New phone angst: Samsung Vibrant vs. Google/HTC Nexus One

Oh … what a dilemma!!! So, I took advantage of the T-Mobile BOGO. Yesterday I called T-Mobile’s customer service line and verified that I was indeed eligible for an upgrade at the BOGO special, verified that the special was still ongoing (it was supposed to have ended in early September but has been indefinitely extended) and that I could extend payments over a few months on my bill. All was a go. Oh, and I changed my contract from myFaves 400 (no longer available) to Even More for Families 750 (we hardly talk on the phone, but we are mad texters) so that I could also take advantage of the Kids are Free promotion (hello savings of about $240 over the course of the next year).

In general, this is a no-brainer – keep the Nexus (oh I love this phone!) but @hankito has become a full-on convert to Android (used to Apple and iPhone all the way) and has spent so much time one the XDA Forums over the last month, that he now knows how to root and put different ROMs on the phone in the space of a few minutes. He rooted my Nexus using a 1-click app in less that 10 minutes yesterday morning (no @cyanogen mod on it yet though, I still want the chance to get in there and play around a bit myself).

A non-rooted, non lag-fixed, non-GPS fixed, non-Froyo Vibrant is … underwhelming. It’s downright frustrating! (and meh) Froyo was such a huge improvement to the Android OS that not running it, despite the absolutely GORGEOUS display on the Vibrant is well … not worth it. And there’s no Flash – Adobe or camera. And I really like my LED notifications and trackball.
So, should I switch just to have the latest android phone (before the G2 anyway)?
Nexus One Specs
Dimensions: 4.69" x 2.35" x 0.45"  
OS: Google Android 2.1 (now rooted with 2.2)
Weight: 4.59 oz (130g) 
Internal Memory: 174MB
Talk Time: 7 hours (420 minutes) 
Nexus One Bluetooth: A2DP
Standby: 250 hours (10.4 days) 
Connector: micro-USB
Nexus One Battery: 1400mAh Li-Ion 
Touch Screen: Finger capacitive
Screen Size: 3.7" 
Nexus One Memory Card: microSD
Display Res: 480x 800 pixels 
Camera: 5 megapixel
and more
I'm wanting to keep my Nexus until Gingerbread is released.
Vibrant Specs (Also known as Samsung T959 Galaxy S)
Dimensions: 122.4 x 64.5 x 9.9 mm
Weight:117.9g (lighter than the Nexus)
DISPLAY: Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Screen Size
480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches
- TouchWiz 3.0 UI
- Multi-touch input method
- Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
- Touch-sensitive controls
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
- Swype text input
MEMORY
Phonebook
Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records
Practically unlimited
Internal
16GB storage, 512 MB RAM
Card slot
microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB card included, buy memory
DATA: GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
EDGE Class 12
3G HSDPA; HSUPA
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n; DLNA
Bluetooth Yes, v3.0 with A2DP
USB
Yes, v2.0 microUSB
CAMERA
Primary
5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus
Features
Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection
Video
Yes, 720p@30fps
FEATURES
Android OS, v2.1 (Eclair)
CPU: 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor
Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS
GPS
Yes, with A-GPS support (currently broken, waiting for the official fix, or you can get it in the xda forums)
Java
Via third party application
- Social networking integration
- Digital compass
- MP4/DivX/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
- Organizer
- Image/video editor
- Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
- Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration
- Flash Lite v3.1
- Voice memo/dial/commands
- T9
BATTERY
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1500 mAh
Stand-by
Up to 432 h
Talk time
Up to 6 h 30 min
Do you have a Galaxy S phone? Still drinking the Apple Kool-Aid? Or waiting for the G2?
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Dropbox Android app update

Dropbox 

Dropbox v 1.0.0.1 is now available for download. There has been some trouble with getting from the market, so you can use the QR code or download from http://db.tt/d7N59Lo

--------------

Release Notes:

1.0

• Better retry logic on failed uploads
• Fixed syncing of edits made to files opened from search results view
• Other minor bug fixes

0.9.8.9 Beta

• Added support for Audible's .aa and .aax file formats
• Changed Gallery UI design slightly
• Bug Fixes
  
  
  
