Last summer the HTC EVO 4G kicked off the era of jumbo-sized smartphones in style with its 4.3-inch display. Since then the trend has been big, big, and bigger when it comes to high-end handsets, with the average full-touchscreen Android phone now sporting a 4-inch screen. Some devices — the Samsung Infuse 4G comes to mind — push the envelope with 4.5-inch screens and more are on the way. Rumor has it that even the next version of the iPhone could include a screen larger than what can be found on any previous version of the hardware, much to the chagrin of Steve Jobs. Point is, manufacturers continue to move towards larger screens with higher resolutions for enhanced media experiences, though it often comes at the cost of battery life and, some would argue, portability.
So we must ask the question: is bigger really better? Or do you long for the days when 3.7-inches was all you needed to get by? Sound off in the poll below and let us know.
Personal preference is a crazy thing. When evaluating what you consider to be the perfect phone, different people take different factors into consideration. After doing my LG Optimus 2X review I read a comment I found bizarre: one person really liked the device but the lack of a dedicated camera key really disappointed them.
My thought was, “Ummm… really?”
In my mind, dedicated camera key’s don’t serve much of a purpose any more. You can easily put the camera app on your homescreen and the on-screen picture button works just fine. If you’re trying to take a self-pic I can understand the interest, because it’s impossible to find the software button when the screen is pointed away from you. But the Optimus 2X and a lot of other phones now have front facing cameras where self-pics are equally easy with the on-screen button.
By the way, I’ve also found the action of pressing the dedicated camera key/button causes more wobble, jiggle, and therefore unintended blurriness than software keys. Perhaps I’ve just got shaky hands but I definitely prefer the software camera key.
But that’s why they call it personal preference, right? Even my own personal preferences change over time, too. I used to be a hardware keyboard fanatic and now I don’t see much of a point in using anything besides the touchscreen unless there is some ulterior motive like gaming with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play or SSHing into your server to perform administrative duties.
How about you? Do you prefer a dedicated hardware camera key or are you thinking “who needs another button?” and just want something showing on your software? Make sure you let us know WHY you voted the way you did!
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
How would you like to speak your mind on our main page? Maybe review an app, or game, or report the news you find relevant to you?
We’re considering a pilot-program enabling you to do just that. You email in posts about whatever you like, of course some guidelines would need to be followed to make sure your post makes it through, and we post it listing you as the writer with hyperlink to your virtual “home”. Let us know what you think.
We here at AndroidSPIN are looking at new ways to help the overall Android community and would like to know if this is something our readers would be interested in.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
Seeing I can’t pick a favorite at this time, I’m growing more and more attached to Sense UI, but like certain aspects of others. Which got me curious: what does everyone else think? So I figured I’d ask.
A recent survey conducted by research firm uSamp has uncovered some startling news. Among Verizon’s current Android and BlackBerry users, 56 percent are planning to switch to Apple’s iPhone when it launches next week. Additionally 26 percent of AT&T’s iPhone users also plan to make the move. We just aren’t buying it, and here is why.
The survey conducted polled a total of 727 people chosen from uSamp’s database. That number includes both AT&T customers and Verizon customers interviewed. Assuming that it breaks down evenly, that means that only roughly 364 members of the poll were actual Verizon smartphone users, a mere 0.004 percent of the 9.3 million smartphone subscribers added last year alone. While we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume their polling methods are fair and true, such a small sample size really can’t be representative of what half of Verizon’s smartphone subscribers will really do.
Remember, many users are locked in on two-year contracts and don’t plan on paying the fees it would cost to break such a contract. By the time their contract runs out, who knows if they will even want the iPhone anymore or if they will have been enticed by some other new Android or BlackBerry handset. We’re just not buying that over half of Verizon’s users of those handsets will jump ship for the iPhone, merely on the economics of it alone.
But don’t let our opinion be the true measure, we want your voice to be heard. Do you plan on ditching your current Verizon smartphone for the iPhone?
