Dus verander ik nu snel elk paswoord, elke gebruikersnaam en bekijk elk rekeningoverzicht. Wat een stommiteit om zo'n toestel zonder een grondige reset te verkopen. Ik besef meteen ook hoeveel ik van mezelf op zo'n toestel laat zien. Het programma met mijn persoonlijke motivaties en doelen staat daar op. Mijn mindmaps met piekerdraden en pijltjes meteen leesbaar voor de nieuwe eigenaar.

Ik had nog liever naakt op straat gerend.  Er staat minder op mijn huid te lezen dan op die iPod Touch. Maar het kwaad is nu toch al geschied. Met een beetje geluk heeft de nieuwe eigenaar écht een volledige reset uitgevoerd. Voortaan denk ik wel een paar keer na voor ik zo'n gadget tot mijn erg persoonlijke digitale wolk toelaat. Shit.

Related posts:

1. Appelen
2. Rommel
3. Wakker worden

That's right: you are not allowed to uninstall their apps and you're not free to install any app you like. Wow, that's like....having an iPhone! Techcrunch advises its readers to just not buy the Backflip. I can't agree more, unless you think you're able to hack it ;) There's just so many different reasons to slap AT&T over the head about this. Motorola clearly didn't object either which proves they haven't learned a singly thing after the Milestone fiasco.

If you want the full Android experience, stay clear of AT&T and Motorola! Follow Motorola's own advice and buy yourself a Nexus One. If you already purchased a Backflip and just bumped into its restrictions, sell it on eBay or hope for a developer to hack it.   If you know any hacks or if this device is rootable, let me know!

Related posts:

1. Get paid apps on your Telus Milestone without root (works on other Android devices too)
2. Motorola Droid gadget and smartphone of the year 2009, Milestone owners might disagree
3. Root your Motorola Milestone 2.0.1 (but not for Telus phone?)

Related posts:

1. ‘Bobbel’
2. Laten wegvliegen
3. Wakker worden

Er zijn zoveel dingen die ik zou moeten doen en dat irriteert mij. Het doet me steigeren en vervolgens weigeren. De zetel is mijn barricade waar ik op sta .

Er is vanalles waar ik tegen vecht. Waarschijnlijk zou ik beter voor dingen gaan in plaats van weg. Maar vandaag leg ik alles neer. Vandaag zet ik niets meer recht.

Related posts:

1. Herdefiniëren
2. Stank
3. ‘Bobbel’

At this point, I almost went back to the iPhone and the only reason I didn't, was the lack of iPhones at most stores. I actually visited a store, ready to purchase an iPhone 3GS, but there was not a single one in stock and there wouldn't be any available soon. So I decided to give HTC another chance and purchased a Hero. I was absolutely in love with the Hero until I found out I wasn't able to update the firmware on a Mac computer. I got really annoyed over that.

The next day I started rooting my device and spent a couple of weeks having a jolly good time doing so. While researching methods and custom ROMs I noticed how many different types of Android phones and software was out there. Android was getting a bit complicated. In the meantime I got my Hero to run Android 2.1 rather smoothly but the virtual keyboard was starting to annoy me. It just does not live up to the iPhone's. This is where I decided to sell my Hero (I was annoyed at HTC for the bad support for Mac anyways) and try out the Motorola Milestone's hardware keyboard. The Android 2.0 system on the Milestone was a big plus too.

After a couple of days playing happily with my Milestone, I bumped into the European Motorola Facebook page. Hundreds of Milestone owners complained about their locked bootloader and my jaw dropped. What? It's locked?! No custom ROM fun on the Milestone? What a disappointment! It won't surprise you this started to annoy me too and I started writing about it. In the following weeks my enthusiasm for the Milestone changed into, well, a very negative view towards Motorola. A company deciding to lock a system that's based on open source development? That's a big 'no no' in my book.

So here I am, today, really loving Android in theory (and even when using it) but getting annoyed over every single Android device I try. Sure, I'm a demanding and impatient person when it comes to cellphones. Yes, I always want the latest and greatest too. But I used to be content with a device for quite a long time, especially with the iPhone which I had glued to my hand for more than 18 months. I also had a Blackberry a couple years back which I totally loved and also had for over a year (record time for me back then ;) Why have I had 3 different Android devices in the last 7 months then?

