will push an update on the status on 2.1 soon.

[dboss]

Quick question: What does everyone set their display brightness to on the Droid? I'll post my full impressions on the phone when I have some extra time, but I'm still experimenting with the battery life at the moment. So far so very good though!!

[Sharky]

I am still (un)patiently waiting on the Nexus One for Verizon. If the Moto Droids keyboard was better, I would buy one today =(
The battery life of the Droid is very appealing. Has anyone heard if the Nexus One's battery time matches the Moto Droids?

[dboss]

Sharky - You might wanna take a closer look at the Droid. I think I've used the keyboard once since I bought it. I really didn't the iPhone's touchscreen, and maybe that's because I just didn't give it a real good chance, but I'm loving the touchscreen on the Droid. Also, since its with Verizon they give you a 30 day window in which you can try the phone and if you don't like it within those 30 days you just take it back without paying anything. I will say, that coming from a BB Curve, the keyboard is very shitty in comparison.


I was gonna try and wait for the Nexus One, but I think the earliest it launches would be late Spring. A couple of my concerns with it are that Google is selling it and I don't believe any of my discounts from Verizon would apply to the phone which is a big disincentive for me to buy directly from Google and also, I was a little worried about the phone in general since they've had so many 3G reception problems. To me, it looks like its a hardware problem and not software based on the video's I've seen, but that's just an uneducated guess on my part.

[Sharky]

That is the main reason I do not want the droid. I would hate to have the weight/bulk of the keyboard and not even use it. If the keyboard was better, I would use it all the time. But I have tried my friends many times and can not see myself using it ... way too flat. I am pretty stuck on the Nexus One. If there are build issues, I am sure they are being taken care off before the Verizon launch. My main draw with the N1 is that it is an offical Google Phone, Snapdragon, and big RAM. I can see this being the phone that Google designs around for a while, making sure their software works well with it first. The wait is sucking, but I think it will be worth it.

[dboss]

That is the main reason I do not want the droid. I would hate to have the weight/bulk of the keyboard and not even use it. If the keyboard was better, I would use it all the time. But I have tried my friends many times and can not see myself using it ... way too flat. I am pretty stuck on the Nexus One. If there are build issues, I am sure they are being taken care off before the Verizon launch. My main draw with the N1 is that it is an offical Google Phone, Snapdragon, and big RAM. I can see this being the phone that Google designs around for a while, making sure their software works well with it first. The wait is sucking, but I think it will be worth it.





That's exactly one of the reasons why I purchased the Droid...its also a Google Experience phone and as Engadget put it, its a selling point for the phone.


Also notable (and perhaps a selling point for some) is that the DROID is
a Google Experience device, which should theoretically mean that it's
more likely to receive fast and frequent software updates than its
skinned cousins like the CLIQ. The Google Experience is sort of the
"gold standard" Android showcase for the company, so to speak, and it's
in Google's best interest to keep it rock solid at all times -- and
since there's no third-party skin to revalidate after every Android
version is released, the update process should go a heck of a lot
smoother.

I know the weight and bulk were some of the issues as well, but after having it for a few days I don't even notice the bulk anymore. A big selling point for me as well was the Droid dock that's available for it. I bought 3 of those and a car mount for the nav tool, charger included, with the thing (They were ridiculously cheap with my corp discount and a DROID35 coupon; $60 for everything, shipping included). After having a dock on my BB I was used to just plopping the thing down for it to charge so this was a big plus for me AND this dock is soooo much better. Time, picture slideshow, music, weather...its just awesome!

I'm sure the Nexus One will be awesome too, but I just couldn't wait anymore. [:P] I had been waiting for the BB Tour2 to come out for month's but I got sick of waiting. I hope the Nexus is worth it, but I'm sure it will be.

[Nitereaver]

Amazon has the droids for 50 bucks right now. Not sure for how long or if its just for new subscribers.

[Toothcake]

Quick question: What does everyone set their display brightness to on the Droid? I'll post my full impressions on the phone when I have some extra time, but I'm still experimenting with the battery life at the moment. So far so very good though!!









Lowest unless i'm outside -- then either medium or high.


I pretty much hate the Nexus 1 UI which is surprising because I was really looking forward to the app launcher. The Droid app drawer may not be the prettiest thing in the world, but it's fast and responsive, two things that the app launcher aren't.

[dboss]

Thanks Toothcake.

Sharky - Thought you might be interested...<h4 class="post_title">Nexus One hits FCC again, this time in CDMA trim (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/26/nexus-one-hits-fcc-again-this-time-in-cdma-trim/)</h4>

[Sharky]

Sharky - Thought you might be interested...
<h4 class="post_title">Nexus One hits FCC again, this time in CDMA trim (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/26/nexus-one-hits-fcc-again-this-time-in-cdma-trim/)</h4>


sWEEEEEETNESS. lOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE HERE SOON. Fucking caps lock [:@]

[dboss]

Sharky - Thought you might be interested...
<h4 class="post_title">Nexus One hits FCC again, this time in CDMA trim (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/26/nexus-one-hits-fcc-again-this-time-in-cdma-trim/)</h4>


sWEEEEEETNESS. lOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE HERE SOON. Fucking caps lock http://adultgamingenthusiasts.com/emoticons/emotion-12.gif









Looks like sooner than we thought...March 23rd


http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-one-coming-verizon-march-23

[Booyabobby]

Sharky - Thought you might be interested...
<h4 class="post_title">Nexus One hits FCC again, this time in CDMA trim (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/26/nexus-one-hits-fcc-again-this-time-in-cdma-trim/)</h4>


sWEEEEEETNESS. lOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE HERE SOON. Fucking caps lock /emoticons/emotion-12.gif












Looks like sooner than we thought...March 23rd


http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-one-coming-verizon-march-23









Sweet!

[Nitereaver]

Well we went back to verizon after using sprints network for 3 months. Sprint sucks in Rockford, no question about it. Wish I would have known that going in. Anyways, I loved my Samsung Moment phone, but we got the Droids now and I love these even more. Between the 2, the Droid is def. the one to get to do a little time passinggaming on. The 3d games run silky smooth on the Droid, where as most of them ran like crap on the Moment unless you turned the details down (which you can do on most of the 3d games). Not to mention apps seem to open so much faster. I stillprefer the Moments physical keyboard over the Droids though. I miss having actual0-9 keys on it and I miss having REAL buttons to answer/hangup. My wife keeps hanging up on people cuz she moves the phone away from her face enough to turn the screen back on. The battery life is better on the Droid too. All in all, Im alot happier with the Droid than the Moment now.Of course 1/2 of it happens to be I actually get 3G on Verizon where I couldnt on Sprint.

[virtual-human]

Between the 2, the Droid is def. the one to get to do a little time passinggaming on. The 3d games run silky smooth on the Droid, where as most of them ran like crap on the Moment unless you turned the details down (which you can do on most of the 3d games).






Have you tried ExZeus yet? And so begins the amazing 3D games on Android...


Robo Defense is still my preferred timesuck gaming on the phone though.

[virtual-human]

Since I know some of you (at least Sharky) were waiting on the Nexus One, here's an article (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/03/secrets-of-the-nexus-ones-screen-science-color-and-hacks.ars/), in case you missed it, from earlier this week about the effective resolution being 653 x 392 due to the way the AMOLED pixels are made up. None of them have all 3 color subpixels. They all have green, but half have red and the other half have blue.


For what it's worth, the Droid still rocks. I rooted mine, flashed a 2.1 ROM, overclocked with a 1GHz low-voltage kernel, and no longer care about when the OTA 2.1 update might come, or when other phones might hit Verizon. [gl]


My honest opinion at this moment is that there is no phone out or coming out in the near term that I'd rather have than the Droid.

[Sharky]

It's funny how everyone was ranting a raving about how good the Nexus screen looked until they found out bout that. As long as it looks good, that is all I care about. Though, the phone I am leaning towards now is the HTC Incredible. It is supposed to be very similar to the Nexus One. And it should be available at Verizon, meaning I can physically try it out first ... instead of buying it blind from Google like the Nexus. They are both supposed to be released any moment now. I am starting to get very impatient, so I hope they get here soon.

[virtual-human]

I've never seen the Nexus One in person, but early on when I found out that the resolution was listed at 800x480 as opposed to the 854x480 of the Droid, that was of interest to me. Additionally, I noted to myself that the first wave of reviews pointed out that the red was oversaturated. At that point, these two pieces of information contributed to my going ahead and purchasing a Droid as opposed to waiting.


The only thing I dislike with the Droid is that it is, though questionable, likely that the screen is not as sensitive to finger input as some of its competing smartphones. However, in practice, it isn't problematic. Even with a Zagg InvisiShield on.



As long as it looks good, that is all I care about.


Well, if you read text on your phone, and I'm assuming most Nexus One owners want to read a good bit of text, then the PenTile matrix is something you might wish to care about. The Ars Technica writer states that the display is optimized for pictures, whereas text is blurry by the nature of the display. This in turn makes it more difficult to read text and also increases eye strain. Take a look at the graphic of the 3G symbol to illustrate this point.


I still think the N1 is awesomesauce, but seriously, this is something of which potential buyers should be made aware.

[Moby14995]

You guys need to stop tempting me! I still have a year to go before I can use my new-every-two thing again, which probably means I'd have to pay the full retail price for a phone upgrade at this point.

[Booyabobby]

You guys need to stop tempting me! I still have a year to go before I can use my new-every-two thing again, which probably means I'd have to pay the full retail price for a phone upgrade at this point.









