Android 2.1

[Reliant121]

I'm looking to try and get hold of a Nokia E72. My service provider, who are actually pretty awful, don't support push email so I'll have to do email retrieval but the E72 features an insanely long battery life so i can just sit on 3G and let it sync every half hour or so.

[thelordharry]

It's a catch-22 really. Physical versus Virtual. Physical = moving parts that will break one day but up until then provide convenience or go virtual and get RSI of the thumbs/fingers

Maybe one day, a virtual keyboard that knows when your eye is looking at that character and then types it on screen.

[Tyyr]

I dunno, I've had real good experiences with my wife's virtual keyboard and with mine. They recognize what I'm pushing just fine, it's really only at the edges where things get iffy and after all, fuck Q.

[Reliant121]

Theres nothing wrong with a decent capacitive virtual one (as long as its qwerty for me). But, since I'm a typical tween generation child I am on my phone pretty much every 30 seconds typing out a rather long text message (I refuse out of principle to use text speech. ELL OH ELL) meaning a physical keyboard is preferable.

[thelordharry]

...and after all, f**k Q

Don't let him hear you say that mon capitan.

Just downloading frozen yoghurt over the air as I type. I wonder what delights await me?

[Reliant121]

The interface is visually updated a bit and it becomes significantly smoother. Handles more open programs better.

[kostmayer]

Whatever happened to those little laser projecter things that beamed a keyboard onto the table that you could type on. Impractical for everyday purposes but handy for use on a train or at home.

[thelordharry]

My God, the voice recognition is shite on it though! The only time it's ever actually worked is when I said the word 'restaurant' in a incredibly exaggerated and pathetic attempt at a North American accent...

So first week's impressions are:

Positives:

1) What an amazing phone. So quick, intuitive and customisable. It blows my mind what it can do compared to phones of even a few years ago.
2) Installed 2.2 OTA during the week. A slight but definite improvement.

Negatives:

2) Downside, battery lasts about as long as a laptop battery when you're using it full pelt. The common plague of the contemporary smart phone I guess. When will battery technology catch up to digital technology? I already own a Powermonkey, will probably also buy a spare battery as well and have installed a few config apps to save power and a nice little app called 'Juice Defender' plus the paid add-on which extends the battery but is really only of use when you're not using the phone. Still, as I say, you can almost see the battery indicator emptying before your eyes when you're using it in anger....

I will always miss the hardware keyboard but it doesn't stop me from enjoying the phone. There is still so much yet to come from Android that when it's time to renew in 18 months time, I've no doubt I'll be blown away again by what's on offer.

Conclusion, I am happy I got it

[Reliant121]

if your battery is going down that fast, something isn't quite right. I use mine virtually constantly and i can get minimum for 9 hours from it. If I use it sparingly, I can get two days...just.

Oh wait, do you leave wifi or 3g on constantly?

[thelordharry]

Maybe it's because the battery is brand new and needs a few full charge and discharge cycles before it's at peak efficiency.

I've cottoned onto what sucks the battery dry like having the screen on the brightest setting, leaving the wifi/bluetooth on when it's not needed, along with the constantly connected, syncing 3G so this is where this 'juice defender' helps. I've also got widgets that show all that stuff and it's status so I can shut stuff off at will. I think I've got it locked down about as much as it can be without it defeating the object of why you have a smartphone in the firstplace. I meant about 9 hours with my laptop comment because that's how long my Samsung netbook lasts for

[Reliant121]

Ah, i've never had a laptop that handles more than 3 hours (I do have it on my highest performance settings, and my laptop is a fairly big thing).

[thelordharry]

Weed it and reap, pie phone users

http://awards.t3.com/the-categories/phone-of-the-year

[Reliant121]

I think ultimately Android's advantage is that being an open platform, sorta like windows or Symbian, means It can be everywhere. from the top line devices such as the Desire, the new Desire HD and the Samsung Galaxy S right down to budget phones. My mum recently got an Alcatel OT-980, and its frigging brilliant. £100 for a smartphone thats just as powerful as any normal android, it just has an iffy screen. You can pick up some real bargains and dont need to spend a fortune to get a great smartphone device any more.