My guess:

1) When you buy an Android device, its software is outdated within a couple of weeks. Months if you're lucky. Most of the times you are not though and you have to wait for your device manufacturer to update your phone. It's a very long wait.

2) When you buy an Android device, the hardware too is old within weeks. Most of the time you'll hear an announcement about some new hardware coming up by the time you have set up your brand new and expensive device.

3) The differences in Android versions really do matter. You're not missing out on some small stability changes or small bells and whistles. Android 2.0 really is a huge improvement over Android 1.5. It's very frustrating not to be able to just...update!

4) There's a lot of Android fragmenting going on. You have to choose between Android versions, manufacturer UI skins, different brands, different hardware within those brand's offering, an official 'Google' phone,' Google experience' phones, ...It's starting to get a bit confusing.

5) Whatever choice you make, there always seems to be a catch. You can flash custom ROM's on your HTC but you can't update it with your Mac, you have 2.0 on the Milestone but you can't flash custom ROM's, there is going to be an update 'soon' for every Android device out there but it's always late, you have a Google phone but when it's broken you have to call HTC,...

My conclusion?
I still love Android. But, and it's a big but, I want Google to 'get it together' and demand more from manufacturers who use Android on their devices. Sure sure, Google is not responsible for all the 'non Google experience' devices, but I still hold Google partly accountable. Not a rational thing to do? Sorry, I just feel that way. The things I mentioned above have made my Android experience inconsistent and frustrating at times.

I could buy a Nexus One, but it's HTC hardware and I know it'll probably have bad support for Mac. The second Nexus is rumored to be Motorola hardware and Motorola has said to lock all its Android devices from now on. Plus, I no longer 'like' Motorola. I guess I could go for an Acer Liquid, but it's ugly and Acer is on the polluters list of Greenpeace. Not much left, huh?

Maybe it's just me and you all might not have any problems with the limitations of your Android device, but I'm a bit fed up with it. One dream though that does seem a bit unlikely : if Google decided to have Nokia (big hardware winner for Greenpeace) produce a Nexus (official Google product!) with the latest Android version (and speedy updates by Google) plus a hardware keyboard...I'd definitely want that device. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Related posts:

1. Will the real Android rise?
2. Install new Android 2.1 Eclair Custom ROM for HTC Hero (based on Droid Eris ROM)
3. Android experiment #2: how to root your HTC Hero and install any custom ROM or even Android 2.1 (without HTC Sense)

The videos were uploaded using the cellphones and our Wifi connection. Uploading the video to Youtube was very easy on the Milestone with Android 2.0. It has a built in 'share with Youtube' option and uploading a video is remarkably fast and easy. The Palm Pre has a native 'share' option too, but I did run into some errors. It worked on the 2nd try but it did take a while. Blackberry devices do not have an upload to Youtube function built in. A simple (but paid app) like VideoSpin will fix that for you.

Let's take a look at those videos! First, the Motorola Milestone camera which is supposed to have stunning quality

Second, the Palm Pre video which has only been available for about a week thanks to the 1.4 OS update (Seems like I was holding the phone the wrong way, grmbl)

Third, the Blackberry Bold 9700 video

I wouldn't say any of these videos are 'stunning' but the quality of the Milestone video is really good for a cellphone in my opinion. The colors are very nice and the grass looks like nice and sharp. The Blackberry's colors are a lot less vibrant and more faded. Overall the video is a lot less sharp but it's still kinda ok. The Pre's video is ...well...it clearly couldn't keep up with my dog running towards us. So, while the Pre comes in the prettiest box,the Milestone's camera is the one you'll want to use for your box office videos! (or not ;)

Related posts:

1. Bold 9700 vs. iPhone 3G vs. Palm Pre vs. Motorola Milestone, a household contest
2. First impressions of the Blackberry Bold 9700
3. Unboxing Palm Pre recorded with Motorola Milestone/Droid

HTC announced an official update in March 2010, this month, but I haven't seen it yet so...If you're impatient and want to see the newest 2.1 custom ROM shine on your Hero go here and get it. A bit scared about losing your warranty? Rightly so, but at least you won't have to wait until HTC finally pushes that update to your phone. Enjoy and make sure to express your gratitude to LoxDev! Remember: this is all 'enter at your own risk' from now on!

Wanna get that ROM but not sure how to start? Go download it and check out the guide on how to root your Hero and install a custom ROM.

