Android Mobile Device

Google has been denied the trademark for it’s Nexus One Android phone. A Portland based newspaper reported that the name is too similar to a trademark held by Portland based company Integra Telecom.

It’ll be interesting to see what Google does now.  Will they have to change the name of the Nexus One?  I doubt that, surely they will come to some sort of agreement with Integra Telecom for rights to the name.

It’s surprising that this sort of thing can happen to such a large organization like Google.  You would have thought they would do their research into the likelihood of getting the trademark before launching their first Android phone and something that was so anticipated.  Maybe it just points to the slowness of the Patent and Trademark Office.

Integra has said

“”We appreciate that the PTO is protecting our trademark rights.  Integra has over $60 Million in annual revenue associated with our Nexus brand and it represents millions of new revenue for the company each year.  Google hasn’t contacted us since the PTO issued its objection but we hope we can work together to achieve our respective business goals.”

It’s timely news as on Tuesday the Nexus One became available on AT&T, putting it in direct competition with the iPhone which also runs with AT&T.

AT&T aren’t heavily involved with the Nexus One though.  You won’t be able to buy it subsidized like you can with T-Mobile which sells the phone for $179 with a 2 year contract.  To get the Nexus One on AT&T you’ll have to pay the full price from Google of $529.  There are no contracts with this, you just get the ability to use the phone on the AT&T network.

The Nexus One will be on sale with Vodafone in Europe and the UK in the spring and it will also be available on Verizon very soon.

Will it still be called the Nexus One after courts ruled that it wasn’t allowed to use the name?  Who knows, watch this space.

Related posts:

1. Google Nexus One Phone Review – Google’s Android Phone
2. AT&T Open, Android Open, Verizon Open, a Pattern is Emerging…
3. April Release for Nexus One in the UK

Google has been denied the trademark for it’s Nexus One Android phone. A Portland based newspaper reported that the name is too similar to a trademark held by Portland based company Integra Telecom.

It’ll be interesting to see what Google does now.  Will they have to change the name of the Nexus One?  I doubt that, surely they will come to some sort of agreement with Integra Telecom for rights to the name.

It’s surprising that this sort of thing can happen to such a large organization like Google.  You would have thought they would do their research into the likelihood of getting the trademark before launching their first Android phone and something that was so anticipated.  Maybe it just points to the slowness of the Patent and Trademark Office.

Integra has said

“”We appreciate that the PTO is protecting our trademark rights.  Integra has over $60 Million in annual revenue associated with our Nexus brand and it represents millions of new revenue for the company each year.  Google hasn’t contacted us since the PTO issued its objection but we hope we can work together to achieve our respective business goals.”

It’s timely news as on Tuesday the Nexus One became available on AT&T, putting it in direct competition with the iPhone which also runs with AT&T.

AT&T aren’t heavily involved with the Nexus One though.  You won’t be able to buy it subsidized like you can with T-Mobile which sells the phone for $179 with a 2 year contract.  To get the Nexus One on AT&T you’ll have to pay the full price from Google of $529.  There are no contracts with this, you just get the ability to use the phone on the AT&T network.

The Nexus One will be on sale with Vodafone in Europe and the UK in the spring and it will also be available on Verizon very soon.

Will it still be called the Nexus One after courts ruled that it wasn’t allowed to use the name?  Who knows, watch this space.

Related posts:

1. Google Nexus One Phone Review – Google’s Android Phone
2. AT&T Open, Android Open, Verizon Open, a Pattern is Emerging…
3. April Release for Nexus One in the UK

The Droid Eris from HTC is a lower priced Android phone from HTC and Verizon.  It’s Verizon’s second phone running on Android after the Motorola Droid.

This is a popular Android phone and that is probably down to it’s price of $100.

The Droid Eris was first released as the HTC Hero in Europe and then the Sprint HTC Hero in the US.  In essence it’s been remodelled as the Droid Eris.

Design

The Droid Eris has a simple design that is modern and attractive.  It’s rounded edges along with chrome finish makes it look quite stylish.  It’s simplicity is what attracts me to the way it looks.

The phone has a 3.2 inch HVGA screen which really does stand out and looks great with the 320 x 480 pixel resolution.  The colors are vibrant and stand out impressively.

Like the iPhone you can use the Droid Eris either landscape or portrait in certain applications like email or when your brosing the web.  It has what’s called an accelerometer, which changes the screen aspect.

The Keyboard

HTC have their own keyboard in the phone.  It’s not the standard Android keyboard which has had mixed reviews.  I’d say this keyboard is easier to use with more space and responsiveness.  Of course there’s always the choice of downloading a keyboard app if you don’t like the one built in here, but it is an improvement on the standard Android version.

Software

This Android phone is responsive when you use it’s touchscreen and there are no problems using it.  At the bottom of the screen you get four buttons or soft keys – home, menu, back and zoom.

It’s debateable as to what’s better, soft keys like the Droid Eris has or hardkeys built in to the hardware.  I tend to go with the opinion that hardkeys are better because it’s normally easier to feel them out and press them.  When you’re in the dark and can’t see, it’s useful to be able to feel what you’re pressing.

