"That's right folks. Hot on the heels of our iPhone app release (which has since skyrocketed up the App Store charts to #1 in News), the webOS version has officially landed. You'll see that the experience is shockingly, wonderfully similar to the iPhone / iPod touch version, but of course there are a couple of webOS flourishes to be found. You can download the application right from your Pre or Pixi by simply popping open the App Catalog and, you know... downloading the thing. This is the 1000th application in the Catalog -- a piece of info we feel pretty psyched about. We've got even more on the way (like BlackBerry and Android versions), so keep it tuned here, but for now... webOS fans, go get your fix!"
- Richard Lawler
from Bookmarklet
I like everything about my G1. Looking forward to the Nexus.
- Jorge Escobar
I love my HTC Magic. Except the lack of Android 1.6 or 2.0. Next stop, Nexus One.
- Zachary TG
Zachary TG: You can run Android 1.6 on the HTC Magic with the CyanogenMod (http://www.cyanogenmod.com/). It's not an official release, but my experience with it is great.
- Nikola
Honestly, I thought I'd be bored of my G1 by now, but that is not the case. The aftermarket ROM's and hacks have made owning the G1 a satisfying experience despite it's limitations.
- Adrian
The Google apps are very good. I wish it handled some things like the Pre like flipping back and forth between open apps. I miss the Pre's integrated sms/mms and IM messenger.
- Rodfather
I have the HTC Hero and I must say that I like the Android keyboard much better than the iPhone's. I don't have an iphone, but I own the iPod Touch and my understanding is the UI is the same - what I like in particular about Android's keyboard is the hold-longer for 'shifted' keys - which is especially useful when you type lots of smileys.
- See-ming Lee 李思明 SML
Rod, how do you flip between open apps on the Pre? I'd like the home button to instantly show the open apps list when pressed and Home should always be on the list. Long press to go straight to home maybe. Jeesh... Windows mobile allowed you to define button actions... what up Android? Oh! also, the pull down notification blinds should have the running apps as a row of icons at top.
- Adrian
Android isn't ready for me yet, was playing with an n97 but that wasn't ready either. I'm waiting half a year to a year before I replace the phone I'm using now. Yes, the slack behaviour of other manufacturers mean I have the Idogandbone ;-)
- Richard A.
There's the gesture area below the screen. Swiping up pulls up the main screen where you can flip between them. Or swipe the apps up to close. It's handy for going back and forth to copy/paste text. With Android, it's not as intuitive. Like you can't flip between two open websites easily.
- Rodfather
The 2 open websites thing is true, but actually in Android 2.* holding down the home button brings up a list of currently open and recently used apps, which you can switch to by touching them
- LANjackal
It doesn't feel like real multitasking. You're not exactly sure the app you ran a few minutes ago is still in memory. With the cards in the Pre, you know they are still running and can jump right in again. I try to let the memory manager handle everything which is fine and works well, but it's just not very intuitive.
- Rodfather
I disagree. From my observation Android doesn't kill apps unless the devs specify that the app dies when the user switches away from it (which is vanishingly rare). This means that unless you manually killed the app, anything that pops up on a long press of the home button IS actually STILL running
- LANjackal
from IM
Yes but once you start running a bunch of other apps, other apps don't show up anymore when you hold down the home button. You're not quite sure if you can easily switch back to it because it's all automatic to what shows up on that list of 6.
- Rodfather
Some of the task managers on the market allow you to see more than the last 6 apps. I haven't played with them much though. This aspect of Android needs some work.
- Adrian
Yeah but those task managers require you to navigate to the home screen at least to see them
- LANjackal
from IM
I don't remember honestly, but it seems the task management app should change the way the home button itself functions for it to be a meaningful change. I'll look into them again, this has been bugging me.
- Adrian
I remember playing with an app that set the camera button to popup the default task switcher. It still seemed a little slow to pop up for my liking .. and the camera button no longer automatically brings up the camera.
- Andrew Perry
Get some colour and come graphics in there. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Does that case come with the Kindle? Looks nice.
- Benjamin Golub
Pure pleather-like goodness: http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-.... The case has a clever little hook mechanism that makes it easy to pop the Kindle in and out, but you can definitely use the Kindle with the case on. Feels and looks more like a book with the case on, plus it protects the screen. They say it is real leather, which is a shame, as it feels like pleather and frankly I'd rather it was fake.
- DeWitt Clinton
Can you please check if it shows UTF-8 characters? Like my name?
