Be Excellent To Each Other

560Mb? I'm on 1.4Gb after a few weeks. Although 700Mb of that is settlers.

Thats awful, but in the long term, assuming it does get fixed, microSD cards for memory is vastly better than what the iPhones doing. Thats really going to be holding the google marketplace back.

I strongly suspect that most normal people buy one large card and never change it. In practical terms, for most buyers, I don't think the fixed memory of the iPhone is a big deal.

I don't know if it is really. I've never got on with memory cards for phones, for some reason.

The only advantage seemed to be to make transfer of stuff easier, but that problem shouldn't exist any more. And who carries around "spare" cards with things on them? It's hard enough keeping track of USB sticks.

Using it as a replacement for built-in memory doesn't seem too clever either - access time to an SD interface card can't be as good as a chip on the board, surely?

I was talking bout me though! :)

Being a mac laptop user for the foreseeable (and a lover of 2D games), I'll most likely stick with iPhones, but my hearts with android.

Heh. Like I said, though, that's only installing a select few applications; the rest is backed up in iTunes for when I can be arsed re-syncing it properly.

I'm not a fan of SD cards in general as I'm very wary of their failure rate. It's nice being able to cheaply upgrade your phone's storage, but I'm not sure SD is the way to go.

Ooh I hadn't thought of slower transfer speeds compared to onboard. I assumed the memory in the iPhone was basically the same stuff. Not the case?

And it's not about carrying around spare cards, it's about doubling your memory in 6 months time for a tenner innit? Though saying that, I guess micro only goes up to 32Gb anyhow...

Either way the 512Mb for apps is mental.



Can you download stuff you've already downloaded for free straight from the iPhone (or itunes for that matter)? I thought you had to resink from your back up, or purchase again.

Yes, you can. It asks for your iTunes password anyway to shit you up, but then says "this purchase is free". App data doesn't come down with that though -- like savegames, for example.

Awesome cheers. So if it also lists a price when you look it up again thats just to shit you as well I guess too?

Thanks!

Yep, the App Store gives you absolutely no indication that you've bought something already until you've tried to buy it again. It's a bit daft.

Well thats stupid, but at least they offer it, so all is good.

They really need to sort out the save game thing though. I wonder if the Google phone will at least allow you to put your saves on the SD card, saving space and allowing easy backups? (See how I brought us back on topic there?)

All the 'big' apps (which are games, mainly) I've got on my G1 allow you to save the media (sounds, textures, etc) off onto your SD card, so space isn't really as big an issue as everyone is (suddenly) making out.

I'm glad you chipped in there Grim... because I was just about to faint!

Umm. Look everyone, it's snowing again! To the barricades!

It is odd that this has suddenly become such an issue - it's always been the way with Android phones.

To be honest, it does sound bad to me and because someone mentioned the Wii, I'm likening it to that but since you've put us straight... I'm not that concerned. I've never used an Android phone but you have and I for one, trust you!

I can confirm this for musics. Somehow, I started downloading the same album twice before christmas, and it showed me being charged each time. However, 5 minutes later, both purchases had disappeared from my account and I have never been charged for either (but have paid for other things). I think the cock up created some form of itunes paradox which meant I paid nothing or something.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather it didn't work that way. It wouldn't surprise me if they fix it fairly quickly.

Android phone is a very misleading title.

These aren't the droids I'm looking for.

As is Champion of Cyrodiil.... I demand to see credentials!!

Droids, Droids, Droids,
I'm looking for a good time.
Droids, Droids, Droids,
Get ready for my love.

For anyone that didn't know, you can get an alarm dock for the Droid.
When you drop it in the dock, it turns into an bedside clock.



That's pretty sweet.

You need to speak to Mehrunes Dagon. Oh sorry you can't because I SMITTED HIM MOST MIGHTILY!!!111111

Ah well that makes things better. Good-o.

I've only just heard about it, that's why it's suddenly an issue for me.

Likewise. Especially as it is all about apps for me. By the time I have the option of changing I guess it will be a none issue anyhow, BUT STILL.

I was planning on getting an android phone as my next one, and the nexus one looks like the one for me. No to decide how to get it. Anoyingly aparently o2 aren't renewing contracts with retention discounts any more (I am on an £35 contract, but pay just under £20)

So, my contract isn't up til July, but I'd like a cheapo Android to mess around with in the meantime. Any suggestions?

Define "cheapo". The G1 goes for around £170 on eBay.

Expansys have an HTC Tattoo for £190.

Now that's brand loyalty.

Yeah, not very good for just an Android test, is it?

I meant.....getting a tattoo done of

That logo is... special.

