Smartphones: bathroom breaks will never be the same

Focus: I use an Android based phone most simply because I've had bad experiences with AT&T. I was on Cingular and then AT&T took over. The service was mediocre (fair amount of dropped calls, had to stand in my window to call people, etc), but then I went home from college for the summer and AT&T sent me a letter to let me know that I'd been cut off because I'd left their service area. The sub-par service and subsequent shitty customer service did it for me.

I swapped to Alltel for a bit and used my first semi-smartphone. It could get on the net and check email/facebook, but it wasn't really smart. Because of my previous experiences, I didn't want to swap back to an iphone. I had heard of Android and was curious. I had a dummy Verizon work phone (also had their wireless aircard for my work laptop and it worked fine in my desolate area) so I figured I'd give them a try.

I know the apps for a droid are limited when compared to an iphone, but the service has been great and the amount of content at my fingertips is amazing. I grew up in a rural area and found a job back there (not by my choice) and still have great service. AT&T recently overtook Alltel in my area, but I am still not seeing any downgrade to the service I am receiving. I tend to work in the middle of nowhere and can at least manage to make phone calls/texts. When I am closer to home, I have no problems getting on the net, especially when I am at home and can connect via wireless.

If Apple branched out, it may have been more of a toss-up. But I have no intention of ever going back to AT&T unless they turn around and take complete control of the market. Not to mention the fact that Google is catching on with what users want and can provide the same content that Apple can provide.

I wish I had FiOS in my area...

 

iPhone4, I got it for free and I've been using it a lot, tumblr/facebook during boring classes especially. I'm not a smartphone guy at all, I only voice-call and text with my phones and I never used them to take pictures or surf the net before my iphone.

I used to have a Samsung Instinct before and I hated it with a fiery passion; terrible touchscreen, terrible texting, batterylife was weak and worse of all - it deleted my contacts twice. Before that I had a Razr2 and absolutely loved it for text/voice but for little else.

Oh and how did I get a 32gb iPhone4 for free the week it was released? I dunno but a lot of my friends were envious, but I don't see what the big deal is - it's too expensive.

 

I have also upgraded from a RAZR to a Instinct to an iPhone.

The Instinct is the dumbest 'smartphone' ever. The majority of the 'apps' didn't even work for me. Facebook worked for about the first couple months and then just stopped. The screen drove me insane - I had to re-calibrate it on several occasions. The only thing I liked about that phone was the awesome custom raccoon-wearing-a-suit cover I had made for it.

I don't think I could love a human baby more than I love my iPhone. I found the best app called JankenPon which takes up about 97% of my free time. Download it. You won't be sorry.

 

It's not that "blackberries have bbm!," it's that bbm is encrypted. On the other hand, I have no idea if the android or iPhone have encryption options so this point may all just be a waste of bandwidth.

 

I've never tried to use that argument to talk about how cool my phone is or anything. However, I do enjoy not paying for texts when I send /receive to /from another Blackberry owner. (And, I didn't even know I could do that until I'd had the thing for a year.)

 

What? That is a ludicrous argument.

How many Blackberry users, outside of Barack Obama and his close staffers, actually need their messaging to be encrypted? This is well above and beyond the security needs of 99.999999% of Blackberry users.

In fact, how many things requiring that level of security are actually being communicated via BBM? It's a near-trivial amount.

If we asked 100 Blackberry users, you would be lucky to find more than 2 or 3 who were even aware that BBM was encrypted.

For the overwhelming majority, so overwhelming that it can almost be taken as 100%, this is a non-issue.

If you're going to argue that BBM encryption is a game-changer for the users as a whole (rather than a very small subgroup), you're going to need to explain further.

 

Drug deals?

Some people just like the added security. I'm not saying it's necessary or completely rational...it just is.

 

To be fair, the method that Blackberry uses (AEA) is very, very good. Like, "the US government considers it good enough for classified documents" sort of good.

 

The question isn't really how many people need encryption, but rather:

How many people work for a company that has at least one employee that needs encryption? Or how many people work for a company that gets audited by a firm that requires encryption? To take it a step further - how many people work for a company that gets audited according to a standard that is used to audit a company where one user would actually require encryption?

That's when that number gets really big. The majority of 'security' is implemented by the requirement of an audit that is totally unrealistic for over 90% of the eventual implementation. This is how software security companies have ridiculous profits.

 

Just upgraded to the Droid X the other day. I still have a BB for work, but I reluctantly switched from BB to the Droid for my personal phone because I'm not tech savvy at all and I was used to the BB operating system. Holy shit is the Android so much fucking sweeter than the BB. Holy shit is this phone giving me a headache with all the technical intricacies.

