Cliq for $120, Not $199 - Here's How

Okay.  Cliq is $199 with a 2-year contract from T-Mobile right?  Right, but only if you buy it directly from T-Mobile.

Should you get it from Wirefly (source:  Phandroid), you can save yourself $79.

Times are tough as you well know.  We all know and perhaps even these tech and service companies are competing really hard for what's left of our money.  That's fine by me.

Anyway, if you're looking to stick with T-Mobile for your Android mobile experience, this is by far the best deal you can find for one of the latest Android devices on the market.

More at Wirefly.  The link for Wirefly here came directly from Phandroid so I don't know if they get a cut or not.  If so, that's fine by me.  They do a good job providing us with good Android info.

Third T-Mobile Android Device On Sale Oct 19th - Does It "Cliq" With You?

On the whole, things can't be better for the Android platform in its young life than at any other time.  Sure, there are some rumbling of developer discontent with Google but that's nothing most Android mobile warriors need to worry about in the long run. There are seven known Android devices and a dozen or so more will be available worldwide.  In recent weeks, the attention has been focused on Motorola and its first Android device, Cliq, and T-Mobile will be the first to offer it to its subscribers.

Well, we finally know the details.  The Cliq will be available for pre-order from T-Mobile on October 19th through November 1st and available on November 2nd. Other details we know:

• $199 with a two-year agreement (ouch).
• Available in titanium or winter white.
• Available for sale national-wide or online.
• Like other Android devices from T-Mobile, data plan will be required.
• There is a sweepstake for folks who register to receive updates.
• Will run MOTOBLUR.  It supports "Updates to contacts, posts, messages, photos and more are streamed together and synced from sources including Facebook^®, Twitter™, MySpace^®, Gmail™, and work and personal e-mail. "
• 3.1" Screen
• 3.5mm Headjack!
• 5MP camera
• 2GB of SD card for external storage.
• More specs on the Cliq, please visit Motorola's Cliq page.

My first impulse was to get this as soon as I humanly can and drop my G1.  But after I've taken a breath or two, gotten some oxygen into my brain, reality set in.  $199.  I like Facebook.  I like Twitter.  And I like the idea of being able to access all my contacts and updates easily.  As nice as MOTOBLUR is, it's not for everyone.  And at $199, it isn't for me.  

I've looked through may comments from Android owners and potential buyers and while there is a lot of excitement, the price was higher than most expected.  Then there's the Boy Genius Report hands-on with the Cliq.  Like the HTC Hero, the Cliq suffered from sluggishness.  More damaging in my mind is the report about the battery life.  In BGR's words, " the Motorola CLIQ has possibly the worst battery life of any phone I’ve tested in recent memory with the current software. Maybe Motorola’s BLUR back-end isn’t optimized yet, maybe the phone software isn’t final, but this is ridiculously bad."

Bottom-line here:  If you're in the market for a smartphone, you can't go wrong with the G1, myTouch, Hero, or the Cliq.  Android is a rock-solid mobile platform supported by Internet giant, Google.  Having said that, the inner workings of these devices are more than a year old.  That was also the concerns of many commenters.  Not much has changed since the G1.  Given the price of the Cliq, one would expected better battery life and faster CPU.  Some more along the line of the jump from iPhone 3G to 3GS.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.

For currently Android owners, I preach patience.  For instance, the Acer A1 sport a 768Mhz CPU, a 45% increase over the 528Mhz CPUs used by the current Android lineup.  That's what I'd wait for.  And when Android 2.0 comes out, Android devices may require additional resources and horsepower that the current Android devices will have trouble keeping up.  For instance, Android competitors sport 8-32GB of internal storage.  

Still, like I said above, things are looking up for Android fans and I expect better devices in 2010.  Should the Cliq drop to $99 or less, I'll revisit my decision.  After all, the iPhone can be had for $99 and the Palm Pre as little as $79.  T-Mobile and Morotola needs to do more to draw in more adopters.