I was hoping for something sub £100

CEX have the Tmobile pulse in "good condition" for £130. Or a motorola dext in "Poor Condition" for the same price.

I'd need to work out how to unlock them though...

I think my next phone will be an android. Would've had the G1 back in march if they had them in stock on the day.

So... what's the best android phone at the mo?

MrsP's contract is expiring and she looking at the HTC Tattoo. Is this a fully excellent Android for nowt or a cut down Fisher Price version?

I have sneakily got her to look at Android so I know if I want it when I renew in August. Naughty me.

I still don't like the G1, entirely for two reasons: it's bulky and it's underpowered. The Android OS looks nice and shows a lot of potential, but the G1 is just too slow to run it properly, and the design reminds me of the original DS.

There will be at least three of us with G1's this weekend, I'm sure you can have a play with someone's.

I saw the new one in a shop (the G2?) and the angled bit at the bottom was a bit too... pronounced for my tastes. I generally carry my phone in my trouser pocket and a pokey bulge isn't a good look... generally.

Thanks GJ, I'll have a play with your's then.

When my contract is up in July, I think I am gonna get the Legend or the Desire.

Not sure whether to go to performance and big screen, or uber pretties and sturdy design.

Is the Legend the performance? Cos that's what I care about. Pretties can GTFTF

The best one is the fucking monsterously powerful Nexus one.

I hope HTC handsets run Android better than they do Windows Mobile. I've got a Touch Pro 2 here with 6.1 on it and it's the most unresponsive thing I've ever used.

Plans for the weekend take a turn for the worse.

My slips into the back pocket of my jeans just fine.

I'll look forward to it. Er....

The Desire is basically the same hardware, but it is a bit prettier, and doesn't have the shitty trackball thing at the bottom, plus you get HTCs sexy Sense UI, Flash support and native multitouch for more stuff.


The Desire is the performance one. It has the same processor/ram/screen as the Nexus 1.

The Legend has a 600mhz processor, a slightly smaller/lower resolution screen, and less ram. But it is also made out of a single solid block of metal.

This makes me think you've not used an Android phone for any amount of time.

[edit]Oh, it's got a trackpad thing instead. It looks tiny. I wonder how well that will work with big hands.

The newer Blackberries have a trackpad. It's 5mm on a side and works astonishingly well.

Right, it's been ages since we've had any kind of apps/games reviews and I've been wasting my time installing loads of stuff recently, so I thought I'd share my joy/pain.
Incidentally, I've discovered the delights of downloading and installing apk files, so I've no idea if any of these are paid apps or not...

Lockbot Pro - replacement lock screen with all manner of fancy iPhone/other imitating features. Is already taking up too much precious space on my G1, and is probably wasting far too much equally precious battery with its prettiness. I do like having random pictures come up when I wake my phone though.
MyBackup Pro - Seems to backup all your contacts/other phone settings to a file on your sdcard or somewhere on the internet (possibly only for people that have really paid for it). May well get used if I decide to root my phone, but I'm still not sure of the benefits of that yet.
Nintaii - Get wooden block into hole puzzle game
Pure Calendar Widget - A calendar widget
RAC Traffic - Another traffic incident program - I still can't find one of these that seems to work as well as I'd like
CoPilot - Rather nice SatNav software that only worked for a couple of weeks before packing up. Apparently it's proving a little hard to crack and it's entirely possible my phone is now blocked altogether, so I guess I won't be buying it then.
Sygic GPS (Mobile Maps) - My replacement satnav software, although version 10 was clearly far too much for the G1 to handle, version 9 seems to be working quite well so far.
Better Keyboard - A replacement on-screen keyboard. Better than the default one (surprisingly enough)
Swype - Takes a bit of getting used to, but it's an on-screen keyboard that I might actually consider using. To write words, you just draw a path over the letters. Currently taking up more than twice as much space as any of my other apps though, so it might turn into a novelty I can't afford (at least while I've got a phone with a proper keyboard).
Beautiful Widgets - A collection of widgets, but they're mostly shortcuts to bluetooth and wireless settings, which have been made redundant by the powerbar. The weather one's quite pretty though, but there's probably a better one that doesn't install loads of other crap too.

I've had a quick play with some of the Home replacements as well (dxTop, openHome and aHome, I think), but they all seemed to make it pretty obvious they were running on top of an existing system and slowed things down too much to be of practical use. I think the LockScreen programs are likely to suffer the same fate.

Incidentally, can anyone recommend a good news widget. The BBC one (when it eventually worked) seemed a bit rubbish, unless I was missing some settings?