The big story has been Verizon’s 4G LTE, lately, and while it’s great to hear of the cities getting it and great to know that there are MiFi devices out ready to take advantage of it, we really just want to know how fast it really is. PC Mag decided to do some usage testing to figure out how fast you could consume data using Verizon’s network, which would in turn tell you how fast you’ll need to fork over an extra $10 if you hit that 5GB cap.
They claim to have hit the theoretical max of 21 Mbps – doing what, where, and when, they didn’t say – but that’s not what matters here: what matters is how fast you can hit that data cap before this stuff REALLY starts getting expensive. At those speeds, you’d be eating up your monthly allowance of 5GB in just 32 minutes. Ouch. Knocking it down a notch, if you were streaming HD Netlfix content – which eats up 3.8Mbps – you’ll hit the cap in just under 3 hours. And streaming Hulu content at 1Mbps will take you just under half of a day.
While we imagine folks won’t have an issue hitting their cap in everyday moderate usage once 4G LTE phones are on the market (which, for now, we’ll assume will have capped data plans), those who might rely on their phones as mobile hotspots will need to use it sparingly. There have been many instances where I’ve needed to use my phone as a mobile hotspot for long periods of time and even just browsing the web eats up a lot of bandwidth. Throw in a few quick trips to YouTube and you might be in trouble. Don’t expect to do any heavy lifting over Verizon’s network if you don’t have the extra money to throw at them.
How do you guys feel about this? Mobile data caps are nothing new, but does a pay-per-gigabyte model really make sense? Would you much rather prefer to be throttled? Verizon says that as their network will evolve, so may the pricing model. Let’s hope they ease up on their overage model before they turn too many folks away.
I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations this week concerning Kik, the BBM-like cross platform instant messaging application available for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. Kik is still pretty bare in features, but it’s quick, uses data (not SMS) and like BlackBerry Messenger has Delivered and Read confirmation of messages. The majority of these Kik conversations have focused on two key points: one, Kik’s amazing growth (upon release they went from 0 to a million users in 15 days and continue to grow) and two, the fact RIM kiked them out of App World and shut down their push service this week (see Kik’s plea and RIM’s official response).
While the Kik success story/controversy is an interesting one to discuss, the notion that keeps coming into my head when I start talking about Kik isn’t Kik itself, but rather Should Research In Motion offer BlackBerry Messenger as an app/service to other smartphone platforms? Let’s think about this. The rapid growth of Kik tells me the smartphone world wants a cross-platform BBM-style messenger client. To be the category killer of cross-platform smartphone messaging clients, you need infrastructure, a solid app and a critical mass of users. If a small startup can build an app like Kik and quickly establish their brand and score some awesome growth, just imagine what RIM could accomplish with their massive infrastructure, existing BlackBerry Messenger know-how and brand recognition and global marketing reach. If they decided to go this route, it wouldn’t take long for pretty much every smartphone owner to be BBMing, not just BlackBerry owners as it is now (it may not be true BBMing as BlackBerry users know it, but it would be something close enough). Who knows, BBMing could eclipse texting (SMS)!
So should RIM do it? Personally, I think they should. I get the reasons why they wouldn’t. RIM makes money from selling smartphones, and right now BlackBerry Messenger is one of those hooks that keeps people on BlackBerry and actually attracts some people to BlackBerry (I’ve heard stories from carrier reps where individuals walk into the store and ask for the phone that does BBM). But I don’t think this reasoning holds up long-term. As soon as a cross-platform BBM-style client emerges in the smartphone space and attains critical mass (ie. Kik or another), even if not as fully-featured as BlackBerry Messenger the hook of BBM starts to diminish. If it’s inevitable that a cross-platform BBM alternative is going to emerge down the road, is it not better for RIM to be the ones who put it out? There are some iPhone owners out there who no matter what are never going to own a BlackBerry (Apple fanboys!), but I bet those same people would rock BlackBerry Messenger on their iPhone.
