it might be a little early (since I have the phone for only about 20hrs) but...
Initial impressions....
Heavy. This phone feels heavy, but it does feel solid and well built.
beautiful and clear screen (except when I get finger prints or face oils on it )
Fast and responsive. Quick transitions from screen to screen, when opening apps, scrolling through pictures, etc.
side buttons for volume and camera are in a comfortable position.
installing apps from Market is simple. I do wish market had short descriptions in the list of apps, rather than having to guess what an app is by name, and tap it to get more info to see what it really is. (I have this same gripe about RIM's BB app store.)
Web browser is FAST and renders pages very well. Visiting the FULL howardforums.com looks just like it does in firefox on my laptop. Moving around is quick.
Google maps navigation is awesome! I do not really miss VZNav, however I would like to see a "distance to destination" (is there an option for it that I'm just missing?)
Being right handed, I wish it slid open the other direction. It feels so much more natural using the thumb on my right hand to slide the top part (screen) to the left to open it. As it is, I feel I have to use TWO hands to slide it open without fear of dropping. Maybe over time I'll get used to it??
I miss the surepress click screen of my storm. I find myself "tapping" something on the screen when I was just trying to relocate my thumb to another position.
After using the pwr/lock button on top, you still need to "slide to unlock"
The Pwr/Lock key isn't in a comfortable location, and I have to move my hand to get to it, which again means two hands so I don't drop the phone.
the status bar should be bigger/taller. The icons for notifications, or to switch apps are hard to hit.
the Home Screen and Application tab appear to not rotate 90 degrees unless the keyboard is slid open. i.e. when at home screen rotate device, and icons/status/words do not change. if the physical keyboard is slid out, the screen does rotate along with the device.
The camera reinforces that number of mega pixels isn't as important, its the quality of the sensor that really matters. Pictures are grainy see some shots taken yesterday -> [Only registered users can view links. ]
when reading my gmail, you can't reply or forward using the menu key and making a selection.. you have to scroll to the bottom of the email (hope its not a chain, or long discussion) and select reply/forward from there. There are short cuts for the physical keyboard if you have it slid open, I found them only because someone on a hofo thread told me about them based on the simulator.
this device is not intuitive. my GF picked it up to call our son's doctor last night. Task.. pick up, light screen, slide to unlock, go into contacts, find doc, call. She had troubles scrolling through the phone book. While waiting on hold, screen blanked out, she tried to bring it back on, couldn't. After hanging up, she told me how this phone sux and she'd never use it. She is kind of technically inclined, so if she can't figure it out, how is not so tech savvy consumer going to??
More to come as I use this device...
Newbie questions...
Can you remap the camera button to be something else? like maybe voice dial? or to light up the screen?
How do you exit apps? I started GMaps navigation, then had to jump on a conference call. Apparently Gmaps was still open, navigating, and announcing directions!! :o I had to fumble back to Gmaps to stop the navigation, couldn't see that easily, but was able to MUTE the sound from the menu.
When the screen blanks out due to idle time (i.e. sitting on table), how do you get it to turn back on without having to hit the Power/Lock button on the top first?
Is there a way to lock the screen without it going DIM, or without having to use the Pwr/Lock button?
Some more google maps observations... or comparisons with VZNav...
No fav map locations... i.e. I don't want to make contact records for places I visit once, twice per year, like the Borgatta in Atlantic City... With Gmaps, it appears a contact is the only way to "save". VZNav had its own fav's, in addition to using contacts from your address book.
Layering Traffic onto the map while navigating causes the map to zoom out so far, its no longer useful. i.e. its too far out to see the up coming intersections when the phone is sitting on my dash. (VZnav alerts you to traffic congestion via voice, and a "miles to incident" in a box along the bottom of its display rather than zooming)
Layering traffic onto the map also causes the map updating to slow down, including your position on the map. (VZnav alerts you to traffic congestion via voice, and a "miles to incident" in a box along the bottom of its display)
GPS position, even with no layers, is about 100-500 feet off. I've already passed through intersections while Gmaps shows me just approaching them. (VZnav was more accurate)
While Gmaps shows you number of minutes to destination, it does not show number of miles left (VZNav does).
Voice announcement of up coming turns is loud and clear.
Once when I deviated from route, the map with the turn by turn directions did not update and continue to follow me, however the voice prompts continued with the NEW updated route. I had to hit a blue triangle along the bottom left corner (just above time remaining) for the map/display to get back to showing my position and following the route.
arriving at the day care lady's house today, Gmaps showed me a picture of the house when it told me I arrived! It didn't do it for me on my return trip home when I arrived
Now, the big question... how many of these observations for both the droid and google maps are just me being new to the device and android? and how many are legit findings?