Related posts:

1. Android experiment #2: how to root your HTC Hero and install any custom ROM or even Android 2.1 (without HTC Sense)
2. Android Eclair 2.1 on your HTC Magic 32 A with Planet MAX custom ROM
3. Android Eclair (2.1) on your HTC Hero (KaguDroid)

Related posts:

1. Telus Milestone cannot be rooted with existing European .zip file
2. No News Is Not Necessarily Good News
3. A Light at the End of the Milestone Tunnel?

I thought I'd try my skills at metaphor to explain how we in Milestone Land feel about Motorola's decision to treat us differently from the U.S.  It might get a little stretched at times but bear with me.

Imagine instead of Motorola struggling to make it back into the mobile market we had General Motors struggling to make it back in to the automotive industry (yeah, that's not the stretch yet).  No one has been too impressed with their cars lately and sales are poor.

But there is a new craze in the form of hybrid cars.  There are some new upstarts making some pretty good cash selling these gas/electric autos and they're selling well all over the globe.

The stretch begins...

GM starts work on their re-entry by designing a new Corvette that is a hybrid.  Their marketing types already start spinning ad copy about this new car that is going to be fast, sleek, corner like a son-of-a-gun and it's going to get nearly seventy miles per gallon!  People are excited, some even line up at GM dealerships to pre-order this amazing new auto.

Months pass and the big unveiling is at hand.  The new Corvette gets rave reviews; it's the fastest thing on the streets and fuel efficient to boot.  Soon everyone wants one but for now you can only buy it in the U.S.  But don't worry, GM are hard at work making a version of the car that will be sold worldwide.  Sure enough, there is word that this new Corvette has surfaced in a few countries in Europe and Latin America; it's got a different name, but it's pretty much the same.  The only real difference people can spot is that all the gauges are in metric.  The funny thing is, neither of these cars are available in Canada yet.  No one is sure if it's insurance problems or whether GM can't get any of the Canadian dealers to sign off on in.  That's OK though, Canadians are patient for the most part.

The news over the next months is peppered with reports of how awesome the new Corvette is but there is relatively little press reaching North American ears about the European version; people naturally assume it's just as awesome as the American version.

Some nine months later, the metric version of the Corvette is announced in Canada.  Some Canadians are ecstatic, others aren't too excited.  It is the middle of winter after all, who's going to drive a Corvette (or whatever they call it) in winter?  Nonetheless, there are lineups and some Canadians manage to get the first new cars to roll out.

WooHoo! New car!

One excited new owner gets into his car and turns the key.  The engine purrs, the gauges light up, the owner is in love.  He finds a bare patch of road and puts the pedal to the metal.  The engine roars and he is sucked back into his seat until a couple of seconds later when the car reaches 90 km/h (55 mph for Americans) and sits there.  A speed limiter?  That's kind of rude.  Oh, and as he's driving the CD player skips whenever he changes lanes or turns onto a new street ;-)  He goes online to find out about this imposed limit but it turns out it's some sort of bug with the throttle control system, GM's not quite sure what's wrong but they're working on it.  No news on when the fix might be available.  Oh, and they're aware of the problem with the CD player but they're going to wait until they can fix everything at once before they do anything about the CD player.

I'll fix it myself, or not...

Well, that's alright.  If it's a software problem with throttle control there are bound to be some third-party throttle controllers available.  In fact, the new owner is sure he read about something like that for the American model.  He walks to the front of the car to open the hood and discovers it has been locked shut!  Not only that, but the keyhole looks terribly complex, you won't be able to get a key made for it just anywhere.  Well, what did the Europeans do?  Turns out they were able to jury-rig something without opening the hood because yes, their hoods are locked shut also.

Hey Matt, you're a security guard.  Get it?

Well, how did the Americans do it then?  Turns out they had a lock that anyone could pick and the parts are pretty standard.  Frustrated, the new owner tries to contact General Motors to see what is going on.  He can't get in touch with anyone directly but a security guard at one of the used car lots affiliated with GM says he'll pass on the message.

Euro-Canadian Corvette is not meant for mechanics

In the meantime there is a poorly circulated press release from one of the middle-management types on the Corvette design team who says this non-U.S. version of the Corvette wasn't meant to be for mechanics to use so they locked the hood shut.  If you want a car that you can repair hybrid designs on you should have bought that hybrid Nissan 350Z that came out recently or maybe an old Mustang.  If you were to unlock the hood of your car you would void the warranty and no one wants that do they?

