Yeah, the network shops aren't great for this. Try http://www.expansys.com/ - they carry it for £354. I'd be very surprised if they didn't ship internationally, too. Great company, no affiliation etc
The vanilla OEM HTC ROM is readily available if you go look on XDA-developers.com. Doesn't need root to install, you need to make a gold card using a micro SD card though. Process sounds scarier than it is, takes about 20 minutes to complete. I did my T-Mob UK with this and it's debranded and fixed a couple of niggles.
that's what comes of reading this via my HTC Desire! Reading comprehension fail...! Good news on the HTC update though. Hopefully this'll mark an improvement in the speed of response.
Remember Norton Ghost? Turned the best imaging programme I can think of into some sort of half-assed consumer-focussed crapware. From a bootable floppy that did it all to a bloated CD of shovelware that actually removed all the useful features. Also allowed Acronis to compeletly steal their market. Ugh.
Data point: the HTC Desire usually ships with a pretty fast ROM. I had the UK T-Mobile one and it was as quick as standard. Only customisation was a T-Mobile boot screen and a "Web and Walk" logo overlaid on the browser icon. It did, however, have a "feature" where the headphone output level was too low. I flashed the vanilla HTC OEM ROM to fix this, but speed isn't normally an issue with the latest HTC devices. The HTC Sense UI is actually pretty damn nice, I prefer it to the Nexus One. I accept I'm gonna have to wait for 2.2 though!
This is a fair point - the cost of Apple devices is significantly higher.
I just got an HTC Desire for £192 on a 24 month contract at £15/month. Compare to Apple, where my 3G cost me similar money, but on a £35/month contract. On the plus side, I sold my 3G for just over £200 second hand, so I'm win-win.
When I was debating the switch from Apple to Android, I thought "I can wait for the new iPhone release, pay a couple of hundred quid for the handset and be on a £35/month contract, or I can halve my monthly tarrif and basically get the phone free if I sell my old iPhone on eBay.
Some phones are designated Google Experience devices. They carry the logo. The Nexus One is an example. In the UK I can walk into a Vodafone retail store and buy one now. It's being sold thru a phone company, but it's still a Google device.
This is differentiated from an Android handset which runs a non-Google vendor-modified OS such as HTC Sense.
Yup. It's FUD spread directly and indirectly by the media. In the UK, no lobbyists for big print or big industry wanted the LIberal Democrats to get in. It was only (ironically) when the leadership debates were televised for the first time ever that the public saw the leader of the LIb Dems, thought him worth voting for - and now they're sharing power. Still a bunch of two-faced cvnts, though.
A side benefit I'd really hope for is that any enabled device can communicate with another GoogleTV device. I'm sick of messign around with multi-remotes and complicated AV setups. I'd want to be able to daisy-chain various devices (blu-ray, TV, DVR, amp) together and have the GoogleTV OS handle everything on some sort of IP-based control bus that included rewind/fastforward/AV channel selection/volume etc. Rather than having a rats-nest of cabling behind my home cinema, have a nice simple cat 5 to each device.
What he said.
Only thing I'd add to this is you might also want to consider if a vendor can guarantee availability of that exact model for x years. If you use a standard build you might want to guarantee that it'll work on any new hardware you buy for a few years. Some vendors pull stupid stunts like swap the brand of integrated NIC mid lifecycle which can be a real PITA. Nothing you can't work around, but Fujitsu and Dell definitely offer this on their corporate line.
Oh, and it never hurts to pick sexy looking hardware. Your office workers are going to be sat in front of these for 8 hours a day for the next 3 years. Their perception of IT will be marginally improved if you stick something cool on their desk. No biggie, but it doesn't hurt to raise IT's profile a little.
I've just switched from iPhone to Android. I'd jailbroken my phone to add the features Apple didn't seem to want to give me, I'd call myself a power user of the iPHone (if there is such a thing) and I just got tired of fighting Apple. Every update they push, arbitrary app restrictions (google voice?) - in the end it was an Engadget podcast that persuaded me to switch. Do I want a future of everything coming thru Apple and iTunes (with Apple nickle-and-diming me to death on each transaction), or do I want a connected handset produced by a vendor who has a vested interest in it integrating nicely with as many third-party services (twitter/facebook/flickr etc) as possible? When Apple bought the mobile advertising network it was the last straw.