This is not helping either - Droid for $20 with a new 2 year plan. (http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-A855-Android-Verizon-Wireless/dp/B002UUTCKC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=wireless&amp;tag=380-20&amp;qid=1268808913&amp;sr=1-2)

[Moby14995]

You guys need to stop tempting me! I still have a year to go before I can use my new-every-two thing again, which probably means I'd have to pay the full retail price for a phone upgrade at this point.









This is not helping either - Droid for $20 with a new 2 year plan. (http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-A855-Android-Verizon-Wireless/dp/B002UUTCKC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=wireless&amp;tag=380-20&amp;qid=1268808913&amp;sr=1-2)






[:O]


Bastard!

[Toothcake]

You guys need to stop tempting me! I still have a year to go before I can use my new-every-two thing again, which probably means I'd have to pay the full retail price for a phone upgrade at this point.









This is not helping either - Droid for $20 with a new 2 year plan. (http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-A855-Android-Verizon-Wireless/dp/B002UUTCKC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=wireless&amp;tag=380-20&amp;qid=1268808913&amp;sr=1-2)






Only 10x less than what I got mine for!

[Sharky]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/29/exclusive-android-froyo-to-take-a-serious-shot-at-stemming-plat/


It looks like Google has some plans to help the fragmentation problem of it's OS. They are going to start breaking out the applications and putting them in the marketplace, rather than including them in the OS. This seems like a smart move to me. I never really understood why they didn't do this in the first place.

[Wokisan]

For what it's worth, the Droid still rocks. I rooted mine, flashed a 2.1 ROM, overclocked with a 1GHz low-voltage kernel, and no longer care about when the OTA 2.1 update might come, or when other phones might hit Verizon. /emoticons/71.gif





I am close to doing the same. Got any links to where you got the instructions to do that?


The only thing holding me back is that I am paying for the extended warranty on my phone. I'm assuming rooting erases any bit of warranty you might have.....or is there a way to restore it back to factory without Verizon being able to tell I rooted it if I have problems down the line?

[Toothcake]

For what it's worth, the Droid still rocks. I rooted mine, flashed a 2.1 ROM, overclocked with a 1GHz low-voltage kernel, and no longer care about when the OTA 2.1 update might come, or when other phones might hit Verizon. /emoticons/71.gif





I am close to doing the same. Got any links to where you got the instructions to do that?


The only thing holding me back is that I am paying for the extended warranty on my phone. I'm assuming rooting erases any bit of warranty you might have.....or is there a way to restore it back to factory without Verizon being able to tell I rooted it if I have problems down the line?






I've been running rooted for forever and have no plans for going back. You can restore it to factory default if you ever do need to get it serviced.





Here's a guide to rooting for Bugless Beast (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/hacking-help/28436-complete-how-how-mod-your-phone-2-1-rom-o-c-mm-boot-animation-etc.html)...which is what I recommend. It's a 2.1 ROM with plenty of features, wireless tethering, an instructions to overclock (requires a paid app that costs $1.00)


I have an unroot guide floating around. If you want it, I can post it at some point.

[virtual-human]

Wok, Tooth is right on about using droidforums.net to get instructions. Honestly - and I know this is a PITA answer - I would read, read read there until you can answer most of your questions for yourself. That's what I did. Read the FAQs, How-to threads, and the Help! threads so you can see how and why people run into problems, and how to fix them. That way, you will either avoid them entirely or know how to fix them when you encounter them.


I decided to go with Simply Stunning 2.2 for my ROM, which is also based on the ESE53 Android 2.1 leaked version. The main reason I went with that one is that most people prefer the overclocking kernels made by the same person who did this ROM (ChevyNo1) because they run cooler and are very stable. I figured if he makes the best OC kernels, which I want to use, then it makes sense to try them with his ROM (the way he'd be testing them, natch).


Honestly, I don't think you can really go wrong. Or if you do, you just flash to something else.


As for how - there are basically 4 ways now:

You use ADB to push stuff to your phone (don't bother)
You do it manually still, but less comlicated: use Matth3w's "Complete How-to" guide on droidforums
You use DMUpdater (found at droidmod.org) to root and flash SPRecovery, then you put whatever ROM you want on your SD card, boot into recovery, and install it
You download ROM Manager from the market after you obtain root some other way (manually from Matth3w's guide or with DMUpdater) and then flash either Clockwork Mod Recovery or SPRecovery, and then download &amp; install a ROM



Those are listed to progressively more automated ways of doing things, assuming you don't want to instally DroidMod in #3, which you shouldn't, bceause it's based on 2.01. More automated isn't necessarily better, though, because you're going to be more lost if you didn't do your research and something goes wrong.


Having said that, it appears from everything that I've read that it is very difficult to actually brick your phone, though you may get stuck in a bootloop or give yourself some other kind of scare if you don't follow directions well. However, the people at droidforums are very knowledgeable and even have a "Rescue squad" if you need help. It's a nice resource to just know is available.


Good luck, have fun, and let us know how it goes. And feel free to ask more questions. [H]

[Toothcake]

Just to parrot Virtual-Human, if you're going to do the manual way then make sure to at least get a down-and-dirty run on what exactly you're doing and how it affects your phone. Rooting itself isn't complicated at all -- it's what you do with it after you have full access that can screw it up. A majority of the issues (unless you are trying VERY HARD) can be fixed with a simple restore or a factory reset. I haven't messed around with any of the automated rooting tools so I can't really comment on their effectiveness. The manual way may be intimidating but it's not nearly as hard as it sounds. I like the manual way better because a majority of the time, you don't need to wipe your phone when you flash it.


As far as OC kernels are concered, I've found that Sholes work best since they're low voltage, but I haven't really played around with anything else. The beauty of having a rooted phone is that there are a myriad of ROMS that you can play with with at least one with features that'll fit what you're looking for. Sholes is definitely the most user friendly, but there are plenty of others out there.

[virtual-human]

Wok, you may actually want to root quickly. 2.1 is getting rolled out, and it's uncertain how long/if (though it's probable they'll get it again) rooting the new build, ESE81, will take/happen.


Rooting does have benefits over stock, even 2.1 stock. Early reports are saying there are still only 3 home screens. There's no 3D launcher (don't care, personally). Can't OC. Free WiFi tether. Etc, etc.

[dboss]

Wok, I have to say that I was also very hesitant to root but after the 2.1 update got delayed AGAIN I decided to take the jump last Thursday and its one of the best things I've done. I used a couple of video guides, which are kind of dated at this point as new software releases have already emerged, but it at least shows you what to do. I also used the step-by-step guide Toothcake linked to as my guide when installing a new ROM and its incredibly helpful. I'll post the video guide with some other links below in case any of that might help you. I've found AllDroid.org, droidforum.net, and rootyourdroid.info to be the most helpful.


I first tried the Bugless Beast ROM (v0.9) with Chevy's kernel, but I was having some random reboots with that set-up so I ended up moving to Adamz's Smoked Glass ROM which is VERY nice as it gives you a TON of options at install, 6 choices of kernel install, additional apps, etc. I did have some random reboots with his 800MHz and 1000MHz kernels, but have had zero problems with his 1100MHz kernel which seems to be the consensus in his ROM thread. I'm currently using the 1100MHz kernel, but running it at 800MHz in my active and charging profiles, and at 400MHz in Standby, etc. via the profile options in SetCPU to save battery life. I've noticed no speed decrease by doing this so that seems to work much better for me and everything is screaming fast with zero lag. With this install there is a fairly minor bug with Google Maps, so if you installed this one that would be one thing to watch for...


A couple apps that I've paid for that have been a big help to me during this process: RootExplorer, Titanium Backup, eoeAppInstaller Pro, and SetCPU. Titanium has been a HUGE help to me because not only does this app backup/restore your apps, but it can also backup/restore your settings. I've configured Handcent SMS, Touchdown Email, etc. and would hate to have to go back and input all of those settings again. With a few clicks, Titanium does all of that for me and is well worth the few bucks it costs.


Anyways, I'm posting a few links below for help and for anyone else that might be interested in other apps, etc. that I've found. In Adam's ROM he includes an option to install the keyboard found on HTC phones, however its not the most current version and doesn't include a landscape keyboard. The link below has the main thread for the HTC KB's development and the most current version for anyone that's interested in a KB alternative. Also, I found a Boot Animation that is VERY cool as well. There's a video to it which is a little long, could end at the 35 second mark, but at least you can see it without installing first. Oh, and one more item. I just got into a beta for a new keyboard called 'Swiftkey'. I got in last night and I'm already loving the thing. I'll post a link and video below about it as well in case anyone wanted to sign-up to get into the beta.


Video Guides (http://alldroid.org/threads/15244-Video-Guides-Rooting-Nandroid-backup-Unrooting-Cust-ROM)

HTC Keyboard (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=624416)


Boot Animation (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/27729-bootanimation-cyborg-creation.html)

Swiftkey (http://www.swiftkey.net/)

It doesn't seem to like me embedding two video's so I'll just embed the boot animation video and post a link to the Swiftkey video.

Swiftkey Video Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHrTT0XAPJg)








<object width="640" heig

[Toothcake]

That boot animation is badass.

[virtual-human]

EDIT: did't see dboss's link to the boot animation. Hurrdurr.

[Toothcake]

I first tried the Bugless Beast ROM (v0.9) with Chevy's kernel, but I was having some random reboots with that set-up so I ended up moving to Adamz's Smoked Glass ROM















I had pretty much the same issue with 0.9. I just flashed 0.3 a few days ago and I'm loving it so far. A lot of stuff was cleaned up and the battery life is a helluva lot better than it has been with earlier versions. One of these days I want to give Smoked Glass a try.