MV I do agree on most of what you have mentioned........my BIGGEST gripe is NO Voice Dialing thru BT headset. I drive a lot for a living and cant keep picking the Droid to call people. This is a real let down for me and to boot I am an Android fan boy to the core!!
it might be a little early (since I have the phone for only about 20hrs) but...
Initial impressions....
Heavy. This phone feels heavy, but it does feel solid and well built.
beautiful and clear screen (except when I get finger prints or face oils on it )
Fast and responsive. Quick transitions from screen to screen, when opening apps, scrolling through pictures, etc.
side buttons for volume and camera are in a comfortable position.
installing apps from Market is simple. I do wish market had short descriptions in the list of apps, rather than having to guess what an app is by name, and tap it to get more info to see what it really is. (I have this same gripe about RIM's BB app store.)
Web browser is FAST and renders pages very well. Visiting the FULL howardforums.com looks just like it does in firefox on my laptop. Moving around is quick.
Google maps navigation is awesome! I do not really miss VZNav, however I would like to see a "distance to destination" (is there an option for it that I'm just missing?)
Being right handed, I wish it slid open the other direction. It feels so much more natural using the thumb on my right hand to slide the top part (screen) to the left to open it. As it is, I feel I have to use TWO hands to slide it open without fear of dropping. Maybe over time I'll get used to it??
I miss the surepress click screen of my storm. I find myself "tapping" something on the screen when I was just trying to relocate my thumb to another position.
After using the pwr/lock button on top, you still need to "slide to unlock"
The Pwr/Lock key isn't in a comfortable location, and I have to move my hand to get to it, which again means two hands so I don't drop the phone.
the status bar should be bigger/taller. The icons for notifications, or to switch apps are hard to hit.
the Home Screen and Application tab appear to not rotate 90 degrees unless the keyboard is slid open. i.e. when at home screen rotate device, and icons/status/words do not change. if the physical keyboard is slid out, the screen does rotate along with the device.
The camera reinforces that number of mega pixels isn't as important, its the quality of the sensor that really matters. Pictures are grainy see some shots taken yesterday -> [Only registered users can view links. ]
when reading my gmail, you can't reply or forward using the menu key and making a selection.. you have to scroll to the bottom of the email (hope its not a chain, or long discussion) and select reply/forward from there. There are short cuts for the physical keyboard if you have it slid open, I found them only because someone on a hofo thread told me about them based on the simulator.
this device is not intuitive. my GF picked it up to call our son's doctor last night. Task.. pick up, light screen, slide to unlock, go into contacts, find doc, call. She had troubles scrolling through the phone book. While waiting on hold, screen blanked out, she tried to bring it back on, couldn't. After hanging up, she told me how this phone sux and she'd never use it. She is kind of technically inclined, so if she can't figure it out, how is not so tech savvy consumer going to??
More to come as I use this device...
Newbie questions...
Can you remap the camera button to be something else? like maybe voice dial? or to light up the screen?
How do you exit apps? I started GMaps navigation, then had to jump on a conference call. Apparently Gmaps was still open, navigating, and announcing directions!! :o I had to fumble back to Gmaps to stop the navigation, couldn't see that easily, but was able to MUTE the sound from the menu.
When the screen blanks out due to idle time (i.e. sitting on table), how do you get it to turn back on without having to hit the Power/Lock button on the top first?
Is there a way to lock the screen without it going DIM, or without having to use the Pwr/Lock button?
Some more google maps observations... or comparisons with VZNav...
No fav map locations... i.e. I don't want to make contact records for places I visit once, twice per year, like the Borgatta in Atlantic City... With Gmaps, it appears a contact is the only way to "save". VZNav had its own fav's, in addition to using contacts from your address book.
Layering Traffic onto the map while navigating causes the map to zoom out so far, its no longer useful. i.e. its too far out to see the up coming intersections when the phone is sitting on my dash. (VZnav alerts you to traffic congestion via voice, and a "miles to incident" in a box along the bottom of its display rather than zooming)
Layering traffic onto the map also causes the map updating to slow down, including your position on the map. (VZnav alerts you to traffic congestion via voice, and a "miles to incident" in a box along the bottom of its display)
GPS position, even with no layers, is about 100-500 feet off. I've already passed through intersections while Gmaps shows me just approaching them. (VZnav was more accurate)
While Gmaps shows you number of minutes to destination, it does not show number of miles left (VZNav does).
Voice announcement of up coming turns is loud and clear.
