Nexus one

PH4T

Is Google Docs coming to Android?

CallAnAmbulance

Hello,

I'm a prospective nexus one buyer and I've a few questions for all of you nexus owners.

First of all, any more news about when will it be available in Ireland? I've read about that for quite a while and they said it'll arrive in early spring (a month from now?) but perhaps I missed something?

For those of you who got the device from ebay - what about customs and duty fees? As far as I checked I could get a brand new nexus for 500e or less (with shipping) but if they slap me with more tax once it arrives in Ireland it will get kinda expensive... And what about the warranty? If something goes wrong with the phone who do I go to? Google Ireland? HTC?

I'm on Nokia 5800 now and it's a decent phone - I actually use it mostly for listening to the music. I'm satisfied with the audio quality on nokia (which actually has a separate DSP chip for audio, unlike most if not all SE Walkman phones... ) and the only thing I miss is the gapless playback. I know that android's audio player doesn't have gapless playback either (not yet anyway) but what about volume level and sound quality on the nexus?

By the way, everybody keeps telling me that the music player on Iphone is such an amazing software but no one was ever able to explain to me why that's the case... People also say that android's music player is very basic but I don't get that either. After all what could you ask for in a music player? My Nokia can play tracks by album/artist, I can make playlists on the phone, I've album art, shuffle/repeat... am I missing anything?

One of the things I absolutely love on my nokia (and several SE phones I used to have) is the notification LED. It pulses slowly when phone's in standby and fast when there's a missed call/text. I know that nexus has a three colour LED under the trackball for that purpose, but I was wondering how does it work exactly? Is there any control over that?

I've also heard that the touch sensitive buttons under the screen are not exactly working as they should but I was wondering how much of a problem it really is? Will I be accidentally going back to the home screen every 10 minutes? Will I have to press the buttons 10 times to get any response?

What about the battery life? My typicall usage is 2-3 hours of music playback per day, around 10 texts per day (sent and received) an occasional phone call (just a few minutes) and internet (www/email) every now and than (three or four times per week, both WiFi and 3G). If I don't use the internet I can get 3 days on 5800 easily. Would it be comparable to nexus?

How long does it take to fully charge the battery from empty? Is there any difference when charging via USB and a wall charger?

Is it possbile to take out the SD card without removing the battery?

Sorry for the long post, I think that's all for the moment. Thanks in advance for your input.

JohnK

CallAnAmbulance wrote: »

One of the things I absolutely love on my nokia (and several SE phones I used to have) is the notification LED. It pulses slowly when phone's in standby and fast when there's a missed call/text. I know that nexus has a three colour LED under the trackball for that purpose, but I was wondering how does it work exactly? Is there any control over that?

Its only a single colour (white) and it slowly pulses when theres a pending notification on the phone such as a text message, email, calendar notification, applicaiton update etc. The multi-color thing you might be thinking of is the little power notification light on the top right of the phone which goes red, orange, green when charging. It comes on as well when the power is running low.

CallAnAmbulance wrote: »

I've also heard that the touch sensitive buttons under the screen are not exactly working as they should but I was wondering how much of a problem this really is? Will I be accidentally going back to the home screen every 10 minutes? Will I have to press the buttons 10 times to get any response?

They work alright its just that you have to press them high up rather than the centre of the icon which is where everyone seem to be having the problem I think.

CallAnAmbulance wrote: »

What about the battery live? My typicall usage is 2-3 hours of music playback per day, around 10 texts per day (sent and received) an occasional phone call (just a few minutes) and internet (www/email) every now and than (three or four times per week, both WiFi and 3G). If I don't use the internet I can get 3 days on 5800 easily. Would it be comparable to nexus?

I'd get about 2 days out of mine at a push with light to moderate usage. Usually I'd have the sync running all day but I turn that off at night.

CallAnAmbulance wrote: »

How long does it take to fully charge the battery from empty? Is there any difference when charging via USB and a wall charger?

Its a good bit faster to charge from the wall. Think it takes about 2 or 3 hours to charge fully but usually I'd charge overnight so cant say for sure.

CallAnAmbulance wrote: »

Is it possbile to take out the SD card without removing the battery?