- Vinay | विनय
I am starting to get pretty excited about those... was pretty skeptical at first, but that is going to be a game changer.
- Susan Beebe
@Michael - I had never heard of it. But I'll admit that, off all the things I wished my Kindle could do, fold in half was not one of them. And this may sound like heresy, but I'm not sure the high-level OS stack is the limiting factor in of ebook readers. Give me more surface area (Kindle DX size), a thinner bezel, higher resolution and maybe color, ditch the keyboard (okay, so maybe an touchscreen IME would help), a brushed aluminum body, and keep the thickness and weight constant, and you have an upgrade.
- DeWitt Clinton
Ugh. It's like 1993 all over again. Whoever can figure out how to make high resolution, eInk screens in color, not necessarily with a rapid refresh rate, will pretty much own this device space for a while.
- Bill Strathearn
"Even though the overall Android app market grew 20 percent month-over-month in December 2009, Droid logged the biggest gains, indicating a higher number of Droids in the market than competing Android devices, new data from Flurry Media, a San Francisco-based mobile analytics company, shows: * Droid application downloads increased by 93 percent over previous Fridays in December. * Droid accounted for 48 percent of download volume across the leading Android handsets (Droid, myTouch 3G, G1 and HTC Hero)."
- LANjackal
from Bookmarklet
I have the myTouch 3G. We don't have the DROID in Canada ): Well, on Telus soon. But I have Rogers.
- Zachary TG
I wonder if when people speak of "Droid" the phone is it sometimes confused with the operating system, "Android?"
- Ron Thompson
http://www.google.com/reader... I'm glad you asked this right now. I just realized that several people are following me and I didn't even know it. I hope it hasn't been this way for long!
- Michael Fidler
Just noticed that Reader now allows grouping of people you follow! Wondering: is Reader going to become a competitor (instead of complement) to FriendFeed?
- Chris Rogers
@rogersdc / Chris, Google Reader is obviously been trying to become more social, but I'd really like to see FF come out with a bookmarklet that makes sub'ing RSS feeds to FF easier/faster. Right now it's a manual process involving either a new Group/Room or Imaginary Friend. Should be 2 clicks tops.. Also see: http://friendfeed.com/alexsch...
- Alex Schleber
Here is mine : http://www.google.fr/reader.... I share (mainly on French sites and blogs) about libraries, literature and arts, human and social sciences, photography :-)
- Nadine Pestourie
LOL here we go again :o) http://www.google.com/reader... I share a lot of blogs and funny stuff that I read, it's neat how I can share and it gets posted all over by friendfeed.
- David Gross
http://www.google.com/reader... - I share items about productivity, gaming, movies, and misc. stuff from the Google "cool" via Recommendations feed. Thanks Kol for starting this thread because I've been trying to cut down on the number of feeds I subscribe to and instead just follow interesting people.
- Dusty Edenfield
Svartling: good point about adding people to groups. I noticed I couldn't comment on items that were shared by some users.
- Dusty Edenfield
I've (we) written a lot of more good tips on how to use Google Reader in Google Reader comments. It's too bad we don't have permalinks in Greader so we can share our notes and comments. Otherwise I could have posted a link here. Here are some on friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/svartli...
- Svartling
The conversation is really blowing up (in a good way) on Reader. The most important reminder currently is to set up groups and allow commenting. That is NOT on by default!
- Vince DeGeorge
Thank you all. I think I have subscribed you all now (except those feed in languages I don't understand) Here is mine again: http://www.google.com/reader...
- Svartling
I've started to follow a few of the people here but there's quite a few, so will take me a while :) - My currently fairly bare feed is: http://www.google.com/reader...
- Roy Herrod
There are a few entries here you might like to read to help you. This one: http://ff.im/6CkQj explains about adding people to groups to allow them to comment and why some don't stay in groups. In this one: http://ff.im/6F9pQ I suggest a way to track a large number of shared items using PostRank. This: http://ff.im/6Ci0P and this: http://ff.im/6AM35 has a few tips on using GReader as a lifestreaming service. And this: http://ff.im/6EMT1 gives a few examples of GReader bundles.
- Kol Tregaskes
Those of you above whom I already follow on FF/Twitter/etc., I've subscribed to your feeds. As for the rest of you: if you follow me on GReader, I'll follow you back.
- Dennis Jernberg
I'm sharing some pages now, including a few of my past blog entries.
- Dennis Jernberg
Because I have issues with data duplication, I have merged this list with the google reader shares room feeds. You can view the Google spreadsheet at http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...