Once when I deviated from route, the map with the turn by turn directions did not update and continue to follow me, however the voice prompts continued with the NEW updated route. I had to hit a blue triangle along the bottom left corner (just above time remaining) for the map/display to get back to showing my position and following the route.
arriving at the day care lady's house today, Gmaps showed me a picture of the house when it told me I arrived! It didn't do it for me on my return trip home when I arrived
Now, the big question... how many of these observations for both the droid and google maps are just me being new to the device and android? and how many are legit findings?
Just so you know for your #13 you have to enable the rotation feature.
it might be a little early (since I have the phone for only about 20hrs) but...
Initial impressions....
Heavy. This phone feels heavy, but it does feel solid and well built.
beautiful and clear screen (except when I get finger prints or face oils on it )
Fast and responsive. Quick transitions from screen to screen, when opening apps, scrolling through pictures, etc.
side buttons for volume and camera are in a comfortable position.
installing apps from Market is simple. I do wish market had short descriptions in the list of apps, rather than having to guess what an app is by name, and tap it to get more info to see what it really is. (I have this same gripe about RIM's BB app store.)
Web browser is FAST and renders pages very well. Visiting the FULL howardforums.com looks just like it does in firefox on my laptop. Moving around is quick.
Google maps navigation is awesome! I do not really miss VZNav, however I would like to see a "distance to destination" (is there an option for it that I'm just missing?)
Being right handed, I wish it slid open the other direction. It feels so much more natural using the thumb on my right hand to slide the top part (screen) to the left to open it. As it is, I feel I have to use TWO hands to slide it open without fear of dropping. Maybe over time I'll get used to it??
I miss the surepress click screen of my storm. I find myself "tapping" something on the screen when I was just trying to relocate my thumb to another position.
After using the pwr/lock button on top, you still need to "slide to unlock"
The Pwr/Lock key isn't in a comfortable location, and I have to move my hand to get to it, which again means two hands so I don't drop the phone.
the status bar should be bigger/taller. The icons for notifications, or to switch apps are hard to hit.
the Home Screen and Application tab appear to not rotate 90 degrees unless the keyboard is slid open. i.e. when at home screen rotate device, and icons/status/words do not change. if the physical keyboard is slid out, the screen does rotate along with the device.
The camera reinforces that number of mega pixels isn't as important, its the quality of the sensor that really matters. Pictures are grainy see some shots taken yesterday -> [Only registered users can view links. ]
when reading my gmail, you can't reply or forward using the menu key and making a selection.. you have to scroll to the bottom of the email (hope its not a chain, or long discussion) and select reply/forward from there. There are short cuts for the physical keyboard if you have it slid open, I found them only because someone on a hofo thread told me about them based on the simulator.
this device is not intuitive. my GF picked it up to call our son's doctor last night. Task.. pick up, light screen, slide to unlock, go into contacts, find doc, call. She had troubles scrolling through the phone book. While waiting on hold, screen blanked out, she tried to bring it back on, couldn't. After hanging up, she told me how this phone sux and she'd never use it. She is kind of technically inclined, so if she can't figure it out, how is not so tech savvy consumer going to??
More to come as I use this device...
Newbie questions...
Can you remap the camera button to be something else? like maybe voice dial? or to light up the screen?
How do you exit apps? I started GMaps navigation, then had to jump on a conference call. Apparently Gmaps was still open, navigating, and announcing directions!! :o I had to fumble back to Gmaps to stop the navigation, couldn't see that easily, but was able to MUTE the sound from the menu.
When the screen blanks out due to idle time (i.e. sitting on table), how do you get it to turn back on without having to hit the Power/Lock button on the top first?
Is there a way to lock the screen without it going DIM, or without having to use the Pwr/Lock button?
Some more google maps observations... or comparisons with VZNav...
No fav map locations... i.e. I don't want to make contact records for places I visit once, twice per year, like the Borgatta in Atlantic City... With Gmaps, it appears a contact is the only way to "save". VZNav had its own fav's, in addition to using contacts from your address book.
Layering Traffic onto the map while navigating causes the map to zoom out so far, its no longer useful. i.e. its too far out to see the up coming intersections when the phone is sitting on my dash. (VZnav alerts you to traffic congestion via voice, and a "miles to incident" in a box along the bottom of its display rather than zooming)
Layering traffic onto the map also causes the map updating to slow down, including your position on the map. (VZnav alerts you to traffic congestion via voice, and a "miles to incident" in a box along the bottom of its display)
GPS position, even with no layers, is about 100-500 feet off. I've already passed through intersections while Gmaps shows me just approaching them. (VZnav was more accurate)
While Gmaps shows you number of minutes to destination, it does not show number of miles left (VZNav does).
