Mobile Phones & Broadband

[jmanley69]

I agree (about leaving WinMo).  I'm enjoying my Hero very much.  I haven't written any programs for it yet, but I really enjoy being able to find any app I want wherever I am and not have to rely on a PC to load it onto my computer (either by copying it, or actually installing it through ActiveSync).

It would take a lot to get me to go back to WinMo.

[mjmike]

Well, I just got it yesterday but I really like it so far.. lots of cool apps. You can create your own apps for it?

[jmanley69]

yes... go to the android website, download the sdk, and there's a "hello world" tutorial that comes with it.

It's a lot different programming environment than Visual Studio, and it's java based, but yup... you can write your own programs to do just about anything (and a lot more freedom than WinMo gives you with .NET).

[bmxracer38]

Is the hero or the moment really better than the touch pro 2?

[jmanley69]

apples and oranges... it's kinda like trying to compare every touch screen to the iPhone.  They all have strengths and weaknesses.

The Moment and Hero are Android phones.  The Moment has a slide out qwerty keyboard the Hero is strickly touch screen with software keyboard.

The TP2 is a Windows Mobile device with a slide out keyboard.

There are good things about the Android phones (faster, better use of memory, more apps that are easily available through the google market, OS is built for touch screen and not stylus, etc)

There are good things about WinMo phones (the only constraint storage space for apps is how big an sd card you want to get, etc)

Many of the drawbacks to the Android phone can be overcome by gaining root access (not to be discussed here).  Many of the shortcomings of a WinMo phone can be overcome with certain apps (if you can find them out there).

Android and WinMo both drive very solid smart phones... none of which can be compared to an iPhone which is basically a toy.

I guess it all depends on what you want to do.

[bmxracer38]

I'm guessing root access is likd of like jailbreaking for iphone or rom unlocking a wm phone?

[jmanley69]

sort of... it's getting admin access to the underlying OS.

ROM is really a misnomer for Android devices.  The only thing that makes it read only is the OS's built in security.  Once you have root (or superuser) access, you can manipulate the linux OS in any manner you want.  Load apps, remove apps, upgrade the kernel, change the OS specific functions and commands, etc.

It's a lot more than just allowing you to move the phone to another carrier or allowing you to load apps that the manufacturer doesn't want you to.  Also, since it's linux, and not really ROM, you don't have to wipe out the entire OS to apply patches like you did with WinMo (per my understanding).

[bmxracer38]

Nice, i might have to go to BB and check those phoes out because I've given up on waiting for the touch pr 2 to come to BB, it seem like the date always changes and i can never get a for sure date, so i think im gonna try out android and see what happens.

[mjmike]

Very cool... thank you for the info.

[IceGT]

For all the guys that are waiting for the TP2 (sprint) to come out at Best Buy because you have a credit at Best Buy from your broken TP may just have to do like I did, and find a slightly used TP1 on CL for $50.00.  At least I once again have a phone that I am happy with, and if need be, I can flash it to make it run just like a TP2. I will just save my credit until another phone that I want is available.  I didn't like the Hero, or any other phone that was available through sprint at best buy.  I also decided to get the sprint insurance added to this phone so next time if it takes a crap on me, I will either get a direct replacement, or at least have access to all of the phones sprint has to offer.  This was the best solution for me at  this point especially since I had to put down a $150.00 deposit on my loaner phone.  So now that I have turned that back in I now have 100 more dollars in my pocket, and a phone that I actually like to use.  This is just a sugguestion for those that were in my situation.