US Mobile Industry

When the HTC G1 was first released, I really wanted to throw down some money for one. Unfortunately for me, I was still with AT&T at the time. So I snagged an iPhone 3G instead. The iPhone turned out to be a damn fine phone, but I was still bitching to myself about going Android.

But I didn’t get a G1, did I? I’ve spent a year with my iPhone and eventually found the iPhone 3G to be too slow for me. Sometimes I spent too long waiting for an app to load or a picture to attach to an email. I was promised speed! Speed! The iPhone also didn’t provide all the functionality and apps I wanted, so I went ahead to jailbreak my phone. I hooked it up with cool things like SBSettings, GV Mobile, ultrasn0w, and cut/paste (before that feature was included in 3.0).

Jailbreaking the phone and downloading the best apps didn’t really do it for me. Syncing up the iPhone with gtkpod is not exactly easy.

After numerous Android handsets have been released since the G1, rumors spreading about the Nexus One arrived in 2009. Google finally made the announcement two days ago. Since my AT&T contract ends in a week, I decided it was time to make a decision. I furiously ordered my Nexus One soon after their announcement. They etched my name on it at no additional cost. It was estimated to ship in 72 hours because of that customization. Nonetheless, I received the phone the next day. The FedEx overnight was free. The $50 California tax was painful.

I’ve had the phone for 24 hours and I’ve already grown to love it. Here’s the breakdown of the things that rock:

• It’s really fast.
• It integrates very well with my Google account.
• There’s a feature to establish all calls through Google Voice, so no need for a GV Mobile app to handle the dialing process.
• The phone, like other Android handsets, can multitask. Apps can run in the background and fetch updates. twidoid rocks.
• Live wallpaper. Not a necessity, but adds a nice touch to an already beautiful interface. I hope they put out more of these in the marketplace.
• When you connect the data cable to your computer, the phone will ask if you want to mount it or not. Once it mounts, drag and drop those MP3s!
• I can “like” articles in Google Reader using the browser. That’s something I couldn’t do on my iPhone’s browser.
• Speech to text. Most, if not all, text fields have voice integration so you can say “US Mobile Industry” without having to type it in. It’s accurate. When I googled “Final Column”, Matthew whispered “boogers”. It interpreted it with amazing accuracy, “final column boogers.”
• Bluetooth integration with headphones is great. I haven’t tried it with any headsets, but my three BT headphones connected without issue. They work with music and calls. I was blasting Ronald Jenkees on my Nexus One while slaying fools in Dragon Age on my Xbox 360!
• 5MP camera. The camera app loads hella quick. It’s got a flash too. Macro shots are great.
• Facebook integration with your contact list.

There are some issues with the Nexus One:

• The battery runs very hot when charging with the wall adapter.
• USB charging is extremely slow and I don’t know why.
• The YouTube app isn’t as organized as the iPhone’s. Sometimes I just want to see all my latest subscriptions. I don’t want to pick through each channel.
• Dim that screen! According to the Battery Use section (Settings>About Phone>Battery Use), my screen takes up 56% of the battery usage.
• Ugly analog clock widget. This is just my opinion. I also have no idea if there’s a way to change its look or size. Settings anyone?
• Again, it looks like the widgets don’t seem to have a way to adjust settings. The picture frame widget is too narrow.
• I miss the Stanza app on the iPhone.

As much as I’ve read about Android, this new phone is actually my first thorough hands-on Android experience. If anything I mentioned in the pros and cons is incorrect, or if you have a solution for any of my issues, please post a comment below.

Oh, and the fate of my iPhone? I’ve left it at home on my Bose Sounddock as my clock radio.