Voice announcement of up coming turns is loud and clear.
Once when I deviated from route, the map with the turn by turn directions did not update and continue to follow me, however the voice prompts continued with the NEW updated route. I had to hit a blue triangle along the bottom left corner (just above time remaining) for the map/display to get back to showing my position and following the route.
arriving at the day care lady's house today, Gmaps showed me a picture of the house when it told me I arrived! It didn't do it for me on my return trip home when I arrived
Now, the big question... how many of these observations for both the droid and google maps are just me being new to the device and android? and how many are legit findings?
Kinda funny you're asking us considering YOU'RE about the only one with your hands on it yet. Since both the phone and the Android build are new, I'm not sure anyone can really give you more than what they're familiar with on the older Android versions.
That being said, I might offer a tidbit simply based on the many in-depth reviews I've read and mainly centering on your GF's complaints in #16.
First, once you're in contacts, just hit and hold search and say the doctor's name. Voice search should take you right to it and then it's just tap and call. Second, the screen goes dark when you put it to your face to talk to not only save battery life, but so your face doesn't press any apps while you're talking. Perhaps if one finds themselves on hold they should switch to speaker phone, although I'm not sure that would relight the screen given I have no experience with it. I suspect the screen won't relight otherwise until you end the call. Since this phone is on a CDMA network, you can't do anything over the air data wise while on the phone, so having a dimmed screen shouldn't really matter.
If I also recall correctly there are settings for adjusting when your screen will go to sleep and when your phone will lock up so you can change those.
Lastly, the reason your house picture probably didn't show up in the navigation is because nobody has taken a picture of it yet. A daycare place is more likely to have a pic because multiple people go there. You might get one if you take a picture yourself and load it onto Google Maps online. However, I'm not sure if what you were referring to is total 360 degree street view, or just a pic. I think they actually have designated people shooting 360 street views and, of course, they'd hit the most populated places first.
I'm rambling, it's late. But just a few thoughts that may help.
Thanks, #16 is merely an observation that some may find this phone a little more complex than it really needs to be. Its something that could be a concern for a "first time user" who expects to be able to just pick it up and use it.
After I played with the phone for a little, LOOKING for how things work, I saw the voice search in contacts and elsewhere, as well as several ways to make a call once in contacts. But getting into contacts can even take some effort when compared to other phones.
The screen blanking during a call is expected and welcomed by me, having used other touch screen phones with proximity sensors. The screen not lighting up after she takes it away from her face, and has speaker phone on, and having troubles lighting it backup is definately not expected. Especially because if she needed to hit the dial pad for options later in the call, she couldn't have. Even hanging it up proved difficult as its a SOFT END key on the unlit screen
While I'm on the subject of the screen off. While the Droid is like every other CDMA/EVDO phone (no simultaneous voice and data over CDMA/EVDO, come on LTE ), it does have WIFI, which if connected will allow for data while you are on a voice call. You'd need the screen on for that.
It is a smart phone, so if the screen is off, and wont turn back on, then how could you switch to your calendar while talking to someone and trying to check your availability while scheduling an appointment?
there are several other scenarios I can think of that I might want to move away from the call screen, and access data on the phone.
So either there is a bug that the screen doesn't come back on, OR there is a not so obvious right way to do it.
I know few have this phone, but I was hoping that current android users could offer suggestions to my questions based on past experience with Android.
The picture of my Son's day care... I should explain. His day care is private, in home day care. Not a public building. But I do understand, maybe no one took a 360 degree street view of the front of my house to be added to Google Maps. And to be honest, that is fine by me. I was more surprised that it did show the picture for the day care lady's house, than I was disjointed or questioning why it didn't show a picture for my house. Its not something I've seen a NAV unit do before.
I have to say after looking at the pics you posted, the Storms camera blows it away. My wife, who is a camera freak, admits that the Storm has taken the best pics of any phone we've owned even though it is lower in pixel count than some.
...After I played with the phone for a little, LOOKING for how things work, I saw the voice search in contacts and elsewhere, as well as several ways to make a call once in contacts. But getting into contacts can even take some effort when compared to other phones.
Sorry, let me clarify...
you have voice dial on the home screen... but do NOT have voice search actually in contacts.
You do have "keyboard" based search in contacts, after you use the menu key.
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Since both the phone and the Android build are new, I'm not sure anyone can really give you more than what they're familiar with on the older Android versions.
), it does have WIFI, which if connected will allow for data while you are on a voice call. You'd need the screen on for that.