I now have 2.1 on an HTC Desire and couldn't be happier. All of a sudden you're not treated like an evil hacker for wanting apps that "think different" - it's encouraged.
Case in point: forgot to copy a new album over to my phone. I realised I could wirelessly connect to my LAN, browse the content, copy an album over to my handset. Job done.
Paul O'Brien from Modaco (who is *the* guy for rooting these devices) has stated that he really doesn't like the X10. Not from a handset point of view, but because Sony has done their usual trick of fucking up perfectly good hardware with stupid software/DRM etc. If you want to be able to install third party ROMs like Cyanogen etc it's probably not a great choice.
The OS is a little different. If you buy a Google handset (G1, G2, Nexus One) then you get the update pushed OTA as it's released. If you buy another vendor's version, you have to wait whilst they customise the latest OS for their handset. Specifically, HTC sell Android handsets with their "Sense" UI. Historically they've been somewhat slow to release updates - HTC need to compile a new build, and they take their sweet time to do this.
Whilst you can flash alternate ROMs (waves to XDA-Developers.com) to devices - e.g. Cyanogen - you need to be reasonably tech-savvy to do so, and if anything goes wrong you've lost your warranty. Couple this with some vendors taking extra steps to make it deliberately difficult to install third-party ROMs (I'm looking at you, HTC Desire!) and the upshot is that to upgrade safely/easily - wait for the vendor to release an update. To be on the bleeding edge you can take a (small) risk and install third party ROMs.
"That's weird. The RAID array's lost a volume *again*, just like last week. Dave, you any idea what's going on? Dave? Hey, where did that steak come from? DAAAAVEEEEE!"
Slashdot Mirror
ha! a minor irritant, something that bugs you.
It's not, really. I think the poster above was just pointing out that debranding does carry an element of risk.
Yeah, the network shops aren't great for this. Try http://www.expansys.com/ - they carry it for £354. I'd be very surprised if they didn't ship internationally, too. Great company, no affiliation etc
The vanilla OEM HTC ROM is readily available if you go look on XDA-developers.com. Doesn't need root to install, you need to make a gold card using a micro SD card though. Process sounds scarier than it is, takes about 20 minutes to complete. I did my T-Mob UK with this and it's debranded and fixed a couple of niggles.
that's what comes of reading this via my HTC Desire! Reading comprehension fail...! Good news on the HTC update though. Hopefully this'll mark an improvement in the speed of response.
sorry, just to clarify I mean restrictions on the os that make it harder to install custom roms. just going of modaco's findings.
Remember Norton Ghost? Turned the best imaging programme I can think of into some sort of half-assed consumer-focussed crapware. From a bootable floppy that did it all to a bloated CD of shovelware that actually removed all the useful features. Also allowed Acronis to compeletly steal their market. Ugh.
Data point: the HTC Desire usually ships with a pretty fast ROM. I had the UK T-Mobile one and it was as quick as standard. Only customisation was a T-Mobile boot screen and a "Web and Walk" logo overlaid on the browser icon. It did, however, have a "feature" where the headphone output level was too low. I flashed the vanilla HTC OEM ROM to fix this, but speed isn't normally an issue with the latest HTC devices.
The HTC Sense UI is actually pretty damn nice, I prefer it to the Nexus One. I accept I'm gonna have to wait for 2.2 though!
This is a fair point - the cost of Apple devices is significantly higher.
I just got an HTC Desire for £192 on a 24 month contract at £15/month. Compare to Apple, where my 3G cost me similar money, but on a £35/month contract. On the plus side, I sold my 3G for just over £200 second hand, so I'm win-win.
When I was debating the switch from Apple to Android, I thought "I can wait for the new iPhone release, pay a couple of hundred quid for the handset and be on a £35/month contract, or I can halve my monthly tarrif and basically get the phone free if I sell my old iPhone on eBay.
Ah. Interesting point
That's not a fuel-air bomb, is it?
Some phones are designated Google Experience devices. They carry the logo. The Nexus One is an example. In the UK I can walk into a Vodafone retail store and buy one now. It's being sold thru a phone company, but it's still a Google device.
This is differentiated from an Android handset which runs a non-Google vendor-modified OS such as HTC Sense.
