Possible End of Touch-Only Chapter

It was no secret that I had been struggling without a hardware keyboard since I adopted Android as my primary phone OS. Aside from a few models which had been mostly compatible with CDMA, the market was flooded with touch-only units that seemed to be in hopes of stealing some iPhone thunder. No matter how hard I prayed for some Android manufacturer to see the light of product diversity to break the touch slab cycle, every prayer went unanswered. One particular moment of defeat was when Sprint acquired the Epic 4G which was then followed by no GSM counterpart. I even considered calling customer support for Samsung to encourage the making of this dream device, but self-doubt emerged and I figured it best to accept things as they were. After all, Samsung would have already released a Galaxy S Pro model if there was a market for one on GSM. I was holding out for  a particular form factor that seemed to be the desire of a niche market. To make matters worse, it appeared that a majority of Android users were pleased with using touch screens for the time being and I was simply making much ado about nothing. Slowly but surely, I had resigned myself to settling for a mobile future without a keyboard after having accepted the Nexus and Captivate as my own.

After some time, I eventually found a solution in portable bluetooth keyboarding with two different models. Both had pros and cons, yet still managed to make my usage experience on the Captivate even more fulfilling. Even if ultimate portability was sacrificed by having to carry one or the other, I felt it was worth it...at that time. Being with portable keyboards was a great element of both efficiency in my mobile routine and showmanship to impressed onlookers, but I still wanted convergence. Worrying about separate components to accompany my phone was an inconvenience that turned out to bother me more than expected. At the end of the day, I still yearned for a slider or a qwerty bar...ANYTHING that could get me back to having tactile buttons on my phone again. After realizing that holding on to features from the Captivate were no longer logical in having to possibly downgrade to a lesser model, I had another realization. My standards for the feedback of tactile keyboards was probably set a bit too high. If I made the effort to ease my judgment of mobile qwerty devices, chances are I could accept either a past, current, or upcoming model and have my wish for at least an onboard hardware keypad if not 100% convergence. This was the first step in getting comfortable with a possibilty of adopting the Motorola Milestone.

Yes, I said it...the Motorola Milestone! The first thought of it some time ago seemed to be an unlikely solution due to my being turned off from the feedback of the keys. However, after returning to past online reviews and reading that this could improve over time, I was suddenly interested. More elements of the Milestone began to make it sound even better: solid, metallic build quality, stock Android OS devoid of MotoBLUR, and hefty weight. One more thing about this device was the result of my reminiscing about the Nexus One: the availability of custom accessories from the parent manufacturer. Despite its lack of a keyboard, the Nexus really impressed me in having custom built docks for both the car and desktop. It simply felt more like a well-rounded product with ample OEM support versus having to rely on third party alternatives. A part of me missed that more than I expected when I had sold my Nexus One and its accompanying docks.

I suddenly found myself having lost just about all faith in the bluetooth keyboard solution I had accepted for the Captivate...and then the Captivate itself. The loss of greater portability was easy to take into account, but there was another issue I found very hard to admit to myself due to pride. The Froyo hack I had implemented via the Odin program was not exactly perfect for interface performance. In order to continue taking advantage of benefits granted by 2.2, I ignored the lag of switching homescreens, occassional lack of touch response, and seldom failed uploads of RunKeeper results to the web. Other cons invloved the folowing: a constant lag in boot animation when powering on the phone; loss of support for voice calls via the mic when connected to the car stereo via aux input; Memo app no longer placing the most recent notes at the top of the main listing; call log showing SMS history in addition to calls which led to a huge mess (lists could be specified to certain types of calls, but never ALL calls without SMS); a wierd quirk where one had to wait 30 seconds after turning off for a vibrate to occur before being able to power on again. In acknowledgment other  problems noticed since the hack, I had to accept the bluetooth keyboards as temporary fixes for an ongoing problem. To make matters worse, I had to also realize the Captivate's failure in satisfying my wish for a convergence device.

It looked like a Milestone review was due to happen in my future, but would it be enough to inspire me to sell my Captivate? If so, there was a  possibility this blogpost could end up being the last work written on my Samsung with a bluetooth qwerty. Only time would tell. I most certainly understood how crazy it would be to go from declaring contentment one minute and then unfulfillment the next, but the attempt to replace a HW qwerty by other means was done in vain. It was most likely that the touch-only phone chapter was destined to come to a close for me. 