Anyways… it’s something to ponder. Vote on our poll above and let us know what you think in the comments!
What could Sony Ericsson possibly have to bring into the light? What, oh what, could it be? OH, PlaySation Phone! While I have to strongly remind everyone that nothing is solid, WSJ was able to quote SE CEO Bert Nordberg as saying “There’s a lot of smoke, and I tell you there must be a fire somewhere”. Now, there are some other things that could be scheduled for that February D-Day, like the Anzu; which would line up with nicely with a rumored launch early next year.
SE, a joint venture between Sony and L.M. Ericsson Telephone, has been afraid of using the PlayStation name in their devices due to Sony’s belief that it may dilute the PlayStation branding.
I haven’t done a poll yet, so let’s have some fun:
If you’re not familiar with Kik, the concept is pretty simple. You can think of it as a cross-platform BlackBerry Messenger style of app. It’s still pretty basic in terms of functionality, but it does provide the R (read) and D (delivered) message stamps that makes BBM what it is, is pretty quick to use, and of course uses data instead of SMS. In the past few weeks especially, it’s been gaining momentum with a lot of downloads and usage among smartphone users.
The growth among BlackBerry users has been temporarily stunted though… I woke up this morning to see a Kik message on my BlackBerry Bold 9780 from the Kik team which says,
New downloads of Kik Messenger for BlackBerry devices have been temporarily suspended. Kik service for all existing users (including BlackBerry) is unaffected, as are new downloads for iPhone and Android devices. New BlackBerry downloads will resume as soon as possible.
No explanation was given as to why, but it does seem the Kik page is no longer showing in App World. I was reading through the reviews of Kik on App World this week and there were a ton of comments complaining that it killlled battery life after being installed. Could be we’ll see Kik again as soon as they clean up their coding a bit (though to be honest, I haven’t personally experienced too much of a battery drain when using Kik, though I do exit the program fully after using it and just open when I get push notification).
As for Kik usage itself, I’m curious to see where it’s at among CrackBerry readers. Take a vote on the poll above and let us know what you think of Kik in the comments!
BlackBerry Messenger. BBM. It’s one of those hooks that keeps sooo many of us loyal to BlackBerry. Once you’re connected to friends, family, co-workers and colleagues via BBM it’s hard to not be. Over the past few months we’ve really seen Research In Motion start pushing BlackBerry Messenger on commercials and in advertisements, including one of its newest and best features, BBM Groups.
If you’re reading this post on CrackBerry, I’m going to assume you know what BBM Groups are all about. If not, check out our BlackBerry 101 Lecture on BBM Groups. So the question I have today for CrackBerry Nation is how many BlackBerry Messenger Groups are you a member of? Cast your vote on the poll above and let us know!
Following the vote, let us know in the comments what kind of BlackBerry Messenger Groups you’re part of. Is it a social group for friends and family? A group for the people you work with? Maybe it’s a group for the sports team you play on. BBM Groups are one of those BlackBerry things that have really impacted my life for the better! So if you’re using Groups in a creative way, be sure to share your story with the community.
Seriously. I probably own more Apple products than the average hardcore Apple fanboy, and despite being BlackBerry addict #1 still have a lot of respect for Apple and Steve Jobs. That dude is smart. But at the same time, I’m starting to think he’s getting a little crotchety in his old age. Between antennagate and yesterday’s Apple earnings call, El Jobso is making a habit out of really smack talking on the competition, which is a bit tactless and classless if you ask me (besides, that’s what Smartphone Experts podcasts are for!).