- Rob Diana
There are a bunch of shared feeds that I could not resolve the Google username for because they did not have a named profile set up.
- Rob Diana
tristanhambling, your link didn't work. :-(
- Kol Tregaskes
It would be really handy to have all these shared feeds as an opml file. Has anyone added everyone? Care to export an opml of the shared feeds?
- Paul Jacobson
I'm http://www.google.com/reader... Not really comfortable with the custom URL though since it can only be your gmail username. Makes it really easy for spamspiders I think.
- TobiasVerhoog.com
Tobias, possibly but not had any problems myself though Gmail has the best spam filters around so I probably not noticed. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
http://www.google.com/reader... mostly webdev, photography news, music, world news which i get interested. plus half of them may be article in Japanese. sorry. :-p
- browneyes
http://www.google.com/reader... - OK I'm in. Late as always. Will post my thoughts, feedback and pleading requests for help over in Google Reader so please follow me over there. Eat your own dog food and all that.
- Andy C
MF/Kol = I live in Kingston on Thames. It's OK apart from the traffic (continually gridlocked) and the shops (girls just lurve them). Handy for getting into London both airports and out to the Thames Valley for work type things. Richmond Park and the river in walking distance is great too.
- Andy C
Andy, Richmond Park and the others around there are the appeal really. Good place to go photographing and cycling while being very close to London I think.
- Kol Tregaskes
Teddington (across the river from Kingston Upon Thames, is where I think I'd like to live. Just 'cos it's cheaper than everywhere else around it. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
@Kol many years ago, we made the mistake of asking an estate agent in Surbiton whether it was any cheaper than Kingston. She replied 'No - of course not. We are on the fast line to Waterloo' and looked at us as if we were dog excrement.
- Andy C
I've checked rental prices in the area several times over the last 2 years and Teddington is definitely cheaper. I'm not buying, no way I can afford that. ;-) All a pip-dream anyway, need a steady job and I've not had that for a while. :-(
- Kol Tregaskes
anyone use google reader on windows mobile professional? I cant seem to get it to work and when I try to go to the mobile site it takes me to the regular site.
- David Gross
Nope, sorry can't help you there, David.
- Kol Tregaskes
ffsms: (now, released for USA) Send Your FriendFeed Posts via SMS! Sign up, get your PIN and post to FF from your mobile phone. It is FREE! #ffsms Try it now: - http://ffsms.com/
Users from the USA can use our new project "ffsms": ffsms is the first FriendFeed service brings you ability of posting to FriendFeed via SMS. After its pre-release in Turkey, it is available for you! You'll just pay for a standart SMS. Try it now! (Feedback: http://friendfeed.com/ffsms)
- Alp
from Bookmarklet
Nicholas, I'm not sure about it. Most probably in a few weeks, it seems nobody wants to use this in the US, so maybe we will never launch for UK. Even Turkish people are using it a lot but American friends haven't liked it. We included launching for Iran in our plans.
- Alp
I read that as FFS MS rather than FF SMS - I liked mine more ;-)
- Graeme Spice
That's great! Now I'll just wait till they have it in the Netherlands as well - or move to the states, whichever comes first ;)
- James Kuypers
@James I've no idea about how many of FriendFeed users are from Netherlands or other European countries. I think Russia and UK are the at the 1st and 2nd place about FriendFeed usage. Do you have any idea?
- Alp
"Step aside, Android 2.0 -- Android 2.0.1 has arrived. Verizon is rolling out its first update to the Motorola Droid phone this week, and many users are starting to receive the package today. Android 2.0.1 is a relatively minor update, but it brings a handful of performance and aesthetical changes that pack some extra punch into the Droid experience."
- LANjackal
from Bookmarklet
Can I first have 1.6? Or 2.0? Come on Rogers! Update my Magic!
- Zachary TG
For those of you who are wondering, camera pic quality is HUGELY improved by the update
- LANjackal
I just bought the HTC Hero - I'm on Sprint. At first I didn't like it that much because it seems slow (i still don't know why but I think it had to do with me putting it on wifi and doing background data sync). Anyway, I'm using the mobile network now and it's all good. I also own the ipod touch and liked it - but now that i own both platforms I can definitely see the pros and cons on each of them.