TRENT SMITH
Sent from my Samsung Captivate
www.trentsense.com
www.trentsensevideo.com

Captivate Contentment

Spending so much time with the touch-only form factor since Nexus One had been tempered by my initial Android honeymoon period. I finally found an OS capable of standing toe-to-toe with iPhone and Windows Mobile in terms of touch feedback, music support, and PIM data efficiency. Just when it seemed it could not get any better, there were additional touches on the UI to help Google's alternative stand apart from the competition. With practically ALL of my online presence being solely dominated by Google, my Android allegiance was basically set from day one.

The time with my Captivate had been amazing, especially with the addition of a pocket qwerty and a capable word document editor, but my contentment sometimes waned. Yes, it was amazing to have a 4inch SuperAMOLED screen along with an impressive TouchWiz UI helped along with Launcher Pro; it was great to have 16GB of internal storage for additional media; it was fantastic to have HD video recording capability; it was a godsend to have a Froyo hack ushered in with an unexpected GPS fix! In a number of ways the Captivate had been built into my dream mobile device with its own charm, and I was still yearning for an all-in-one qwerty slider solution. What in the world was wrong with me? One would think after the GSM market was overtaken by Android touch slabs that I would get a clue and simply move on, but I chose not to do so. Even after the release of the CDMA Epic 4G had left me feeling like a fool in expecting Samsung to create an unlocked GSM version, I was STILL holding on to my built-in hardware qwerty fantasy. I had been living with a most accomodating phone since it was hacked with 2.2, and I could not ask for anything more. Was I being selfish? Was I being an idiot? No matter how many times I could justify my perspective, a resounding "YES" always lingered in the logical area of my brain.

Recently, I had gone so far as to even consider trying out models that I knew 100% could never satisfy me like Android/TouchWiz on the Captivate: Nokia E7 and Motorola Milestone (with AT&T 3G). In hopes that the grass would somehow be greener on these other sides, there were still cons to contend with in addition to apparent pros. The E7 would have been the ultimate Nokia comeback for me since I had fallen for the E71 and E90 in years past. A hardware qwerty slider with an aluminum build reminiscent of MacBook Pro seemed like a worthwhile prospect. The presence of a 4inch capacitive touch screen with ClearBlack technology and a renewed version of Symbian could have been icing on the cake. However, fears of going without a microSD card slot and tolerating a potential repeat of 5th edition shenanigans could not be ignored. Not to mention hearing about the camera having fixed focus. Consideration of the Milestone occurred on a whim and actually caught me by surprise. A past visit to a Verizon store to see the CDMA Droid in person left a bad impression from its qwerty lacking adequate feedback. I was not taken by the stock Android OS at that time, but it was proir to my inevitable adoption of it on the Nexus One. There was no doubt that its specs were behind the Nexus and my Captivate, but tolerating a lengthy hardware qwerty withdrawal brought me to the brink of desperation. A part of me reasoned it could be a winner as long as it ran stock Android and could be hacked for further customizations. Going back to a smaller screen and a lack of 16GB internal storage would be a shock at first, but I had no doubt that I could manage (especially if a 32GB card could be supported). Losing TouchWiz features could also pose a potential challenge in using the Milestone, but a little bit of time in usage may have been enough to ease that matter. While taking on a qwerty that felt like a stone slab seemed like asking for trouble, I did hear from online reviews that it could get better with time. A huge risk was losing Google Navigation altogether, but a Google search verified that a hack was possible. I had to admit being slightly interested in the metallic build quality of the Milestone and its hefty girth as a mobile device. Despite my initial excitement for the phone, there was hesitation from taking on a lesser CPU and a camera that could not shoot HD footage. Overall, the usage experience may have been tolerable since it was still running a stock OS devoid of any manufacturer UI mutilation (like MotoBLUR). My yearning for a hardware qwerty enabled device was getting out of hand to where I was even willing to settle for unfulfilling alternatives. Feeling cheated by Samsung's decision to not release an unlocked GSM version of the Epic 4G and growing more tired of the touch-only domination in the mobile market, I had lost sight of the answer being in front of my face the entire time. 

