New phone is amazing...

As most of my readers know, I finally switched away from the iPhone. My first smartphone was the original iPhone and I loved it. The app catalog came out and I was downloading everything I could. There were a few wants, such as easier access to shut off wifi, gps and turn on airplane mode and jailbreaking solved a lot of those issues. Plus, with jailbreaking, I could get a customizable background and other cool things I totally forget now. However, every time there was a firmware update I'd have to start over and pretty much redo everything. Then I purchased the 3GS when it came out and loved that one as well. Much faster!! Better apps! At one point I had jailbroken the phone and when Apple made a change to their security after one firmware update, I was unable to upgrade the firmware and was unable to downgrade either. I was stuck with the jailbroken version of the OS. Luckily the phone had some other issues shortly after that (I promise, I didn't intentionally break the phone!). The volume up button stopped working and headphones no longer fit in the headphone jack. So I took it into Apple, and even though the phone was jailbroken, Apple just gave me a new 3GS phone! That is what I will miss I think. Apple has great customer service! Another time, my phone was in a plastic bag in a cooler and the bag wasn't sealed properly so it was really submerged in water. I took it to Apple and after verifying that the water switch was set (or something like that) they gave me a new one (even though they said my warranty had expired a week previously).

I really should've updated to the 4 but for some reason didn't. I missed getting the better camera with more pixels and a flash. But during that time, my friends were purchasing Androids and I was getting a bit envious. I wanted the widgets, bigger screens and live backgrounds. So I waited in anticipation of the iPhone being released in June, 2011. And waited.. Not that Apple had promised a June release or anything. I was just going by the iPhone hype since January, and history had shown that it would be released in June/July. I had my doubts though, as the white iPhone finally showed up in 2011 and the iPhone 4 was released to another carrier in the early part of the year. So I waited.. and when it finally came out, I was all excited and followed any live blog that actually would load (they all had way more traffic than expected apparently) for the iPhone announcement. After all of the rumors that I had been following, including larger screen, 4G and NFC, I was certainly a bit disappointed in what was announced. I mean, sure, the iPhone 4S would be much better than the current 3GS that I had. It is much faster, has a much better camera, has a much better screen and resolution and has Siri (which I had used as an iphone app and loved it).

But.. I think I was just tired of the same layout after 4 years. After having the same form factor for so long, I really wanted a change. And honestly, I wanted widgets, live backgrounds, 4G and NFC (not that I can actually USE at this time). Also, I did like the notification system that Android has (that the iPhone OS5 now has), the ability to add new keyboards and the ease to switch off GPS, wifi, etc. Lastly, I like the way that the Android phones integrate with twitter, facebook, evernote, etc. I know the iPhone finally is integrated with twitter, but the Android has a lot more social integration.

Anyways.. I spent a lot more time on that background than I wanted to... After much debate, I purchased the Samsung Galaxy S II. I've had it for 2 weeks now and love it. It is lighter than the iPhone is and has a great screen. The colors are over-saturated but I love it. It doesn't have quite the resolution as the retina display but it is much better than I had and probably the best on the Android phones (currently).

I was worried about the apps in the marketplace but I've been able to download almost everything that I had used on the iPhone. The only complaint concerning apps is that the Major League Soccer app MatchDay doesn't show live games on the Android! What's up with that??? I just don't understand the difference and why they wouldn't have live video on both. Hopefully that gets fixed before the next season. That makes me nervous about NBC's Tour de France app. I was able to watch live video on the iPhone and really hope I'm able to on the Galaxy. It is nice to have the larger screen when I need to use it to watch Netflix movies so I'd love to watch soccer on it! :)

The one glitch that I've discovered so far is that when I call one friend who has a Marion phone number, I get an error saying "com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly" and there is a dialog box that opens up to force it to close. Now when I call him, we can still talk until I push that 'force close' button. Then it dies and I really need to reboot the phone. If he calls me, I get that same error and dialogue button but the phone doesn't ring and I cannot speak to him. But that is it.. Only one person. Very odd and I haven't figured out what is causing that yet. Luckily we can still text though. Whew..


Siri did inspire me to find an assistant for the Android though. I really like Speaktoit. She has some great personality as well. Here is an example of her dialogue:

Me:
"You are cute".

Sam (virtual assistant):
"Aww, thanks. You're a smooth talker".

Me:
"What are you doing tonight?"

Sam:
"Not much, Eric. Can I do something for you?"

Me:
"Send to facebook what is the best haunted house in Columbus"

Sam:
"All right. I'm about to change your Facebook status to 'what is the best haunted house in Columbus'. Is this correct?"

Me:
"Yes"

Sam:
"Your Facebook status has been updated."


Me:
"Thank you"

Sam:
"You're Welcome"

Me:
"Please open the TV Guide"

Sam:
"Looks like you don't have 'the tv guide' installed on your phone yet. Want to see if the Market has it available"

Me:
"No thanks. Please open tv guide".

Sam:
"tv guide mobile should be open." as she opens the tv guide app.

So it is pretty slick and getting better all of the time.


The battery seems pretty good. I did have to take off the awesome live background though as that was a battery killer.

So, not to start any smartphone wars but.. I'm really loving the phone. That might change after awhile of course. I still need to figure out why I'm getting that one error, and am hoping that doesn't occur with other contacts. So far it is a minor inconvenience but I could see that becoming really annoying soon.

If you have the iPhone and love it, then I'm definitely happy for you. I'm not here to change people's opinions. Just letting the world know that I was a bit nervous, after hearing some bad things about Androids and having an iPhone for so long, but.. I'm adjusting well.

:D

New iPhone External Speakers

I received the speakers as a birthday present. They are awesome. They sound great and definitely boost the volume of the iPhone speakers. So I can now use these when I co camping or whatever. It was be nice if it was able to charge while playing though.

http://www.dlo.com/Products/PortSpeakers_iPhone_Prod.tpl