[virtual-human]

I first tried the Bugless Beast ROM (v0.9) with Chevy's kernel, but I was having some random reboots with that set-up so I ended up moving to Adamz's Smoked Glass ROM















I had pretty much the same issue with 0.9. I just flashed 0.3 a few days ago and I'm loving it so far. A lot of stuff was cleaned up and the battery life is a helluva lot better than it has been with earlier versions. One of these days I want to give Smoked Glass a try.






No resets or FCs with Simply Stunning. Excellent battery life, but I had excellent battery life on stock, too (like 40%-60% from 8AM-11PM with moderate use, web browsing).


Be careful of 10-slot kernels, though: They are supposedly bad for your phone. ChevyNo1's newest are either 5 or 7 because of that.


Also, can't wait for an ESE81-based ROM now. [ta]

[Toothcake]

I first tried the Bugless Beast ROM (v0.9) with Chevy's kernel, but I was having some random reboots with that set-up so I ended up moving to Adamz's Smoked Glass ROM















I had pretty much the same issue with 0.9. I just flashed 0.3 a few days ago and I'm loving it so far. A lot of stuff was cleaned up and the battery life is a helluva lot better than it has been with earlier versions. One of these days I want to give Smoked Glass a try.






No resets or FCs with Simply Stunning. Excellent battery life, but I had excellent battery life on stock, too (like 40%-60% from 8AM-11PM with moderate use, web browsing).


Be careful of 10-slot kernels, though: They are supposedly bad for your phone. ChevyNo1's newest are either 5 or 7 because of that.


Also, can't wait for an ESE81-based ROM now. /emoticons/73.gif






I had really good battery life with stock but BB 0.6 (I think) put a dent in it. The battery life was still decent but it definitely took a hit. Whatever was cleaned up in 0.3 really made a difference even while OC'd. Plus the interactive Live Wallpaper is nice, and it's running on a release version of 2.1. Pete is really on point with these releases. I've tried a few different ROMS but I always end up coming back to Bugless Beast. If I read it right I think Adamz's is releasing OC kernels seperate from his ROMs so I might have to give that a try.


I kind of want to mess around with CyanMod but I don't like dealing with Nandroid wiping out all of my crap. Redoing your homescreens was less a pain in the ass when you only have to deal with three...with five it's takes a little more wrangling. MyBackUpPro makes it a lot easier except for the widgets. One of the transmogifier themes would be cool too but I don't think they're optimized for the Droid yet.


SkypeMobile is ridiculously pointless since wi-fi is disabled. Not too surprising and there are plenty of alternatives, but it still sucks. For folks looking for a little added security on their Android phone -- I can't recommend MobileDefense enough. You can track your phone via Googlemaps (it's turned on automatically) lock the phone remotely, set it to play an alarm, and it'll even give you notice if someone changes out the simcard. It's free to download.


And apparently you can tether a 360 with a rooted phone. I don't even want to imagine how fast someone can go over the 5GB with that.

[virtual-human]

Doesn't Titanium Backup let you save your homescreens too? I haven't flashed but from 2.01 to 2.1 so I didn't carry over any settings and didn't try.


The Skype app is indeed stupid. I will try Fring if I want to Skpye.


I freaking love Mobile Defense as well. I just installled the Android SDK so I can ADB push it and install it as a system app now that I'm rooted (so I can hide the SMS notifications and remotely turn on GPS). I also run Lookout (antivirus even though it isn't really needed yet, contacts &amp; photo backup - some guy caught thieves by giving uploaded photos to the police, remote siren, and a beta tracking feature).


I also ran across people saying they play XBL tethered just the other day. I find it hard to believe it works well though, if at all (NAT and such), as my phone itself pings about 155ms on SpeedTest. I wouldn't want to play a shooter... or face VZW's wrath when you make it blatantly obvious you're tethering.


One question I have for you rooted guys, if you know, because there's not much info on this: What's up with MetaMorph? Which ROMs is it safe to apply to (besides BB)? I really would like to try it, but I don't want to bork things hard. I would love to find a good FAQ or walkthrough for it.

[dboss]

Doesn't Titanium Backup let you save your homescreens too? I haven't flashed but from 2.01 to 2.1 so I didn't carry over any settings and didn't try.


The Skype app is indeed stupid. I will try Fring if I want to Skpye.


I freaking love Mobile Defense as well. I just installled the Android SDK so I can ADB push it and install it as a system app now that I'm rooted (so I can hide the SMS notifications and remotely turn on GPS). I also run Lookout (antivirus even though it isn't really needed yet, contacts &amp; photo backup - some guy caught thieves by giving uploaded photos to the police, remote siren, and a beta tracking feature).


I also ran across people saying they play XBL tethered just the other day. I find it hard to believe it works well though, if at all (NAT and such), as my phone itself pings about 155ms on SpeedTest. I wouldn't want to play a shooter... or face VZW's wrath when you make it blatantly obvious you're tethering.


One question I have for you rooted guys, if you know, because there's not much info on this: What's up with MetaMorph? Which ROMs is it safe to apply to (besides BB)? I really would like to try it, but I don't want to bork things hard. I would love to find a good FAQ or walkthrough for it.



My battery life on stock and now with Smoked Glass installed has been so-so at best. If I don't pick-up the phone much during the day it seems to last for awhile, but as soon as my screen comes on the power just gets sucked up big time. I'm usually around a charger everyday so its not a huge thing for me, but for those days when I'm not I just ended up picking up a second battery with a standalone charger. If battery life is the only issue, that's easily remedied and the phone is so awesome that I don't care that much. If the battery was huge I might have more of a problem with it but another battery easily fits in a pocket and isn't really even noticable when being carried around.


Titanium Backup does reload my screens for me, at least it does when using Helixlauncher. The only problem I have is that all my widgets need to be added back as they're spot on the home screen is taken up by an icon saying 'Problem Loading Widget'. All I have to do is drag that icon to the trash can and then add the widget again. Not sure why that problem occurs, but its not a huge issue for me as it takes about 2 minutes to fix. All the normal app icons are displayed without any issues though.


If you get ADB working can you let me know? I installed the SDK the other day, but I'm not sure what to do after that. I think something may have gone wrong with the install, but I wasn't sure of the next steps after installing the SDK so I'm not positive.

And I actually tried using MetaMorph the other day to add a battery meter icon to the notification bar, but it ended up causing a continuous reboot loop on my phone so I had to reload the ROM. Apparently that battery meter 'theme' is only working for 2.0.1 and not compatible with 2.1 yet. Other than that, I haven't really tried it out too much.

Also, have any of you guys run the update file to get JIT? I added it on Saturday, but I wasn't sure if I saw a difference or not... Didn't seem to have much of an affect to me.

[virtual-human]

I haven't had the time to play with ADB yet, but here's what I have found: this page has instructions for installing ADB (http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html). Note that you need to have the Java SDK installed first (there's a link for it in Step 1). And here is a great How-to (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/hacking-help/30464-how-adb-why-i-love-adb-commands-3-a.html). Notice you need to go into tools and set a path and such.


Stuff like that is why I haven't touched MetaMorph yet. There isn't really any resource as to what works with what yet.


I am not touching JIT because from what I've read running Helix &amp; JIT on SS 2.2 causes problems. I like Helix so no JIT.


Lastly, if you don't want to .sbf for the basband .03P update like Tooth did, it's available as an update.zip for SPR here (http://alldroid.org/threads/16381-Baseband-results-anyone-Bueller?p=572627#post572627) and is also now in ROM Manager as well (Koush just cranks out feature updates!).

[Toothcake]

I haven't had the time to play with ADB yet, but here's what I have found: this page has instructions for installing ADB (http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html). Note that you need to have the Java SDK installed first (there's a link for it in Step 1). And here is a great How-to (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/hacking-help/30464-how-adb-why-i-love-adb-commands-3-a.html). Notice you need to go into tools and set a path and such.


Stuff like that is why I haven't touched MetaMorph yet. There isn't really any resource as to what works with what yet.


I am not touching JIT because from what I've read running Helix &amp; JIT on SS 2.2 causes problems. I like Helix so no JIT.


Lastly, if you don't want to .sbf for the basband .03P update like Tooth did, it's available as an update.zip for SPR here (http://alldroid.org/threads/16381-Baseband-results-anyone-Bueller?p=572627#post572627) and is also now in ROM Manager as well (Koush just cranks out feature updates!).






It sucks that Metamorphs aren't reliable because the themes that I have seen have been pretty damn cool.


Haven't tried Helix yet and I'm in the same boat as dboss with JIT. I might stock-clock the phone just to see if there's any sort of difference there at all.


What is ROM Manager? Hadn't heard about that yet.

[dboss]

Lastly, if you don't want to .sbf for the basband .03P update like Tooth did, it's available as an update.zip for SPR here (http://alldroid.org/threads/16381-Baseband-results-anyone-Bueller?p=572627#post572627) and is also now in ROM Manager as well (Koush just cranks out feature updates!).





Thanks! I had missed that thread. Installing it now.

[virtual-human]

No prob, dboss. I actually found it linked in a droidforums thread - that's the only one I've been reading regularly since they have a pretty big, well-rounded forum.


Tooth - Helix is really, really nice. I didn't like Helix2 with the 3D app drawer, but Helix (1) is great and I've been using it as my default home screen since Saturday. No FCs, no nothing. It's got 4 assignable shortcuts in the real estate taken up by the app drawer handle, plus a button to pull up the drawer in between those. It allows 3-7 home screens. For rooted &amp; non-rooted users. Probably should have put it on the list for Sharky but I forgot because they both came baked into the ROM I'm using.


