Thoughts on Android

[Scottish Business Owner]

People on here will know I have an iPhone and to be honest I really like it. Recently I was pondering buying an ipad which made me start to research tablets and what they are all about.

Android has always interested me as I know a few people who have HTC's and who say they are great. I took a bit of a punt and bought thats uses android as a bit of a test to see how it all works. Admittedly it's not without it's flawa but i've slowly found myself liking it and with Android 3 (Aka Gingerbread) due over the next few months and the first one being dedicated to tablets i'm quite optimistic that my purchase might become a very shrewd one.

Just wondering what other people think of android, do you have it on your phone? What specifically sells it to you?

 

[myshopsigns]

Hi ,

It is an interesting question. Mobile is the new frontier for technology companies and Apple and Google are definitely the front runners.

I've been a fan of apple for a decade now and I love everything they do including the iphone and its OS. There is no beating it. But if Google do Android right it could give the iphone a good kicking in the future. Google have Youtube, Google maps, Earth and Street View, Google apps all under their belt. If they utilise all this properly they could make a really great device. Nobody does user-friendly like Apple does though.

This stuff is the future. We'll be speaking to our House Hub Computer through our phone and telling it to switch the oven on and put the heating down next.

 

[HostThree]

I've been working in the mobile industry for a long time doing network support for them so I've had my fair share of handsets.

Although I'm a major fan of the iPhones I must say I would trade it in for an HTC Android phone if required. For me it's not as good as Apple however it does give you a lot more freedom rather than getting stuck with Apple's verification process.

Plus they're usually a lot cheaper.

 

[stugster]

I absolutely love it. I know the IPhone can do most of what the Android does, but here's what I really like about it:

- LogMeIn Ignition (I can access all client machines, and my machines from ANYWHERE)
- Easy Tethering (the IPhone can be a PITA, and if you're on O2 you'll likely have to pay extra)
- "Push" email through our Gmail (we use Google Apps and all our email get pushed through instantly)
- Lookout (regularly backs up everything on the phone online, lets me trace the phone if it's lost or stolen and lock it down/remove the data)
- Contacts automatically sync (this is a bit scary, but cool. If I email anyone through the computer, their contact record automatically appears on the phone. It scans Twitter, Facebook etc, and automatically pulls down any contact details of anyone I know [including their mugshot if available]!)
- Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Streetview, and Gogle Sky Map are all on it, and the compass/accelerometer interaction is amazing.
- myPlayer (BBC television and radio streaming directly to the phone)
- RAC Traffic (instantly lets me know of problems on the roads)
- Instant Heart Rate (gives me a pretty good measurement of my current heartrate)
- IRC (a chat service we use internally at Equiphase - my Blackberry version of this was rubbish)
- SSH (command line control of servers, over my phone!)
- The way you unlock the phone is amazing too - rather than numbers/letters, you draw a pattern.
- Metal Detector (pointless, but cool)
- Google Goggles (take a picture of any landmark/object and it'll usually tell you where you are or what it is)

And lastly, although its nothing to do with the phone itself, my favourite service is RING GO! Parking in Edinburgh, you type in the parking machine number, type how may minutes you want to park, and you go on off to your job. You dont have to put a ticket on the car (the meanies get notification through their PDA things) and you can extend the parking when it's about to expire without being near the car (and you get SMS notification when it's about to expire).

All of this together makes me a very happy person indeed! Technology FTW!

 

[DickW]

I've got a mobile phone. It has two apps. Phone and text. What else do you really need?

That apart the iPhone is manufactured in China so I wouldn't buy one anyway.

 

[Employment Law Services]

I considered Android and Iphone but chose instead to go with the new BB Torch and so far am very impressed with it.

The new BB 6 o/s is slick and the new touchscreen and the way it works is great. All of this combined with a growing library of apps and a proven track record of excellence when it comes to business communiation, I think this device is the 'quiet one' that people should watch.