• K-9 Mail
• Weather Channel app
• Greed
• Locale
• AppManager
• TasKiller
• OI Safe
• T-Mobile MyAccount
• FaceBook app.
• Twitdroid and TritterRide were on my phone for a while. But, as little as I use Twitter, I found it was easier to just put a bookmark on my home page and use the web site directly.
• Mobile Defense by Neevo.
• Cyanogen ROM image.
• Retro Clock and Retro Date widgets.

I posted this list last September. A lot has changed since then. For one, I dumped the Cyanogen ROM and when back to the straight factory issued 1.6 firmware. After several total reinstalls from scratch episodes, I decided I needed my phone to work reliably more than I needed the benefits of the alternative ROM. I do miss the ability to move apps to the SD card.

The Retro Clock and Date widgets are still here, front and center. Joining them on the home page is the Weatherbug widget. The Weather channel app really lost performance with the admob ads running. And the Weatherbug widget just looks and works better.

I’m still using the Facebook client. It seems to work fine, especially for as little as I use it. I’ve been trying out more Twitter clients. I’ve tried Seesmic, Swift App, and now TweetCaster. I like Swift App quite a bit, but TweetCaster has displaced it recently. So far, I really like it. Greed is still my Google Reader client of choice.

I am still running Mobile Defense, OI Safe, and T-Mobile MyAccount.

If I am actively buying, selling, or just shopping on eBay PktAuction is on my G1.

The most recent change is that I dumped Locale. I had been running a beta version for a while. It work well enough, but since it relied on the GPS, it was a battery hog. The beta expired, and Locale is now a pay app. Which is fine, but the price is $10. I really like the concept behind Locale, but it doesn’t work well enough to pay $10. And  reports on the new version have not been positive. So, I search for replacement, and found Setting Profile. It does basically the same thing, and costs $3. It does not rely on the GPS for positioning, but either on cell signal triangulation, a specific cell tower ID, or a WiFi AP SSID. Although none of these provide the precision of the GPS, they are more battery friendly, and less fiddly when going in and out of buildings. It has taken a couple of days to learn how to set up profiles, rules, locations, but it’s working pretty well. I recommend it as an alternative to Locale.

That’s the inventory highlights. What’s on your ‘droid?

After a brief time using the new Work Email for Exchange email, I went back to K-9 Mail. It does IMAP well, it has a good feature set, It keeps my email in sync with Exchange (which Work Email didn’t do frequently), and it’s free. If you have to do Exchange, do it with K-9.

I keep going back to the Weather Channel app. I’ve tried WeatherBug, Accuweather, etc. But, the Weather Channel app works the best. However, it now features adMob ads at the bottom. It doesn’t help performance.

I still use Greed regularly. I still like it. And the price has gone down, so it’s an even better deal.

Locale still works well for managing my ringer volume, etc. depending on my location. It’s a little funky to set up, but it works well when you figure it out.

I’ve been using AppManager and TasKiller for a few weeks, and I like both. I recommend both apps.

OI Safe still has custody of my passwords, but I’m looking at alternatives.

T-Mobile MyAccount is an app I don’t use a lot, but I like having it.

I’ve been using the new FaceBook app. I’m not much of a FaceBook user, and it works well enough for me. I’ve tried several Twitter clients. Twitdroid and TritterRide were on my phone for a while. But, as little as I use Twitter, I found it was easier to just put a bookmark on my home page and use the web site directly.

And lastly, Mobile Defense by Neevo. I like this app so far. I’m looking forward to the backup option and remote wipe. For free, it’s a start.

Probably the thing I use the most is the Cyanogen ROM image. It brings the MyTouch apps to the G1, including the very nice power control widget. Along with the CM Updater, it was worth the upgrade.

Oh, and I can’t forget the Retro Clock and Retro Date widgets. They bring back that 1978 vintage “digital clock” look. If only I could get that annoying “bleat” alarm sound for my phones alarm…

How?

By rooting it and flashing it with a modded ROM.

Why now?

I’ve been annoyed by how sluggish my phone has been responding. It has been slow to acknowledge touch screen input, and even the hard buttons. This has gotten worse as I have added new apps to the phone. Some of the apps are running background tasks that are sucking up CPU cycles, most are just occupying the limited memory of the G1. Less available memory, less performance.

There are a lot of articles/posts/etc. on the internet with instructions to ‘root’ your G1. This opened up all kinds of hacking opportunities, but doesn’t address many real features. Plus, the process was complex, error prone, and tedious. So, I stuck with my stock phone with the OTA updates.

A couple of days ago I ran across an article on lifehacker: Five Great Reasons to Root Your Android Phone. The number 1 reason? Performance boost. But, the best part was a link to blog post: How to Root a T-Mobile G1 and MyTouch3G Android Phone, which detailed the easy two step root method, as well as the traditional downgrade root method. The instructions were clear, complete, correct, and not written for a Linux kernel hacker.