ROM Manager - my advice is to go DL the free version from the market and check it out. It's now probably the easiest way to flash Clockwork, SPR, or between them. It also allows you to DL several different ROMs, OC kernels, other tweaks, and OTA updates. Only Cyanogen is available in the free version though. Still, I'm planning on buying the $4 donate version just to show support even though I don't want to flash anything from the paid version for now. You can also use it to unroot &amp; go back to stock. The developer (Koush) is releasing updates at a breakneck pace - somebody will say, gee, I wish it had this feature, and literally later that day he will add it. It is quickly becoming one of the single greatest apps for rooted users who want to flash ROMs.

[dboss]

Tooth - Helix is really, really nice. I didn't like Helix2 with the 3D app drawer, but Helix (1) is great and I've been using it as my default home screen since Saturday. No FCs, no nothing. It's got 4 assignable shortcuts in the real estate taken up by the app drawer handle, plus a button to pull up the drawer in between those. It allows 3-7 home screens. For rooted &amp; non-rooted users. Probably should have put it on the list for Sharky but I forgot because they both came baked into the ROM I'm using.


ROM Manager - my advice is to go DL the free version from the market and check it out. It's now probably the easiest way to flash Clockwork, SPR, or between them. It also allows you to DL several different ROMs, OC kernels, other tweaks, and OTA updates. Only Cyanogen is available in the free version though. Still, I'm planning on buying the $4 donate version just to show support even though I don't want to flash anything from the paid version for now. You can also use it to unroot &amp; go back to stock. The developer (Koush) is releasing updates at a breakneck pace - somebody will say, gee, I wish it had this feature, and literally later that day he will add it. It is quickly becoming one of the single greatest apps for rooted users who want to flash ROMs.





Totally agree with your assessment of Helixlauncher. I've been using it for a few weeks now and its fantastic. I tried Helixlauncher 2 and I just don't like the speed loss with that version in comparison to Helixlauncher. Its very, very noticable.

Koush should send you a commission cause I think I might be downloading ROM Manager in the near future. [:P]

[virtual-human]

Hah - one caveat with ROM Manager: Make sure to read around for problem threads on brand-spanking-new features, because it seems like things take a follow-up patch (same or next day) to work the way they should.


Guy's probably a genius. I'd call him a little sloppy, but I have no freaking clue what it takes to do what he does. But as prolific as he is, and as much as he's giving the community for free (or cheap, depending on the feature in question) with ROM Manager, I won't complain. Or maybe it's all an evil plot to take over the world with Clockwork recovery?! [^o)]

[Wokisan]

Didn't want to rush with something like rooting so I'm going to update to 2.1 and then try to figure out all this rooting stuff. Feels a bit overwhelming but definitely something I am going to try to figure out.


BTW I manually updated to 2.1 thanks to this how-to video.






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<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" />
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zHbMlTwT7QA&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en_ US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed>
</object>

[VDub2174]

I'm jealous that you have the 2.1 OS, just sayin.

[Wokisan]

So my 'core' apps I am currently running.



<ul>
Launcher+ beta (for the extra home screens)
Beautiful Widgets (costs around $2)
Pure Calendar widget (costs around $2)
Battery Indicator Pro ($1 to $2)
Twidroid Pro ($2 or $3 I think)
[/list]



Plenty of free ones as well but these are my favorites.

[Sharky]

It looks like the HTC Incredible will be launching April 25th-29th. At least thats what the internet rumors are barking. If so, this will be my next phone. I think it was worth the (painful) wait.
http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/04/07/verizons-htc-incredible-coming-april-25/

[dboss]

More great Android news...Looks like Netflix will be joining the Android Market at some point.

Netflix (http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/08/netflix-looking-to-hire-android-video-playback-expert/)

Also, for those that are rooted and haven't installed ADB yet, I'd definitely put in the time to figure out the process. I've really been able to customize my status notifications, app icons, etc. by using it while at the same time keeping my preferred theme/ROM installed and to be honest its VERY easy once you get the hang of it.

These are the instructions I used as they were a little more detailed than the actual instructions provided by Google. Link (http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f4/how-to-install-android-sdk-v1-0-step-by-step-5749/index3.html)

[virtual-human]

More great Android news...Looks like Netflix will be joining the Android Market at some point.


Netflix (http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/08/netflix-looking-to-hire-android-video-playback-expert/)


Also, for those that are rooted and haven't installed ADB yet, I'd definitely put in the time to figure out the process. I've really been able to customize my status notifications, app icons, etc. by using it while at the same time keeping my preferred theme/ROM installed and to be honest its VERY easy once you get the hang of it.


These are the instructions I used as they were a little more detailed than the actual instructions provided by Google. Link (http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f4/how-to-install-android-sdk-v1-0-step-by-step-5749/index3.html)



I've been using Root Explorer to do on my phone a lot of the stuff you'd otherwise need ADB for.


I've been deleting system .apks I don't want, or renaming to .apk.bak depending. DLed .zips, renamed to .apk, move stuff...


Since you're doing lots of customizing I'll share with yo uone I just did on Tuesday in case you haven't seen it - PulldownEditor. It generates a .thm for MetaMorph to apply, and you can change the "Verizon Wireless" text or w/e your ROM says on the pulldown as well as the lock screen, 16 char or less.


Pretty easy, pretty sweet.


Also, can't wait for Netflix! Thanks for the news; that was like the only thing that made me slightly jealous about the iPad/iPhone.

[dboss]

More great Android news...Looks like Netflix will be joining the Android Market at some point.


Netflix (http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/08/netflix-looking-to-hire-android-video-playback-expert/)


Also, for those that are rooted and haven't installed ADB yet, I'd definitely put in the time to figure out the process. I've really been able to customize my status notifications, app icons, etc. by using it while at the same time keeping my preferred theme/ROM installed and to be honest its VERY easy once you get the hang of it.


These are the instructions I used as they were a little more detailed than the actual instructions provided by Google. Link (http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f4/how-to-install-android-sdk-v1-0-step-by-step-5749/index3.html)



I've been using Root Explorer to do on my phone a lot of the stuff you'd otherwise need ADB for.


I've been deleting system .apks I don't want, or renaming to .apk.bak depending. DLed .zips, renamed to .apk, move stuff...


Since you're doing lots of customizing I'll share with yo uone I just did on Tuesday in case you haven't seen it - PulldownEditor. It generates a .thm for MetaMorph to apply, and you can change the "Verizon Wireless" text or w/e your ROM says on the pulldown as well as the lock screen, 16 char or less.


Pretty easy, pretty sweet.


Also, can't wait for Netflix! Thanks for the news; that was like the only thing that made me slightly jealous about the iPad/iPhone.





I found Root Explorer to be useful for the tasks you describe, but if I want to change any files, etc. within an .apk file it doesn't work for that type of task at all. MetaMorph does allow you to swap some things in and out as I changed the apps button for HelixLauncher prior to getting ADB going, but I found that with MOST ROM's MetaMorph can't modify the framework-res.apk file which holds the icons used for the status bar notifications, along with a bunch of other files due to I believe space issues. I wanted to customize these icons by pulling icons from a variety of ROM's so I had to use ADB. Basically I just pulled the .apk file to my computer using ADB, opened it using 7-zip which is an open source Windows utility for changing archives, copied the files into the necessary folder, closed 7-zip (no need to save as it auto updates the archive), pushed the file back to the Droid and rebooted the phone.

As far as Pulldown Editor, I have heard of the app but this data is contained in the eri.xml file and is modified pretty easily with a hex editor which was the route I went. This was another file contained within the framework-res.apk file under the XML folder.

Now, I just need to figure out how I wanna trick out my Droid even further!! I'm thinking the lock and audio icon's on the lock screen need to go next. [:P] I really can't get over how awesome Android is though. I really love open platforms.

[Moby14995]

Well, I thought I was going to be able to pull off an Android phone -- I borrowed a MyTouch 3G from my cousin who doesn't need it anymore. I was going to buy it if it worked out well and replace my work phone. Unfortunately there are apparently different data plans for Blackberry vs MyTouch, and since it is a work plan, I can't swap phones &gt;:(





I guess I'll have to wait a year for my contact to expire -- oh well, I guess there should be some nicer phones coming out in the next year.

[btcs41]

Hey AGErs. Looking for recommendations here. Thinking of going Android. Should I wait for the Incredible or go for an existing phone? I really only want it for dependable voice (I hate AT&amp;T), instant messaging, google calender, facebook, twitter. uploading vids/pics to FB would be cool too. I am contract free with verizon. I've got that new every two deal.




Thanks in advance!

[dboss]

Hey AGErs. Looking for recommendations here. Thinking of going Android. Should I wait for the Incredible or go for an existing phone? I really only want it for dependable voice (I hate AT&amp;T), instant messaging, google calender, facebook, twitter. uploading vids/pics to FB would be cool too. I am contract free with verizon. I've got that new every two deal.




Thanks in advance!





I think that's a tough call mainly because the Incredible isn't out yet. Looks like the specs have been leaked though. Check here (http://www.androidcentral.com/want-more-verizon-htc-incredible-specs).