If you missed what was said, jump on over to our sibling site TiPb.com for the blow by blow (Steve on Google’s openness, Steve on RIM, Steve on 7" tablets, live earnings call notes). Long story short, Jobs said RIM is going to have to fundamentally reinvent themselves if they want to catch up to the momentum Apple and Google have. I don’t disagree with that, but I do think QNX is that reinvention and the BlackBerry PlayBook is the first product of what I like to think of as the new RIM. But Steve even harped on the PlayBook (indirectly) by bashing all 7" tablets. Steve’s argument is that while you may think a 7" tablet should offer 70% of the experience of a 10", it doesn’t – it’s more like 45% because of the diagonal measure. Steve says for a great app experience you need 10 inches, and that simply increasing resolution of a 7" tablet isn’t the answer. Steve’s conclusion on 7" tablets is that he feels they’re all going to arrive DOA and that manufacturers will be learning the hard way that they need to make a 10" tablet for round 2. Why don’t you tell us how you really feel, Steve?
While I don’t disagree with Steve’s logic on why a physically bigger screen is better, I do disagree in his thinking that a device like the PlayBook is doomed before it starts. I think RIM is doing a smart thing by labeling the the BlackBerry PlayBook as the first Professional Tablet. Put it this way – the only time my iPad leaves my house is when I’m traveling and going to be stuck on a plane for a few hours, because the thing is too big to carry around with me (not to mention I still feel like a douche bag to pull it out in public). With the PlayBook small enough to slide into my inside coat pocket, I think it’ll get a lot more play. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of the iPad, so I’m really curious and hopeful that the BlackBerry PlayBook delivers a compelling user experience. I have high expectations for what RIM had better deliver in the PlayBook.
Since when has RIM ever been about making only one form factor of product? RIM is all about choice. Just look at their lineup of form factors for BlackBerry Smartphones. With the PlayBook hardware finalized, wouldn’t it be safe to assume RIM is already laying the design work for another tablet? Maybe a bigger one for consumers since the first one at 7" has been christened as a professional tablet? Doing the professional tablet first gives RIM time to build up their QNX app catalog, so it’s full of apps for when a 10" PlayBook 2 (or whatever they call it) gets announced. It’s not that RIM is making a mistake in building a 7" tablet. It’s that they’re starting off by differentiating themselves in a way that will allow them to carve out a niche and capitilize on their historical strengths, and from there will broaden out their product offering.
Anyways, vote where you stand on the size matters issue above, and sound off in the comments!
Last night marked the arguably geeky launch of the R2D2 special edition of the Motorola Droid 2. Verizon stores across the country held launch parties leading up to a midnight launch of the phone where there were cosplay contests, fun and games, and more. We didn’t get a chance to get out to any of the launch locations, but I’m sure some of you have. Did you go out at midnight to get this phone? If so, what was it like and what did your particular location do? How many people showed up? If you didn’t get the phone at midnight, will you be getting it at all? Let your voice be heard in the poll and comments section below!
You’re in luck. During the live event, Samsung announced that a Wi-Fi only version WOULD be available in the near future. I’m sure that’s a relief for folks who want the 7-inches of Android goodness but without the 2-year ball and chain. Although for some, having web access ANYWHERE with the tab is a monumental victory… Google Navigation, anyone?
The Galaxy Tab is an interesting product proposition and it will be interesting to see how it fares this holiday season. I can’t see it slumping but how well the apps operate on the device and how many apps are custom designed for the device will play a big part in reviews, which will play a big part in the purchase decision.
Let’s see what the early poll results are regarding potential purchasers?
In a surprise turn of events, it seems T-Mobile fans are eager to get the iPhone on T-Mobile and would rather purchase one over any current Android devices. Right nowy over at TmoNews, there is a poll asking your feeling on iPhone coming to T-Mobile and if you’d purchase one if it did. The topic, “Would You Buy A T-Mobile iPhone?”. The current results of the poll are not in Android’s favor. As of 2 a.m. Pacific time the votes look like this:
31% (1,806 votes) Hell yes, come to me Apple!
35% (2,051 votes) Only if T-Mobile kept their current pricing.