There is an outpouring of response in Europe and Latin America and a couple of raised voices in Canada.  Why is our car so different just because it has metric gauges?  The response is that there were specific business reasons for this difference but they are not at liberty to tell anyone what those reasons are.  Besides, the Corvette was the only model that you'll be able to open the hood for, all other new GMs will have the hoods locked shut (some even welded shut).

But hold tight, we'll have that throttle problem and the CD player problem fixed "soon".  How soon?  Some of you might get repaired in the next couple of months; some we're just not sure, but soon.

Maybe the Canadian Corvette is called "Citrus"

So here I am with a car that looks suspiciously like a Corvette, it's a really nice looking car but it's got problems and I don't know when they'll be fixed.  I could probably fix it myself but I'm not even allowed to change the oil.  I can buy some fancy seat covers, but that's about it.

Oh and America, that new Chevy Cobalt that you're so excited about because you're going to put headers on it and mag wheels and all that?

The hood is welded shut.

Related posts:

1. Guest blogger Charrion: a Canadian perspective on the Motorola Milestone (Telus)
2. A Light at the End of the Milestone Tunnel?
3. Motorola Droid gadget and smartphone of the year 2009, Milestone owners might disagree

Since we've had some pretty neat smartphones laying around here I decided to do another kind of review today. Let's see what the manufacturers of these expensive devices came up with in the packaging department. I've had many cellphone boxes in my hands over the years and I can't seem to remember any of those being really remarkable. Then again, a cellphone is no longer just a functional thing these days but an expression of your lifestyle, your ideals even maybe.

The Motorola Milestone box resembles those old school boxes the most unfortunately. The Droid, the Milestone's US cousin, got hyped so much even its packaging made robotic DRRRROOOIDDDD sounds. No such freaky things for the Milestone, 'the phone without compromises'. Looks like they did compromise on the packaging...It feels cheap, looks ugly and lacks style. For a phone that's supposed to do it all, its box does little for me.

The Blackberry Bold 9700 box isnt' that much better when it comes to the materials but at least it's pretty and fits the phone's style. You won't be surprised to see it's...black. A businesslike simple box holds the phone and its accessories without any special details. The texture of the box is just plane carton board but with a bit of fantasy you could say you're holding the new 'black box' of your life. If you ever get hit by a car, your Blackberry will reveal your last emails, or something like that... Anyways, I  was happy enough when they handed me the box, but it's definately not the prettiest I've ever seen.

We all know the iPhone box, which is mostly black too, and Apple sure is the king of stylish packaging. The solid feel of the box with silver 'iPhone' inscription is a guaranteed happy high for box lovers like me. But is it still 'special' in 2010? Nah, almost every brand picked up Apple's eye for pretty packaging and created some neat boxes that were supposed to give you that same 'precious feeling of an engagement ring in a smooth red jewelers box'.  (Although, Motorola might have been living on another planet these last years) So yeah, Apple was innovative a few years back, but Palm wins the pretty box round today!

Palm came up with a bit of a weird box. It isn't square all the way (weird corner going on there!), it's white (how bold!) and it has funky orange stuff inside! Orange? Yes, bright orange rope like things that separate the accessories from each other. In this case a picture or words can't explain this kinky Palm Pre box so check out one of my favorite unboxers Noah from Phonedog.com do his magic. Who doesn't want a box like that?

Related posts:

1. The battle of the video cameras: Milestone, Pre and Bold 9700
2. Bold 9700 vs. iPhone 3G vs. Palm Pre vs. Motorola Milestone, a household contest
3. Unboxing Palm Pre recorded with Motorola Milestone/Droid

Related posts:

1. Root your Motorola Milestone 2.0.1 (but not for Telus phone?)
2. No News Is Not Necessarily Good News
3. Motorola Milestone MP3 skipping problem

We've received a reply of sorts from Motorola on the unlock suggestion in the form of another post from Matt, the Motorola employee we mentioned earlier:

Related posts:

1. A Light at the End of the Milestone Tunnel?
2. Guest blogger Charrion: a Canadian perspective on the Motorola Milestone (Telus)
3. Root your Motorola Milestone 2.0.1 (but not for Telus phone?)