I think your best choices would be the Droid or the Incredible. The HTC is newer, has a faster processor, Wireless N, etc. but again its a new device so there could be problems. I absolutely LOVE my Droid and look forward to Motorola announcing the Droid 2 at some point, hopefully without a keyboard. If you planned on rooting your phone, IMO the Droid would be a better choice as it has a larger development community with more ROM's, kernel's, etc. available and with the ability to overclock, the Droid is lightning fast. Also, as far as the call quality goes, its the best cell phone I've ever owned. Sometimes I feel like I'm on a landline because the call quality is loud and clear with zero issues. Perhaps that's just because I wasn't impressed with the call quality on my BB Curve, but this phone is pretty good. Honestly, as long as a phone runs fairly fast and isn't buggy I think the Android experience would be pretty consistent from phone to phone as what you're looking for can be handled by either of these phones without any problems. The Incredible would have HTC's sense UI, but since Helixlauncher is available from the Android Market I think that advantage is somewhat muted at this point.

[Sharky]

Hey AGErs. Looking for recommendations here. Thinking of going Android. Should I wait for the Incredible or go for an existing phone? I really only want it for dependable voice (I hate AT&amp;T), instant messaging, google calender, facebook, twitter. uploading vids/pics to FB would be cool too. I am contract free with verizon. I've got that new every two deal.
For the Verizon network, I would wait for either the Incredible or Nexus One.

For the Sprint network, I would wait for the Nexus One or Evo.

I am doing a Family Plan with friends, so I am going to be able to get the Verizon all you can eat fro $64 a month (would be $46 with Sprint) - with discounts. If I was not doing this, I would go with Sprint. Because their individual plans are much more affordable. I think Verizons individual plan was somewhere arount $90, where Sprints was $70.

Personally, I am planning on going with the Incredible.

[dboss]

Hey AGErs. Looking for recommendations here. Thinking of going Android. Should I wait for the Incredible or go for an existing phone? I really only want it for dependable voice (I hate AT&amp;T), instant messaging, google calender, facebook, twitter. uploading vids/pics to FB would be cool too. I am contract free with verizon. I've got that new every two deal.
For the Verizon network, I would wait for either the Incredible or Nexus One.

For the Sprint network, I would wait for the Nexus One or Evo.

I am doing a Family Plan with friends, so I am going to be able to get the Verizon all you can eat fro $64 a month (would be $46 with Sprint) - with discounts. If I was not doing this, I would go with Sprint. Because their individual plans are much more affordable. I think Verizons individual plan was somewhere arount $90, where Sprints was $70.

Personally, I am planning on going with the Incredible.





Possible note about the Nexus One, from everything I've read its not going to be sold directly by Verizon but you'd have to purchase from Google. I don't believe Google would honor your New Every Two discount and you'd have to pay the full subsidized price for the phone (I think its $180). Also, make sure you're aware that there MIGHT be a problem with the Amoled screen on the Nexus One. I believe Virtual linked to an article earlier in this thread with descriptions of the possible issue.

[virtual-human]

FWIW if that screen issue is important to you, you may want to see if the Incredible uses the same one (it is also an 800x480 AMOLED). Otherwise, best phone between these = personal preference/priorities IMO (eg keyboard, processor, Sense UI, possible benefits of OS updates from a Google-direct phone).





@dboss - you are light years up the curve from me at the moment, editing the framework and hex directly. I may slowly get there as the urge to tweak is srong with this phone. [:)] I have installed the JAVA SDK and the Android SDK. Now I just need to use it. My plan is to force myself to use it to install Mobile Defense as a system app rather than trying to use Root Explorer. So hopefully soon.

[dboss]

@dboss - you are light years up the curve from me at the moment, editing the framework and hex directly. I may slowly get there as the urge to tweak is srong with this phone. http://adultgamingenthusiasts.com/emoticons/emotion-1.gif I have installed the JAVA SDK and the Android SDK. Now I just need to use it. My plan is to force myself to use it to install Mobile Defense as a system app rather than trying to use Root Explorer. So hopefully soon.



Here's a step-by-step article I used to learn how to do it. LINK (http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/29287-metamorph-wont-apply-framework-res-ese53-noob-guide-adb-pull-push-theming.html)

If you end up trying it I think you'll find its far easier than you think. I hear ya on the tweaking though as I'm beginning to lose that paranoia that I'll brick the phone which might not be a good thing and I keep thinking of different things I want to modify. I don't think that swapping a few files out here and there will cause a problem, but just as I say that I'm sure it'll happen. [A]

[virtual-human]

Thank you. I have a few bookmarked, but that one looks better.
The Rescue Squad is doing good work over there.


I'm sure it probably will turn out pretty simple, just like update.zips and SPR and nandroids did. I lost the paranoia there, because it's pretty clear that the worst you'll do (knock on wood...) is get a bootloop, and BFD. Not that I've had that happen yet.


What you're doing does scare me a bit though, simply because I DO NOT WANT to have to find out how well RSDLite works firsthand. From everything I've read it's a pretty crappy piece of software and can take several times to "get it to stick" and flash the phone even when you're doing it right, with the ever-present - however small - chance that it could F up the phone completely because it's at such a low level of code.

[Nitereaver]

Well i was tossing around the thought of rooting my droid but the 2.1 update just hit my phone the other day so now the only thing I would really want to do is o/c. Is there an easy way to O/C withouth jumping through all the rooting hoops?

[Toothcake]

Well i was tossing around the thought of rooting my droid but the 2.1 update just hit my phone the other day so now the only thing I would really want to do is o/c. Is there an easy way to O/C withouth jumping through all the rooting hoops?






Not that I know of.

[dboss]

Well i was tossing around the thought of rooting my droid but the 2.1 update just hit my phone the other day so now the only thing I would really want to do is o/c. Is there an easy way to O/C withouth jumping through all the rooting hoops?






Not that I know of.



Unfortunately it won't work. The stock kernel doesn't support speeds above 550MHz.

[virtual-human]

Unfortunately, the best thing for anyone with an interest in rooting to do, was to do it before the update so they could block the update. As of now, the only way to root if you are on official 2.1 update, is to basically flash the phone to like-new 2.01 the same way a tech would in a VZW store, with RSDLite and the .sbf. It's still [very] unlikely, but if something does go wrong, you could actually brick a phone doing this. But you can't root stock 2.1 directly.

[dboss]

Unfortunately, the best thing for anyone with an interest in rooting to do, was to do it before the update so they could block the update. As of now, the only way to root if you are on official 2.1 update, is to basically flash the phone to like-new 2.01 the same way a tech would in a VZW store, with RSDLite and the .sbf. It's still [very] unlikely, but if something does go wrong, you could actually brick a phone doing this. But you can't root stock 2.1 directly.






Good point. Forgot about that 'slight' issue. [:P]

Related to the differences between the 1GHz Snapdragon and the Droid's stock CPU performance, here's a video Android Central posted with a comparison between the two running Google Earth which is obviously pretty graphic intensive. Couple of things I noticed...The Droid's screen appears FAR brighter and more detailed than the Nexus One's screen and for all the hype about Snapdragon when it was first introduced, it doesn't seem to offer that large of an, if any, advantage over a Droid's stock CPU setting.




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[Wokisan]

Gina Trapani just highlighted a cool app on TWiG called AppBrain.


It syncs with your phone and shows a listing of your apps making them easier to share, compare, andrecommendnew apps with others.


It is a little scary sharing your app library but we have done it here already soooooooooo here goes....


http://www.appbrain.com/user/Wokisan

[Wokisan]

I do have to mention that it is a GREAT way to discover new apps. I also have been using AppLib (I think that is the name). And you can install apps from the web.

[HeartbreakRidge]

FYI, all is not well (http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/22/google-no-longer-investigating-fix-for-nexus-one-3g-issues-ad/) in Nexus One land. Pity, because it was the only possible smart phone option through Cincinnati Bell I'd have considered.

[dboss]

Gina Trapani just highlighted a cool app on TWiG called AppBrain.


It syncs with your phone and shows a listing of your apps making them easier to share, compare, andrecommendnew apps with others.


It is a little scary sharing your app library but we have done it here already soooooooooo here goes....


http://www.appbrain.com/user/Wokisan







Damn!! I've been using this app for awhile but I didn't know you could share your app info. Guess I should have looked more into it! Anyways, VERY cool! My info is below:

http://www.appbrain.com/user/dboss/apps-on-the-phone

[Booyabobby]

Gina Trapani just highlighted a cool app on TWiG called AppBrain.


It syncs with your phone and shows a listing of your apps making them easier to share, compare, andrecommendnew apps with others.


It is a little scary sharing your app library but we have done it here already soooooooooo here goes....


http://www.appbrain.com/user/Wokisan












Wow I thought i was the only one who watches TWIG.

[Toothcake]

FYI, all is not well (http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/22/google-no-longer-investigating-fix-for-nexus-one-3g-issues-ad/) in Nexus One land. Pity, because it was the only possible smart phone option through Cincinnati Bell I'd have considered.









That really sucks.

[Wokisan]

Gina Trapani just highlighted a cool app on TWiG called AppBrain.


It syncs with your phone and shows a listing of your apps making them easier to share, compare, andrecommendnew apps with others.


It is a little scary sharing your app library but we have done it here already soooooooooo here goes....


http://www.appbrain.com/user/Wokisan












Wow I thought i was the only one who watches TWIG.






I am a podcast monster...I basically listen to a ton of tech podcasts all day at work from Monday to Wednesday.


The Android/Google ones I listen to are TWiG, Android Central, Android App Show, and This Week in Android. As far as phone podcasts I also listen to the Palmcast and the Crackberry.com Podcast....even though I don't have a Pre or a Blackberry.....[:$]

[btcs41]

Well, Fedex came early yesterday and the Incredible is in my hands! I've only played with it for maybe an hour but it is everything I hoped it would be. Super quick, nice camera, great reception, sweet apps. So far Ive only downloaded advanced task killer, pandora, and handcent sms. fm tuner works pretty well--interested to try it on the train (for NPR, Fm sports station).





