Samsung Galaxy S2!!!

[Shinova]

I just got my first smartphone and it's a Samsung Galaxy S2, and this thing is INSANE. So much hardware packed into such a thin space, with a huge-ass screen (4.52 inch super amoled plus). And I never knew there was so much random shit you could do on a smartphone it's crazy.

[Stark]

Is this another one of those 'wow I was behind the times' threads?

Does anyone have or use an HTC Velocity? I'm not too enamoured of android phones thus far, but it looks technically pretty nice. Phongn has talked about the android experience of inconsistent UI and stuff, but I'm more interested if it's a 'good android phone' rather than a 'good phone' if you know what I mean.

[DarkSilver]

I've actually been eyeballing the Samsung Note phone that should be coming out (if not out already). It looks pretty spiffy in so far.

I'm not familiar with HTC's offerings in in the android department, I have a couple of friends who have HTC android Phones, and they seem to like the HTCSense interface that is put on top of the default Android stuff.

[Executor32]

Unless something better is available by the time my upgrade comes up in April, I'll probably get the Galaxy Nexus. I was looking forward to the Droid 4, but the nice physical keyboard is offset by the shitty PenTile matrix screen (the same one as the Droid X2, I think) and the fact it launched with Gingerbread, and it'll probably be months before it gets updated to ICS.

[Shinova]

I don't know if it's all of their phones but HTC products tend to have hardware problems, like the wifi death grip and the touchscreen becoming unresponsive after a week of use.

I was like oooooh Galaxy Nexus, but then saw complaints about battery life, and of course how pricey it is now. You can probably find custom roms of ICS for many other phones in time way before the official companies do their updates.

[Sarevok]

Bear in mind depending on where you got the phone installing unofficial ROMs may void the warrenty. It may be worthwhile to wait.

[noncredible]

Can't you compile ICS using the Android SDK?

[Executor32]

Yes, you can. However, while Android itself is open-source, drivers for the various device components usually aren't. This is why, for example, the camera and microphone don't work in ICS on the HP Touchpad.

[Singular Intellect]

I remember getting my first (and current smartphone), the Motorola Atrix.

It started hitting me when I was going out for wings with my brother and his room mates and everyone kept playing with their smartphones and all the fancy shit they were doing with them. I was thinking "I'm mr geeky here and I don't have one? WTF?".

I'm still adding new apps and functions to it that are ridiculously useful and practical. After using it for awhile, I sold my camera, iPod and GPS, as they were all obsolete in my eyes.

Couldn't imagine going back and positively cannot wait till my next phone once I eyeball an excellent upgrade.

[Havok]

Yeah my Atrix does cool shit like get nudie pics, text and make phone calls. Most importantly though... fingerprint security. Oh yeah.

[Sarevok]

Can't you compile ICS using the Android SDK?

No, the Android SDK is for developing apps.

Building the entire Android OS from source requires a complex toolchain and experience with embedded electronics.

[Havok]

A question about Ice Cream Sandwich...
Why are people on phone forums FLIPPING THE FUCK OUT because they can't get this yet?

I mean, is it going to revolutionize their Android experience?

[Sarevok]

A question about Ice Cream Sandwich...
Why are people on phone forums FLIPPING THE FUCK OUT because they can't get this yet?

I mean, is it going to revolutionize their Android experience?

Well it's got some interesting features that were not found in previous versions beyond the usual more prettier interface.

- NFC support. NFC could be very big in coming years because it lets you use your phone as a smart card - buy stuff,tickets,identify yourself etc.

- WiFi Direct. Hookup your phone to another phone or computer or another device even when you don't have a router. Android normally had horrible support for adhoc wifi networks so this should come as a relief. Personally I would benefit being able to share files between my phone and laptop which does not have bluetooth.

- Face unlock. I am not personally a fan of biometrics but I guess some people will love it even if just for the "cool" factor.

- Barometer. New Android phones are coming with a barometer sensor. Supposedly this will let phones measure altitude and get you faster GPS locks.

In general though there are not any ICS exclusive apps or services of note so far. So one might not miss much by waiting to upgrade.

[phongn]

Does anyone have or use an HTC Velocity? I'm not too enamoured of android phones thus far, but it looks technically pretty nice. Phongn has talked about the android experience of inconsistent UI and stuff, but I'm more interested if it's a 'good android phone' rather than a 'good phone' if you know what I mean.

Be aware that current-generation LTE phones have poor battery life. Other than that, it looks pretty much like every other HTC Android phone so it should be pretty decent.

A question about Ice Cream Sandwich...
Why are people on phone forums FLIPPING THE FUCK OUT because they can't get this yet?

I mean, is it going to revolutionize their Android experience?

It lays the groundwork for Android's UI/UX not sucking.

It's also a major system update and iOS has ensured that people expect major updates in a timely fashion for a reasonable period of time on a new phone. For a variety of reasons, this has not happened on Android (due to a toxic combination of carriers, phone manufacturers and Google).