A Battery of SMS Problems

I've enjoyed the Hero so far - it's been a nice device. The battery life had left something to be desired however - it only could make it about eight hours. I also noticed that SMS messages just... stopped. There was silence whenever I sent a message via the old short message service.

Then I started reading about a litany of problems with HTC's SMS client. First, several found that the "Messages" app never lets the handset suspend. While the display may flicker off the engine keeps revving, eating up cycles and draining the battery. In a maybe related issue, many people have also been reporting their Hero cannot receive SMS messages, although this doesn't seem to happen for everyone.

I installed Handcent SMS for Android and have been using it in lieu of HTC's Messaging. It is definitely a superior SMS application to begin with and it is much more gentle on the battery.

I contacted Sprint support about the lack of inbound SMS messages, and they had me update my handset profile over the air. Basically I had to:

1. Shutdown the handset and remove the battery for two-ish minutes
2. Start up the handset, open up the Android settings -> About phone -> System updates -> Update profile and update yon profile
3. After the profile update, reboot the phone again

I'm not sure if having a service rep on the line is integral to the process or if they tweaked my profile. Maybe they did and I was just sync'ing up the handset with the central office. Things seem to work now however.

I've had a few crashes, especially with Android widgets embedded in SenseUI. All-in-all it's working wonderfully however. Astrid has been great for organization, and Meebo has been a serviceable IM client. My one dearest wish is multi-protocol Off-the-Record Messaging for Android - then I would never need to turn on my laptop again.

Paused For a Moment, Then Went On

Stopped by the local Sprint Shoppe on the way to/from work today. I decided to try out the Samsung Moment and see how it compared to my Hero.

The reviews of the Moment are pretty much on target. Most people noted that the Moment feels more "plastic-y" than the Hero, and I now see what they are talking about. There are a number of open seams, creases and joints that join several plastic components that comprise its shell. Even the rubber covers over the headphone and USB jacks add to the effect, making it seem like you're holding an enclosure that's a composite of several black, plastic slabs.

Aesthetics aside, the OS itself isn't much. I never really appreciated all that HTC did with its SenseUI; I kinda forgot about its revamped dialer, lock screen or music player. The Hero's Android "extras" integrate so well you tend to delude yourself into believing that it represents a stock Android 1.5 experience. Quite a shock to pick up the Moment's Android 1.5 build - it has the same awkward lock screen, dialer and window components that come default. Not a killer, but it makes you less likely to show off your phone to the nearest nerdcore.

The AMOLED display is nice, but not NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE like everyone else seems to exude. Contrast is spectacular and images are vivid (especially with video), but it's not a huge improvement for day-to-day operations. True, this should theoretically help battery life, but given the stats it seems the 800MHz sips on the saved juice. I had no problem with the touch screen's sensitivity - it was just as responsive as the Hero's screen.

A fold-out keyboard is very nice and is something I've really wanted, especially since I've been using a Nokia n810 for the past 18 months. I didn't have any issues with the Moment's keypad, and I didn't find the layout the least bit cumbersome. The space bar, even though it is two individual buttons "glued together" under a single piece of plastic, was just fine. Breaking apart the alpha keys so they straddle the space bar didn't bug me a bit; I was quickly typing things out rapidly after only a few seconds.

Samsung's 800MHz SoC is what really saves the day. By upping the clock speed and putting the cellular modem on a separate piece of silicon multi-tasked applications ran much faster on the Moment. This seems to be its crowning achievement - I could run several apps, side-by-side, with very little lag. Screen transitions even went off without a hitch.

One thing I was confused about was how the integrated Moxier Mail was going to work with Exchange. After dorking around with it a bit it seems to work much in the same way that HTC's Exchange client works; the calendar syncs with the native Android calendar, mail is a completely separate app from the GMail app, contacts are imported directly onto the handset. The big difference is that Moxier appears to support many more server-side Exchange options, such as remote searches and tasks. For what I would want to accomplish, it appears Moxier has the best solution until native support appears in Android 2.0.

