Android. Why I chose it.

Intro

Hi all, my name is Clarent. I'm the director of Computer Related, an everything computer related service, specialising in software design and web development. I live in Birmingham, England and have a BSc Software Desing & Networking, and have been working within the industry for over 10 years. I'm passionate about technology especially anything Computer Related :-)
This article will hopefully give you an insight into the reasons I went Android, and hopefully help you make your decision, or just be a great read.

The beginning

Approximately 2 years ago, shortly after writing my first blog about the Nokia n97, I found myself jealous of the windows mobile, blackberry and iphone crew. They seemed to have it all. A stylish handset with excellent features and mass appeal. Now I know their may be many of you thinking "Hold on, the N97 is a good phone, and Nokia are one of the biggest mobile companies in the world". You'd be right, but in my experience they seem to be lagging behind the competitors, in terms of functionality and growth of the operating system (OS).

The search

The search was now on to find what I thought was the best mobile phone in the world. Yes the world, thankfully in this modern world we live in, the same power that is allowing you the opportunity to view this from where ever you are, is the same power that would allow me to buy from across the globe. Yes i'm talking about the great world wide web.
So first I used my internet best friend to help me find out what was causing a stir, his/her name was Google. At this time I knew google had an operating system used on the T-Mobile G1, but never imagined it would be the operating system for me. Previous reviews had not been that positive, so I seen it as a baby in the market that could not compete with the big boys.
I looked into the Iphone 4, I'd be pretty silly not too, as they advertise on t.v. about 50 times a day, and many people around me owned an Iphone and had nothing bad to say about it. But delving deeper into the Iphone scene made me realise that I don't want to be in Apples shackles, everything was so restricted, even creating and submitting apps was/is restricted. But why did everyone seem to love it then ? My conclusion was/is that Apple are marketing geniuses. To understand lets look back at a bit of history.

Phones started off basic, so basic that there was a stage when the phone too the left seemed like cutting edge technology. It had

• no aerial
• SMS
• WAP
• small in size / weight
• cooler ringtones
• games

I had one, and loved it at that time as much as I love my Android phone now (notice i'm not mentioning yet, what phone. Soon). The next big thing to happen to phones was colour screens and polyphonic ringtones, wow was that cool, of course it was, we was still in the days of single core computers and fat back televisions (Cathode-Ray).
Things where starting to move fast in the world of mobile communication, a whole load of then "smartphones" started to appear, the ability to use your mobile phone as a modem, windows mobile platform allowed us to use office products and surf the net on our phones, blackberries allowed us to receive push emails straight to our pockets/bags, things where getting good. Mini memory cards allowed us to save more and do more, we could now listen to mp3s another new technology.

The point

Now for all those reading this thinking "I remember them days", you where the first "smartphone" users, but many people never experienced this as it was seen quite techy. So to most a phone was just a phone to call on and receive messages. Most who already had a smartphone already used it to listen to music, take pictures, send and receive emails and surf the internet, but for those that didn't, a new technology came about. The Ipod. Music on the go, simple interface and stored a lot of music. Why mention the Ipod ? Well in my opinion this was a game changer. Those who had went out and brought an Ipod where also amongst the first o adopt the Iphone. Your music and phone in one, wow. Even though many had already been doing this. The fact that the Iphone had no multi-tasking or 3g or camera, made no difference to the Apple army. They had one thing no one else at the time had, the app store. Developers went crazy, users went crazy for what was developed and everything grew. The Iphone had become a dominant force in the mobile market. So why did I not get one ? Multi-asking, 3g, camera and all the restrictions posed by Apple. So I stayed Nokia, to be more precise I went N95 (Super phone), yes maybe there was no app store, but developers have always developed for Nokia, and it could install apps found anywhere. I had satellite navigation, Skype, Email, Music Player, Compass and many more apps.

The choice

Sorry people, I probably rambled on a bit up there. So back to the quest (it really felt like one). During my research one OS stood out above all the rest. Android. It was open source and had a lot of developers working on the OS, the app market seemed to be growing exponentially as with the fan base. but best of all, the operating system was offered on different phones from different manufacturers. The potential seemed endless.
Ok, I want an Android phone, but which one ? If I was American I probably would have been a Droid dude, but in the UK HTC was kicking up a storm leading the way. The Nexus one, Desire and Legend where all HTC phones and all seemed to shine in the dark. I quickly ruled out the Legend as it had the lowest processor power, the next to go was the Nexus one, the Desire had just beat it with a bit more RAM. The choice had been made, I had the money and now it was time to go Android, I still was not 100% sure I was making the best choice but went ahead anyway.

First Impressions

Wow. Was my first impressions. At this stage I knew nothing in-depth, I thought HTC Sense was standard on all Android phones, choosing the Desire was the right choice. HTC Sense worked like a dream. So smooth, fast and responsive. Within an hour I had the basic functionality down. Yes this was the best phone in the world to me. The new mission was on. Convert everyone to Android, and unlike our Apple brothers who all have to pay the same, we had an array of choice at an array of prices.
The fact that the Desire had a 1ghz processor, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, Amoled screen, not only 2g /3g but H (hsdpa) as well, memory card slot (extra 32gb) and Apps galore.
I only had to spend a minute and a half talking about the phone and everyone wanted it, those that could not upgrade their contract, or afford it chose within their limits, and this being Android meant that the choice was always growing. In 18 months I have converted about 90% of the people around to Android. That's about 25 people, and not one of them has complained. As a matter of fact many of those who had gone for a lesser option, have now upgraded.

Conclusion

Android rocks. Almost everything negative you here, is someone trying to burst the Android bubble, which is inflating even quicker that Iphone did. One of the main criticisms is fragmentation of the OS. Android 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 3.0. Yes thats is a lot of different versions, but it is no different to Nokia and Windows Mobile. It gives the consumer more choice, shall I go for a cheap, mid range and top range phone, but still get the same basic functions and a uniformity. I can go on any Android phone by any manufacturer and not feel lost. I can stick with HTC or move to Samsung, LG or Motorola. That is the freedom of choice.
So what does he have now ? I here you asking :-)
That's easy. Only one of the most powerful phones ever created. The Samsung Galaxy S 2 (sgs2). Although I hated the Touchwiz (Samsungs user interface) on the sgs1, Samsung did their homework and now it rivals HTCs sense. The speed at which this thing flies is amazing, photo quality is superb and so is video, the internet is almost 100% the same as on a laptop or desktop PC, all flash videos work. Social networking is handled with ease, as with music playing, even though I had download a better music player app from the market. But there lies the power with Android, if you don't like something you can either find an app that would replace it, or as many of the manufacturers are allowing, tweak the whole OS. Can you really ask for more ? Not me.
So my final words are. If your not Android, check it out now. And if you are Android, well done and post your experiences below.

p.s. I haven't even gone into the custom rom and rooting path here today, but both my phones, and everyones around me is rooted and tweaked to bits, but that is for next time.