The android cometh....

I have recently got back from holiday where I used Garmin maps on my E75 to redirect me around the traffic enroute to home. Garmin with google maps and occasional use of Ovi Maps was great on holiday for getting about. A quick lookup on google maps to find places then using the postcode in garmin to get me there by car. Or using the same postcode in Ovi maps for walking navigation. One wonders why we ever need maps. Well, due to the lack of 3g coverage and because I hadn't preloaded the Ovi Maps I still either needed a paper map or the preloaded Garmin maps.

On the journey home it was different because my phone required 5 manual reboots because Garmin kept freezing. I had even removed all of my memory hog applications to give it room to breathe with no luck. It worked fine taking me to my destination using this strategy until we neared the location. A swift stop and reboot fixed this, but why did I need 5 reboots yesterday. For this reason I love dedicated PND (personal navigation devices) They only do one thing of which is navigate and rarely crash. Whereas smartphones of which includes UIQ,S60 and windows mobile all have fits. If someone calls you they frustrate whether to take the call or carry on navigating to the extent they stop doing both. Then they rarely switch back to the navigation application after handling the call.

Finally I decided when I got back that I would look for an alternative device again. Whilst the E75 is a good device recent issues like this, the device slowing down (I only hard reset it 2 weeks ago) and now the slider is wobbling and the chrome surrond broken. I need a break from it so again its a good opportunity to try the competition as it will probably take a few weeks to repair, then its the usual 6 hour reinstall. I had bought 3 plastic surround cases to protect the phone but they all broke so off it will go back to the shop over the next few days.

I had rejected the thought of an android device earlier this year as there is a lack of space available to installed applications. However after listen to a recent podcast it is now possible to installed applications to the sd card if you either root the phone or installed an application to assit with this process.

Looking at the equivalent androids applications that I use on s60 the only missing ones are sms and call filter and an accounts manager like flying money. However I didn't have time to survey the homebrew libraries to see what is available there.

Looking at the phones for a little extra than a G1 I could get a G2 and recently the HTC hero is out. On reading about the hero, HTC have bastardised the Android OS for the better, but it does mean when Googke update Android you will not be able to update it OTA (over the air).

For this reason I decided to go with the G2 ie, Vodafone branded HTC Magic. I have ordered all of the accessories and it should be here over the coming days. There are several applications that I need to buy such as an Exchange sync, Ms office editors and sat nav but hopefully can test these beforehand.

The cupcake Os aka android 1.5 now looks more mature and it is possible to root (jailbreak) the phone. However there may be issues purchasing applications from market. But as usual these are all challenges ahead.

At this time I cannot comment if the device will last me. I had thought the E75 would have done but I have already said I am tiring of this. My 5800 is going on Ebay to part fund this purchase and possibly either the E75 or E90 but alas I do like the last device a lot. Nokia have really missed the boat with s60v5 so I seen no point hanging onto the device. 8 months on it is still slow, severe lack of ram and clunky to use. The G2 may well end up the same as my first iphone of which lasted only 2 months.

Later on in the year the E72 looks promising and the Pre is just around the corner. I have tinkered with the Pre Emulator and am imprest with the UI, how easy it is to set up and the general feel when using WebOS.
However there is a serious lack of applications available of which doesn't seem to be increasing in number. I am beginning to think until either the device reaches the rest of the world or if we wait another year, like android. Only then will we see more applications.

So the andoid finally cometh to me.... But how long will it stay?

The next generation

June is slowly becoming a month like christmas where everyone is waiting for announcements on the next generation of phones. This June already we have seen the release of the nokia N97, the Palm Pre and will shortly see the Apple Iphone 3GS.

Initially when the N97 was announced last year I had thought this was the ultimate Nokia to have. However after having a 5800 and almost killing the device expecting too much. My appetite for the N97 has been waviering. Initially I heard rumours of a slow processor and then memory issues. This in addition to me using an E63 influenced me to look at the e series devices again. I have had an E90 for over two years and recently blew the dust off it to use instead of the 5800 and before I got the E63 then the E75. It is still set up to go as a backup handset as soon as the newer ones fail me.