- See-ming Lee 李思明 SML
e.g. there are some nice features on the touchscreen keyboard on the Android that's missing on the iphone / ipod touch (I have the latest equivalent to 3GS - 64GB edition) - but the minor interactions like application pop to view, etc, 'feels' better on the ipod touch. Also I don't like the way the icon / wallpaper (again UI stuff) as much on the android but those I guess I can try to tweak over time
- See-ming Lee 李思明 SML
But one thing super sweet is that I have like 5000 contacts on my Gmail, and when I bought my phone - tada my entire list is on the phone - all the more reason to put everything on it - the contacts app on my android has built-in integration to link facebook + flickr accounts and automatically pull people's photos from them. A lot of these open + portable feature makes it much more desirable than being on a closed and locked platform like the iphone
- See-ming Lee 李思明 SML
I'm still G1 bound on T-Mobile until next Oct. The Google Phone will be an unlocked GSM phone if the rumors are to be believed (and they are pretty ubiquitous by now) so depending on how much it will cost, I may spring for it if it pans out. It seems to have all the specs and features I've been waiting for... namely a 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU, 3.7" OLED screen and [hopefully] a good camera with HD video capability. Android is quickly evolving...
- Adrian
But one thing I would definitely say is that if I use the Android at any places populated with 'shallow' non-geeks, people with iphones no doubt pulls out theirs then give me a high-brow to 'dismiss' me which is annoying at times but ah well
- See-ming Lee 李思明 SML
Yes the CPU definitely sounds like. I would definitely recommend getting a fast CPU - as it matters. I tested out the Motorola droid at a store and it feels slow.
- See-ming Lee 李思明 SML
Droid has the same CPU as Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS, however Android still has some issues with sluggishness. Droid will probably be able to run glass smooth after a couple of updates or a hacked ROM.
- Adrian
I use Gmail for work myself, so I very much appreciated the G1's tacit synchronicity from day 1 as well.
- Adrian
G1 here too. Looking forward for an upgrade to a Snapdragon or better.
- imabonehead
from Android
Looks pretty good .. but thinner than iPhone ? That can mean only one thing - no physical keyboard. Not my cup of tea.
- Andrew Perry
Good comment on MacRumors by @saturniphone too: "In the end it's a phone. It is not your identity. I have requirements and desires for what I would like a phone to do to enhance my life and if the gPhone meets more of them than the iPhone, I'm in. You are not your mobile phone, people."
- Andrew Perry
JooJoo will have a 12.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, 4 GB solid state drive, an accelerometer that will allow it to switch between landscape and portrait modes, Wi-Fi connectivity and a battery life of up to five hours. It will run a custom-designed operating system that will allow the machine to boot in nine seconds and access the internet near-instantaneously. JooJoo has a capacitive touchscreen, which means it is about as responsive as an iPhone touchscreen and as much of a delight to use. There’s also an LCD screen that supports high-definition content. Overall, it measures about 13.3-inches deep, but has a slimmer profile than Apple’s Macbook Air. JooJoo runs a custom operating system built by Fusion Garage and boots in just under nine seconds directly to a homepage screen. It’s fast and takes the user directly to services that they may use. The homepage screen is divided vertically into three sections: Be connected, Be informed, and More apps. Under the ‘Be connected’ tab, there...
more...
- Örgüt Çaylı
from Bookmarklet
No, it is actually a Linux computer. Think of it as a laptop with a small formfactor. Don't insult it by comparing it to a *phone*.
- Zap Andersson
I still want to try one. The fact it is restricted to T-Mobile only in US is what makes it a deal breaker for me.
- Corey Marthaller
Surely you can buy the N900 unlocked?
- Zap Andersson
You can buy it unlocked, which is what Leo did, but the 3G GSM frequencies it uses are T-Mobile only in the US from what I understand.
- Corey Marthaller
Well, I believe it'll work on the AT&T 2G network, so it's not "restricted" to T-Mobile, per se.
- Ken Sheppardson
And heck, Verizon would have you believe only about 1% of the country gets AT&T 3G anyway, so no big loss, right? :-)
- Ken Sheppardson
Leo, I would be happy to take it off your hands for a week so I can do a review.
- Aaron Newcomb
Thank someone it's not an iPhone! Don't need apps to do everything, a lot can be done natively. Apps will come, sure, but don't actually *need* them. The interface is no more awkward than the iPhone when it first came out. Same with integration and function. But coming out of the gate, N900 is a lot more functional than iPhone first was!
- JLA
Just a little more patience for the Apple iTablet/iPad (iWhatever) ... sure, price tag will be $699 - 849 but you will get what you pay for and it will blow all other tablets away immediately. Don´t cry Arrington.
- HansVanRock
Pricing mentioned earlier was always delusional.
- Brian Sullivan