While looking through the instructions and checking out the links to other posts/sites, I found the 6th great reason to root your G1, App2SD. If you use the right ROM (Cyanogen!), and partition your SD card appropriately, new apps are installed on the SD card keeping your main memory on the phone free, which helps performance.

So, I charged my phone, gathered microSD cards, card reader, card adapter, usb cable, Macbook Pro, charger, Laz-E-Boy, and beverage.

I won’t go through the details. It went fairly smooth and fairly quick. Except for the ring tones. There was one. Apparently, the Cyanogen ROM does not include the original ring tones in the ROM, they have to be loaded separately. A minor issue, easily fixed.

So, the results:

It’s not a speed demon, but it is significantly more responsive. Battery life is similar to the original, so far. I haven’t reloaded all of my apps yet, so we will see how it responds. I am finally able to use the SD card for something useful!

1. Greed – I am a GReader addict, and this app just feeds my dependency. It’s the only app I’ve paid for. It’s worth your $5 if you use GReader.
2. Locale – This does a great job of putting the location based capabilities of Android to good use.
3. Weather Channel – Still one of my most used apps.
4. PktAuctions eBay – This is a really nice eBay app. It is easy to use, and it works great.
5. Ring Control – This was the first app I installed. I am biased, a good friend of mine wrote it. The paid version adds new functionality, i’ve stuck with the free version.
6. OI Safe – This app is an upgraded replacement for Password Safe. Still works well. My old favorite eWallet is now available for Android, but not at the magic price of free.
7. Google Finance – This has replaced Quote Pro.
8. K-9 – This has gotten better since my last review. It alerts properly, even when the phone is locked.
9. ConnectBot – On the rare occasions that I need to SSH into a server, and my laptop is miles away, this one works.
10. Handstand – I don’t use this as often as Greed, but it’s still a nice app.
11. ShopSavvy – Still cool. I used it today at the local Microcenter, saved myself $30.

1. Ring Control – This was the first app I installed. I am biased, a good friend of mine wrote it. It’s still one of the most useful Android Market apps.
2. Weather Channel – My current cable TV provider (AT&T UVerse) doesn’t supply the localized “Local on the 8′s” information from the Weather Channel. But, now I can just whip out the G1 and get more information without waiting 10 minutes. Very nice, my favorite app.
3. PAC-MAN by Namco – I was in high school when Asteroids arrived. I watched the rise and fall of the arcade era. This app is a faithful port of a classic, and it works well with the track ball.
4. Password Safe – It’s not as nice as eWallet on my Windows Mobile for Smartphone T-Mobile Dash. It works well, it’s secure, and it’s infinitely cheaper(free) than eWallet.
5. Quote Pro – Nice details, that are easy to get to.
6. Sky Map – Very cool use of the platform. It needs a setting to damp the movement, it can get jittery and not respond.
7. K-9 – An improvement over the default email app. Still not perfect, but better. We need an IMAP client that can set notifications when the screen is locked!
8. ConnectBot – On the rare occasions that I need to SSH into a server, and my laptop is miles away, this one works.

Ok, those are the ones I use regularly. This next list is those apps that are too new to have made the first string, or I just like having them around.

1. Handstand – Another app from my friend. I only installed it a couple of days ago. But, I have been using it more each day. This one will probably make the first string. It’s a good source of quick news.
2. handyCalc – I will always need to be able to do conversions and more advanced math functions. This one does it.
3. Life – What programmer hasn’t written at least one implementation of Life? My first one ran as a batch job with each iteration printed out on greenbar. This one is better.
4. Hold’em – I am a bad poker player, but I still like to play a quick hand or two online or against the computer, or phone.
5. ShopSavvy – Cool app. I have used it some, but not a lot.

Wow, that’s not even all of the apps. I guess there is a third list, apps I downloaded but have never used, but plan to someday.

So, this ‘review’ is based on T-Mobile’s EDGE network connectivity, not 3G.

It took several hours to get the phone activated. I went online and switched my phone and activated a G1 data plan. It told me it had added the plan and removed my previous non-G1 data plan. Perfect. Except that it didn’t remove the old data plan. I had switched my SIM card from my old phone to the new one, but no joy trying to activate. I waited a while, tried again, nothing. Finally, I called customer service. Well, I called after I switched the SIM card back to my old phone so I could use it. My wife and I have gone wireless, and canceled our land line, so a working cell phone is the only ‘home’ phone we have right now. I called, got a place on the call back queue and waited for the call back. The agent fixed the data plan issue and told me everything was set up, and that I should be able to activate it shortly. I checked online, and couldn’t access my T-Mobile account info for an hour or so. When it was available, I was able to swap SIM cards, again, and activate the phone.

