This has been a long time coming. If I recall correctly, around February or March I placed an order for what is expected to be the greatest creation by Google to date, The Google Nexus One, or N1. Unfortunately, the Russian Customs were being bitches and I could not get it in Moscow. The Phone was sent to Malaysia and only this summer was I able to delve into the wonderful world of Android.
The official logo of the Android Operating System. Lets call him Droid.
So after I returned home, I charged the phone to full on the Dock I purchased together with the phone (which comes with Audio cables so you can connect your phone to the stereo) and let it charge fully. Once charged, the first thing I did was apply protection to the device. For Fucks sake, the device is expensive, and knowing how clumsy I can get, I needed something to protect it if it falls. Just googling nexus one cases gets thousands of results, but after reading reviews and looking around for days, I settled for the Hybrid Tough Case by Case-Mate.
I didn’t have a very good camera source to take pictures since I gave my Omnia to my cousin, so the pictures may not turn out very well.
The phone is amazing. It is very responsive. Coming from windows mobile, the difference is immediately visible. I have personally played with many phones, and many OS’ however this one really stands out. Powered by a 1GHZ Snapdragon processor, you can really notice the difference. The OS is open source and is powered by Linux which means development for it will be continuous for time to come.
The moment I turned on the phone there was an OTA (over-the-air) update for firmware 2.2 Frozen Yoghurt (FroYo). I opted for the update. Days later, Cyanogen Mod was released, which boasts at least twice or thrice faster experience using the phone.
The Cyanogen Mod Logo
However, to Install the Cyanogen Mod, you need to root your device (To give you privileged admin access, if you use the linux terminal, you’ll remember sudo). After that, to install the cyanogen mod, you’ll need to unlock your bootloader. The bootloader voids your warranty, but from what I’ve read in forums, HTC has been more than happy to replace Nexus sets that have had their bootloader unlocked provided there are issues with their phones that arose from issues unrelated to unlocking.
Google leaves you a fancy warning
Anyways, everything said and done, whatever I’ve experienced with my phone at the moment is only the tip of the iceberg. Everyday I learn something new about it. The phone has a built-in GPS receiver, and together with AGPS, it pin-points directions flawlessly. It even shows shortcuts to destinations thanks to Google Maps. The other day It showed the shortest route to the kampung area of PJS 1.
I’ve been following the android progress since inception, and now that I’ve finally been able to use it, I must say I have fallen in love with this device. Of course over time newer and stronger devices will be released (like the Samsung Galaxy S) but for now, I’m much satisfied with my Nexus One.
There are a couple of problems with the Nexus one. For starters is the limited internal memory. Apps can generally only be installed onto the onboard memory. Version 2.2 allowed apps to be installed onto the SD but only if the author permits it as such. The cyanogen mod features an AP2SD feature that moves all apps to the SD card.
Another problem is the Android Market. Unlike the App Store for iPhone, google does not control the apps released there. So it is highly likely, that there are many spywares that are out the steal information. Best thing to do is to check all the properties the application would have access to and to google and read up on details available about the APP of interest.
You won’t believe it but I typed the draft of this post from my android, and only went to the computer to add in pictures and resize them. That’s how fun it is to use the phone.
Here are some pictures of the phone.
The Nexus One Box on the Right. The Desktop Dock Box on the Left.
Shipping packaging for the Case Mate Hybrid Tough Case
The Case Mate Hybrid Tough Case
Dock and Phone
The Main Home Screen using Launcher Pro
Few of the various installed applications. One of the apps is called trapster. It shows various speed traps and cameras installed and will warn you when you approach any of them. The rightmost app is Car Home, something you can turn on when you’re driving. Voice Search, GPS, Phone calls can all be made through this.
Msn Messenger. Facebook. There is twitter too but I got lazy.
The phone in all her glory.
I’ll write about my trip to India and such soon enough.
Just got my samsung delve yesterday and gotta say i am lovin it. I’ve by now browsed this web page very a bit and i am really making use of my samsung delve being a modem to form this lol. I’m a U.S. cellular buyer and we have 1 of thier aircards for internet but i feel this mobile phone is faster, I did do the signal strenght hack also and appears being workin rather properly.
Great post , I’m going to spend much more time researching this subject