In all honesty, the Captivate was a compelling mix of specs that kept me captivated to a certain extent...even without a hardware keyboard! While I did go through growing pains in the beginning with malfunctioning GPS, I was eventually won over by the combination of TouchWiz features and Launcher Pro customizations. The 16GB capacity, large SuperAMOLED screen and inevitable Froyo hack did more to solidify my fondness of the Galaxy S unit. Upon acquiring a portable bluetooth keyboard, I was then convinced that I could indeed remain with the phone just as I had done with the E71 and Nexus One. All was right with the Captivate only after I was forced to stay with it and make it so. The fact that I was still looking to jump ship for another model suddenly seemed mindless, for I most certainly knew better from past experience. There would be NO such thing as a perfect smartphone unless one could build it from alternative methods such as hacking or pairing with separate components. My achievement of gaining a gadget that could work for me to my liking was undoubtedly the result of a Frankenstein-like undertaking. I could not help but think of Hillary Clinton's famous quote "It takes a village to raise a child." While it could not be applied to my situation in a superficial sense, its deeper meaning was absolutely appropriate. Finding contentment did not come directly from the device, but from the sum of its parts whether onboard or separate.

It was at that moment I would be hit with the realization that what I had with the Captivate was all I really needed AND all I ever wanted. If I really wanted to be picky and point out a con in what I was working with, it would have been the lack of spell check in the OfficeSuite application. Aside from that, I could get no closer to perfection unless I designed and manufactured my own phone from scratch. Operating with a hacked OS of course came with its own risks, and I could never claim a spotless usage experience. However, any of these that happened to arise still failed to be serious enough to warrant a deal breaker. I was finally back to writing more often with tactile buttons and relying on capable GPS with tracking and navigating apps, and I did not want to let that go. In the fullest of confidence for the first time in a long while after writing this specific blogpost, I could look at my Captivate and genuinely say that I could not have it any better. While I did not usually come quick to recommend hacking to anyone lacking experience and even avoided it for a while, it ended up being the best thing I could ever do for my Samsung. I was no longer dependent on a carrier or manufacturer to grant me a perfect phone, I simply had to make it happen for myself. I would be lying to state not being tempted by upcoming models in the industry, but the more important lesson was to be thankful for what I already had...not be overly hopeful for what I wished I had.

TRENT SMITH
Sent from my Samsung Captivate
www.trentsense.com
www.trentsensevideo.com

Freedom Pro bluetooth keyboard impressions

This was the first word document being written via the Freedom Pro bluetooth keyboard, and it was certainly a different experience from the unbranded pocket version purchased from Dealextreme.com. I suddenly felt as if I was home with my Logitech keyboard from Freedom Pro's more expansive layout of keys which also had the same tactile feedback. No clicking sounds were to be heard from the pressing of each button, just the quieter spring action expected from laptop and desktop variants. I was the luckiest mobile enthusiast in the world to actually feel like I was typing on my desktop setup at home! Not to be overly picky, but typing on a clicky mobile qwerty whether it was from a smartphone or a pocket keyboard would always pale in comparison to a full keyboard solution. Not having to rely on a "Fn" key for the inclusion of alternate characters and sometimes numbers was really a breath of fresh air with this fold-out gadget.

Build quality was acceptable with plastics that felt more solid than the toy-like pocket counterpart I had purchased previously. The inner portion with the keys was of matte black while the outer skin was glossy and extremely prone to fingerprints and smudges. The locking mechanism appeared to be secure when the keyboard was closed, and there was no creaking or bending in the body frame.

Just like with any gadget, the Freedom Pro had its own fair share of cons along with the obvious pros. First thing I noticed from the unboxing was a PRINTED user manual instead of the useless mini software disc that contained an electronic copy. Looking back on that situation, the mini disc would not have been useless if it was readable to begin with on a family member's PC. Getting back on topic, there was a cheat sheet of shortcut keys for four different operating systems, but Android was not one of them. The included AAA batteries were nice, but did not seem as convenient as the rechargeable alternative on the pocket keyboard. I guess it could have been seen as a positive to not keep me enslaved to a power outlet, and there were always worse things to be subjected to. Just like on the pocket qwerty, constant captilalization was not activated by the "Caps Lock" key, but by pressing the "Shift" key twice. As a result, I came to the conclusion that the "Caps Lock" issue was due to Android and not the hardware itself. A huge inconvenience emerged from the pairing feature being a button that could only be accessed through a pinhole. If one did not have a mechanical pencil or a paper clip handy, he was most certainly out of luck in this regard. While music controls with the "Fn" key did not work, the volume controls did. After a few minutes of experimenting, using "Fn" with "Home" brought me back to the desktop homescreen while "End" simply put the display to sleep. At that point, I figured that taking time to read the manual to setup further key customizations would provide additional help. The "Ctrl" key was just as useless on the Freedom Pro as the unbranded pocket model, so it looked like I had to continue relying on the interface menu for copying, pasting, and saving. To the left margin, there was a column of hot keys for various functions like email, contacts, tasks, calendar, call, and end...and they had yet to be programmed (if they worked with Android at all). As to be expected, there was much more bulk to be had with the Freedom Pro model and its folding form factor. Even in closed mode and placed in its storage pouch, it was definitely not as appealing as the other model that could fit with my Captivate in my pants pocket. Another downside I noticed was it being more prone to character duplications...it was quite often that one pressing of a letter would produce up to 10 entries in a row onscreen.