  • Up-to-date version of file is downloaded when changed remotely.
  • Stability, fixed several FCs, and other improvements

0.9.8.8 Beta

• Added "Share to Dropbox" from other applications (Gallery, etc). Either single or multiple files can be shared at the same time.
• File Downloads & Uploads now display progress notifications instead of Spammy Toasts.
• Multi-touch Gallery for pictures in a directory. Long-hold on pictures in gallery to do file operations.
• Now you can create Shortcuts to Dropbox folders by long-holding on the desktop.
• Added long-hold folder options for sharing and open.
• Long-hold file Open now plays non-streaming, if it's a streaming file type.
• Added Cache Size display and Clear Cache button.
• Prompt to install file manager such as OI or Astro if one is not installed already.
• Notification if SD card is unavailable, so downloads, viewing, or uploads won't work.
• The e-mail to tell friends about Dropbox now contains a referral link, so you can get a quota bonus.
• Visual Redesign with new icons
• Bug Fixes
  
  
  
  • Small file changes now sync properly
  • Files don't re-upload any more on upgrade or re-install
  • Increased network timeout so it works better on slow networks

-- from Dropbox Forums

I do believe I may be getting a few more Audible books.

Audible

Get Audible here:

Wordfeud - Now Ad Free!

Just a quick announcement. If you happen to be addicted to Wordfeud (like I am) You can now make a donation to support further development of Wordfeud. In return the ads will be removed from your game. To make a donation, go to wordfeud.com/donate/

Make sure to update to v1.0.8 first (just released to the market).

Dear Netbooks, Please Die. Thank You.

Dear netbook market....I beg you....please die off.

I personally have never been a fan of netbooks.  I've never been able to come up with a logical conclusion as to why anyone would spend their money on something that runs like outdated crap technology they can pick up at a used computer store for much less.  Now that I ponder it, why spend any money on something with the power of a Pentium 3?  That was phased out for a reason wasn't it?

Now the original concept of a netbook, then known as a tablet PC, wasn't too terrible.  Fact is, they just didn't sell for the life of them.

Back in my retail days, we usually had one or two of the HP tablet units.  The general idea was to get portability and battery life in a small and FUNCTIONAL system.  Other than a few cool features like touch screen capability and a rotating display, they failed.  Terribly.  It was the start of a good idea though.  These helped introduce the Pentium M processors and the "ultra portable" market.  Running Windows XP, the performance wasn't too bad.  XP just didn't have the native features supported very well so they tended to be a bit, let's say, quirky?  The damn things just had a tendency to not work right with the stuff they tried to add. But again, I liked the general idea of what they wanted to do.  Much of this has eventually moved into the tablet market with items like the iPad and Android tablets.

The main thing that has been a problem from the start is the price.  Most consumers didn't "get it" on what these were for, and most conventional laptops were cheaper or same price, with better performance.  Although these are still being sold in limited amounts, they're largely unknown.

Then came the netbook.  That infamous little piece of crap hyped to be a Ferrari, but carrying the engine of a Ford Pinto.  Half ass low voltage processors, screens no bigger than 10", and the weight that makes everyone smile.  The biggest problem with this is consumers don't know what they're really good for, and manufacturers don't want to openly admit it.  If you want to waste this kind of money on something that's just for Facebook, email, and a little web surfing?  Fine....go ahead.....be my guest.  Run around and brag about how small and cute it is.  Just don't start crying when it won't run for shit with apps like Photoshop.  I can't recall how many times we easily crashed these things just trying to do basic multi tasking.

Now I'm sure some of you are asking yourselves "well if these things are so bad, why do people keep buying them?"  Easy...the economy.  What's easier to foot the bill on when your kid won't shut up about getting a new computer...$800 on a respectable build for a laptop, or $250 for a netbook?  Let's face it, that kid at your local best Buy really doesn't know much of anything about computers.  He's just there to get a sale, and they can make up the loss of profit margin on it with selling you a warranty, setup, or software.  Manufacturers hate these things because there's ZERO profit in them, but it's the easy item to push for revenue to get by until the economy picks up.  Consumers don't know any better, they just see its a laptop and it's cheap.  It doesn't matter how many times we told them it won't run World of Warcraft, the price tag clouded their judgement and had them back a week later screaming like an idiot because it constantly locked up.

