GuruDaniel
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Homepage: http://www.thecellularguru.com
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Posts by GuruDaniel
Hands-On With Windows Phone 7!
Aug 12th
Today is a pretty special day at TCG. We have been given the chance to look at Windows Phone 7 running on a few pre-production hardware models. The phone that I am using at the moment is a pre-production Samsung phone running on Rogers, but there are a couple floating around. Throughout the day we will be updating with relevant information, and if you have any questions, please let us know!
From my first impression with the device, the home screen “tiles” work extremely smoothly and the device, even on pre-production. The typography really does add to the experience, and because the tiles are dynamic, the whole thing takes on a very organic feel. Because you will end up interacting with tiles more often than the “app drawer,” the stilted, iOS-like reliance on switching between apps to get anything done, is greatly reduced, though not to the extent of Android.
One thing I love about Android, and will hopefully translate well to the Windows Phone 7 series, is a drop-down notification system, combined with live information on the tiles, eliminating the need to go into an app to receive the info. As it stands, it’s very slick.
Obviously the speed and stability of the hardware and software right now is not final code, but it’s a great start. Stay tuned for more information throughout the day!
WebOS 2.0 slinking around in the wild?
Aug 12th
At least one sighting of yet-to-be-announced WebOS 2.0 has emerged inside the usage statistics for a WebOS Foursquare app, according to its developer.
When rummaging through the stats to discover the penetration rate of 1.4.5, he came upon one entry of 2.0, codenamed Roadrunner, though any other information is scarce at the moment. It may very well be an emulator, or someone hacking the system (though unlikely), but it could, as a best-case-scenario, be some Palm employee testing out the new OS on brand new hardware. With unicorns.
HP has claimed, since buying the company earlier this year, that development on the OS will not stop, and they will continue to honour their hardware and software roadmaps.
If you can recall, the Palm Pre and WebOS were announced together at CES in 2009. One and a half years later, that hardware and software are looking aged indeed.
Let’s hope this Roadrunner actually materializes, and doesn’t fade into smoke like the cartoon of the same name…
(via IntoMobile)
Telus updates Milestone, but isn’t 2.2 yet
Aug 11th
This is a bit of a surprise! IntoMobile is reporting that Telus’ Milestone has been updated, but the software version is 2.1 still. Don’t expect Froyo anytime soon, then.
The updates include:
- Alarm Improvements
- Music Player Functionality
- Audio Quality Enhancement
- PIN Lock Improvements
- Proximity Mode Enhancement
- “My Location” Improvements
Check out the update at Motorola’s website, and wait patiently for 2.2.
Canadian Contracts Are Vampires: Study
Aug 11th
Get it? Flipout?
Canadians pay too much for their monthly cell phone bill, and are dragged into lengthy contracts that punish consumers for ending them before their term, according to a SeaBord Group study entitled “Death Grip.” (Great name!)
There will likely be another wireless spectrum auction in 2012 or 2013, and could increase competition again in the country, as the auction did in 2008, leading to the creation of WIND Mobile and Mobilicity, two companies who are completely contract-free.
But these companies will always be at a disadvantage to the three incumbents, Rogers, Telus and Bell, in part because they are established brands within the country, whose networks extend nationally, but also because they offer huge phone subsidies when signing a contract.
The problem comes in when customers want to remove themselves from the contract; they have already received promotional prices on their phone, and likely preferred monthly rates on their plan, but the cancellation fee is directly tied to how many months remain in his or her contract. Sometimes these penalties can cost more than the cost of the phone itself, which is the whole reason the contract exists in the first place.
But contracts are guaranteed revenue for these carriers, and they are loathe to change their business model, especially for higher-end business and data clients, who spend $100+ every month on their smartphone plan.
The report goes on to say that even though the Canadian carriers have less “buying power” when purchasing handsets, the discrepancy between the cost to the consumer and to the carrier is too high, and consumers end up with the brunt of it.
Read the entire report, and see for yourself.
(via The Globe and Mail)
Video: Sneak Peak of TweetDeck for Android
Aug 10th
Well, here it is! The first look at TweetDeck for Android. Now, this isn’t exactly exposing anything, but it’s a tease, and we all know how much geeks like to be teased.
Or, erm, you know what I mean.
SE Xperia X10 Goes to AT&T Too Late, Too Bad
Aug 9th
Seriously? You haven’t even updated the device to Android 2.1 yet? This is a travesty.
Sony Ericsson announced today they are to release the Xperia X10 this week on AT&T’s network, the only network in the US in need of some great Android devices. Too bad this isn’t one of them, at least not in its current form.
We’ve had the phone in Canada since April, and I have to say, while the hardware is sexy as hell, its implementation of Android 1.6 is half-baked, buggy and slow. Almost unusably slow, especially for the hardware it’s running on.
On the surface, the device is a dream. 1GHZ Snapdragon, 512MB RAM, 8MP camera, beautiful sleek exterior, 4″ 800×480 screen. Really, really nice.
But the on-screen keyboard is terrible. The Mediascape and Timescape apps are awful, and cannot be deleted from the device. And the fact that it’s running a version of Android that has been available for more than a year is inexcusable, especially when most other devices have been updated to 2.2. SE is only claiming that the X10 will be updated to 2.1 in Q4 of this year, which could be December 31st.
