HTC Hero from Sprint
The last weekend, after a bit of research, we decided to make the leap into the world of smart phones. The majority of our choice was pushed by two things:
- Monthly Services Cost.
- Phone Operating System (I personally prefer Android for many reasons).
Up to this point I hadn’t really payed much attention to the current state of plans for smart phones because I had no need. However I was extremely amazed that if you wanted to have a smart phone, you’d have a monthly service fee that could pay for a car. Then, when you add the ability to assess your entire out of pocket costs for the duration of the contract using something like billshrink.com, you really start to wonder whether it’s worth it. It was at that point that we decided that we liked the Sprint plan the most, because for two smart phones we could get 1400 minutes per month (which was only needed for land lines, as **all** cell carrier calls are unlimited), unlimited data, and unlimited text, for $129.99 per month.
During this same research, I’d pretty much decided that we’d be going for an Android phone, because it falls more in line with the capabilities that I would like to see out of a smart phone operating system. With Sprint, that had us down to two phones: The HTC Hero, and the Samsung Moment. Not exactly a huge selection, but a selection non the less. After playing around with the phones in the store, we’d decided the HTC Hero was our favorite (we’re not really big fans of the slide-out keyboard design).
Having come from a phone that didn’t do much more than make phone calls, have a couple calender entries, and could barely take custom ring-tones, this has been a HUGE jump forward and for the most part I’m extremely impressed. The Android Market place is full of some great applications, and is growing by the day (many of which include ports of very popular iPhone apps). That being said, not all of them are perfect and I’ve found online reviews of these applications to be quite useful.
Some of my favorite apps include:
| Bible |
This app from LifeChurch.tv gives access to some of the most popular bible translations, including access to content and reading programs from YouVision.com |
| Dial Zero |
Ever wish you could simply reach a real person on the phone when calling customer service? This app gives a quick search of almost every companies customer service line with quick access to a list of steps to quickly reach a real person. |
| Google Sky Map |
This app really shows the power of the phones directional awareness. Point the back of the phone towards the nightly body you wish to identify, and the map will show you the associated constellation, stars and planets. Whether you follow astronomy or not, this is a really cool app. |
| GPS Status |
This utility gives you all current information reported by the GPS capability of the phone, including current speed, heading, acceleration, and location. Because you can mark a location for “radar” mode, I prefer this app over Carr Matey for locating saved points because it’s smaller and not as processor intensive. |
| Layar |
This application takes the same concept as Google Sky Map and applies it to local information such as businesses, pictures, and social networking posts. |
| Mileage |
A great way to track the your fuel consumption, including support for multiple. |
| Movies |
Search for local movie theaters, movie times, each movies trailer, DVD releases and more. |
| mVideoPlayer |
A basic video player that gives some of the features that the built-in video player doesn’t: RESUME POINTS. |
| My Tracks |
Record GPS data, and report data such as average speed, and distance traveled |
| NetaShare |
If you use Google Reader, then this is that app for you because it simply syncs the feeds that you already read. |
| PhoneFlicks |
PhoneFlicks provides a simplified interface to your Netflix management. The only complaint I’d have here is that they aren’t kidding when they say that it logs out a few times after first install. |
| Quickpedia |
In the field of Wikipedia interface apps, this one is the best as it provides a simple ‘Nearby’ tab that gives a listing of Wikipedia articles based on your GPS location. |
| ServerAssistant |
If you use the ConnectBot, then this app adds that extra level of simplicity by saving existing servers and common tasks that you wish to execute against your server list. |
| Shazam |
Can’t ever find out the name of that song you keep hearing at the club or on the radio, then this app will identify the song and give you options to buy it. |
| ShopSavvy |
Out shopping and wish you could compare prices? Quickly scan the bar-code and find out available online pricing and local prices based on your your GPS location. |
| Timeriffic |
Create custom times in which you don’t want the phone to use notification tones or vibrate, such as when your sleeping, at church or at work. |
| Ustream |
Ustream gives you the ability to stream live video off of your android phone’s camera. |
| WeatherBug |
You’ve probably heard about the desktop app, and the huge network of weather recording devices. Now you can bring that network and the weather cameras it provides to your phone. |
| Where’s My Droid |
Ever loose your phone? Send a quick text message to it with a special code phrase, and the phone will vibrate and play sounds for an extended period of time. |
| WordPress |
This should be absolutely obvious, considering what your reading is provided by WordPress. |
So far, we’ve been pretty happy, but once we’ve had them for a full month I’ll probably come back and update my assessment. Especially since I’m now one of the many waiting for the Android 2.1 update…
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