Now to go back and look through your kind lists of fav apps!

[Wokisan]

OK, I'm starting to see video how-tos out there to root a Droid that has been updated to 2.1


The only thing scaring me is now 2.2 is imminent and supposedly going to be released at an event in May I think. Still I think I'm going to go ahead and do it. I want to overclock my phone.

[Booyabobby]

I still have one year left on my contract and I really want the Incredible.

















Gina Trapani just highlighted a cool app on TWiG called AppBrain.


It syncs with your phone and shows a listing of your apps making them easier to share, compare, andrecommendnew apps with others.


It is a little scary sharing your app library but we have done it here already soooooooooo here goes....


http://www.appbrain.com/user/Wokisan












Wow I thought i was the only one who watches TWIG.






I am a podcast monster...I basically listen to a ton of tech podcasts all day at work from Monday to Wednesday.


The Android/Google ones I listen to are TWiG, Android Central, Android App Show, and This Week in Android. As far as phone podcasts I also listen to the Palmcast and the Crackberry.com Podcast....even though I don't have a Pre or a Blackberry...../emoticons/emotion-10.gif












I to listen to This Week in Android. Any Leo Laporte hosted show on TWIT Tv I watch. You may like App Judgement on Revision3. They do apps for Iphone, Ipad, Android or any smartphone. I may have to check out Android Central and Android App show.

[Sharky]

Well, Fedex came early yesterday and the Incredible is in my hands!
I will be picking mine up at the store tomorrow. Cant wait



<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://www.appbrain.com/api/api.nocache.js"></script>

[Sharky]

So far I am liking the incredible a lot. Swype is awesome. Screen is great. I font understand where all the nexus complaints are coming from. Assuming this is the same screen.

[MarkcusD]

I'm looking at getting the HTC EVO 4G when it comes out. How is the internet browser on android?

[CMorrigu]

I'm looking at getting the HTC EVO 4G when it comes out. How is the internet browser on android?


Same here.


The current browser on my Hero works very well, much better than the mobile IE on my Mogul. I can only imagine that having a better processor, more memory, and a much faster connection will make browsing a plesure on the EVO.

[Moby14995]

So far I am liking the incredible a lot. Swype is awesome. Screen is great. I font understand where all the nexus complaints are coming from. Assuming this is the same screen.






I may have an opportunity to get a new phone in the next couple of weeks and I'm looking pretty strongly at this one. It would either be that or the Droid, but I'm not sure if I really need the physical keyboard or not.

[virtual-human]

So far I am liking the incredible a lot. Swype is awesome. Screen is great. I font understand where all the nexus complaints are coming from. Assuming this is the same screen.






I may have an opportunity to get a new phone in the next couple of weeks and I'm looking pretty strongly at this one. It would either be that or the Droid, but I'm not sure if I really need the physical keyboard or not.






If you can wait, Moby, the early rumors from people proven to be in the know on Howard Forums is that there's a Motorola device called the Shadow that will come out probably in June that will smoke the Incredible.


Of course, there's always a latest and greatest around the corner, and after that, it's supposed to be the Droid 2/"Pro" probably around October...

[VDub2174]

OK, I'm starting to see video how-tos out there to root a Droid that has been updated to 2.1



The only thing scaring me is now 2.2 is imminent and supposedly going to be released at an event in May I think. Still I think I'm going to go ahead and do it. I want to overclock my phone.






I've been reading up on how to update my Moment with 2.1 but I know it'll be out soon officially so I'm not sure if I wanna go through with it or not.

[Wokisan]

OK Virtual, Toothcake, and the rest of you rooters....I'm in the process of rooting my Doid right now using thesemethods.




http://www.droid-life.com/2010/04/13/video-flashing-sprecovery-sbf-to-stock-2-1/
http://www.droid-life.com/2010/04/20/video-installing-stock-2-1-with-root-access/
after that I will attempt to catch my breath and figure out if I want to try a custom ROM
or
keep stock 2.1 with root access so I can overclock.






[:|][+o(]

[Wokisan]

OK, so I got SPRecovery on my phone. Now for the next part................

[virtual-human]

LOL, way to go, Wok. Flashing stuff with SPR is the easy part!


I just moved to a new ROM last night. Very fast, very stable. I can recommend it without any reservations. Here you go:


http://www.droidforums.net/forum/bugless/41770-rom-bugless-beast-v1-0-ese81.html


Just make sure that the FIRST THING YOU DO in SPR is make a backup - before you go flashing ANYTHING. If you want to be really anal, it doesn't hurt to copy the backup (they're called nandroids in the fancypants speak) to your computer just in case.


Have fun. [8-|]

[Wokisan]

LOL, way to go, Wok. Flashing stuff with SPR is the easy part!


I just moved to a new ROM last night. Very fast, very stable. I can recommend it without any reservations. Here you go:


http://www.droidforums.net/forum/bugless/41770-rom-bugless-beast-v1-0-ese81.html


Just make sure that the FIRST THING YOU DO in SPR is make a backup - before you go flashing ANYTHING. If you want to be really anal, it doesn't hurt to copy the backup (they're called nandroids in the fancypants speak) to your computer just in case.


Have fun. /emoticons/emotion-15.gif






so let's just say I didn't make a backup.......[:$]


It didn't say anything about that in the instructions...ooops

[virtual-human]

It's not the end of the world...


Just make one now. If, for some reason (and IMHO the only reasons are selling the phone or
bringing it back for an unrelated to rooting warranty/insurance claim
like a broken button or something) you want to go back to stock, there
are plenty of ways do it, like .sbf again, or I think, a bone stock
theme in ROM Manager. It's not like you could have made a backup of your
bone stock system before the .sbf anyway, since you had no root or SPR. But flashing a nandroid is lots easier once you start to have things tweaked.


Then, make one whenever you're going to do something that could screw things up, such as installing a ROM, a theme, anything in MetaMorph, or anything you're applying from recovery, pretty much. That is, if you want a quick and easy way to go back to whatever state your phone is in. I would at least make one every time you are about to flash a new ROM (and when you get it set up just how you want it).


Also, you may want to read up on Titanium Backup (get the paid version - $4, which allows batch restores instead of clicking through for each app) because it makes it really easy to set things back up when you flash ROMs. I even can load the app data and have my Helix homescreens set up for me, minus widgets. Just remember to only load app data and not the apps themselves when switching between a source ROM (Cyanogen, Simply Stunning, JRummy) and other ROMs (Bugless Beast, Redrum chaos, etc).

[Wokisan]

It's not the end of the world...


Just make one now. If, for some reason (and IMHO the only reasons are selling the phone or
bringing it back for an unrelated to rooting warranty/insurance claim
like a broken button or something) you want to go back to stock, there
are plenty of ways do it, like .sbf again, or I think, a bone stock
theme in ROM Manager. It's not like you could have made a backup of your
bone stock system before the .sbf anyway, since you had no root or SPR. But flashing a nandroid is lots easier once you start to have things tweaked.


Then, make one whenever you're going to do something that could screw things up, such as installing a ROM, a theme, anything in MetaMorph, or anything you're applying from recovery, pretty much. That is, if you want a quick and easy way to go back to whatever state your phone is in. I would at least make one every time you are about to flash a new ROM (and when you get it set up just how you want it).


Also, you may want to read up on Titanium Backup (get the paid version - $4, which allows batch restores instead of clicking through for each app) because it makes it really easy to set things back up when you flash ROMs. I even can load the app data and have my Helix homescreens set up for me, minus widgets. Just remember to only load app data and not the apps themselves when switching between a source ROM (Cyanogen, Simply Stunning, JRummy) and other ROMs (Bugless Beast, Redrum chaos, etc).






ok...backing up now. It didn't go to SPRecovery though. It went to Clockwork Recovery....I guess cause I installed ROM Manager.


Well, enough adventure for one day I guess. Gonna run this stock for a lil bit with an OC and then venture out into Custom ROM land later this week.

[virtual-human]

Right on. FWIW, I trust SPR a little bit more than Clockwork/ROM Manager. Koush is clearly a genius, and constantly adding new stuff to RM, but it also can be buggy. But that's just me being cautious because of my first experiences with rooting/ROMing, when there was a build that wasn't making backups correctly. But if you read the problem threads in the forums, you see a good amount of issues with it. Most common thing these days is people losing root. (The easiest fix for that, btw, is restoring your nandroid you make before flashing a new ROM.)


Having said that, I just used it today to grab the stock font from the forkup/skaggz section to replace the BB NexTheme font. It is a very convenient way of doing stuff. But booting into recovery and applying update.zips is super easy, too.

[Toothcake]

It's not the end of the world...


Just make one now. If, for some reason (and IMHO the only reasons are selling the phone or
bringing it back for an unrelated to rooting warranty/insurance claim
like a broken button or something) you want to go back to stock, there
are plenty of ways do it, like .sbf again, or I think, a bone stock
theme in ROM Manager. It's not like you could have made a backup of your
bone stock system before the .sbf anyway, since you had no root or SPR. But flashing a nandroid is lots easier once you start to have things tweaked.


Then, make one whenever you're going to do something that could screw things up, such as installing a ROM, a theme, anything in MetaMorph, or anything you're applying from recovery, pretty much. That is, if you want a quick and easy way to go back to whatever state your phone is in. I would at least make one every time you are about to flash a new ROM (and when you get it set up just how you want it).