Imagine my joy when I found out there's an update available for Facebook on webOS. And! The application has a Facebook inbox. I'm booting up our Palm Pre as we speak to download the update. I can't say I will be using it a lot since I found out Blackberry has one of the most advanced Facebook integrations I've seen on a phone so far. But hey, I get to stick that Palm Pre in @ms_powder 's face and say "Look! It's a Facebook inbox! Seeeee, you just had to wait for Facebook to do the work!"

EDIT 07/03/2010 Oh, I was wrong...The apps are not developed by Facebook. So it was Palm making us wait for a better app...I guess Facebook allows 3rd party apps to access the inbox too

Just that's worth writing a post, really. I'm pretty sure she won't read it anyways ;) You a Palm Pre or Pixi owner? Go get your Facebook lovin' in the updates app!

Btw, thx Precentral for the news

Related posts:

1. First impressions of the Palm Pre and webOS (Milestone vs. Palm Pre part 1) EDIT
2. New geek toy on its way: the Palm Pre
3. How to install homebrew apps on your Palm Pre or Pixi without rooting

After about 24 hours of usage I'm a lot more confident about this phone than I was about the Palm Pre. It has a very nice screen, a good keyboard, a nice form factor which fits my hand perfectly. Sure, the Blackberry OS is a bit boring but it works and system delays are rare. The email is as good as I remember (I had a BB 5 years back) but I did have some trouble setting up my Gmail account. I ended up just forwarding it to a personal POP account. I think Gmail 's the weakest link here, so if you're a Gmail addict it's important to know you can't trust messages to be delivered immediately to your Blackberry.

The famous Blackberry trackball was replaced by a sensitive 'trackpad'. I absolutely love it, it's a fantastic way to navigate your phone. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it functions when browsing the web and reading tweets. You might even say it reduces my need for a touchscreen. Blackberry was able to create  a very smooth experience scrolling through websites and applications. Again, it's impressive! The funny thing is that I almost seem to think I still have a touchscreen on this phone, I sometimes find myself trying to tap a picture or link. Not because of my stubborn touchscreen habits, more because of me not noticing I no longer have one.

But I did notice one thing about the screen: it seems very fragile and prone to 'break'. When I press the power button (the red phone button) I sometimes see the screen 'move' a  bit in the corner. It's like you're pressing on it and the screen kinda gives in.It definitely does not have that solid feel of an iPhone or Milestone screen. The last phone I had with this type of screen ended up being broken within a month.  I bumped into a table (my phone was in my pocked) and the screen colors were shattered.  I'm a bit disappointed by the fragility of this screen on such an expensive device. I actually googled 'fragile screen Bold 9700' but luckily did not find forums packed with broken Bold owners. So I guess it can't be that bad...Still nervous about it though.

The Blackberry App World is good enough for me. It looks great and has enough apps to choose from. You should be able to find every app you need. Except for, again, a Google Analytics application. The Android and iPhone markets have plenty of analytics apps, why aren't developers creating one for Blackberry and Palm? I'd expect one for Blackberry especially! Apart from my analytics frustration, I've been happy about the selection of apps available. I'm actually impressed by Ubertwitter for example, it has more functionality than Tweetie (iPhone) and Twidroid (Android) in my opinion (let's not get started on the webOS Twitter apps.....)

Last thing I immediately noticed about the Bold 9700: hello sweet battery time! The Bold still had plenty of juice after hours and hours and hours and hours (ok, you get the point) of playing with it on Wifi. Every other phone I've had in these last years had poor to very poor battery time with push mail enabled. So I disabled it and  constantly refreshed my email which was probably as straining for the battery but at least it got me through the day. The Bold 9700 might end up to be a permanent device for me because of its impressive battery. Oh, battery time, how I have missed thee...

More coming up soon!

Related posts:

1. Bold 9700 vs. iPhone 3G vs. Palm Pre vs. Motorola Milestone, a household contest
2. The battle of the video cameras: Milestone, Pre and Bold 9700
3. First impressions of the Palm Pre and webOS (Milestone vs. Palm Pre part 1) EDIT

Related posts:

1. A Light at the End of the Milestone Tunnel?
2. Motorola accused of deleting comments of unhappy customers
3. Join the action to free the Milestone on Twibbon, Digg, Facebook