Monday, September 14, 2009

State of the Android

Here's a quick post on this matter. Many folks are looking into the Android phones that are available for purchase now and coming our way. So what are you waiting for? G1ers, you upgrading?

Well, I don't imagine a lot of folks upgrading from the G1 to MyTouch, which is basically a keyboardless G1. Then you've got the Hero coming to Sprint this fall and the current media darling, the Motorola Cliq.

Here's my recommendation for potential Android adopters. Wait for the Cliq. It's only a month or so away from shipping with T-Mobile. The same goes for the Hero as well but for Sprint. By October or so, you will have at least four Android phones to chose from.

But how about G1ers? It's a little more complicated. If you want to stay with T-Mobile, you've got MyTouch, which isn't an upgrade considering that you're going from having a keyboard to no keyboard. So, my recommendation is to sit tight until the Cliq comes out and see where it goes from there.

With the Cliq, we're looking at a nice camera upgrade, more memory, and better battery life. Best of all, Motoblur of course.

But let's slow down a for a second. I'm excited but I'm kind of torn. The inside of Hero, Cliq, and a couple of other rumored Android devices have similar chips at the G1. We're not really looking at a big jump in performance. Not in the same way when Apple upgraded the iPhone 3G to 3GS.

Here's the bottom line, if you're looking to jump into the Android realm, you're in for some treat. Basically, your choice increase by 4-folds from last year when there was only the G1. For G1ers, it's more complicated. Hero and the Cliq has skins from THC and Morotola respectively that takes the Android to another whole new level. We're not looking at a huge speed increase or battery life but as far as functionality, you will definitely see something that will make some G1 owners contemplate upgrading.

Personally, I'm waiting for the pricing on the Cliq before making that call. Word is that it maybe free to $199 with a two-year contract. I don't know if T-Mobile will love us enough to give G1ers an upgrade path.

More about the Cliq at T-Mobile. And let's not forget HTC Hero at Sprint.

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