Also, you may want to read up on Titanium Backup (get the paid version - $4, which allows batch restores instead of clicking through for each app) because it makes it really easy to set things back up when you flash ROMs. I even can load the app data and have my Helix homescreens set up for me, minus widgets. Just remember to only load app data and not the apps themselves when switching between a source ROM (Cyanogen, Simply Stunning, JRummy) and other ROMs (Bugless Beast, Redrum chaos, etc).






ok...backing up now. It didn't go to SPRecovery though. It went to Clockwork Recovery....I guess cause I installed ROM Manager.


Well, enough adventure for one day I guess. Gonna run this stock for a lil bit with an OC and then venture out into Custom ROM land later this week.









Nice job! Don't sweat the initial backup through SPR too much. It's nice to have a Nandroid version to fall back on but it's definitely not a dealbreaker. Definitely look in to a backup app though -- either Titanium or MyBackupPro. Are you using SetCPU to manage the OC? If so, then configure your profiles ASAP. Bear in mind that SetCPU doesn't read the proper temperature (sometimes up to a 7 degree difference) so for the failsafe temp you may want to drop it down somewhere between 40-45C.


I'm willing to take bets that you don't make it until the end of the week before you start messing around with other ROMS though. [:D]

[Sharky]

I may have an opportunity to get a new phone in the next couple of weeks and I'm looking pretty strongly at this one. It would either be that or the Droid, but I'm not sure if I really need the physical keyboard or not.I came very close to getting the Moto Droid because of its physical keyboard. I was coming from an Evo and had got used to the hard keys, so I was a little scared of going to the soft keyboard. I then saw a video showing how Swype worked and was sold on the soft keyboard. The Swype input method is amazing. You dont even have to be accurate and it magically spells stuff for you. I giggle every time I use it because it works so well.

The Incredible phone is amazing. It is very smooth, no lag at all. Apps open in a split second and the Android OS is very user friendly. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Battery life is great too. Or at least it is for me. I dont sync all those bullshit Facebook and Twitter things, so I suppose that is why my battery life has been so good. The first charge I got 18 hours with moderate use, and the second charge I got 26 hours with light/moderate use. My buddy said he got 40 hours with light use. I am planning on getting the extended battery when it comes out. It is supposed to be about twice the charge, but only add a mm of width. Trust me, once you install Swype, you will never miss your physical kepboard again.

[Wokisan]

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/bugless/41770-rom-bugless-beast-v1-0-ese81.html


I see they have 2 files to download. So I would flash theESE81V1.zip (changing it to update.zip) but how/when would I install the patch(Email &amp; Mms App Updates)?

[Toothcake]

Swype didn't really take for me (even though I barely use the physical keyboard) but it is still an awesome program. As much as I love my Droid, the physical keyboard very quickly takes a back seat unless you're playing games on an emulator. If the only thing holding someone up from buying an Incredible is the keyboard, thrn i'd just bite the bullet and get an Incredible. Odds are you won't miss the keyboard once you get used to the touch screen. Either way though, you can't goo wrong with Android.

[Toothcake]

Wok -
For the patches and extra apps, installing them is usually the same as installing the ROM. Rename the patch to update.zip and install via SPR

[virtual-human]

Tooth - If you haven't tried Ti Backup, I recommend looking into it over MyBackupPro. The reason I'd recommend it without even a mention of MBP is because Ti is the only one on the market that can restore broken Market links so that your apps will be updated from the Market. Also, what ROMs do you run again? You've been doing this a lot longer than me so interested to hear what you like. And did you follow all that UD drama? Lulz.


Wok - like Tooth said, rename it to update.zip (right click and use "properties" and type in "update" in the name field to make sure it's not update.zip.zip) and put it on the sdcard, not in any folders. If you are using SPR. In Clockwork, I don't believe you have to rename it, and you can put it anywhere you want and search for it. Or you could just use ROM Manager to automate this whole process. Just make sure you choose both options to wipe data and cache prior to installing. Honestly though, you're better off NOT using Rom Manager the first time, so that if something goes wrong and you get stuck in a boot loop (not a big deal, really) you are already comfortable using recovery to fix things. Like I said, personal preference for SPR over CW although at this moment CW is my recovery image so go figure... If you have a backup in both SPR and CW formats on your phone, that really is the safest way to go, so that you don't get caught with your pants down whichever recovery you happen to be using. Like I said, anal about this stuff...


To answer your other question, if using SPR since that's what you wree describing, once you apply the ese81 update.zip, you rename the patch, go into recovery, hit install, hit allow, hit install deprecated, just like the ROM. Then you do it again for whatever kernel you want (I recommend sticking to stock or the 800MHz for now - otherwise you may get boot loops AND you need to worry about heat - take it slow...), and a theme (IMHO NexTheme looks better than this version of Smoked Glass).


Enjoy your toy. [:D]

[Moby14995]

If you can wait, Moby, the early rumors from people proven to be in the know on Howard Forums is that there's a Motorola device called the Shadow that will come out probably in June that will smoke the Incredible.


Of course, there's always a latest and greatest around the corner, and after that, it's supposed to be the Droid 2/"Pro" probably around October...






I don't think I'll have the opportunity to wait. Depending on what happens, I may be needing a new phone around mid-May and won't have the chance to wait it out.


It is amazing how fast they are coming out with new phones that smoke the older (by a few months) phones.

[Toothcake]

Tooth - If you haven't tried Ti Backup, I recommend looking into it over MyBackupPro. The reason I'd recommend it without even a mention of MBP is because Ti is the only one on the market that can restore broken Market links so that your apps will be updated from the Market. Also, what ROMs do you run again? You've been doing this a lot longer than me so interested to hear what you like. And did you follow all that UD drama? Lulz.









Hahaha, it's funny you mentioned the CM/UD drama because I actually installed UD10 as soon as it came out (all the pimpage by Black Droid got me curious) and AS SOON as I saw the KDFDM quote I started scratching my head. I started playing around with it and started noticing the similarities and went on to the forums...right in to the middle of the drama. BD's "I'm Back" post pretty much showcased how much of a douche he is and I cut UD and went back to BB. BD's always been much more responsive than Koush, but (apparently) is no where near the same skillset. It's a fairly minor issue that I don't care that much about, and I know it's open source, but don't rip-off someone wholesale and then begrudingly give credit where it's due.


I'll definitely give Ti a look-see. I like that MBP backs up to a server, but I do hate having to deal with the constant updates whenever I do a restore.


Pete (of Bugless Beast) has been on point with his releases and I like how he trims the useless default apps. I'm all about open platform and I like not having to sort through junk that I can't delete. I just hope he turned off the camera noises in 1.0, and that he integrates Helix at some point. I like CM and I hear good things about Smoked Glass, but I just keep coming back to BB.

[virtual-human]

Yeah BD sure was a giant douche about it. When people are calling you out on checksums, it's probably a bad time so say you forgot a clock app. And a week after you accused Koush of being greedy in the way he runs ROM Manager... I don't get how so many people kept [keep!] donating to him now that they know he was stealing credit for others' work. Koush and Cyanogen deserved most of those donations(IMHO). People should be informed they're donating to a themer and not a dev. That doesn't even have to be a bad thing, look at how awesome JRummy's stuff is, and how much props people give him...


Since you like CM - I ran Simply Stunning for a month. Chevy built 3.0 &amp;.3.1 on Koush/CM source so you may enjoy checking it out. I LOVED the blue theme and it was very stable. He's been out of the game for a few weeks (ATV accident followed by vacation) and I got bored so I jumped over to BBv1 when pete posted the official release. He did indeed turn off camera sounds, btw. I'm running Helix and deleted the stock launcher. I wouldn't be surprised if he'll include that and who knows what else in 1.1, because he said in his post that he had a lot of things planned that he left out because he is recovering from tonsil surgery and just wanted to get it released since so many people were using the leaked version.

[Wokisan]

So, running Bugless beast overclocked kernel at 800 Mhz. Man, the phone feels 'quick'. Now just gotta decide on a theme. I like the SPR method...really not hard at all. The only other thing I need to figure out is the option scripts...I'm not quite sure how to install them or which ones I should want to install.

[Wokisan]

If I install NexTheme.....will it cause any issues when I restore my apps/app data from Titanium Backup?

[virtual-human]

The phone sure is quicker [8-|] I'm running 800MHz as well.


Themes will not mess up anything in Ti Backup. Make a nandroid first though, because there's no way to undo a theme if you don't like it, except restoring a backup. And technically you're not supposed to apply themes over the top of each other (I did) so you should have a backup to play it safe in case you want to change themes or if you do apply over the top and something doesn't work.


To do scripts, you need to use the Terminal Emulator app in your app drawer. It should ask you to Allow Root. Make sure you do this and give it Superuser Permissions before using scripts or nothing will happen. (If it doesn't ask for root - for some reason it didn't for me - type su and hit enter. If that doesn't work, exit the app and launch again.) So, once you allowed it root, type, for example:


su (and then hit enter - to get root permissions)
sysrw (hit enter to change permissions to read/write)
droidboot (hit enter - you will then see some text which says it changed the boot animation)
rmmp3 (hit enter - removes Amazon MP3 app)
sysro (hit enter)
exit (hit enter - back to read only)


You don't have to run any of these, and a lot of them are not really installing anything. They're just a convenient and quick way to customize stuff, mainly by removing apps bundled into the ROM that folks don't want, such as Amazon MP3, corp cal, the default calculator app if you use a scientific one, etc. That stuff you could also use a file manager like Root Explorer for; this is just quicker. Some of the stuff is custom, like changing the free memory in the native system task manager. And the boot one is a nice, quick way to get a faster boot. The switch commands are also just a faster way of doing things, when you throw a file you've downloaded onto your sdcard. But don't worry about what you "should" do with these - it's only if you want to.