With that said, I like the design of the HTC Droid Eris and I don’t think hard keys would be in keeping with the simplicity of the design.

When this Android phone was first released it was running on Android 1.5.  It has 2.0 now and is due to get Android version 2.1 in the very near future.  Very good news because having a phone that’s as inexpensive as this one at $100 is a great way to get a fast Android phone cheaply.  Android needed this, to open the market up to more people.

Customizable

HTC likes making it’s phones customizable and it runs with what’s called HTC Sense.  Instead of having the standard Android home screen interface you actually get 7 options which can be customized to whatever you want.

You just flick through the 7 different screens by sweeping your finger across the display.  On each new screen you can customize it as much as you want by adding shortcuts and applications.

HTC also gives you Scenes, which is a feature that lets you customize your phone according to what you’re doing on a particular day or part of the day.  You can have a social, work, play, travel or HTC scene and create your own as well.

I like this feature because you can change your phone to set it up for whatever applications you would use more when you’re at work, or at home, or wherever you are.  It saves time.

You just need to be aware that it does take a bit of time to set up in the beginning.  When you first get the phone you might think it’s information overload but it actually makes things simpler in the long run.

The phone has a 528 MHz processor and 288MB of RAM.  It’s probably fast enough and everything seems responsive, so there arent any complaints here.

The Camera and Video

The Camera is better than the Motorola Droid, which isn’t hard, but even then it’s still not much better than that.  It has 5 Megapixels but pictures seem a bit lifeless and there’s no flash, which strangely isn’t unusual with Android phones (the Nexus One has a flash and is one of the exceptions).  You also need decent light to get a good picture with the Droid Eris, but then again that’s the same with a lot of smartphone cameras.

The video isn’t great quality either and needs a lot of light too, pretty average as far as video goes.

Summary

This phone is a very good buy.  A good qulaity phone with Verizon for $100 that will have Android version 2.1 running on it.  This Android phone has everything most people need.  Good design, decent speed, it’s responsive, customizable, has the latest version of Android, and it runs on Verizon, a reliable carrier with good coverage.

What Others are Saying
Gizmodo “The cheapest Android phone you can buy—and the best, for the money.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
CNET “The HTC Droid Eris is a satisfying Android device that offers a nice contrast to the Motorola Droid. And you can’t beat the price.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
PC World “The HTC Droid Eris is an affordable and feature-packed alternative to the Motorola Droid.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

No related posts.

The much talked about Google phone became the Nexus One.

Is this the best Android phone on the market right now?

There has been so much buzz about the launch of a Google phone that Google didn’t have to worry too much about promoting this Android phone, the hype and speculation did that all by itself.

A lot of the hype was because we thought a Google phone might have been game changing and signal a different direction for mobile phones.

With the relsease of the Google Nexus One Android phone this didn’t happen.  The phone is very good and a worthy addition to Android, but it’s not revolutionary.

At the moment the phone is available on T-Mobile in the US with a 2 year contract and $179.00 for the phone.  It’s also available to buy without a carrier for $529.00.

The Nexus One on Verizon is due to be avialiable very soon.  Spring 2010 is the date expected, together with a spring 2010 release for the Nexus One on Vodafone in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Design

The phone was built by HTC who have a history with Android phones.  They built the first, the G1 and they’ve since built a few more.

The design looks like it takes something from the iphone, something from the Palm Pre and a bit of the G1.  It’s somewhere in between all of these devices.

There are different ways of looking at it.  It either takes the best of all these phones or it’s not different enough to any of them.  I’m inclined to say that it takes the best of all the other phones.

It’s a nice looking phone and can compete with the iPhone in terms of looks.  I’m sure that was important to Google.

It has a 3.7 inch display and is just 11.5mm thick.  They managed to make the phone compact and stylish as well as nice to hold.  For a powerful phone that’s not something very easy, so it’s impressive.

Like the Motorola Droid it has the four buttons at the front of the display, back, menu, home, and search.  These must be for ease of use with Android, as Google seems to like them on it’s Android phones.

Display

This is probably the best bit.  It’s an incredibly good quality display that has great color resolution and quality.

It has an 800 x 400 pixel resolution with 16.7 million colors.  Photos and graphics really stand out brilliantly.

Software

The phone runs on Android version 2.1 which is the latest version of Android.

The phone has what they call live wallpapers which are backgrounds you can interact with.  It’s not an essential part of the phone but adds a touch of something different to it.

When you press the apps button, the apps come up in 3D, a nice little feature which adds to the uniquness of the phone.  One of the problems with that is that it does slow it down slightly, not something everyone will be happy with.

The Nexus One also has voice recognition, or the “speech-to-text engine”.  With this you can speak into any text field and it will supposedly write what you’re saying.

If you’ve used speech recognition on a PC or Mac you’ll know how it can be frustrating (although it’s getting better).  The Nexus One’s speech recognition works fairly well, not 100% of the time, but most of the time.  Would you actually want to use this? is it a feature that most people won’t use? It’s up to you.

