Android Backflip summary

[gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org (Jerry Feldman)]

Just a bit more from my perspective. I am coming from a Palm Pilot
(1994), through the Treo, then the BlackBerry Curve. The Treo would
crash frequently, especially when I was driving requiring me to remove
and insert the batter (can be done with one hand where a reset requires
a paper clip and 2 hands). The BB was much, much more stable and had GPS
(which I did not have in my car at the time). When I bought it, I was
only interested in the PDA stuff, the phone, and maps. I used the maps
in San Diego that year. One infrequent issue was that it occasionally
would not peer with my car bluetooth. The other negative on the
BlackBerry is the inability for me to share the PDA data with Linux.
Additionally, I got spoiled by using the network. Sometimes, we would be
discussing something, and I would look it up, and have the answer
proving I was a legitimate know-it-all.
The Android, specifically the Backflip, is a step up from the BB. First,
the screen size is larger than the BB and Palm (but smaller than
iPhone). It fits in my blackberry holster. All of my data is available
on Linux at home, at work, at MIT, and on my XP work laptop. The only
minor thing is the tasks and shopping list apps are only on the Backflip
(you can set up tasks for Google Calendar). I also find that I'm using
my gmail account more. I like the phone app better than the Palm and BB.
I use SmarTraveler (eg 511), and I like to make it a 1-touch by dialing
511, pausing, then dialing the route #. On the BB I was able to set this
up on a hot-key. On the Backflip, I have it set up as an icon on the
screen. The AT&T apps are burned into the firmware and certainly can't
be deleted.  Additionally, as I mentioned, the AT&T logo above the
camera is a browser key, and the key above that brings up Yahoo search.

WRT: some of the issues:
1. I have not experienced any sluggishness.
2. I have not had a crash, but I do have one issue I'll discuss below.
3. I seem to remember downloading an app that was not in the Android
Market, but I don't remember which one it was. I think I scanned it with
the bar code reader.

The only issue I have had is that occasionally, the phone app flashes on
and off screen. This does not happen often. The phone is usable, and it
just makes ending the call tricky.

There are a few minor annoyances. The first is that I tend to hit the
power button while holding the Backflip, similarly there is a neat touch
pad on the back of the screen, and occasionally I hit this by mistake,
and the third is that while typing, occasionally I hit the goback button
rather than the space. (On the BB I used to hit the camera button).

All in all, the Backflip meets my needs, and I have a much different
perspective than David. When I first bought my Compaq iPaq, like the
rest of the people in my group, I loaded Linux onto it. I think the
Android market is going to remain strong with vendors like Motorola,
HTC, and Dell providing proprietary smartphones for the cell phone
companies while Google will continue to provide various unlocked phones.

I would hope that in the future, that Google does start to provide their
to the kernel and libraries and become good OpenSource citizens.=20
basically I looked into the iPhone a while back, but I could not justify
the cost. The Backflip cost me $50 ($150 with an AT&T $100 rebate card).
I still think the iPhone is a better unit, but not for a Linux user.


On 03/22/2010 11:50 PM, David Kramer wrote:
> I said the other day I would summarize my findings on the Backflip.
> Please note that I fully realize most, if not all, of these things woul=
d
> not concern the average user, or even geeks like us.  But they're issue=
s
> to me.  Maybe I'm placing too much importance on them, but this is a
> device you're locked into for two years, so if it's an annoyance, it's
> going to be an annoyance for a very long time.
>
> The overall message from me, though, is when I envision a phone built o=
n
> open source software, this is about as far as you can get from this vis=
ion.
>
> I would have let this go, but... my Windows Mobile phone has pissed me
> off for the last time and now I'm searching for a replacement.  It
> locked up so bad a soft boot wouldn't fix it and I had to hard reset
> back to factory settings.  Since I'm stuck with AT&T, I have the
> Backflip, the iPhone, and the Tilt II to choose between.
>
> I would be interested in any corrections or additions to these, but
> please don't tell me that they're non-issues unless you can explain why=
=2E
>  Most (but not all) of these are significant to me.
>
> Here are some sources I used:
> http://www.backflipforums.com/
> http://www.businessinsider.com/10-ways-to-fix-googles-busted-android-ap=
p-market-2010-1
> http://gigaom.com/2010/03/13/android-this-week-android-passes-palm-back=
flip-crippled-sense-to-nexus-one/
> http://www.waxworlds.org/edam/software/android/import-contacts
> http://jkontherun.com/2010/03/10/when-open-platforms-get-closed-att-cri=
pples-backflip/
> http://jkontherun.com/2010/03/02/att-introduces-the-first-yahoo-phone/
> http://androidandme.com/2009/12/phones/att-ready-to-backflip-for-androi=
d/
> http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/motorola-backflip-platinum-silver/4=
505-6452_7-33943838.html
> http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=3D3bd34a=
531c5f284c&hl=3Den
> http://www.kroah.com/log/linux/android-kernel-problems.html
> http://www.cyrket.com/
>
> ------- Backflip-specific
> 1) AT&T modified the software install process so users can only install=

> software from Android Market.  This is one of the biggest issues I have=

> with this phone.  While there's a lot of software there (though not
> nearly as much as in the Apple store), that means I can't write my own
> and install it, nor can my friends.
>
> 2) AT&T has replaced a bunch of the built-in apps with their own, which=

> some think are not as good.  But in conjunction with (1), they've
> eliminated the ability to remove these applications.  That comes in a
> close second to (1).  It's akin to a Linux distribution saying "I know
> you like vi, but we're going to force you to permanently install Emacs
> and make it the default editor and turnip twaddler (that plugin also
> installs automatically)
>
> 3) The screen is considerably smaller than the iPhone or the Tilt II,
> its major competitors on AT&T.  And the keyboard is nowhere as easy to
> use as my AT&T 8525's keyboard.  The keys are much smaller and harder t=
o
> press on the Backflip, partly because the camera, flash, and some
> mystery buton with the AT&T logo on it hog pretty much a whole column.
>
> 4) They removed Google search and replaced it with Yahoo.  Again, you
> cannot change this.
>
> 5) I have read many reviews saying it runs sluggishly at times.  Too
> many to be whiners.  Of course it's subjective, though
>
> 6) It's running an older version of Android.  Supposedly users will be
> able to upgrade.  OTOH, there were some comments theorizing it was
> running the older version because it wasn't powerful enough to run the
> latest version.
>
> 7) If you use all of the phone's push features (facebook, IM, twitter,
> mail, etc) turned on all the time, the battery lasts about 4.5 hours.
> This isn't typical usage, but they put all those push features in there=

> for a reason.  When not using all of these features, the battery life i=
s
> typical for smartphones.
>
>
> ------- Android-specific
> 8) Android does not sync directly with ANY operating system or software=
=2E
>  No import, no export.  You can sync with GMail and Google Calendar, bu=
t
> I don't like handing over every piece of private data I have about
> myself and my friends to a company known to hold onto data about you
> you've asked them to delete.  The funny part about this for me is that
> the iPhone, created by the Kings of Closed, syncs with CalDAV and LDAP
> (calendar and contacts respectively).
>
> 9) The lax return policy in the Android Market means all those tiny fun=

> little 99 cent programs developed for the iPhone won't be developed for=

> Android, because users can just return them after playing with them for=

> a few minutes then getting tired of the joke.
>
> 10) Google doesn't feed the majority of their kernel patches back to th=
e
> kernel team.  That's not the Open Source way, but it also means that
> they will have to verify, update, and apply all those patches every tim=
e
> they move to a new kernel.  That's bound to slow releases down quite a =
bit.
>  =20

--=20
Jerry Feldman <gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
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