No the slot for the card is covered by the battery.

nmesisca

CallAnAmbulance wrote: »

Hello,

I'm a prospective nexus one buyer and I've a few questions for all of you nexus owners.

First of all, any more news about when will it be available in Ireland? I've read about that for quite a while and they said it'll arrive in early spring (a month from now?) but perhaps I missed something?

For those of you who got the device from ebay - what about customs and duty fees? As far as I checked I could get a brand new nexus for 500e or less (with shipping) but if they slap me with more tax once it arrives in Ireland it will get kinda expensive... And what about the warranty? If something goes wrong with the phone who do I go to? Google Ireland? HTC?

I'm on Nokia 5800 now and it's a decent phone - I actually use it mostly for listening to the music. I'm satisfied with the audio quality on nokia (which actually has a separate DSP chip for audio, unlike most if not all SE Walkman phones... ) and the only thing I miss is the gapless playback. I know that android's audio player doesn't have gapless playback either (not yet anyway) but what about volume level and sound quality on the nexus?

By the way, everybody keeps telling me that the music player on Iphone is such an amazing software but no one was ever able to explain to me why that's the case... People also say that android's music player is very basic but I don't get that either. After all what could you ask for in a music player? My Nokia can play tracks by album/artist, I can make playlists on the phone, I've album art, shuffle/repeat... am I missing anything?

One of the things I absolutely love on my nokia (and several SE phones I used to have) is the notification LED. It pulses slowly when phone's in standby and fast when there's a missed call/text. I know that nexus has a three colour LED under the trackball for that purpose, but I was wondering how does it work exactly? Is there any control over that?

I've also heard that the touch sensitive buttons under the screen are not exactly working as they should but I was wondering how much of a problem it really is? Will I be accidentally going back to the home screen every 10 minutes? Will I have to press the buttons 10 times to get any response?

What about the battery life? My typicall usage is 2-3 hours of music playback per day, around 10 texts per day (sent and received) an occasional phone call (just a few minutes) and internet (www/email) every now and than (three or four times per week, both WiFi and 3G). If I don't use the internet I can get 3 days on 5800 easily. Would it be comparable to nexus?

How long does it take to fully charge the battery from empty? Is there any difference when charging via USB and a wall charger?

Is it possbile to take out the SD card without removing the battery?

Sorry for the long post, I think that's all for the moment. Thanks in advance for your input.

yeah music player is basic but there are many (free) alternatives on the market if you need something more "complete". Its enough for me anyways.
LED notification works only with white led at the moment. thought the trackball is muti-color there is a bug in the kernel and stock rom cannot use any of the colors except white. should be solved with the new kernel, but if you decide to root it you can have that immediately fixed.

the touch buttons require a bit of getting used to. if you press where the picture of the button is, it may take a few attempts. in reality the sensor is slightly over the picture. you'll get used to it very quickly, its not really a big deal.

with moderate use I can get almost 2 full days of usage. this is with 3G all day long, and wifi from evening to late night. some browsing, email checking, twitter and finance always on.
better than I was expecting, and on par with my previous phone (HTC magic). there are extended batteries too if you need.

USB is slower than wall charger.

if something is wrong with phone you call HTC. there is no problem with warranty buying it from abroad in any case. ordering form ebay may save you the VAT (if the seller is in the UK or europe). ordering from google will require paying VAT (about 61£) unless you use a forwarding service.

nmesisca

JohnK wrote: »

Its only a single colour (white) and it slowly pulses when theres a pending notification on the phone such as a text message, email, calendar notification, applicaiton update etc. The multi-color thing you might be thinking of is the little power notification light on the top right of the phone which goes red, orange, green when charging. It comes on as well when the power is running low.


They work alright its just that you have to press them high up rather than the centre of the icon which is where everyone seem to be having the problem I think.


I'd get about 2 days out of mine at a push with light to moderate usage. Usually I'd have the sync running all day but I turn that off at night.


Its a good bit faster to charge from the wall. Think it takes about 2 or 3 hours to charge fully but usually I'd charge overnight so cant say for sure.


No the slot for the card is covered by the battery.

the trackball IS multicolor but there is a bug in kernel.