Overall, the Freedom Pro keyboard did have its good points, but unfortunately did not win me over. It was just too darn big for everyday portability! While its wider layout could surely benefit a more business-oriented consumer, I was not really in dire need of a mobile version of my desktop keyboard. I realized I was a bigger fan of the smaller qwerty due to its smartphone resemblance with clicky feedback and smaller/slimmer dimensions. I thought I would be able to overlook having to carry a separate gadget in my hand or a backpack, but being able to carry things efficiently remained a paramount concern. As much as I did understand that all devices could go through malfunctions, the Freedom Pro did not have a good track record like the other. I also had to be honest and claim my disdain for having to deal with external AAA batteries instead of a simple microUSB port for charging power. While having a plethora of shortcut keys for special functions seemed like a great idea, it probably would have ended up being overkill for me. I liked the simplicity of the unbranded unit that simply existed as a mobile qwerty with some shortcut keys. If one intended to stay in touch with a mobile office experience closely related to a full desk keyboard, Freedom Pro was certainly worth looking at. As a result of the honeymoon period being cut short, I actually moved back to the smaller qwerty to complete this blogpost. Even though it failed to keep my attention for the long run, it was a worthwhile experience while it lasted.

TRENT SMITH
Sent from my Samsung Captivate
www.trentsense.com
www.trentsensevideo.com

Here is a purchasing link if anyone is interested.

Portable Bluetooth Qwerty

This was actually my first time writing from a bluetooth keypad to my Captivate and it felt liberating in its own way! After so long of agonizing over not having tactile buttons to type on, I finally had them at last from an unassuming source. Dealextreme.com put my suspicions on high alert when I first noticed the plethora of phony devices manufactured to mimic genuine models from the likes of Nokia, RIM, and Apple. Before I got the impulse to close the tab on the Firefox window, I did a search for bluetooth keyboards and came across an interesting find. Amidst a few models that seemed too bulky with built-in trackpads, there were two that looked absolutely perfect in size with a five row layout. Appearing to have the measurements of a credit card, one was silver and the other was black. A part of me still felt cautious about purchasing items from an unfamiliar site, but this was my only chance to take advantage of the opportunity. For 25 dollars, it was worth the risk.

Once the package arrived from Hong Kong, I admittedly was not impressed with its frugal appearance. If one was looking for the refinement of a Nokia, HTC, or Apple accessory, this was certainly not the one. My unboxing revealed three items: the keyboard, a USB cable, and a mini software CD. The qwerty was made entirely of plastic (which was to be expected for 25 dollars), and there was no sense of refinement to it whatsoever. No solid soft-touch surface reminiscent of Treo Pro nor any solid build resembling the N900. The unit was EXTREMELY light and felt like a second-hand toy from a local thrift store, and the phone snob from within had turned up its nose in disgust.

I dreaded having to find a way to get drivers installed on my Captivate since my MacBook did not have a sliding drawer in its slot to accommodate the disc. To make matters worse, there was no physical user manual since it was included on the disc that I still had no access to. Upon reading a forum Q&A from previous buyers on the product site at Dealextreme.com, I found a link to where the drivers could be downloaded. At that moment, I remembered the PC-only Android side loader app provided by a friend of mine and jumped to a PC in the house. After lengthy moments of fiddling with the sideloader app and then the BlueInput app downloaded from Android Marketplace to no avail, I was back at square one. Even upon realizing the house PC had a drawer slot to accept the mini CD, it was unable to read it. Contacting tech support for the site was an option, but after reading the forums I did not get the impression it would do any good. Being able to pair the keyboard to the Captivate but not have it connect was the worst kind of tease imaginable. I thought for sure I would have to request a return of the failed product and simply not mention it in my blog or YouTube channel, but something else happened.