Speaking of Android 2.0, I asked the manager of said Sprint Store if Samsung was going to offer an Android 2.0 update with the Moment. The manager was very gracious and spent nearly 30 minutes researching the answer and delving into the secret Sprint-only archives, but it was for naught. She could find no sign of Samsung offering an upcoming Android update for the Moment, never mind an Android 2.0 update.

Ultimately the Android 2.0 update was the clincher. HTC has gone on record that it will offer an Android 2.0 update, but Samsung has remained mum. One has to wonder if they'll push out an obligatory 1.6 update then cease Moment support. Many forums (such as XDA and phandroid) appear to anecdotally support this; several users (albeit perhaps fanboys) claim poor support of legacy handsets on Samsung's part, while HTC is still even updating its legacy, flagship Android handset.

The Hero does lag something fierce at times, but at least HTC is tantalizing everyone with promises of an Android 2.0 update. With Samsung remaining quiet about Android 2.0 coming to the Moment anytime soon, one has to wonder if a 50% faster CPU, marginally better Exchange support and somewhat prettier screen is worth it. Let's face it - I'm a sucker for frequent desktop updates and revamps. I simply can't turn down the super-happy funtimes that HTC is promising.

A Little Bit More Self Restraint This Time

Today was Éclair day. Google published the Android 2.0 Release 1 SDK. Verizon announced the first Android 2.0 handset. HTC announced they will release port Android 2.0 to the Hero. On the heels of all this hullabaloo I finally went ahead and picked up... Sprint's Hero.

By all accounts the Hero is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay inferior to Verizon's Droid. Even inferior to the Samsung Moment that is being released in mere days on Sprint, the self-same carrier of the Hero. After reading the early reviews, however, it appears that the 800MHz SoC and AMOLED display isn't enough to lift the Moment out of mediocrity.

The Hero's camera does suck, no doubt. And Samsung makes a nice camera. However my biggest items of desire were:

• GPS turn-by-turn navigation, because I can't find my head with a flashlight
• One central, integrated calendar to keep my day straight at home and work
• Exchange integration for work info

It sounds like the Moment's GPS is a bit finicky, flaking in and out at times. Exchange integration is supplied by the very capable Moxier Mail but it doesn't sound integrated into the main calendar interface itself. The AMOLED display reportedly washes out in direct light as well, and the keyboard has added considerable bulk to the package.

On top of this there are several forums that swear up and down that Samsung has a habit of abandoning their handsets, pursuing new hardware releases instead of updating old once. On the opposite side of the scale HTC has already announced Éclair support coming soon, so they appear to have a bit more dedication to their userbase.

The Moment has the hardware in spades, and I hate the fact that HTC's Android handsets use a Qualcomm 528MHz CPU that shares cycles with the modem on-die. All my engineer instincts tell me to get the Moment. However... my engineer instincts also told me to pick the iRiver iFP over an iPod, the n810 over an iPhone, HPNA 2.0 over 802.11b, VIA EPIA over AMD or Intel. A pretty poor track record as far as instincts go. Specs may win on paper, but market share is what gives a device longevity and sustainability.

Wait a Moment...

My obsession with Android smartphone hardware continues. Because I'm lame.

Sprint is about to have two Android handsets on the market - HTC's Hero and the Samsung Moment.

The hardware couldn't be any more different between the two handsets. One has just softkeys, the other a slide-out keyboard. The Moment has an OLED screen. One has a trackball, the other has a proximity sensor. The biggest difference that I'm curious about is the processor.

The Hero uses the conventional 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A processor, a chipset that claims 3D acceleration to the tune of 4 million triangles a second. The Moment uses Samsung's own 800 MHz S3C6410 which claims the same 4 million triangles per second with OpenGL ES 2.0 support.

I'm not sure who wins, especially since the Hero has an entirely different UI and a lil' bit more RAM (288M vs. 256M). With OpenGL acceleration being about the same... hard to say.