So, in my opinion, avoid this puppy. AT&T customers have a much better phone in the Samsung Captivate already.
TweetDeck for Android beta to be released this week
Aug 9th
Hooray! Long-suffering Android users waiting for the ultimate Twitter experience need not wait much longer. The company has released a blog post with some pretty heavy words. They are calling it “the future of their iPhone and iPad platforms” and “a thing of beauty,” all heavy rhetoric for an app.
But if the hyperbole turns out to be true, it will explain why Tweetdeck’s mobile front has been silent for months. There hasn’t been a sizeable iPhone update for a long time, and the iPad app has never been updated since it was released on day one in April. In fact, I have found the iPad app so buggy, I deleted it off my device.
We will update later this week when the beta is officially released, but this is a huge app for Android as a platform.
Full blog post after the break:
To get straight to the point, we’re nearing completion of Android TweetDeck and we’ve really been pushing the limits of what Android can do. Hence we will be opening up a public beta testing period this week for some serious device testing. But before all that happens I wanted to briefly explain what Android TweetDeck means to us because it’s more than just TweetDeck on Android.
First off, we’ve built Android TweetDeck from the ground up to be true multi-stream, laser focused on showing you all your friends’ cross-service activity in one app. Multi-column is still the order of the day but now columns are blended based on the type of activity rather than the service. And all this whilst retaining the most powerful functionality from each included service.
We’ve spent an inordinate amount of time making the app silky smooth from the column scrolling to the custom views – so much so that one of Google’s Android Developer Advocates recently described it as “a thing of beauty“. So look out for the beta test later this week and please do get involved.
Interestingly Android TweetDeck also represents the future of our iPhone and iPad applications. We’ll have a few bug fix releases shortly (awaiting approval in the app store) but in the background we are working on porting Android to iPhone in as quick a time as possible. Finally, it won’t be long before most of the new concepts in Android TweetDeck make it to the desktop and web – we’re also working on this now.
Speaking of the desktop, we have a new build available now which contains a workaround for a Facebook bug which caused TweetDeck to order updates incorrectly.
WIND Mobile Getting High End Motorola Milestone XT720 Android Device?
Aug 7th
This will be a nice surprise if it pans out! An inventory screenshot of the Motorola Milestone XT720 Android 2.1-powered device has been leaked from WIND Mobile, and, if true, will be the only high-end Android device to hit the new carrier, and its second Android device overall after the Huawei U8100.
The XT720 is a much better device, matching the Droid’s odd resolution of 854×480 on a 3.7″ display, 8MP camera with flash, and media controls built into the device. Were this to come to WIND, it would be a huge get for the provider whose AWS devices are looking a bit long in the tooth after the premieres of the iPhone 4, Samsung Vibrant, HTC Desire and the BlackBerry Torch. This could get a lot of people to switch over, as, knowing they will never receive the iPhone (unless T-Mobile in the US gets it) their next best smartphone option is an Android-powered device. This should be upgraded to 2.2 eventually, as the Droid, Droid X and Droid 2 are all going to get the upgrade in the coming weeks.
We’ll keep our eyes peeled for you.
(via Mobile Syrup)
Rumour: Bell Samsung Vibrant not unlockable
Aug 7th
Now this won’t really be news to anyone except Canadians who want to unlock their newly-minted Bell Vibrant to be used on another provider, but it turns out that the device for whatever reason is not unlockable. There is a thread going on at Howardforums where the consensus seems to be that no company can seem to find a suitable unlock algorithm for the phone, and for most new Samsung devices. Bell will, after 30 days and for $75 dollars, sell you an unlock code for the device, but the price seems exorbitant.
Besides the iPhone, which is either factory or software unlocked, this Samsung device is the first I’ve heard that is hard to crack.
Remember, BlackBerry devices are always going to be easy to crack, and they can be obtained from our store should you need one. This goes for the Torch 9800 when it is released, too.
HTC Desire Available From Telus for $79.99! Whoa!
Aug 6th
Seriously?
Ok, so we actually knew this was coming, but looking back at it, we didn’t realize how important this phone would be to the Canadian Android market once the iPhone 4 was released. And since Telus is wisely pricing this phone at a very cool $79.99 on a 3-year term, I have no doubt that it is going to push a lot of people weary of the iPhone’s issues over to this bad boy.
The Desire is essentially the Nexus One on steroids. Which is a very, very good thing. While it doesn’t have the same “oomph” of the Bell Samsung Vibrant, its implementation of HTC Sense is a huge advantage compared to Samsung’s attempt to “improve” Android with their own TouchWIZ3 overlay. Consider as well that the Desire is half the price of the aforementioned Bell device, and we are talking a seriously attractive deal.
As for the upgrade path of the Desire, we know that unlocked European versions of the phone have already seen Android 2.2 released officially, so while the device is being released with 2.1, it shouldn’t be long before it sees Froyo. Right, Telus?
Check out the hella cool HTC Desire at Telus’ website, or go into a store to touch one.
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