My HTC desire fits in my iPhone silicone skin. It's almost exactly the same size down to the last mm. YMMV.
DNA evidence can also be synthesised. I.E. someone can get a sample of your DNA, make up some more of it, and spray it around a crime scene.
What do you think Monica Lewinsky was for?
I'm here all week, try the veal.
Yup. It's FUD spread directly and indirectly by the media. In the UK, no lobbyists for big print or big industry wanted the LIberal Democrats to get in. It was only (ironically) when the leadership debates were televised for the first time ever that the public saw the leader of the LIb Dems, thought him worth voting for - and now they're sharing power. Still a bunch of two-faced cvnts, though.
Yeah, and then the 1.1 update comes our and you've got to jailbreak it all over again
A side benefit I'd really hope for is that any enabled device can communicate with another GoogleTV device. I'm sick of messign around with multi-remotes and complicated AV setups. I'd want to be able to daisy-chain various devices (blu-ray, TV, DVR, amp) together and have the GoogleTV OS handle everything on some sort of IP-based control bus that included rewind/fastforward/AV channel selection/volume etc. Rather than having a rats-nest of cabling behind my home cinema, have a nice simple cat 5 to each device.
My TV will have a hosts file?!?
What he said.
Only thing I'd add to this is you might also want to consider if a vendor can guarantee availability of that exact model for x years. If you use a standard build you might want to guarantee that it'll work on any new hardware you buy for a few years. Some vendors pull stupid stunts like swap the brand of integrated NIC mid lifecycle which can be a real PITA. Nothing you can't work around, but Fujitsu and Dell definitely offer this on their corporate line.
Oh, and it never hurts to pick sexy looking hardware. Your office workers are going to be sat in front of these for 8 hours a day for the next 3 years. Their perception of IT will be marginally improved if you stick something cool on their desk. No biggie, but it doesn't hurt to raise IT's profile a little.
I've just switched from iPhone to Android. I'd jailbroken my phone to add the features Apple didn't seem to want to give me, I'd call myself a power user of the iPHone (if there is such a thing) and I just got tired of fighting Apple. Every update they push, arbitrary app restrictions (google voice?) - in the end it was an Engadget podcast that persuaded me to switch. Do I want a future of everything coming thru Apple and iTunes (with Apple nickle-and-diming me to death on each transaction), or do I want a connected handset produced by a vendor who has a vested interest in it integrating nicely with as many third-party services (twitter/facebook/flickr etc) as possible? When Apple bought the mobile advertising network it was the last straw.
I now have 2.1 on an HTC Desire and couldn't be happier. All of a sudden you're not treated like an evil hacker for wanting apps that "think different" - it's encouraged.
Case in point: forgot to copy a new album over to my phone. I realised I could wirelessly connect to my LAN, browse the content, copy an album over to my handset. Job done.
Paul O'Brien from Modaco (who is *the* guy for rooting these devices) has stated that he really doesn't like the X10. Not from a handset point of view, but because Sony has done their usual trick of fucking up perfectly good hardware with stupid software/DRM etc. If you want to be able to install third party ROMs like Cyanogen etc it's probably not a great choice.
The OS is a little different. If you buy a Google handset (G1, G2, Nexus One) then you get the update pushed OTA as it's released. If you buy another vendor's version, you have to wait whilst they customise the latest OS for their handset. Specifically, HTC sell Android handsets with their "Sense" UI. Historically they've been somewhat slow to release updates - HTC need to compile a new build, and they take their sweet time to do this. Whilst you can flash alternate ROMs (waves to XDA-Developers.com) to devices - e.g. Cyanogen - you need to be reasonably tech-savvy to do so, and if anything goes wrong you've lost your warranty. Couple this with some vendors taking extra steps to make it deliberately difficult to install third-party ROMs (I'm looking at you, HTC Desire!) and the upshot is that to upgrade safely/easily - wait for the vendor to release an update. To be on the bleeding edge you can take a (small) risk and install third party ROMs.
Remember the old phrase "Garbage in, Garbage out"?
"That's weird. The RAID array's lost a volume *again*, just like last week. Dave, you any idea what's going on? Dave? Hey, where did that steak come from? DAAAAVEEEEE!"