CallAnAmbulance

nmesisca wrote: »

yeah music player is basic but there are many (free) alternatives on the market if you need something more "complete". Its enough for me anyways.

thanks for the reply, so how do you define a "complete" music player? for my humble needs android/nokia stock players seem to be fine...

nmesisca

CallAnAmbulance wrote: »

thanks for the reply, so how do you define a "complete" music player? for my humble needs android/nokia stock players seem to be fine...

it can mean different things depending how much music oriented you are..
could be with great graphics, or an ID3 tagger, or with possibility of downloading album arts and embed them, how the playlists are managed, if there is a home screen widget.. etc..
have a look at a player called 3 on the android market (search for rockon). its absolutely brilliant and a very original idea.

CallAnAmbulance

nmesisca wrote: »

it can mean different things depending how much music oriented you are..
could be with great graphics, or an ID3 tagger, or with possibility of downloading album arts and embed them, how the playlists are managed, if there is a home screen widget.. etc..
have a look at a player called 3 on the android market (search for rockon). its absolutely brilliant and a very original idea.

I think I know what you mean... I actually tried TuneWiki on Nokia but virtually none of the "extra" features were important to me and some of them didn't work properly. The whole app was pretty slow too. Auto-downloading of album arts _never_ works for me anywhere but I guess it's just that I tend to listen to rather obscure albums...

That Rockon you mentioned looks pretty good, I'll give it a try when I get my nexus.

Thanks again for your replies

dionsiseire

Im hearing that only the Nexus One will have Voice Dictation of Texts and Emails and Searching etc etc and even the HTC Desire wont have it as Google are only releasing it as a "Google Experience" feature on Google Phones

JohnK

nmesisca wrote: »

the trackball IS multicolor but there is a bug in kernel.

Interesting, didnt know that. Guess that old saying is true; you do learn something new every day

28064212

dionsiseire wrote: »

Im hearing that only the Nexus One will have Voice Dictation of Texts and Emails and Searching etc etc and even the HTC Desire wont have it as Google are only releasing it as a "Google Experience" feature on Google Phones

"Hearing"? That's suitably vague. The chances of that happening are slim to none, Google isn't going to cripple Android on other phones

Oafley Jones

dionsiseire wrote: »

Im hearing that only the Nexus One will have Voice Dictation of Texts and Emails and Searching etc etc and even the HTC Desire wont have it as Google are only releasing it as a "Google Experience" feature on Google Phones

Could there be a technical limitation with the desire as it doesn't feature the N1's noise cancelling duel mics?

Also, isn't Google earth only available on the N1?

flynnduism

Does it have multitouch?

I've heard that the US models don't have multitouch pinch/zoom functions (patented by apple) but outside the US it's included - is that true?

28064212

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Could there be a technical limitation with the desire as it doesn't feature the N1's noise cancelling duel mics?

Also, isn't Google earth only available on the N1?

Unlikely to be a technical limitation, just mightn't work as well in noisy environments.

Google Earth is for Android 2.1. It's just that the N1 is the only phone which is (officially) running 2.1

nmesisca

flynnduism wrote: »

Does it have multitouch?

I've heard that the US models don't have multitouch pinch/zoom functions (patented by apple) but outside the US it's included - is that true?

multitouch all around the globe now!

nmesisca

28064212 wrote: »

"Hearing"? That's suitably vague. The chances of that happening are slim to none, Google isn't going to cripple Android on other phones

I wouldnt be so categorical with that. just as HTC keeps senseUI and its widgets for their own branded phones, I can see google doing the same. especially since nexus/desire differences are mostly made by software.

28064212

nmesisca wrote: »

I wouldnt be so categorical with that. just as HTC keeps senseUI and its widgets for their own branded phones, I can see google doing the same. especially since nexus/desire differences are mostly made by software.

But with HTC sense, it's an "add-on" to someone else's OS. Google would be developing features of their OS, then removing them for versions for other manufacturers. Might be a possibility if Google were actually manufacturing their phones, but I would be shocked to see it given their current business model

Oafley Jones

28064212 wrote: »

But with HTC sense, it's an "add-on" to someone else's OS. Google would be developing features of their OS, then removing them for versions for other manufacturers. Might be a possibility if Google were actually manufacturing their phones, but I would be shocked to see it given their current business model

Google Earth, Google Googles etc. aren't Android though. As you said Google don't officially offer Earth for other devices besides the N1, so there's precedent there for them withholding their apps on other devices. Google could well argue that the N1 is a platform for the development of beta products (google do love to keep stuff in Beta) until fully developed. I personally think it's a bit daft for them not to offer their apps on every Android phone but it is their perogative.