How is it Android is losing by more than 2 to 1? Could it be related to the popularity of Android or maybe big lack of cutting edge hardware available on T-Mobile’s network?
As far as rumor mills go, there is no official word that the iPhone is coming to T-Mobile in the near future. Will it at some point? It would be logical as it is a GSM phone. T-Mobile would be the most likely carrier to offer the device next. Do I think it would boost customers for T-Mobile? Absolutely! On a business side, bringing the iPhone to T-Mobile would deal quite a blow to AT&T. How many millions of iPhone users are out there already? There are over 3 million of them on the iPhone4 alone. So if even 1/4 of those people changed to T-Mobile, that’s 750,000 new activations. Not too shabby at all. I’m fairly sure more than 1/4 would change over to T-Mobile, especially if the antenna issue gets resolved.
Why am I ranting about the iPhone? If T-Mobile did launch the iPhone, could T-Mobile’s network handle the increased user load on the network’s infrastructure? T-Mobile’s network is more prepared for a device with such a large following. HSPA+ aka 4G, is rolling out to more cities and is expected to cover 185 million Americans by the end of the year. With only one confirmed official HSPA+ capable Android phone by T-Mobile (still not official on what it is yet though), is there enough bandwidth available for the iPhone and Android to share? Or will it be like a virus and eat us alive?
Here is my question. If or when the iPhone becomes available on T-Mobile, would you jump the Android ship and join the ranks of the iPhone users? If you would, is it because of the lack of cutting edge hardware available with Android?
I can with complete confidence say that I would never leave Android. Maybe I’m just crazy. Even with source not always being shared by the carriers, even with Motorola trying to lock down their devices and even with 45% of Android users on Android 1.6 (Donut), I won’t leave Android. I would be much happier on Android 1.5 (cupcake) on my G1 and open, than locked down and run by a dictator, but that’s just my 2 cents.
As we all know, the iPhone 4 has issues with how you hold it. Hold it a certain way and *poof* there goes your reception. Steve Jobs said in a press conference yesterday that all modern phones have this issue, including Android phones. I can personally say that I’ve never had an issue with any of my cell phones having an issue with how I hold them, much less my Android devices. What what about you? Does the way you hold your cell phone effect your reception?
We’d like to know. Vote in our poll and if you have noticed that your grip effects your reception, let us know what phone you have in the comments.
For more information on Android and the current Android mobile phones, check out our Android Guides
* Update: Well, after a few thousand quick votes it seems some 86% of us BlackBerry Bold 9700 users think El Jobso’s evidence is a big pile of BS. As for the 14% who think it may hold water, well, I’m sure some of those must be legit… but the numbers speak for themselves. Sorry Steve – it seems you became part of the media you like to beat up on with this one… making a story where one doesn’t actually exist. *
If you’re on the internet today anywhere near a tech website, you’ve probably heard and/or seen posts surrounding Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference that focused on the hoopla surrounding the device’s apparent antenna issues (check out TiPb.com’s full coverage). According to Apple, well, there are none. Phones aren’t perfect. And furthermore, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 they tested out apparently had antenna issues of its own too.
Apple’s test? Go to an area where you have full bars while holding the phone gingerly, then change that loose grip to a bit more of a death grip. They show off a video where the Bold 9700′s signal basically drops to one bar, until the death grip is released (click the image above to jump over to Apple.com and watch the whole video).
Since seeing the press conference, I’ve been trying to duplicate their results and I simply cannot do it. My Bold 9700′s antenna kicks ass from what I can tell (disclaimer: I’m not on AT&T, but rather Rogers, so maybe Rogers kick a bit of ass too for signal coverage). I either get no drop in coverage, or after realllllly covering up the phone i see a temporary drop of a couple of bars, but only for a second or two, and then the bars come back up to basically full. RIM has been building radios for a lonnnng time. I’m guessing it senses the sudden drop in signal strength and automatically ramps up the power to increase it to full bars again. I’m no engineer though, so I hope somebody smarter than me comes forward to shed more light on this (hopefully RIM does).
