Etherplex

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m that “gadget guy”. I have tons of little devices of all sorts lying around, from digital audio players to full fledged portable media players. Some I thought would be wonderful but never quite worked out as well as I hoped (Cowon O2), while others should have been a waste of money, but I ended up using a ton and loving (PSP Go).

As such, it makes sense that I have bought and used a fair number of cell phones. In the past year, I have tracked Android’s development quite closely, having never really been satisfied with the offerings of the elephant-in-the-room iPhone. I bought a “dev phone” Google G1 in December 2008, and in August 2009 decided to switch to TMobile and get a “MyTouch 3G” (HTC Magic), since TMobile seemed to have embraced Android more than other carriers. Despite the having just purchased the MyTouch, I was compelled to buy a Nexus One the day it was released. But, before I get to that, let me digress a moment into the problems Android solves.

As I alluded to above, I’m less than pleased with the iPhone. Why, you may wonder, would I be dissatisfied with the phone that has obviously enchanted so many? The reasons are few and simple.

First, it is a closed platform, insofar as Apple has final (opaque) say over what applications can run on it. I don’t tolerate that in my computers, and there’s no reason I should tolerate it in my cell phones. How does this affect me? Well, I use Google Voice, for example, and Apple has consistently worked to block Google Voice from ever making its way to the iPhone. There are lots of examples like this. In the end of 2008, Apple blocked a podcasting application because it “duplicated the functionality of iTunes”, when it was clear to everyone involved that the app added quite a bit functionality absent from iTunes. Most recently it has come to light that Apple will outright reject any app that mentions Android. They are also now forbidding apps that use the iPhone’s location service to serve geographically relevant ads. The point is, Apple has declared that they own not only all the apps that will ever appear on the device, but that they reserve the right to prevent any app from ever reaching the device, even for reasons that were previously unannounced. As a developer, I find this oppressive. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars (or more!) to develop an app and submit it, and only then do you find that, despite your best efforts, Apple rejects it, resulting in a total loss for the developers.

What else does a closed platform prevent? Well, Free Software, of course. Because Apple charges an end-user $100 to allow them to compile code for their phone and install it, it effectively prevents regular users from getting the source to an app, compiling it, and installing it for their own use. This restriction is in addition to the distribution restrictions outlined above.

At this point, if you’re still reading, I’m sure you’re thinking “Yeah, I get it Rick. It’s closed…but that doesn’t really affect me that much. What’s the real problem?”

Well, the second problem is that Apple prioritized battery life over utility. It’s a straight trade-off, and in the end, it’s a judgement call. I just think Apple made the wrong decision. The iPhone doesn’t multitask. That means it literally can’t do two things at once. And once you’ve had a phone that does, you can’t imagine life without it. Which leads me neatly into my review of the Nexus One.

For a device so obviously inspired by the iPhone, Google made so many decisions differently, and it’s kind of surprising the Nexus One appears to be so similar to the iPhone.

Whereas the iPhone OS is closed, Android is open, and used by dozens of companies around the globe.

Android’s market allows apps openly, and even if you can’t distribute your app through the market for some reason, you can still host it on your own site and have users install it directly. Kind of like how computers work.

Android has multitasking. This means you can stream Internet radio in your car while having your phone navigate you to your destination. The phone will pause the music to speak the directions to you, and then resume where it left off. It will notify you of incoming email or instant messages all the while, and update weather and news in the background to make sure that when you do glance at it, everything is up-to-date.

But so far, all I’ve mentioned are the benefits of Android. Why is the Nexus One special?

Polish. The phone is a pleasure to use. The screen is bright and large, with high resolution (800×480). The chip powering the phone is the fastest phone chip in the world, running at 1 GHz. This means that where previous generations of Android ran sluggishly on their hardware, the Nexus One is as smooth as butter.

The Nexus One makes use of that power. It integrates 3D in subtle and stylish ways (like in the gallery application). It offers “live wallpapers” that add a bit of shine to the user experience that makes you feel like you’re holding a special piece of technology. The speed of everything makes the phone extremely usable; you don’t end up waiting for the phone to do something. This makes the apps much more useful, so much so that I often just check email, Twitter and Facebook on my phone, rather that messing with my laptop.

It also integrates voice recognition in an unprecedented way. Anything from “Directions to In-N-Out” to “Call Dad” are understood clearly, even in noisy situations. If an explicit command is not given, a Google search is executed. But other than just launching activities, voice is integrated into the keyboard. Got a text or instant message? Instead of typing my response, I usually just say it. That saves time, and allows me to respond to short texts quickly as I walk into the store, rather than stopping and taking the time to type them out.

So, in my 13+ months of Android use, what do I use? Seesmic for Twitter access. Facebook to check what’s up with my friends on the go. NewsRob is incredible for reading Google Reader on the go. I use Advanced Task Manager to manage the processes on the phone (remember, it multitasks!). Aldiko is a superb little ebook reader application that offers seamless download of classic books. I use TuneWiki for music, and I’ve even bought music using the AmazonMP3 app and played it immediately. I like QR Codes, so I use ZXing’s Barcode Scanner more frequently that you’d imagine.

In the realm of games, I have to hand it to Vexed Pro, a version of my favorite puzzle game of all time I used to play on the Palm Pilot. I also play CrystalLight Defense, Robo Defense, Radiant and Jewellust, all of which are well worth the couple of bucks I paid for them.

To be really successful, a gadget has to have great combination of hardware and software. The Nexus One really shines in the hardware department, and brings a new level of polish to the Android operating system. As though the default software experience using Android 2.1 weren’t enough, the raft of Android phones hitting the market (including Verizon’s Motorola Droid) have really jump started the app development for Android, and the quality of the apps overall is really incredible. Combined with the open nature of both the market and the platform, Google has a real winner on their hands. Despite the expected slow sales partially due to its unorthodox sales channels and advertising strategy, if you’re going to get a new phone in 2010, you should give the Nexus One a very close look.  Of all the gadgets I’ve ever owned, it is by far my favorite.