One last thing you <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">must do> may want to consider, since you're overclocked - especially if you use the car dock and GPS - is temperature monitoring and CPU profiles. Even though pete is actually recommending against SetCPU as he incorporated his own OC and CPU scaling into this build, it's a safer way to do things. Because without profiles, you don't have a failsafe for high temps, or automatically throttle it back when it's on the charger. I cap both of those at 550MHz to prevent damaging the phone. I've still seen it in the high 120s Farenheit in the car charger with GPS. There are also profiles where you can scale it back based on battery charge remaining. And a fun widget.


Then there's TempMonitor, which monitors the CPU as well as the battery temp, which is how I got the number above. Between these two apps it was like 3-4 bucks total. Definitely worth it if you are overclocking.

[Sharky]

You guys a crazy with these phones! I am still enjoying my stock options ... for now [6]
I can see myself eventually rooting my Incredible once it is able, mainly to just get rid of all the bloatware. I cant stand having applications installed that I do not use. Hopefully Froyo remedies this and allows users to truely uninstall everything except the OS.

[Wokisan]

The phone sure is quicker http://adultgamingenthusiasts.com/emoticons/emotion-15.gif I'm running 800MHz as well.


Themes will not mess up anything in Ti Backup. Make a nandroid first though, because there's no way to undo a theme if you don't like it, except restoring a backup. And technically you're not supposed to apply themes over the top of each other (I did) so you should have a backup to play it safe in case you want to change themes or if you do apply over the top and something doesn't work.


To do scripts, you need to use the Terminal Emulator app in your app drawer. It should ask you to Allow Root. Make sure you do this and give it Superuser Permissions before using scripts or nothing will happen. (If it doesn't ask for root - for some reason it didn't for me - type su and hit enter. If that doesn't work, exit the app and launch again.) So, once you allowed it root, type, for example:


su (and then hit enter - to get root permissions)
sysrw (hit enter to change permissions to read/write)
droidboot (hit enter - you will then see some text which says it changed the boot animation)
rmmp3 (hit enter - removes Amazon MP3 app)
sysro (hit enter)
exit (hit enter - back to read only)


You don't have to run any of these, and a lot of them are not really installing anything. They're just a convenient and quick way to customize stuff, mainly by removing apps bundled into the ROM that folks don't want, such as Amazon MP3, corp cal, the default calculator app if you use a scientific one, etc. That stuff you could also use a file manager like Root Explorer for; this is just quicker. Some of the stuff is custom, like changing the free memory in the native system task manager. And the boot one is a nice, quick way to get a faster boot. The switch commands are also just a faster way of doing things, when you throw a file you've downloaded onto your sdcard. But don't worry about what you "should" do with these - it's only if you want to.


One last thing you <span style="text-decoration:line-through;">must do> may want to consider, since you're overclocked - especially if you use the car dock and GPS - is temperature monitoring and CPU profiles. Even though pete is actually recommending against SetCPU as he incorporated his own OC and CPU scaling into this build, it's a safer way to do things. Because without profiles, you don't have a failsafe for high temps, or automatically throttle it back when it's on the charger. I cap both of those at 550MHz to prevent damaging the phone. I've still seen it in the high 120s Farenheit in the car charger with GPS. There are also profiles where you can scale it back based on battery charge remaining. And a fun widget.


Then there's TempMonitor, which monitors the CPU as well as the battery temp, which is how I got the number above. Between these two apps it was like 3-4 bucks total. Definitely worth it if you are overclocking.
Um. Another question. How would I reinstall the default browser. Had an incident with TI. LOL

[virtual-human]

LOL, Wok. Have you done a nandroid backup recently? That is the simplest way.


If you haven't and you don't want to go through the hassle of setting everything up again, there are several ways to get it back. A free one is using ADB to push the file. But that's complicated and I haven't bothered getting to know ADB yet, so let's scratch that. An easy way is using a file manager app to place the apk back where it needs to go. I don't think Astro can write to system, so I'm going to suggest Root Explorer. It costs $4, but it's handy to have for installing/removing apks anyway.


You actually already have another copy of the browser.apk - the update.zip you downloaded to install BB is just a zipped folder. If you open it up on your computer (DL another copy if you didn't save one...) you'll see a folder named "system", click, find the "app" folder, click, and find "Browser.apk". Hook your phone up by usb, and place the file on your sdcard. Unmount your phone, open Root Explorer, find the file, long press on it, select "move", then navigate to /system/app and select "paste" down there at the bottom of the screen. Then long press the file and click the option that says something about installing the apk. And that's all there is to it.





Sharky - I wouldn't be surprised if you want to root in a few months, if they have rooted the Inc by then (they should have). It's really fun to tinker and tweak. And yeah, I HATED the bundled apps cluttering up my app drawer. Even if they let you hide them without uninstalling, that would be something. But I wouldn't expect that in 2.2 - I thin kthey do it the way they do it because they want them there. Licensing agreements or who knows what.


Also - what we're doing really isn't that crazy - it's kind of actually the shallow end of the pool, still. It's pretty hard to **** the phone badly without really trying, and the minor screwups we might have probably won't do worse than send you into a boot loop where all you do is go into recovery and load a backup. No biggie. And if you do bork it, there's RSDLite and .sbf files to bail you out. That stuff is on a lower level though and there is actual potential to brick a phone.

[virtual-human]

Oh I forgot a step in Root Explorer - when you get to /system/app - look up in the top right corner and hit the button to change permissions to read/write so you can paste the apk there. After you install it, hit the button up there again to change permissions back to read only.

[Wokisan]

Hmm, no option to install it...just extract which dumps those contents in sdcard/extracted. Afterwards I still can't use the browser. I have Dolphin installed so no biggie I guess, it would just be nice to have the standard browser on there again. I might have to reinstall everything..grrrrrr.

[Wokisan]

Hmm, no option to install it...just extract which dumps those contents in sdcard/extracted. Afterwards I still can't use the browser. I have Dolphin installed so no biggie I guess, it would just be nice to have the standard browser on there again. I might have to reinstall everything..grrrrrr.Never mind. Instead of a long press, you just click the file to get install but it will not install properly. Well at least I'm learning the ins and outs of my phone...lol.

[dboss]

Wok - I've found that with some of the 'default' apps like Facebook, Maps, etc. there's a certain process you need to follow to fully remove the app from the phone. Unless you do this method, the new version won't install properly. I would just verify the info. below. Assuming this ends up being your problem, you would then just need to install the Browser.apk again.


<font size="3"><font color="#008aff">From a Root Explorer</font></font> Navigate to /system. Mount it as R/W. Navigate to /system/app. Delete Browser.apk. Navigate
back to /system. Mount as R/O. Reboot.

<font size="3"><font color="#008aff">Next Part
</font></font> Navigate to Settings Navigate to
Applications Navigate to Manage Applications Uninstall Browser or "com.google.android.apps.browser" (You may have to select
"Filters" by pressing your Menu button and select "All Applications") Install the newest available
version.




Hope that helps! If not, I'm stumped. [;)]

[virtual-human]

Nice, dboss. Well, I was close. [:P] Not having ever had to reinstall a stock app, I didn't know about the second part being necessary (I have removed that stuff for cleanup, just didn't know it was a requirement to reinstall...).

If you are ever looking for a faster reply than you get at AGE, Wok, droidforums is a a good source of information. Their search sucks but you Googling with site: thing works pretty well, and you should get a quick reply on a new thread if you need to make one.

So, how are you liking you phone as compared to stock? And how are you doing on battery life on this ROM? I got 24 hrs from the evening before to last night, in an area with extremely poor signal. I was pretty impressed...

[Wokisan]

Nice, dboss. Well, I was close. http://adultgamingenthusiasts.com/emoticons/emotion-4.gif Not having ever had to reinstall a stock app, I didn't know about the second part being necessary (I have removed that stuff for cleanup, just didn't know it was a requirement to reinstall...).

If you are ever looking for a faster reply than you get at AGE, Wok, droidforums is a a good source of information. Their search sucks but you Googling with site: thing works pretty well, and you should get a quick reply on a new thread if you need to make one.

So, how are you liking you phone as compared to stock? And how are you doing on battery life on this ROM? I got 24 hrs from the evening before to last night, in an area with extremely poor signal. I was pretty impressed...

Thanks fellas. I'll try it out when I get home. Yeah, I've been searching on droid-forums without much luck and have been hesitant to actually post there.

[Wokisan]

So, how are you liking you phone as compared to stock? And how are you doing on battery life on this ROM? I got 24 hrs from the evening before to last night, in an area with extremely poor signal. I was pretty impressed...

Ooops. Forgot to answer that part. I LOVE it. I really like the NexTheme layout except for the main background (but I use live wallpaper anyway). I haven't loaded any optional scripts yet but there are a few in the list that look interesting. I will continue to search around and see if I can find any other live wallpapers to add.

As far as battery life goes, it is just as good as before. I unplug around 7am and when I get home around 6pm I am usually still at 50 or 60 depending on how much I am on the web. I am still one of these peeps who plug-in every night...habit I guess.

Again I am sooo glad I decided to finally jump into rooting. It is scary at times but I think...if I can survive tons of reformats over the years on PCs I built then a phone should not be that much worse when you screw it up...lol.