In the meantime, if you have a BlackBerry Bold 9700, put it to the test. Can you duplicate Apple’s results? Or are you seeing what I’m seeing… no issues at all. Cast your vote and sound off in the comments. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of the new smartphone antenna debate.
As announced yesterday by DC Comics, Wonder Woman is getting a new look and — at least for a while — a new origin:
Wonder Woman's New Look, designed by Jim Lee courtesy DC Comics
The New York Times has an article about the history of the character and her costume and why the changes were made. They’re the brainchild of J. Michael Straczynski, best known for Babylon 5. Straczynski recently signed an exclusive contract with DC after years of writing Spider-Man and Thor for Marvel, and he’ll be writing Superman as well as Wonder Woman. He gave an in-depth interview about the changes to the Amazon with ComicBookResources.com.
There’s something nothing inherently wrong with the new costume, though it doesn’t “wow” me. I’ve enjoyed most of Straczynski’s work in television and comics. And from the interview, it’s unclear how long the revamped origin will last, given there’s an alternate history involved.
But as I wrote last year, I was really enjoying Gail Simone’s run on the book. I was looking forward to more of her stories.
So I’m ambivalent.
Thoughts? Does Wonder Woman need a new design and new origin for this century to appeal to a wider audience?
As everyone knows, today marks the kickoff to the 2010 FIFA World Cup with South Africa and Mexico already kicking about on the field. I know there are some of you who have to be at work today or can’t be bothered to watch any football due to other engagements, so how are you keeping up with the action while you’re on the go?
If you’re a Sprint customer, you can catch most of the action right on your HTC EVO 4G. V Cast subscribers with Verizon can get in on that same mobile action for just $10 a month, as well. What about everyone else though? Is your carrier beaming the matches live to your Android device in one way or another? Are you using a score and stats app to keep you in the know regarding your team’s World Cup endeavors?
We’ve listed the top five most popular apps that people in the Android market are using to stay updated in the poll, but feel free to suggest more in the comment section below!
Among CrackBerry readers, I think it’s safe to say we all have something we could say that we love about BlackBerry. Often times we read in the CrackBerry forums of users checking out other platforms available to them be it iPhone, Android or even webOS. Some of those users decide the other platforms are better. Some decide that BlackBerry is better and finally, others decide they want their cake and to be able to eat it too by opting to make use of both BlackBerry and whatever other platform they have chosen. The question here is simple, do you use other platforms or is BlackBerry your only device of choosing? Whether you use only BlackBerry or have decided to use another platform, let us know in the comments why you have chosen whatever path you have.
Prior to WES 2010 we already knew we’d soon be seeing the BlackBerry Bold 9700 in white, but just to make it officially official Mike Lazaridis announced it during his keynote and showed it off on screen. Check out the video above to see the BlackBerry Bold 9700 in it’s pearly white with grey and chrome accent color scheme. She’s a beauty.
Over the course of our WES 2010 week in Orlando, the smartphone color debate came up quite a few times. I personally love white smartphones. I loved my old colorware BlackBerry Curve 8320, will be buying the 9700 in white the second Rogers gets it in stock and will be buying a white BlackBerry Pearl 3G from whatever carrier releases it first. Even when it comes to devices like the iPhone, I like the look of the white one over the solid Black one.
Of course, smartphones these days are starting to show up in more and more colors — RIM is making the Pearl 3G available to carriers in a rainbow of colors — but to see where things stand I’m curious to see how CrackBerry readers will vote in a white BlackBerry vs. black BlackBerry contest. So here’s the poll question… if the BlackBerry you already own or are going to buy next were available in both white or black when you went to buy it, which color would you buy? Be sure to cast your vote above and sound off in the comments!
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
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