Nice, I just found another feature that's useful and I hadn't heard of it anywhere. With 2.1, in order to get my phone in vibrate, I'd have to silence it, then do +1 volume. In other words, when I get in the elevator going up to my office (when I turn my phone on vibe), I had to: (1) silence the volume control to silence, (2) unlock phone, (3) press volume up, (4) put phone back on standby. Now? I just simply slide the standby screen's volume to vibrate. Done and done. Little things, little things.
If I'll be in the market for a new phone around mid September, and I'm completely open to iphone, Blackberry or a Android phone, I'm pretty confident I can choose which iphone (the newest, obviously), and which Blackberry make sense for comparison sake, but i get a little lost in all the Droid options and upcoming options. The availability is, of course, great, but assuming I am open on network (currently on AT&T, but have been on others in the past), what is looking like the best Droid phone that will be out around that time?
Mid September? I assume the EVO 4G on Sprint will still be very good, and the Droid Shadow should be out by then, too. There's always the Nexus One, too, which is still a top option despite similar phones coming out -- it's primary advantage is that it gets Android updates first since it's Google's official device.
I don't think it is possible to even say at this point. September is too far of a timeframe. There are phones coming out this summer that have not even been formally announced.
For those that have updated their phones to 2.2, there is a new build (FRF72). If you did the update a while ago, you probably have FRF50. You can verify you're behind by going to Settings > About phone and look at the build number. Anyway, here is the package, straight from Google. And if you forgot how to install it, here are some steps. Apparently Flash performance has improved. Oh, right, there's a Beta 3 for Flash Player 10.1 recently released too, so update it in the Market if you haven't. Other improvements in FRF72 over FRF50: - Power button working properly - Improved Flash performance - Stock browser speed increase - Increased internal storage (~ 50 MB) - Improved 3G reception.
Here's the question I have, and I am hoping somebody might know the answer. I have had a Samsung Instinct for the last couple of years. My wife got the HTC Hero a few months ago, and I think that is one sweet device. However, I am used to the touch interface style on the Samsung - and I do NOT mean the UI as such, but instead I am talking about the stylus-based pinpoint accuracy and the haptic response. I understand that haptic response is there on the Android phone, but the pinpoint stylus (or nail, or plastic pen tip, or whatever) does NOT work on her phone, because it requires the actual soft pad of your actual fingertip in order for it to register that it is being touched at all. Well I just don't like that, I much prefer to use a stylus or some other kind of very accurate pointing/touching device, rather than my nubby fingertip which is three times the size of the 'keys' when typing. They say 'you'll get used to it'. But I don't want to get used to it, I want to use the touch screen the same way I have for the past two years. So the question is, is this 'fleshy-fingertip-requirement' thing a requirement on all Android devices? In other words, is this inherent in the design of the OS? Or are there some phones/devices out there which do not require that, and instead can use a stylus? Hm I hope that makes sense, my apologies if this seems to be nonsense. This could be a deal-breaker for me. Now I know they say that the fingertip thing is necessary in order to do the multi-touch which I care zero about, so maybe it could be optional, something maybe that could be turned on or off?
You may have to get used to it if you want a high-powered smart phone. As of right now, it seems that pretty much every manufacturer is moving toward capacitive touchscreens on high-end screens for now. You should look into the availability of capacitive styluses though. I'm not sure if they exist, but it is worth a look.
"The fingers you have used to dial are too fat, to obtain a special dialing wand please mash the keypad with your palm now."