I need to make a post in the Tech thread asking for some help on this thing in plain English. I've visited just about every droid forum I can find on the net, but with all the techy speak, various acronyms, assumption of knowledge, etc, I really have no idea what half of the posts are talking about, or how to do what the posters are recommending.

I really just want to figure out how to tether the thing to my mac. And all this rooting talk - what the fuck?? Is this something I should be doing?? Like I said, I'll defer these questions to the tech thread.

But like I said, the basic operating stuff, apps, and things like that are so far superior to the Blackberry. The one thing that I think BB does great is email, but the Android does email just fine and all the other features aren't even comparable.

 

I have a first generation droid and I love it. It is my first smartphone and I love the customization features that android offers. Rooting is the equivalent of jailbreaking an iphone. I waited a few months after getting my phone before I rooted because doing this voids the warranty and it can potentially brick the phone. If it gets bricked, its useless, hence the term brick. If rooting is something you are interested in, there is a file you can download that gives you root access. I don't know how to root a droidx.

On the upside, rooting allows you to delete the bloatware that takes up space on the phone. However, they say that deleting stock apps can compromise the stability of the operating system. I can overclock my processor,(mine runs at 800mhz when it needs to, but drops down to 125mhz to save battery) You download an app called setcpu and then set it to what you want. With the droid x, I wouldn't overclock since it has a 1gz processor already. You can also back up your applications to the micro sd card in case you want to wipe the phone clean and start over with titaniumbackup.

I kind of a tech geek about this stuff and the droid is geek bait. The onion app is by far my favorite app on the phone.

 

I'm a person who is skeptical of new, groundbreaking technology. I'm not talking about the newest videogame system; I usually eat those up like they're the key for me getting into heaven or something. When a new tech like Android or iPhone comes out, I'm skeptical because when new shit comes out it either a.) Doesn't work worth shit, b.) is incredibly overpriced, or c.) both of the above.

That being said, I was talked into finally buying a Droid phone a few months ago and I can't imagine life without one. It's not that I couldn't survive without it, or even that I wouldn't enjoy life nearly as much, there are just little things I'm growing accustomed to that I'm really happy I'm able to do. One of these is definitely play online while I'm shitting without taking my laptop into the bathroom with me and grossing my girlfriend or parents out. On clear nights where some stars are visible, the GoogleSkyMap app is a really great thing to have. Plus I can check the scores on NFL Sundays while I'm eating out somewhere or visiting the parents. Plus I can make my own ringtones and shit.

 

My iPhone 3G died after 15 months on Sunday evening. So now I'm stuck with using my HTC Windows Mobile phone (circa 2006). I find it to be a horrible phone.. so slow to do anything but atleast I can customize the hell out of it. Internet Explorer is worse on a cellphone than it is on PC (well IE has gotten much better over the last few years).

I'm already in iPhone withdrawal, but my girlfriend is happy the iPhone is gone. Well I guess I shouldn't treat phones like toys and take better care of them. I managed to drop the phone (and its predecessor) 8-10 times a day and the screen finally cracked back in July for the first time. Next time - I need to buy a case/skin/etc

I'm going to the local futureshit (I mean Futureshop, which is owned by Best Buy) tomorrow and seeing if they have any iPhones in stock, or might go for an android. My girlfriend's getting a Blackberry tomorrow considering she thinks the idea of a smartphone is stupid

 

What timing. I got the iPhone 4 today, which is my very first smartphone. I upgraded from the LG Rumor by switching from Sprint to AT&T when my contract expired.

Needless to say, this being my first day in possession of it, I'm in love. I've downloaded a shit-ton of free apps and have spent maybe five or six hours today just playing around with it. The only gripe I have is the signal is weak and I've already had a few calls dropped, but I understand there's a fix for that? It'll be interesting to see how many of these apps/social media sites I continue to use once the novelty wears off...

Any suggestions on must-have (preferably free) apps?

 

I think the iPhone is pretty neat, but I can't justify spending $100 a month on a phone plan plus $200 on a phone.

I don't have a Myspace or a Facebook so I don't need the social networking aspect of a phone. I don't really talk a lot on the phone so I don't need a ton of minutes. All I really use is the calendar, alarm, memo and email/internet aspects on the phone. For this reason I decided to go with the Virgin Mobile Loft. It's built decently and takes photos, sends and receives texts/pictures and makes phone calls.

I'll stick with my $27 a month plan thanks.