I tried out all of the basic functionality, checked my email, surfed the web, etc. All of my Google stuff was sync’d fine. I then hit the ‘Android Market’ to download some apps. The first I download was ‘Ringer Control’, and app written by my friend Kelly. It either turns off the ringer, or sets it to vibrate when the phone is face down on a table, or upside down in a pocket. I also downloaded an SSH client, and proceeded to log into a work server to check on it’s status. There is a good selection of apps and games, a few really nice apps, and all free (for now). The download/install process is pretty painless, and Android tells you what services and information the app will have access to before you start the download.

Overall, I give Android a B+. It is fast, stable, and the UI is pretty decent. I give Microsoft Windows for Smartphones a D, at best. So, this is a big improvement. I haven’t had to reboot the phone to fix any weird problems, or reclaim leaked memory. It’s not as stylish as the iPhone UI, but it works.

Google integration rates a B-, maybe a C+. I can’t send an email to one of my GMail groups. When I hit the search key while in the TO: field of the gmail client, it does a search of all of my emails, instead of putting me in my contact list. Pocket Outlook got this one right. This knocks it down a level on the ‘Just works’ list. There is no easy way to send an email to multiple recipients, other than start typing addresses and select as it searches.It won’t search by name, unless it’s part of the email address. That sucks. I’m thinking C+.

Speaking of email, and such. Why do I need 3 different clients for gmail, other email, and text messaging? And why does the IMAP/POP client utterly fail to send notifications of new email when the screen is locked? The Gmail client and messaging client can do it. Messaging, overall, is a C-.

I was able to set up the IMAP client to pick up my work email. Actual Exchange integration would be nice. Even if it isn’t ‘push’ email. But the least you can do is actually set an alert or notification when I get new mail. Even when the screen is locked. It’s been done.

The hardware is decent, the form factor works better for me than my Dash. The screen is nice, clear, bright, and the touchscreen works pretty well, even with a protective cover. Only time will tell if the moving parts hold up. Battery life is OK, no worse than my Dash. The keyboard is fine. I like the layout, other than the period key which is not where I’m used to it. But, it works. The keys are flatter than on my Dash, but spread out more. I haven’t typed enough to get used to the new keyboard, I think I will like it.

At this point, I will still give the phone a B. But, there is work to be done…

I’ve been carrying a T-Mobile Dash smartphone for two years. It has been functional, but that’s about it. The hardware is decent enough, but the OS is atrocious. It has all of the worst of the desktop version crammed into a handheld. I still find it difficult to believe that I have to reboot my phone periodically (every few days) to reclaim the memory lost to memory leaks. It wouldn’t be so bad, except to get it to reboot in one try I have to remove the microSD card until it is up and running. Apparently, the 6.0 version of Windows Mobile for Smartphones has a buggy DLL that handles memory cards. So, the phone will go into a reboot loop until the memory card is removed. Nice. Enough about the past.

So, why a G1 and not an iPhone? As an Apple user (a Macbook Pro, and a Mac Mini), I am naturally drawn to the iPhone. It looks nice, the UI is nice, and it just works. But, I didn’t want to change carriers. I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for a long time and the service has been good and the prices are better than the competition. Also, one of the things like I liked about the Dash is the real qwerty keyboard. I just don’t like the touch screen keyboard on the iPhone. It’s too slow to use, and error prone. I guess the last downside of the iPhone for me is that it is an appliance. It’s a closed ecosystem. You must use it as it was intended. Sure, you can jail break it and load apps on it. But, it’s a running battle with Apple over control of your phone.

The G1 and it’s OS, Android, are a wide open frontier. At least compared to the iPhone. And, it has a real keyboard. I’m not crazy about sliders, but it’s an acceptable compromise. I’ve already downloaded the SDK and wrote the ‘Hello, World‘ for Android. It may rekindle my desire to write Java code again. I played around with J2ME in the past, but the phones were too limited and the development environment too compromised to be interesting to me. The G1 is neither.

My friend Kelly has been writing apps for his G1 for a month or two. So, I will have a local support group (of one) to fall back on when I get stuck. I can let him blaze the trail and clear out the brush ahead of me.

It’s all up to the UPS man now.

About a year and a half ago I traded my Palm Tungsten C PDA, and Motorola V600 phone for a T-Mobile Dash smartphone. I had been a long time Palm user, and T-Mobile customer. The Dash was the closest thing I found to replace my two devices with one. Since that switch I’ve had a lot of time to reconsider my choice, and how well it has worked for me. Let me dispense with the suspense: Windows Mobile 6.0 for Smartphones sucks. The Dash hardware has been a resounding “meh”.

