gadget lust

[egypturnash]

So yeah. I've been wanting to get a smartfloam for a while, ever since the iPhone came out, but the damn "exclusivity" crap endemic to the celfloam market means signing a 2-year contract to pay really high rates for the privilege of having an iPhone - normally I'll defend Apple's hardware pricing, but the numbers I see estimated for what AT&T pays per phone versus the estimated hardware cost is pretty crazy.

But there are some pretty interesting rumors going around about a Google-branded Android phone being sold direct to customers, unlocked. Especially when you couple that with suggestions of full VOIP integration. No convoluted "minutes" schemes = happiness.

Getting music onto it from iTunes will of course be a pain in the butt but I've really gotten out of the Portable Music habit. If these rumors are true I think I'm finally getting a smartfloam next year... I miss having GPS in my pocket so much.

I just hope they throw together an iSync conduit for it by release, that'd be delightful. I'll probably have to do some runaround involving synching address book and calendar data to Google, though.

Comments

[aprivatefox.livejournal.com]

Something smells a little weird about those rumors - the price point is way lower than any other Android device in-market, and the stuff they're saying about VOIP doesn't quite seem to line up with the current state of the art.

More particularly, I'm not seeing an answer to the question "What's in this for Google." They'd be pissing off their telecom partners if they made an end-run around voice service like that, and I'm not seeing a compelling scenario for what they'd have to gain.

Also, Google already produces a SIM-unlocked, Google-branded device: It's called the Android Dev Phone 1, and it's intended for developers. It's the same hardware as the G1, and roughly the same price, and it comes factory unlocked and rooted for your convenience. It's also a little lacking in the Google-is-Jesus features mentioned in the linked article - but have I mentioned I'm dubious of those?

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm taking this with a grain of salt until I can actually lay out some money for the thing. If reality is close to rumor I'll be snapping one up, but if not...

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

Hell, T-Mobile recently rolled out a huge collection of 'no contract, but no free phone' plans, so you can source your phone from wherever you wish instead of being hide-bound to buying it from them. As a result, the prices are even lower than they were before, and they were already some of the lowest for a given set of features.

Me and my mom are paying $150ish/month for two fully-unlimited (no roaming charges, unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data, unlimited tethering) smartphone plans, taxes and all. And since T-Mobile has already worked with the very first Google-Android phone, it's doubly tempting.

[doctorpinkerton.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is what I'm holding out for too (as I keep frankensteining my now 7 year old cel phone back to life...)

Gadget lust??

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

Oh... you're talking about actual gadgets, not Gadget from Chip 'n Dale.

A-heh.

Re: Gadget lust??

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

I like nerdy girls but I just never got into that show!

iTunes and Android?

[orb2069.livejournal.com]

I think DoubleTwist (http://www.doubletwist.com/dt/Home/Index.dt) is the best of show for that currently on Android.

And, yeah, I've been waiting patiently like one does waiting for the cake to cool on a reasonably priced Android phone, all the while nursing my Treo 700p along. $500 is just tooo much to accidentally drop in a puddle.

(ReCAPTCHA: cowards 5028)

[prickvixen.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for the Nexus 6, myself. n.n

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

Comes with a free case made of the finest baby-skin!