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these aren't the droids you're looking for

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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Who else is excited about the upcoming Motorola Android phonez?

(and yes, apparently moto/goog/verz had to license the name "driod" from lucasfilm)
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
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The G1 was such a good idea, just needed a little polish and a couple features. Then they decided to make the G2 touch screen only. ARGH.

I love my iPhone anyway but really liked the form factor of the G1. The physical keyboard + ball but still having all that screen real estate was really nice.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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The G1 was such a good idea, just needed a little polish and a couple features. Then they decided to make the G2 touch screen only. ARGH.
this is exactly what excites me about the motorola droid/tao/sholes (same phone, different code names). Physical slideout keyboard + touchscreen keyboard, and I think the square thing on it (next to the keyboard) is essentially a d-pad.

Supposedly its going to launch with v2.0 of Android and be retardedly fast.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
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that, and:

-google maps with street view
-google turn by turn directions
-google search by voice



wonder if google wave will get rolled into android. Or maybe that should be posed as "when"
Meh, turn by turn is the only thing my phone doesn't have from that list and it's not really a significant feature for me. I'll buy a quality GPS app when someone releases one that does live updating traffic and live updating places of interest.

I think.

I'm still not sure I'm totally sold on using the phone as a dedicated GPS app. I really like it for "find point B from point A" but it's such a multipurpose device, when I'm driving I've found that, if I really need turn by turn GPS, it's hurt by my not being able to call anyone. I don't spend that much time on the phone, especially in the car, but it seems like it's inevitable: the minute you get into a city area where you actually need the directions, someone calls.
 

berkshire_rider

Growler
Feb 5, 2003
2,552
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The Blackstone Valley
I'm still not sure I'm totally sold on using the phone as a dedicated GPS app. I really like it for "find point B from point A" but it's such a multipurpose device, when I'm driving I've found that, if I really need turn by turn GPS, it's hurt by my not being able to call anyone. I don't spend that much time on the phone, especially in the car, but it seems like it's inevitable: the minute you get into a city area where you actually need the directions, someone calls.
The main reason I didn't buy an iphone. Running an app in the background while taking a call should be something that all "smart" phones do.

BTW - for anyone that wants to do turn-by-turn GPS in the car: make sure you are charging your phone while using the GPS functionality. It's a huge drain on the battery.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
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The main reason I didn't buy an iphone. Running an app in the background while taking a call should be something that all "smart" phones do.

BTW - for anyone that wants to do turn-by-turn GPS in the car: make sure you are charging your phone while using the GPS functionality. It's a huge drain on the battery.
Uh, the phone suspends most apps pretty efficiently. It's not a matter of my objecting that it won't run in the background - as long as it suspends and resumes well, I'm okay with that.

The problem is actually being on the call while using the same device to navigate via turn-by-turn GPS.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
The question is... will Google really rape the GPS market and bring it to non-Android phones?

I wonder what kind of caching they'll allow? Turn by turn is great, but not so great when you hit bad service areas or areas where service is slow enough to preclude live updating of the turn-by-turn.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
I wonder what kind of caching they'll allow? Turn by turn is great, but not so great when you hit bad service areas or areas where service is slow enough to preclude live updating of the turn-by-turn.
thats the biggest problem with nav on phones now....loose reception or if you are in a bad reception area, then you miss your navigational aid.
i work with a guy who uses his phone for navigation and if he gets a call, he looses his nav.
$99 stand alone navs are more than enough for 90% of the customers out there.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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The question is... will Google really rape the GPS market and bring it to non-Android phones?

I wonder what kind of caching they'll allow? Turn by turn is great, but not so great when you hit bad service areas or areas where service is slow enough to preclude live updating of the turn-by-turn.
To answer your questions:

http://gizmodo.com/5391408/google-maps-navigation-a-free-ass+kicking-turn+by+turn-mobile-app

1) At first, its going to launch on andriod 2.0 devices. Its going to get on other phones/platforms, but its up to the carriers and phonemakers to announce it when they're ready. Article also states that they implied they were already working with apple on this.

2) The maps are going to be cached along the intended route.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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wtf guy???? i think moving to Cali messed with your driving skillz
Nah dude car in front of me got cut off by some azzhole in a benz or lexus or something and I slid into his back bumper when i hit the brakes b/c the roads were wet. Cops said I didn't do anything wrong as I was far enough behind the vehicle in front of me and was obeying the speed limit.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
Nah dude car in front of me got cut off by some azzhole in a benz or lexus or something and I slid into his back bumper when i hit the brakes b/c the roads were wet. Cops said I didn't do anything wrong as I was far enough behind the vehicle in front of me and was obeying the speed limit.
thats what you get for cutting someone off....i hate driving
 
I want to, but right now car accident #2 from yesterday says otherwise...
I'm due for an upgrade and want to ditch the blackberry and have been on the fence between switching to at&t for the iphone (which I really don't want to do) or just getting a regular phone (oh the horror) but this may be the perfect alternative.

I'm leary about jumping right in though. I want to see how well it really works first.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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I'm due for an upgrade and want to ditch the blackberry and have been on the fence between switching to at&t for the iphone (which I really don't want to do) or just getting a regular phone (oh the horror) but this may be the perfect alternative.

I'm leary about jumping right in though. I want to see how well it really works first.
AT&T's phone service is spotty.

I'd recommend staying w/ Verizon because they will be rolling out 4G on a wider scale much sooner than AT&T (if that stays on schedule - signs are good, because its already being tested in Boston and Seattle). That and Verizon has just flat out better coverage.

If you have a BB right now, make sure you get the upgrade to BBOS 5.0, which just came out this week. It's a HUGE improvement over 4.7, at least on my Storm. Overall the phone runs much faster and smoother, and should help you cope until you can upgrade your device. Also, you will have to connect your phone via USB and perform the upgrade with RIM's desktop manager software.



In regards to the Droid, rumor's I've heard indicate that Google had a pretty heavy hand in the development of the hardware, and it shows. All the initial hands-on I've read indicate that it is a very well built device. And if there's one thing google knows, its how to build a good user interface/experience. So maybe there won't be quite so many bugs with the first run.
 
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syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
how is ATT's phone service spotty? i get reception everywhere except for the valley in Roxbury, NY
ATT's coverage isn't as good nationwide - not even close for 3G which is vital for a smartphone and while I had users (sample size approx. 100 nationwide field reps some of which were in Canada, Mexico, Guam, and Puerto Rico too) on their networks we had far more outages than Verizon. Some carriers might be better in select local or regional areas on voice, but nevertheless, ATT isn't nearly as good for smartphones in the US.