ChrisPosterous

One of the features I have to say I like a lot about Android (at least the implementation on this Backflip) is that the back button actually works they way you think it should. For example, if I am reading a tweet in Seesmic or from within Happenings (the MotoBlur "newsfeed") and I click on a link, it opens the browser (which is horrible in v1.5 by the way) and let's me read the article. Touching the "back" button on the phone automagically takes me back to the tweet I was reading. This is nice.

So, the hunt is on for Apps that fill the missing holes in my new Android experience. At the very least, I am trying to install a baseline of applications that mimic most if not all of the functionality of my iPhone on this Motorola Backflip. So far, the differences in stores is definitely not helping the Android case. The descriptions (at least with my version of OS 1.5) is horrible and text based. You cannot see a picture of the app before you install it, so you are left installing and uninstalling apps when you find out they are horrible. I think Google fixed this, but as I have blogged before, Google has no (as in zero) control over this experience. I would love to have v2.2 of the OS. If this was Apple, I could buy it or download it for free. Since Google is NOT in control, I have to wait for either AT&T or Motorola to get off their asses and release an OS update to me. This is definitely a horrible consumer experience and if I weren't a technology guy, I would have already sent this thing back.

One of the missing features on this phone (and maybe all Android phones, not sure) is that my Gmail and SMS apps do not inform me of new messages by changing the icons to show new mail/sms counts. So I downloaded a couple of appls from the Android Market to try and "fix" the issue. They worked for about an hour or so and soon would no longer reset to zero when all messages had been read. How is this difficult to implement? What a craptacular experience. Strike one for the Backflip.

 

Well, I have decided to embark on a bold experiment and have put the iPhone away for the next 30 days. During this time I will be using an AT&T Android phone, the Motorola Backflip. Why this phone? Well, I don't have the resources to get another new service plan from Verizon or Sprint so their decidedly better products are not within reach for this test. So I start out at a disadvantage in that my Android hardware will be running v1.5 of the OS. But this is actually a good real world test, because according to many net statistics, close to 25% of the installed Android base is still on this version.

Which brings me to point one that is immediately noticeable when you switch from the consistency of the iPhone to Android - there are a lot (and I do mean a lot) of phone, OS and carrier options and all of them are different. Now some would argue that this is a benefit in that you are not locked into one hardware or software manufacturer or even one carrier. But this "freedom" definitely comes at a price - the loss of consistency.

The Hardware

After settling on the hardware, I made the mistake of reading the online reviews for the Motorola Backflip. A majority of them are horrible. Most people hate this phone, primarily due to the old OS version or the fact that it is on AT&T. So before even getting the phone, I was afraid I had made a bad choice. I also spent an hour or two on the Motorola site, reading about Motoblur and its great back-up, remote wipe and restore features. I also spent some time with the Quick Start and User's Guide PDFs (yes, I am probably the only geek who still likes to read manuals), so by the time the phone arrived, I was fully versed in what it looked like, how it worked and how to configure it out of the box.

Overall, Motorola still makes a nice phone. It's build quality is solid with no creaking or cheap feel to the case. The screen is bright and sharp and while the resolution is not as high as other Android models, the smaller screen makes it feel sharper and the text smoother. A subjective view, but I look the look of the fonts and icons and it is on par with my 3G. 

The phone works in both a portrait mode (ala iPhone) and a landscape mode that happens when you "flip" open the keyboard. Out of the box, the auto-rotation of the screen is turned off, so at first you're thinking, what the heck is wrong with my broken phone? The screen won't rotate! Once you turn this feature on, the second thing you notice is that the screen only rotates when in certain applications. For example, it won't rotate when looking at the home pages. Weird, and a perfect example of the weirdness that is Android OS (or maybe its just my hardware, who knows - and why should it matter - it's still odd). 

I really like the Motoblur software. I have seen Sense and don't like it as much. There is a nice feel to the UI and while it is sometimes a little laggy in performance, its not nearly as bad as some of the reviews point out. I think the key is not to get too crazy installing apps, as this thing really does not have a lot of memory. But overall, the processor is on par with the 3G and so is the ram, its just that the iPhone does a much better job of managing memory and storing apps. Oh, and background apps - not really great. All they do is eat your ram and battery and if you are an iPhone person, you can't stand having things running when you put the phone to sleep (or maybe that's just me).

The keyboard is not nearly as bad as reviews would have you believe. One reviewer actually complained it was too big. Not sure about that. Certainly, the membrane style keys are reminiscent of a TI-99 (if you are old enough to remember that one, raise your now arthritic right hand please) or Atari 400 (wow, he's diggin deep now folks). But it is good enough, and for most tasks I found the onscreen keyboard works well enough to keep me from even using the "real" keyboard. 

If you come from the iPhone, the first thing you will hate is the Home button. I have lost count of the number of times I have pressed it to turn the phone on from sleep or to do any number of things that an iPhone does. But I am sure with time (at least 27 more days) I should get used to the button layout and overall interface differences.

The camera is quite nice. It's a 5MP sensor with good responsiveness and autofocus. It's essentially like any point and shoot from a few years ago and does a good job with compression and color balance. The video function is sub par and I probably would never use it for anything. The sucky part is that it has the potential to be used for video conferencing as it becomes front facing with the keyboard in "open" position. But there is neither software to make it so, nor probably the hardware power to pull it off. 

Overall, the form factor is nice, the phone feels good in your hand (and in your pockets) and it is neither too light nor too heavy for extended use. I would rather spend the time the next few weeks talking about the software and the overal experience it created rather than just focus on the hardware's limitations. Unlike the iPhone experience, the software and hardware you are "stuck" with is not always your choice and this will become a theme as I start to take apart this experience over the next several reviews. So far, I have been able to figure out all the buttons and hardware features. Next review will be spent diving into software. I am slowly cobbling together the equivalent apps I have on the iPhone and have only found a few gaps in coverage (PocketMoney, a native Twitter app that runs on OS 1.5 and a Buzz app of any kind). I have to say that I am looking forward to spending some time in this platform and telling you all about it. So join me next time as we start dissecting the user experience that is Android software.

 

My long time friend Jim Kelleher @kellehercreat shared this image of his Newton MessagePad 2100 still running and still housing my old Apple contact record after all these years. I had to share this piece of history - I occasionally miss the old days with my trusty Newton (remember the clear ones they gave away at Apple Power Camp in 1996?) . PS - follow Jim on Posterous for cool creative content, tips and articles. http://jimk.posterous.com/

There are some blog sites that I loathe but I visit them anyway because I have to. Then there are sites I love because of the way they present information. They don't have long articles, but they have meaningful and inspiring posts. They come from people who really know their stuff and express it well. And generally, these are people I have followed for a long long time. One such site that recently had a little makeover is Dave Winer's Scripting.com. I have been following Dave since back when I worked at Kinko's in the 90's. Back then I followed Dave for his Userland product. It was nothing short of amazing and one of the first true "publishing" tools before blogging really meant anything.

I have followed Dave on and off for many years since then and recently was struck by the elegance and simplicity of his site redesign - a simple focus on making the site look better on mobile platforms with collapsible posts and the same clean design he seems to have used for years. I like the simplicity of the design which favors content over flash (figurative and literal). I can always count on a post that makes me think, and for that I am thankful for Dave and other's like him who publish.

If you have not checked this site out I highly recommend bookmarking it. You won't be disappointed.