However looking at the recent next generation handsets the specs of a keyboard, hsdpa, built in gps and 3 megapixel autofocus camera are almost exactly the same. So when I look at the G2, the phone 3GS and Pre I find myself asking what else have they to offer. My E75 has the same specification and I am enjoying using this device because of the form factor plus it is smaller than the E90 for everyday use.

I have already mentioned that I have avoided the N97 due to memory and I am not prepared to part with my cash for disappointment.

The iphone 3GS whilst better specs with hsdpa, video recording and finally cut and paste is of no use as I need multitasking. What also surprises me is if you jailbreak an old iphone it can do video recording, mms and cut and paste. Why do apple force people to upgrade for new features when the current versions can do it?

The G2 whilst it looks interesting the number of applications for Android is too small.

Nokia haved just updated the e71 with the e72 which is of a similar form factor has a 5 megapixel camera, s60v3.2, a slightly modified keyboard, 3.5mm jack and a digital compass. It is a real shame this device wasn't announced a few weeks ago as I would have got this instead of my e75. I really do like the form factor and the spec of the device is excellent.

This then leaves the Pre. I am following this one closely and am hoping a gsm version will be released some time soon. Stuff magazine believe we will see this device in September 2009. Palm have been around for many years and have reinvented themselves with this device which will hopefully see them as pioneers again. Whilst the pre has a similar spec to the e75 and iphone 3gs minus 32gb of storage. The new webos in the phone is based on linux, can multitask and has a new gesture control system for driving the phone.

The pre has already been jailbroken and it will be interesting to see if palm follows other people's route of plugging the holes. Whilst there are security issues because of issues like this, I believe that the process of jailbreaking the iphone has contributed immensely to the application markets. Also with the pre being based on linux I am hoping just like the nokia internet tables such as the n800 and n810 that updates to the OS will be dynamic just as in linux, without the need to completely reflash the phone.

For me, the pre offers great web browsing, multitasking, ability to install 3rd party applications and is feature packed hardware and best of all has a keyboard. I loved the iphone web browsing but the rest of the device was too restrictive and there was no multitasking. I am expecting the pre to deliver the same experience and plug these shortfalls.

I have heard there are some technical issues with the pre and before I look at parting with my money I will investigate. I did this before the n97 and am glad I didn't jump in first and be disappointed.

Synergy on pre sounds really cool where it takes all of the contacts and calendars from google, exchange and facebook etc. It then consolidates these on the phone as one list. Again Palm is leading the way but it will be good to see if other manufacturers come up with something similar.

Being a multiple device user I am keen to see how the pre copes with updating and managing my exchange calendar and contacts alongside my nokias.

I recently tried the google sync for S60 again now it syncs calendar and contacts using mail4exchange. However it didn't want to work on the E75 so I canned the idea after an hour. I switched back to exchange and it just worked seamless. However my hosted exchange provider mail2web is now on exchange 2007 which does not work with evolution via owa. Owa only runs as the light interface via firefox. This has left me now running Outlook 2007 under crossover professional on Ubuntu using RPC over Http. Whilst I can view entries I cannot amend them. So one problem of syncing all my phones goes away so I am not tied to a Pc. But now I cannot view my info directly on the Pc without a half baked solution.

Anyway, after that digression I believe the Pre could be bigger than google android this year but could make or break palm.

Apple, Nokia and Android will continue to get stronger because they are big players. Palm has the potential to be big again but a gsm version of the pre needs to come out soon so the rest of us can try it. Should Palm not be successful with the Pre they should open source the web OS then hopefully this might help it take off. Failing that android and web os might merge but that is just wishful thinking.

Now looking to the second half the year I hope Nokia provide a touch screen version of the communicator with 8 megapixels and 32 gb storage. Hopefully Palm will increase the storage on the pre or add an SD slot. Possibly apple might crack the Iphone with multitasking through their push notifications.

Either way 2010 looks an interesting year already.