htc articles: The Android Experience

Assalamo Alaykum Readers,

The backdrop of this post links way back to the time when i first got acquaintance with this news about Google, trying to jump in to the cellular thingy. They were trying hard to develop a framework-cum-OS that could revolutionize this business. Definitely, they were trying to compete with already establish names having the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Palm and RIM. Lately, I started following the ‘Search Engine Giant’ in their journey towards becoming a tough competitor in this market.

After having a first shock in the form of G1-disappointment, Google didn’t stop and since then they have released 4 versions of their OS, each having slight improvements over the previous one. The latest, Android 2.0.1 is featured in Google’s own mobile aka Nexus One. This, by far is the most stable and polished version of their OS and the phone is gaining some critics’ sympathies. The result; Android is now standing face-to-face with iPhone, and all the other ones are left behind.

This post will however cover my own experience with Android and may be termed as a review. Since I have already become a fan, i started searching for some suitable deal through which i could get my hands on some Android based mobile phone. Just a couple of days back, i did managed to try HTC Hero and i found it pretty exciting. With some discussion with the shop-owner (who i know very well), i somewhat finalized the deal. The very next day, i bought the set which was in pretty good condition. And here I am, a proud owner of Android mobile

Anyways, so far it looks like a very promising affair. Having some really cool features that include Customizable Home Screen, Context-based Searching, Generic Notifications (one area for all types of notifications), Pattern-based phone lock (security feature), Integrated Contacts Module (Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Google, SIM and Phone contacts) and Multi-Touch gestures for browser and gallery. The phone response is astonishing too. The QWERTY keyboard is really amazing with its suggestive features kicking in nicely. Some things that I find missing include a File Manager and Notes applications. Although these applications are available through Android Market for free but i would like them to be there as default applications as the available-ones are not made by Google itself.

Nearly Ruined:

Yesss, you read that right. I nearly ruined my smooth flight with this handy device. What happened was, somehow, I decided to reset the phone to its factory settings. I wanted to check the phone with its default settings since this phone was slightly used and the 1st owner might have changed some settings based on his likings. So, I did what I thought. The phone was reset and everything went fine. It was rebooted and was up-and-running. Sometime later, i noticed that the backlight of utility buttons and the notification LED were not working :S and that started my nightmare . I started searching wildly over the internet, trying to find a solution and, to my disappointment, i didn’t find the situation much encouraging. I was like ‘damn!!! Why did i do that’, and while i was cursing myself, i stumbled upon a forum that indicated a ROM update that could have solved this problem. Well, the way i got that update was another painful story but that did solve the problem for me.