JohnK

Oafley Jones wrote: »

As you said Google don't officially offer Earth for other devices besides the N1, so there's precedent there for them withholding their apps on other devices.

Well, no they're not. The only reason Earth doenst work on the other android phones is due the the version of the OS they're running - not that Google dont want them to have it.

28064212

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Google Earth, Google Googles etc. aren't Android though. As you said Google don't officially offer Earth for other devices besides the N1, so there's precedent there for them withholding their apps on other devices. Google could well argue that the N1 is a platform for the development of beta products (google do love to keep stuff in Beta) until fully developed. I personally think it's a bit daft for them not to offer their apps on every Android phone but it is their perogative.

Google Goggles is available on phones running Android 1.6 or higher, which includes the G1 and the Droid. According to the Google Earth for Android help page, it's available on the Droid as well, if it's running 2.1. And I didn't say that Google don't officially offer Earth for other devices. I said that they offer it for all devices that are running 2.1. Currently, the Nexus is the only one which does so, but older phones are being updated shortly, and some of the newer phones will be released with 2.1

Oafley Jones

28064212 wrote: »

Google Goggles is available on phones running Android 1.6 or higher, which includes the G1 and the Droid. According to the Google Earth for Android help page, it's available on the Droid as well, if it's running 2.1. And I didn't say that Google don't officially offer Earth for other devices. I said that they offer it for all devices that are running 2.1. Currently, the Nexus is the only one which does so, but older phones are being updated shortly, and some of the newer phones will be released with 2.1

Ah, didn't realise that the N1 was the only 2.1 device. I was just citing Googles as an example of one of google's apps that's not open source and part of Android.

28064212

While it's not open source, and not a "part" of the Android OS, I can't see a situation where Google will release a mobile app that will be restricted by device rather than Android version

h57xiucj2z946q

Are people still seeing this problem after the update?

http://www.tmonews.com/2010/02/nexus-one-3g-woes-part-315/

lord lucan

Kaylie Vast Soil wrote: »

Are people still seeing this problem after the update?

http://www.tmonews.com/2010/02/nexus-one-3g-woes-part-315/

Never had a problem with 3G on mine,seems to be mainly a US problem from what i can see.

slim410

regarding rooting the nexus and all.....

whats the difference between UI (user interface), a homescreen relacement, operating system and a launcher. i dont understand lol and i searched all over cyanogens wiki and google.

because i want to get the desire rom but i want to still have the 3D applications menu and i also dont like the lil bar at the bottom of the desires homescreen, and modocco's kitchen says u can remove the sense/rosie launcher, so would this give me the desire rom and also the 3D app menu?

sound!

JohnK

lord lucan wrote: »

Never had a problem with 3G on mine,seems to be mainly a US problem from what i can see.

Same with myself, I havent noticed anything. I am sometimes on edge but thats always been the case around where I live.

Brian

I'm having network problems on mine, but they are Meteor and Android related rather than specific to the Nexus One. Reading about the network drop off issue on the Meteor forum, it doesn't seem like they're bothered either acknowledging it or fixing it. Cycling the antenna with airplane mode on/off usually fixes it anyway.

Brian

hopefully this announcement includes Ireland

Canada could finally gain access to paid Android apps next week http://androidandme.com/2010/02/news/canada-could-finally-gain-access-to-paid-android-apps-next-week/

slim410

Baza210 wrote: »

I'm having network problems on mine, but they are Meteor and Android related rather than specific to the Nexus One. Reading about the network drop off issue on the Meteor forum, it doesn't seem like they're bothered either acknowledging it or fixing it. Cycling the antenna with airplane mode on/off usually fixes it anyway.

did u have the same issue with other phones on meteor? are you in dublin?

Brian

slim410 wrote: »

did u have the same issue with other phones on meteor?

Nope.

are you in dublin?

I have experienced the problem all around the country, although I am based in Dublin.

HTC Hero users appear to suffer from the same issue - http://forums.meteor.ie/index.php?showtopic=359