I'll be visiting my local T-Mobile store on November 2nd so I can play around with one.  And I suggest other Android fans do the same.

More on the Cliq pre-order, here is T-Mobile's press release and the pre-order page.

A1: Acer Shows How To Do Android Right With Faster CPU

Acer's Android phone and there's no word that we'll be getting this any time soon.  My question to the wireless providers in the US is, why the frak not?  On the surface, there doesn't seem to be much to distinguish it from all the rest of the Android devices on the market.  In fact, it is as generic as the G1 or myTouch.

Heck, it does not even sport Sense in Hero or MOTOBLUR with Motorola's Cliq.

But what it does sport is a superior CPU.  And anyone knows, boy, does the Android devices need a faster chip to run all the widgets, skins, and background processes.  As I've mentioned, I started loading up widgets on my G1.  Lovely as it is, it has slowed my G1 to a crawl at times and at worst, even restarted on its own.

With more memory and a faster chip, the Acer should be the showcase device to introduce new users to Google's mobile platform.  Candy-eye widgets are fine but when users start experiencing slowdown, word will get around.

The chip sported by the Acer phone is a 45% faster than the ones used by the current crop of Android devices.  I'll take every bit of horsepower I can get.  The A1 sports a 768Mhz CPU versus 528Mhz CPUs used by the other Android phones.

Right now, there isn't a market for it in the US.  I'm guess it's trying to get into the Chinese and other Asian markets.  My guess is that we won't see any major changes in the design architecture of future Android devices until Android 2.0 or even 3.0.

More on the A1 at Engadget.  Pre-order price is $571, not an insanely expensive upgrade.  Though no specs are available for the A1 a this time, here are the specs for the newest Android devices, Hero and Cliq, on the market to keep in mind for comparison when we finally learn more about the A1.

Note:  The latest version of Android is 1.5.  Engadget reports that A1 lists Android 2.0.  If A1 is available for pre-order now, Android 2.0 should be too far behind.

Cliq Away On October 19th?

I couldn't resist.  My apologies.

You may know by now that the next T-Mobile Android device, the Motorola Cliq with MOTOBLUR, will be available to mobile warriors, even potential Pre and iPhone defectors, on October 19th for pre-order.  Delivery likely in November.  It's not a bad timeline consider that we're getting close to the Christmas reason in the US and, likely, elsewhere that follow the capitalist (some say religious) holiday.

ZDNet has a great review of the Cliq, one of the better ones in terms of details I've read.  One thing that has held me back is the build.  Many have said that it felt plasticky but ZDNet says otherwise.  Now, I don't know who to believe.

Putting that aside, they gave an awful lot of information in use and their hands-on experience with the Cliq.  And the more I think about it, the more I want it.  With the G1, it was rough around the edges.  Anyone who reads On Android knows my opinion on the G1, a good beta device that beats 99% of the devices on the market (fact that it runs apps in the background beats the iPhone, all three editions).

However, I never warmed to the G1 design with the rise on the left hand-side.  The Cliq doesn't have that build flaw though on the left side you're left to contend with the keyboard shifted to the right.

Before I decide, I'm gonna have to go in and check it out before I decide if it's worth upgrading to the G1.  I'm mainly excited about the widgets.  Even now, there are 3rd party apps that offer similar functions in the Marketplace but nothing as sleek and integrated as what Motorola came up with.

In my previous post about upgrading or not, my opinion on this matter stands.  If you're new to the Android scene, you're in for a treat with the Cliq.  If you're a G1 or MyTouch user, the decision is a lot tougher.

But you'll have until October 19th to decide if you're thinking about pre-ordering one.  If you're like me and want to check it out in person, you've got more time.  And who knows, perhaps, some other device will be available on the market like the WebOS-based Pixie from Palm.

Here's a video with the Cliq demo:



More on the Cliq at ZDNet.

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.