The hack for Froyo 2.2 I performed on the Captivate was a godsend, for it immediately granted more efficient support for the keypad. Upon pairing the device with the phone and initiating a connection, I was taken aback to see a pop-up asking if I wanted to use a specific passcode! I was instantly thrilled beyond measure to finally have the two mobile units connected via bluetooth! Once a pop-up for bluetooth authorization appeared to have me grant automatic connectivity, I was set. All at once, the struggle I was forced to endure in going without a hardware qwerty had been obliterated! This was the start of a new era with my Captivate, and at that point my respect for it had grown beyond bounds. As impossible as I previously thought it would be, I was a step closer to being 100% content with my Samsung smartphone after it gained this new wireless companion! The yearning for an unlocked GSM Galaxy S Pro was no longer in full effect, and I was able to remain with the Android I had become comfortable with over time.

Writing with the keypad took some getting used to for the first couple of days, but my speed improved a bit over time. All of the keys worked perfectly in regards to alpha and numerical characters, but there were a number of quirks to get used to. First off, the "Ctrl" key did not function with the "C" and "V" commands for copying and pasting, and the delete key was right next to the space bar. Even though there was a "Caps Lock" key, pressing "Fn" did not enable it since a double tap on the "Shift" key took care of that. On the top row, there were additional "Fn" symbols that had limited to no functionality for brightness, music controls, and volume. There was a also a button with a symbol for what appeared to be the Mac Expose feature to display all open windows at once, but this did not work with "Fn" either. After a while, I just figured those particular features were only enabled for use with my MacBook instead of Android.

Tactile feedback was surprisingly impressive when I considered its cheap, plasticky construction. Each press was met with a most reassuring click that not only felt good but was also noticeable to one's ears. Endless pecking on keys for a lengthy email, blogpost or word document seemed to be potentially irritating with that sound, but it did not bother me at all. Having a full row of number keys was also a welcomed benefit as well.

At long last I had finally reached the ultimate compromise for my touch-only device in taking on prolonged writing! There was no more tolerating virtual qwerty buttons to churn out a number of paragraphs to express my opinion. Not that the TouchWiz software qwerty was that bad, it was just that hardware was that much better! I was pleasantly surprised by what I thought could have been a tech toy fraud, and the old lesson of not judging a book by its cover rang true once again. As long as I owned a touch-only phone, I could see this item being a crucial staple in my daily mobile tech routine.

TRENT SMITH
Sent from my Samsung Captivate
www.trentsense.com
www.trentsensevideo.com

Here is a link to the purchase site.

Life After Froyo

After considering the pros and cons of hacking Froyo 2.2 to my own handset, I was fully committed to accepting the risks and used a PC to begin my endeavor. Upon doing a Google search that took only a few seconds, I was brought to a resource site giving fool-proof instructions. Required actions involved downloading a program called Odin and then connecting the powered-off Captivate via USB. I was shocked by how simple the whole process turned out to be, yet I still ended up making a mistake. At the start, I did not allow drivers to be installed to the PC once I connected my phone. I then sat with a dumbfounded look and wondered why the Odin program was not recognizing it...go figure. Solving this issue was no problem since I was able to disconnect and reconnect the Captivate. Once "COM" appeared in one of the text fields in Odin, I clicked the "Start" command and waited. It was only a matter of minutes before my device had been blessed with the newest incarnation of Android 2.2 Froyo. 

A number of new features and surprises awaited my discovery, and I was eager to find as many as I could. The first strange thing I noticed was sluggish animation on the Galaxy S logo while the chime itself played as normal. I did not think there was a reason to be concerned since this was not an official ROM anyway, so I continued to wait for the homescreen to appear. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary happened with the first boot of the phone. As expected, the default TouchWiz UI reared its ugly, iPhone-mimicking head onscreen, but I knew that I would soon take care of that with Launcher Pro. Swiping through the seven homescreens hardly demonstrated any increase in speed over the previous 2.1 Eclair version of Android, but this was a non-issue. A huge grin swept over my face when I verified the availability of tethering and hotspot features, and there was an added Task Manager as well! In the notification bar, there was an added "Auto-Rotation" icon, but I had yet to figure out its function after seeing it had no effect on the homescreen orientation when activated.  The new Beach live wallpaper was included and I also noticed how much easier it was to connect my bluetooth keyboard after being virtually impossible with 2.1 Eclair. For text input on the virtual keyboard, the Android version was removed to make way for the Swype and Samsung models. Even though the Android qwerty was gone, it was good to see that both remaining alternatives had a speech button handy for spoken word entry. Changes were made to the web browser interface and the music player, but there was one major result from the Froyo hack: GPS!!!!

