collegegeek.org

A few days ago, I finally broke down and got a new phone.  I settled on the Samsung Instinct, because I didn’t want to switch to another carrier.  I’ve had it now for just over a week, so I thought I’d type up some of my initial thoughts.

My primary use of my cell phone is text messaging, because I can use it to manage and receive updates from Twitter, Facebook, and Google (including Google Calendar), so it was my first concern.  At first, I was hesitant about going with a touchscreen keyboard, but I have been pleasantly suprised with the Instinct.  The phone vibrates just a bit whenever a button is pressed giving it a little bit of tactile feedback.  The on screen keyboard is also very accurate, and I rarely mistype on it.

The next feature that sold me on this phone was the GPS navigation (though a lot of Sprint phones are capable of that).  Turn by turn directions are very good, and the rest of the phone also makes good use of the GPS location feature.

The phone has also replaced my iPod as my primary mp3 player.  While the iPod is still a superior player, it’s not enough to warrant carrying two devices.  It came with a 2GB MicroSD card, but I’ve ordered an 8GB card that should give me plenty of storage.

I’ll be writing some more in-depth thoughts on the phone over the next few days, for now I have to head to sleep.

I’ve been following Android for a while now, but the less I heard about it (and the more it got delayed) the more I looked into alternatives. I almost broke down and bought the iPhone 3G, but decided to at least wait until I got back to Kentucky to make a decision on it. Then, yesterday, I saw a forum post stating that an Android beta build had been installed on an HTC TyTn II, and again my interest in the project was back.

HTC is supposedly going to be making one of the first Android phones, so I poked around on their website, and quickly discovered what I want in an Android phone. The HTC Touch Pro looks amazing, and features a physical keyboard, which is a big plus for me. One of my main turn-offs on the iPhone was the touchscreen keyboard, which didn’t seem optimal for typing out emails or text messages.

Sadly, the HTC Touch Pro only runs Windows Mobile 6.1, but I’m hoping someone figures out a way to load Android onto the thing. It’s much thicker than the iPhone (to accomidate for the real keyboard) and only has 512MB of internal ROM (but has a Micro SD slot), but if I could get Android running on it, the hackibility would make up for it’s shortcomings. It also features a front-facing camera, which can allow for video chat, and all the extra goodies that I’d expect in a smartphone (GPA, Wifi, etc.) and a few that I didn’t (FM Radio and TV Out).

The phone isn’t yet available, so I can’t play with one yet, but I’ll try once it comes out here in the states. Apparently, it will be through Sprint, so I wouldn’t have to change carriers. I’d really like to know if it will be upgradable to Android once it is released, because I don’t want to buy a phone now that I won’t be able to run Android on later.