How I Won a Sony Android/Playstation Phone
posted at 6:38 pm
on Jul. 15, 2011
Previous entry:
Folly on the Fourth
Next entry:
Vancouver Gay Prude Parade
You know those bowls where you throw your business card and you can win a free lunch or a massage or a whale watching trip or something?
Well, apparently, they aren’t always a scam! Because, I just won a “Sony Ericsson Xperia Play” Android phone from Rogers (they are the devil, I feel compelled to mention, but if that’s the case, shouldn’t they be offering me an Apple?). I went down to pick it up yesterday.
So this is an unexpected opportunity for me to try an Android-based system (version 2.3.2, I think) for a while. So far, I have these few comparisons to my iPhone 3GS:
* if the iPhone was created from Steve Jobs’ rib in a divine act, this phone feels like evolution incarnate: interesting appendages, odd dead ends, and some amazing functionality that seems as incongruant as a peacock’s tail and an elephant’s tusks. In other words: no overarching design.
* I’ve already had one fight about the hardware back button (and to a lesser extent, the menu button). I *love* the back button, though I also like iOS’s system. But frankly—there’s always something to go back to, and once you realize that, you plunge ahead a little less timidly.
* Slow. Slow slow slow.
* Mini icons are a matter of personal interpretation, but Android has some truly odd ones.
* I accidentally pushed the “turn all cellular data off” button in the first 10 minutes of owning the phone, and then went 24 hours without being able to get any cellular data and not understanding why. See “mini icons, non-intuitive” above, and also: Why the hell do you put a button for that randomly on the main screens of your phone?
* You want directions. Do you launch: Maps, Navigation, Places, or Latitude? You want to read email. Do you launch: Email, Gmail, Messaging or Postcard? You want to search the Web: Do you launch: Voice search, browser, or Google Search? If you want to buy a ringtone, do you go to Shop, Ringtones, Ringbacks, or Market? To play music, do you go to urMusic, Media server, Music, Media (has a note icon), or Clock—yes, clock has an MP3 player. And why are Clock and Alarms separate apps, kinda?
* The screen is super awesome (but perhaps not compared to the iPhone 4)
* The camera is superb. Absolutely awesome. Again, perhaps I need an iPhone 4.
* I had to download ATK (Android Task Killer) almost immediately.
* To be fair, the most awesome part of the phone, the fact that it’s a playstation with cool games to play and download, I haven’t had enough time to test yet; this weekend I’ll be doing some of that, and the sounds and video of the games I have played are really, really sweet.
I’m now looking for cool / must-have apps. Any suggestions?