For the longest period with Samsung's device, I had to deal with horrendous lock times with GPS-enabled applications such as Google Maps and RunKeeper. When a signal lock on a Nokia or HTC device would take only seconds on average, the Captivate took anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes! To make matters worse, the long-awaited software update from AT&T did not have ANY effect on my GPS whatsoever. I was left disenchanted and even considered selling the phone, but I was so glad to not have followed through with it. As soon as I activated Google Navigation, GPS acquired a lock in SECONDS!! To add icing to the cake, the amount of stability had increased ten fold!! There was no jumping to any adjacent streets or lagging in the position indicator, and my faith was restored in the gadget once again! Just to make sure it was not a fluke, over the following days I resumed use of RunKeeper with fantastic results that matched my Nike+ application on my iPod Touch!

Aside from the lack of a hardware qwerty and LED flash, my Captivate was finally a well-balanced machine that could rightfully surpass the Nexus One. 
I most certainly welcomed the arrival of Froyo via the Odin hack, but there were problems that had to be tolerated. The Docs to Go application I had relied on for blogpost writing no longer had a key available to unlock the full editing version. Puzzled as to why I was stuck with the viewer model, I then looked to preinstalled Quickoffice which had been so good to me on Symbian in years past. Unfortunately, I discovered that the copy/paste function was not enabled on it, which begged me to question how in the hell could it be considered a full-featured document editor! The next contender in line was a basic text editor called Text Edit, and it had some promise in the midst of my dire situation. I eventually got to the point where it did not feel right to go without an office application for too long, so I had no choice but to pay for another one in OfficeSuite Pro. ThinkOffice could have been a choice, but Marketplace reviews did not seem too promising...and I vaguely remembered installing and then promptly UNinstalling it from my Android a while back. Spending 15 dollars was not exactly at the top of my priority list, but it was worth it for the peace of mind and not having to wait forever for tech support. Flash was still present in the web browser, but I did observe a lack of text reflow when zooming into sites. Horizontal scrolling was not the end of the world by any means, but still a slight inconvenience nonetheless.  UPDATE: I was able to activate text reflow by checking the box for "Auto-Fit" in browser settings.

As for battery life being improved, I considered the validity to this after mistakenly thinking it was the same after the 2.2 hack. Since I began using a portable bluetooth qwerty keypad, I have been keeping bluetooth on all day along with GPS, WI-FI, and 3G. I did not use bluetooth at all in this manner before Froyo, which led me to believe battery capacity would certainly be improved had I continued this way on the Captivate.

My Samsung had a new reason to live, especially with addition of a tactile qwerty keypad in the size of a Nexus One and 100% accurate/stable GPS. Waiting for the Nokia E7 or Desire Z would not be so bad after all since I had finally found multiple solutions in building my own perfect smartphone arrangement. Who knows, maybe I would end up not missing either of them at all! Hacking had always come with its own risks, so even though it worked out well for me did not mean it would be the same for others. After a long duration of wanting to go "by the book" as a friend of mine once said, I finally took matters into my own hands and regained control. There was no doubt that I did void a warranty, but that was a price worth paying and I would definitely do it again! Someone had mentioned on my Facebook I could revert back to the previous OS to avoid this, but that was not happening anytime soon! After gaining the courage to hack again on top of buying a separate 25 dollar keyboard and another office suite app, I found my perfect mobile device without being at the mercy of a carrier or manufacturer release date. Independence had prevailed, and I was the victor!