Of course you get the Android vitual keyboard on the Nexus One.  If you’ve used other Android phones you’ll know that it’s fairly easy to use, but some people have problems.  You can always download an app with another version that you might like better, so don’t think you have to stick with the default Android keyboard.

Camera

The camera has 5 megapixels, the same as the Motorola Droid.  But it beats the Droid in speed of use.  It’s quick to load and takes sharp photos.

The camera has a flash too, which isn’t that common on Android phones and is a welcome addition in my opinion.

Speed

The great thing about the Nexus One is the speed.  Personally I like my phones to be fast, and the Nexus One delivers on that.

It has Android 2.1 installed and that’s definitely faster than previous Android versions, but it also has a 1GHz processor which is probably the main reason for it’s speed.

You’ll probably find yourself charging the phone daily if you use the phone fairly normally.  This is similar to other Android Phones out there, so no real change.

Summary

The Nexus One is up there with the best Android phones for sale at the moment.  It competes well with the Motorola Droid for the crown of the most powerful Android phone.

As Google’s first foray into a mobile hanset it does a very good job.  There will definitely be more to come from Google.  Other handsets are surely on the cards.

Google most probably wants to drive forward innovation on Android, and by pushing things forward themselves they are keeping the ball rolling, which is only a good thing for the mobile market.

The only place to buy the Nexus One is directly from Google at http://www.google.com/phone.

What Others are Saying
Gizmodo “Google’s Nexus One is the best Android phone available right now”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
CNET “It doesn’t have all the features we’d like, but the Nexus One greatly enhances the Google Android family with a fast processor, good call quality, and improved voice control features.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Engadget “It’s a good Android phone, but not the last word — in fact, if we had to choose between this phone or the Droid right now, we would lean towards the latter.”
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Related posts:

1. April Release for Nexus One in the UK

The Motorola Droid is the most Powerful Android phone to date and you could say a real challenger to the iPhone.

Many people will say, if you’re looking to buy a smartphone you have two choices. The iPhone or the Motorola Droid.

But if you go with that philosophy you might not be buying the right phone for you because Android now has some good phones that are designed for users who want different things.

The Droid is on Verizon and at the moment you can get the phone on a 2 year contract for $199.99.

Design

There’s something practical and functional about the Droid.  You get the feeling when you hold it that it’s an Android phone that’s powerful.

With a pretty phone you can admire how nice it looks but you sometimes wonder if you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.  Pretty phones often look good but don’t back that up with substance.

The Motorola Droid doesn’t go for pretty, but it does look good.  It’s got an angular look with sharp edges which make it look solid.  It’s following an unusual path compared to other smartphones which are often more rounded and sleek.

It has a 3.7 inch screen and a resolution of 440×854 pixels which is very good.  The colors are rich and this is one of the best parts of the phone, the screen and display are top quality.

The Keypad

Keypads are always tricky on smartphones and the Droid’s isn’t an exception.

The keys are squashed together and that makes it difficult to type quickly.  You don’t get a good feel for the keys either, so instead of getting quicker with your typing as you get used to the phone you actually don’t seem to speed up at all because you’re constantly wondering where your fingers are on the keypad.

Display

As on other Android phones the Droid has four buttons, back, menu, home and search.  These aren’t actually physical buttons but they are vital to the use of the phone and you’ll always be using them.  Pehaps they should be more prominant as physical buttons as they’re such an important part of Android.

Apart from the keypad it’s a very responsive phone to use and the screen as we’ve said is large with a very good, rich resolution.  With Android 2.1 on the phone it’s a lot quicker than previous versions too.

The Camera

One of the great things about cameras on phones is that you can whip it out and quickly take a picture on the move.

You’re not going to be able to do that with the Droid at all.  It’s annoyingly slow to start up and then to get it in focus and actually take a picture is slow as well.

It’s a 5 megapixel camera which is great to have but I’d rather have a camera that loaded faster and had less pixels, if there’s any correlation there, which I expect there actually isn’t.

Video

Video can work at a 720×480 resolution and performs well.  It’s better to use than the camera, so if you get a Droid, just use the video rather than taking pictures, it’s quicker and pretty good quality.

Software

The Droid started on Android version 2.0 but has now moved to 2.1 which makes it faster.  It performs much better than 2.0 overall and is a definite improvement.

Summary

The Droid is a very good Android phone.  It’s the most powerful Android phone yet and is the biggest contender to the iPhone.

Despite problems with the camera being slow and the keyboard not being as good as it could have been it’s an excellent choice if you’re going to buy an Android powered device.

If you’re looking to fully embrace Android and use all of it’s functions, then buying a Motorola Droid would be your best bet.  With it’s update to Android 2.1 it’s speeded up from the original 2.0 it was running on, so now you really can use Android to the best of it’s ability.

What Others are Saying
Engadget “It’s easily the best Android phone to date.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
PC World “The first Android 2.0 phone impresses with a strong suite of Web features and a stunning 3.7-inch display, but some users might have trouble with the shallow keyboard.”
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Gizmodo “It’s this simple: If you don’t buy an iPhone, buy a Droid.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

No related posts.