Netbooks need to die out...quickly.  If you want an actual computer and the expected performance of one, buy a real laptop.  Yeah, you're gonna drop $700-$1200 depending on what you want to do with it, but make a smart investment and save yourself hassle.  If you want something seriously portable, go get a damn tablet. You've got the iPad which, although I'm no far, it's selling and has solid support.  You've also got the Android tablets coming out which are gonna sell very well too.  These things do exactly what a portable unit is intended to do, and they do it well.  Leave the other stuff to a real computer.

Facebook Down For Some Users

Well it looks like some of you Facebook addicts can't get your fix today, as the site is down for some users.  According to Facebook this is an issue with a “third party networking provider”.


In response to Mashable, Facebook said  “We are in contact with this provider in order to explore what can be done to resolve the issue. In the meantime, we are working on deploying changes to bypass the affected connections.”


With it being third party, there's no telling when the issues should be worked out outside of the bypass.  We checked it out here, and were unable to get on facebook.com through our computers or through TweetDeck.  Everything worked fine though through our phones direct on the site or through 3rd party apps.  We'll keep an eye on this and see when a return it expected.


Sorry for your addictions not being fulfilled :P

Twitter for Blackberry Updated v1.0.0.40

RIM is now rolling out the updated for their official Twitter client, hopefully getting them closer to catching up to the more popular apps out there already to choose from.  I'll admit, their official app isn't too bad to start with, but it lacks so much in features and UI.  Download from the app store or blackberry.com/twitter

Features include:

• Quote tweets (ability to edit ReTweets)
• Auto complete for @ usernames
• Additional photo viewing support
• View Geotagged Tweets
• Personal Info Guard
• Hotkeys for navigation
• Go to users

eLocity A7 7" Android Tablet on Amazon Pre-order Now

Looking for an Android tablet?  Stream TV has their eLocity A7 available for pre-order now for $369.99.  Not a bad price for hardware like this.  By all comparisons, it looks like a solid jump in the tablet market for Android fans, and best of all it includes FROYO!  Jumping for joy in 3...2...

Jump to Amazon by clicking here to order.

Features

NVIDIA® Tegra™ II T‐20, 1GHz, 1MB L2 Cache  512 MB DDR2 RAM  Android™ 2.2 Operating System  4GB High Speed Internal Flash Memory  7” Capacitive Touch Screen, 800x480  0.5W Stereo Speakers  1.3MP Webcam

3.5mm Stereo Headphone Jack  802.11b/g Wireless  Bluetooth® 2.1 Enabled  1 x USB 2.0 Port  1 x Micro SD Card  1 x HDMI 1080p Output  Docking Port 8.2” x 4.8” x 0.5”, 1.02 lbs

Connections:

• 1 HDMI output
• 1 USB 2.0 input
• 1 MicroCard input
• 1 Docking Port
• 1 3.5mm Stereo Headphone Output

RIM Confirms Acquisition of DataViz

RIM announced that they picked up DataViz, maker of the long running Documents To Go application.  The deal hands RIM all the assets and most of the employees.  DataViz has been in the smartphones market for some time now, making conversion software to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files on many smartphone platforms.

Not sure on the exact value of the deal, but it's a buy that's hard to pass up.  DataViz already announced previously that there won't be a port of the app for Palm's WebOS due to lack of support from Palm and HP.  I hope support on Android keeps going.

Buy One Galaxy S Get one Free on T-Mobile

Well, hot damn! I think it's time for me to upgrade, well ... on contract it says that I have a G1, and upgrading from a G1 to a Vibrant would be an awesome deal, and who doesn't love a BOGO (that's Buy One, Get One - popularized by Payless). I wonder if I can get it for less, I got the G1 for $179 since I am such a loyal T-Mobile customer (no sarcasm there, nope, none at all, be sure to read the fine print).

But what would I do with two of them? I just got Josh a Blackberry. And Joy DEFINITELY does NOT need a smartphone. Decisions, decisions ... @hankito and @phatemokid should never have shown me how the Galaxy S blows away the Nexus One in benchmark tests.

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