TRENT SMITH
Sent from my Samsung Captivate

T-Mobile G2 visit

It finally seemed liked I would be able to soon have access to a GSM Android with a solid build and hardware keyboard, and I was ecstatic! The fact that HTC was the sole T-Mobile G2 manufacturer made this news even sweeter to my ears. If one company could produce a capable qwerty with tactile buttons in an appealing layout within a sturdy, polished form factor, it was most certainly HTC. Amidst the vast inventories of touch screen units being shipped endlessly from factories, this was a moment to break the cycle. In my eyes, the G2 would be a preview to the best of what was yet to come from Android handsets. Despite initial fears of a smaller screen and lack of TouchWiz perks, I held high expectations as I walked into a local T-Mobile store.

At first sight, the device simply sat there at its own kiosk in the empty sales floor as I made my way towards it. Calming my impulse to go running for my first grasp of the G2 was a bit difficult, but then something else came out of left field: a T-Mobile salesman. I kept silent when he took hold of the phone as he greeted me with a warm Saint Nicholas smile and started the usual probing questions. A part of me immediately wanted to not waste time and kindly tell him to leave me alone, but I relented and allowed him to get a few words in. However, that all came to an end when he proceeded to give me a tour of the sliding qwerty gem. After imploring him to part ways and leave me be since I was familiar with Android, I finally had privacy with the new G2.

It was cool to the touch and then reminded me of previous devices that had a similar blending of metal and plastic in their construction. No creaking or loose parts were detectable on the body, and the hinge opened and closed just fine. The addition of the trackpad cursor was welcomed and brought back memories of my time with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Nokia E72. Chrome accents along with the silver-gray coloring gave the Nexus One cousin a high-end appearance devoid of any gaudy tendencies. Form factor sizing was compact and was not found to be chunky with the sliding keyboard in closed mode. I couldn't see much of the back since the G2 was attached to a security tether, but it was great to see a LED flash at the 5 megapixel camera lens. I honestly don't remember if there was a physical shutter button, but I did see volume rocker keys.

There was nothing noticeably new about the interface other than the fact that it ran Froyo 2.2 and resembled the Nexus, but that's ultimately not why I was there. Sliding open the qwerty revealed detailed keys paying homage to the preceding Touch Pro 2, and there was an unexpected gloss to the overall finish. Much more attractive than the small baby teeth that made up the MyTouch Slide keyboard, the G2 alternative looked like a dream come true...until I started typing. There was absolutely no ample amount of tactile feedback, and I was denied the privilege of having that reassuring click from models like the Touch Pro 2, E71, E72, Bold 9000 & 9700, and the Epic 4G. At that instance, I had flashbacks to the Nokia N97 and a Motorola Droid at a Verizon store outing. The keys did not feel far enough from the platform to grant a sufficient pressing motion. To claim that it felt like typing on a solid surface would have been a stretch, but the G2 came extremely close! Testing with the preinstalled Quickoffice app yielded mixed results. While having the keyboard seemed fine for short SMS and email, prolonged writing did not have the potential of being the G2's forte.

Having that negative first impression unfortunately set the tone for the remainder of my time with the handset. I was suddenly put off by the smaller screen and began to yearn for my Captivate's larger SuperAMOLED. Working the camera and successfully shooting HD quality video was hampered by sound not working on the demo. Seeing proof of T-Mobile releasing 4G into Hampton Roads via the solid "H" in the taskbar as web pages quickly loaded still did not shake my judgment. The G2 had failed at impressing me with what it offered to the mobile industry. While I was sure that many T-Mobile customers would take to it, I simply filed it away with the previous MyTouch slider and called it quits. Once again, I would be stuck without a physical keyboard on Android...and Samsung would continue to drag its behind in releasing an unlocked GSM version of the Epic 4G.

I understood that I could possibly come off as a whiner and a picky phone consumer, and it could be that nothing would ever satisfy me. But after my lengthy time with the Nokia E71, I knew that I could stay with a model and be totally content as long as my needs were being met. Even after my not-so-positive experience with the G2, I could at least be glad that the interface retained the look of stock Android. My wait for a suitable phone would continue on, and it would only be a matter of time. A friend of mine would soon come by to show off his new G2, so I was at least hopeful that my issues were only attributed to the demo...but I could only wait and see.

TRENT SMITH
Sent from my Samsung Captivate
trentsense.com
trentsensevideo.com

To clarify things, the following pictures are of a friend's G2, not my own. I am still holding to the Captivate for now.