The Windows Mobile experience starts with the interminable wait for the phone to boot up. There is no good reason for a phone to take this long from power up to the time it is able function as phone.  Mine has the extra bonus of now repeatedly rebooting for a random period of time. I’ve let it reboot itself for over an hour to see if it ever was able to boot. Now, I just keep it on all the time. At night, I put it on the charger and turn off the ringer.

Unfortunately, the fail just keeps on coming after it boots. One of the reasons I choose the Dash was the WiFi capability. When it works, it works okay. Not great, not good, but okay.  To turn it on means pressing the ‘Start’ button (modeled after everyone’s favorite Windows feature) and scrolling to find the comm manager application, turning on the WiFi radio. Then ‘Settings’ , ‘Wi-fi’, ‘Wi-fi Networks’, and either pick one that displays or press ‘new’, etc, etc. I don’t like doing that much work to use WiFi on a desktop or laptop, with a decent UI and pointing device. It really sucks to do it on a handheld device with a compromised UI and 4-way controller.

This points out the main flaw with Windows Mobile 6.0 for Smartphones. It is like it’s name, too much button pushing for the benefit. Everything takes too much UI interaction, too much typing on a compromised keyboard, too much scrolling on a compromised screen.

I’ve added a number of 3rd party applications (at considerable cost) to try and make the phone more usable. It has helped, but some of the apps, Pocket Explorer and Pocket Outlook come to mind are just beyond salvage. I’ve been waiting for one of the several Explorer replacements to arive, but none are stable enough to rely on. I’ve tried several replacement mail clients. While some were improvements in basic functioning, they all try to pile on too many other marginal features that get in the way of basic function.

I won’t go into the entire debacle of trying to sync my Dash with my Apple MacBook Pro.

So, why an iPhone? I’ve played with the iPhone several times. I’ve spent time performing the types of operations I (try to) use my Dash for. And, it works. It works well. Apple continues to show us what a good UI looks like, and how it works.

And why haven’t I bought one yet? I’m not ready to pony up the considerable sum for an iPhone, and until AT&T and Apple have a 3G iPhone to offer, I’ll wait.

After a nasty encounter with one or more cars on a busy Kansas City street, what was left of my Palm Pilot Pro/III was retired. I found a deal on a Palm IIIxe online, and made the purchase. It had the same 8mb memory, but with a grayscale display, and a better design. It served me quite well for a year or two. I was now carrying a company mandated Nextel Motorola phone, you know the rubber encased construction worker brick. Palm PDAs were quite popular within the company, and there was interest in developing software for them as part of a larger enterprise project. I was given a Palm m515 to use for development and for my personal use. I sold the IIIxe to a coworker and reveled at the new unit. It had an aluminum body, a color screen, 16mb or memory, and a SD memory slot. The only thing missing was some sort of network communication ability. I did have a data cable that would allow me to connect the Palm to my Nextel phone and get dial-up access to the internet. That was interesting for a few days.

I carried the m515 for a year or so, then I found the Palm PDA I had been waiting for: the Tungsten C. 400mhz processor, 64mb ram, SD slot, color screen at 320×320 resolution, a QWERTY keyboard, and best of all: WiFi! It has served me well for over 2.5 years. I have used the wifi at home and at work. I have acquired a variety of programs, and a few accessories. During this time I have never been interested in any of the Windows Mobile based PDAs. Very few of them were as powerful as my T|C and those that were cost far more. I had never found another PDA, Palm or other, that looked like a likely upgrade path. I have been watching the Treo smartphones since they arrived. But, until the Treo 700p arrived, I wasn’t interested. The 700 had the memory, but gave up processor speed, and WiFi. And, the cost, $3-400 for a downgrade. And, I didn’t want to change carriers. I’ve had a T-Mobile account for 6+ years, and have been happy with the service and cost. But, T-Mobile quit carrying the Treo line before the 700 arrived.

So, I haven’t been paying to much attention to the whole smartphone market, since nothing really hit my requirements: smaller than my Palm T|C, QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, T-Mobile, and optionally Palm OS. Then, last week I caught news of a new offering from T-Mobile, the Dash. The size is right, the keyboard is right, the WiFi is there (as well as GPRS/Edge, and Bluetooth), and it’s T-Mobile. What’s missing? Processor speed is half my T|C, screen resolution is lower (as is the size), and it has the Windows Mobile for Smartphones OS.

I decided that Palm wasn’t going to produce a Treo that hits my requirements at a price point I’m willing to accept and even if they did, T-Mobile wasn’t going to carry it. It is going to be rough converting to the new smartphone. I use a PC with Lotus Notes at work, and a Mac at home, so syncing is going to be an ordeal. But, now that I will always be carrying it, it can now be the unit with the master calendar and contact list. I rarely carried my Palm on weekends or after work hours. Combined with a cell phone, it was just too much stuff.