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GeekNights 20100412 - The Smart Phone Situation

AprecheApreche
edited April 2010 in GeekNights
Tonight on GeekNights we discuss the current smart phone situation with our good friend Conrad. In the news we discuss the Drobo FS and Google now ranks by speed.
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Comments

  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    Finally Conrad hits the scene.
  • GeoGeo
    Sweet, another member (not to mention one of the more awesome ones) finally finagles his way onto the show.
  • PeguPegu
    edited April 2010
    You failed to mention that Opera Mini was just released to the iPhone. The only problem I'm having with it is that the zoom is all out or all in.

    -Sent from Opera Mini on my iPod touch(close enough right?)
    Post edited by Pegu on
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    This episode sounds a lot like the conversation I had with Conrad while in line for the PAX keynote.
  • RochelleRochelle
    Nice one, Scott.
  • LintonLinton
    You failed to mention that Opera Mini was just released to the iPhone.
    Opera Mini. It's fast, shit.
  • AprecheApreche
    edited April 2010
    You failed to mention that Opera Mini was just released to the iPhone.
    Opera Mini. It's fast, shit.
    Fast and shitty.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • RymRym
    Fast and shitty.
    Fitty.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    I think shast is more appropriate.
  • RochelleRochelle
    edited April 2010
    Fast and shitty.
    Fitty.
    Shast. Or Shasty (George beat me.)

    This was a great podcast. I really enjoyed the content and the guest host.

    I've had similar discussions/arguments with a friend about gaming on the iPhone vs the Nintendo DS. He has an iPhone and I have the DS. He would constantly send me links of games being added to the iPhone and how awesome it is and revolutionary it is.

    I would them tell him they are mostly simple games and the iPhone will never have the capabilities of playing games that I want that the DS provides.

    I told him to check out your podcast and hopefully he'll finally understand that I'm awesome and right and he's just a silly iPhone fanboy. :P
    Post edited by Rochelle on
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    As silly and fanboyish he may be, the I suspect the casual gaming market to be far greater than the hardcore market. A lot of people are like Scott, they only wanna carry one device, myself included. John Carmack said many years ago (like well before the iPhone) that he thought games on phones was the future of gaming. I remember laughing out loud in my car when I heard that in my car on the way to class.
  • RochelleRochelle
    As silly and fanboyish he may be, the I suspect the casual gaming market to be far greater than the hardcore market. A lot of people are like Scott, they only wanna carry one device, myself included. John Carmack said many years ago (like well before the iPhone) that he thought games on phones was the future of gaming. I remember laughing out loud in my car when I heard that in my car on the way to class.
    I don't disagree. I pointed that out that the games being added to the iPhone are for casual gamers and really don't market to me, however I wouldn't mind having one to play Plants vs. Zombies. :P

    He is a bit of a gamer, but never played on any hand held devices other than the iPhone.

    It just annoys me whenever he tells me how awesome his iPhone is because it does something, which I don't disagree it's cool, but I'm not going ga-ga over it like he does.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Apparently there's a JIT compiler in the android repository. The next version of android may have a massive speed improvement.
  • konistehradkonistehrad
    Apparently there's a JIT compiler in the android repository. The next version of android may have a massive speed improvement.
    I've been following the development of the JIT compiler pretty closely. It doesn't seem to be anywhere near ready (as evidenced by the number of projects on XDA-dev attempting to shoe-horn it into a running environment), and this is a case where Google knows it can't half-ass it. I wouldn't expect it to be in before Android 3.0, and as discussed in the show they have a lot of issues to deal with before performance (which should tell you what I think about their list of problems!)
  • konistehradkonistehrad
    You failed to mention that Opera Mini was just released to the iPhone. The only problem I'm having with it is that the zoom is all out or all in.
    It was funny: we stopped recording, I immediately checked my news feed and was like: "oh, Opera Mini for iPhone was approved!" The timing was impeccable, haha.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    See, I'm not as picky about the UI, I can adapt to whatever the UI is. I can't stand the slow downs and hangs. And more recently I can't stand the way my phone resets sometimes when I pop out the keyboard. Damn android 2.1 update, they gave me live wallpaper (useless) and made the phone less stable.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    Well, this discussion is now far more interesting to me than it was a few hours ago. My phone has mysteriously entered Field Test Mode with no provocation. This is the latest in a long line of performance mishaps because my phone is old and worn. I've been looking at jumping into smartphone territory for a while now, and with this recent bricking of my current phone, I may jump in tomorrow, when I get paid.

    I've been looking at the Droid for a while now, but now I'm curious about these recent stability issues it seems to have. While I could get the phone tomorrow for $150, do you think it's worthwhile given the recent problems? I have no real UI complaints (I've handled them before), but I haven't used it extensively enough to run into performance snags.