Exchange Experiment: End of Symbian testing

Day 2 with the N97 mini had been fairly uneventful, except for a constant error pop-up about needing to change a password. Fortunately, I found out via a Google search that this was a result of Mail for Exchange and I quickly rectified the problem. To make things easier, I also decided to sync only contacts and calendar data to the phone and ceased email syncing. Otherwise, I had yet to encounter any expected troubles with the OS, so the honeymoon was still going smoothly.

Solid build quality remained to be an improvement over the plastics on the original N97, and the small form factor dimensions were not too bad to tolerate after being used to bigger touchslabs. That flawless hardware combination of metals and plastics felt irresistible in my hand and extremely portable in my pockets. However, it was a different story with the on-screen software since it started to wear on me a bit. That was to be expected to a degree, but I did not realize how claustrophobic a 3.2inch screen would affect me with 5th edition's chunky appearance. Text fields being minimized by a column of icons and a thick taskbar crowding the screen really had me missing the ample space of Quickoffice on the E72. Writing blogposts in the Notes app or checking Nokia Messaging for email suffered from this problem, and I began yearning for the vastness of the Captivate's high-resolution screen. In addition, I also had to get used to being without threaded SMS and the Nokia Messaging app not being as well-executed as Gmail on an Android device.

Day 3 of the experiment was when the awaited flaws of Symbian 5th edition really began to surface. Soon running into a memory error pop-up before the opening of Ovi Maps navigation shut down completely did not help matters at all. Even though exiting a running app did the trick at that moment, I was reminded of why I had lost patience with Symbian 5th edition in the first place: lack of usage efficiency. When on a smartphone, I was not wanting to worry about how much free RAM was available to run functions on it. Throughout my day, I wanted to just wake my gadget from standby and kick it into gear with whatever task I asked of it with no lag, no freezes, no hangups. That was not to be the be the case with the N97 mini, and the sad part is that I was not surprised by this. However, I was a bit surprised about my sudden hesitation in adopting S^3 on the upcoming E7.

Would this new iteration of Symbian on the E7 really be an improvement over what plagued the N97 models, or simply a dressed up version of the same old OS? I do remember friends of mine commenting on how opening an email on an E7 demo video seemed to show signs of lag, but I still wanted to hold out with a tiny bit of hope. I was admittedly mesmerized by Nokia's hardware from the aluminum build to the 4inch capacitive ClearBlack screen to the full qwerty chiclet keys resembling my Apple MacBook. Like with any new toy, I simply wanted to hold and caress it for a few minutes to satisfy my curiosity, but my desperation for a tactile qwerty and functional GPS possibly clouded my judgment. Even if the E7 was destined to struggle with the same issues on the N97 line, I could at least be sure that working GPS and a hardware qwerty was at my beckoning call. In the midst of such worry, I figured the best thing to do was wait for online N8 reviews from users and tech blogs alike to determine the validity of this new Symbian OS version. I had to be honest about the overwhelming sense of excitement I had started feeling for the E7 and claim it as blind faith. My Facebook and Twitter followers had the pleasure of reading posts about my growing zeal for the E7 that in some cases had dominated my dreams or even kept me from sleeping (yes, sad, I know)! I had become somewhat disenchanted by my Captivate despite its other pros and wanted to know if the grass was finally greener on the other side with Symbian...especially with that new build design! The prospect of having a TRUE successor to the E90 (over that E75) most certainly amped up my eagerness to get that new Nokia in my hands.

For a brief moment at the start, I had even considered selling my Captivate to keep the mini until the E7 arrived. Needless to say, I was glad I did not follow through with that plan. Slowly but surely, the N97 mini was gaining my trust with its qwerty and FLAWLESS execution of GPS via Ovi Maps navigation and Sports Tracker. I was swept back into the magic of Gravity, downloaded the Engadget app from the Ovi store, and ALMOST relented to pay $20 for a QuickOffice doc editing license! Everything from the bundled car dock to the minimal charm of the hardware really worked me over to accepting it as a main phone. Unfortunately, the software just had to remain true to itself and be the certified killjoy in my Symbian reunion fantasy. Slapped back into reality of neither the E72 or N97 mini being my saving grace from the Captivate, it was time to pull the plug on the Exchange experiment...at least with Symbian 3rd and 5th edition.

The run of Symbian was over for me before the inevitable E7 arrival, but I was glad to at least learn for myself that life outside of the Android OS was possible with Exchange support.

Trent Smith
Sent from my Nokia N97 Mini