    If you could recommend any smartphone on the Verizon Wireless network right now, which one would it be?
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    edited April 2010
    If you could recommend any smartphone on the Verizon Wireless network right now, which one would it be?
    Right now, on Verizon, I'd still recommend the Droid regardless of its idiosyncrasies. What the Droid has going for it is numbers. A lot of people have them and thus issues are recognized and addressed. I expect this current bug to be patched in about a month or so. And there will eventually be an android 3.0, and the droid will probably get hat update, unlike the HTC Droid Eris.

    The only other phone right now that I would even consider on Verizon is the Palm Pre Plus.
    Post edited by George Patches on
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    The only other phone right now that I would even consider on Verizon is the Palm Pre Plus.
    Yeah, I was looking at that too. I do believe Rym has that one.

    For me, I like the Droid, and buying it now is investing in the Android OS, as far as I'm concerned. I know it'll be fixed eventually, and when it it fixed, I'm confident it will be an amazing piece of tech.

    The bottom line difference between the two is pretty extreme, though; I can get the Droid for $150, or the Palm Pre Plus for free.
  • konistehradkonistehrad
    unlike the HTC Droid Eris
    Droid Eris is EOL at the end of May. The HTC Incredible is set to take its place. It's similar to the Nexus One in its internals, but comes with HTC's sense UI. It's all Android under the hood though, so do what you will with that info.
    What the Droid has going for it is numbers. A lot of people have them and thus issues are recognized and addressed.
    I agree with the first half, but not the outcome. Android has had many problems for quite a long time (no running-application model, for example) and they have not all been addressed. What those numbers do mean for you, though, is a booming Marketplace full of interesting third party apps. This might be the sole reason to choose Android over WebOS. Of course, Rym can speak more at length on this topic than I, but my understanding of the WebOS app store is: ad-laden tumbleweeds.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    What those numbers do mean for you, though, is a booming Marketplace full of interesting third party apps.
    This also holds a lot of interest for me. Methinks I'll actually listen to this episode of Geeknights tonight, to hear your input on the Droid and smartphones in general. I'll pose the same question to you: what phone would you recommend, right now?
  • AprecheApreche
    I'll pose the same question to you: what phone wouldyourecommend, right now?
    That was the first thing we discussed.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    edited April 2010
    I agree with the first half, but not the outcome. Android has had many problems for quite a long time (no running-application model, for example) and they have not all been addressed.
    Well I meant the large numbers are good purely from a "bugs will get fixed" perspective. Android is still android, and the lack of an running-application mode is not a bug. Get TaskPanel, problem solved. Eventually there will be a first party solution (or they'll code much more aggressive memory management such as to eliminate the need for such a program), but until then the third party is at least taking care of us.
    Post edited by George Patches on
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    That was the first thing we discussed.
    Well, y'know, I'm at work right. No ability to listen to podcasts. I was hoping to get an answer sooner rather than later.
  • konistehradkonistehrad
    edited April 2010
    I'll pose the same question to you: what phone wouldyourecommend, right now?
    Right now it literally pains me to say the Droid is your best bet. Wait two months for the HTC Incredible, though. You absolutely won't regret the decision. (Bigger screen, faster processor, more memory.)

    EDIT: I'm overusing punctuation like crazy today.!?
    Post edited by konistehrad on
  • AprecheApreche
    Wait two months for the HTC Incredible
    Or three to four months for the iPhone 4.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    That was the first thing we discussed.
    *spoiler* It's the iPhone. But it's the iPhone in a perfect world where you don't have to be tied to AT&T;'s shitty shitty service. In the real world a lot of people choose a phone based on the carrier.
  • konistehradkonistehrad
    Or three to four months for the iPhone 4.
    I thought I saw somewhere that Q1 2011 would be a potential launch date for iPhone-VZW?
  • konistehradkonistehrad
    *spoiler* It's the iPhone. But it's the iPhone in a perfect world where you don't have to be tied to AT&T;'s shitty shitty service. In the real world a lot of people choose a phone based on the carrier.
    Yeah, Pete had mentioned an affinity for Verizon however, and my answer was geared toward that.
  • AprecheApreche
    I thought I saw somewhere that Q1 2011 would be a potential launch date for iPhone-VZW?
    Every iPhone ever has been released in late June early July. That's a pattern that has continued three years in a row. Considering they just put up iPhone OS 4, the next phone is clearly on its way. If they're going to Verizon, why would they not do it along with the release of the phone? If iPhone 4 isn't on VZ4, you'll almost definitely be waiting at least another year for it.
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