Android Dose

If you haven’t heard about the AT&T/Tmobile merge, then I advise you to crawl out from that rock under which you are hiding. In a recent announcement, AT&T plans to purchase T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for a whopping $39 billion. Now, before I get into my rant (you’ve been warned), I have to stress that this deal is by no means final. It has to clear the Department of Justice as well as the FCC, and then there’s all the paperwork and proper proceedings that have to take place. Bottom line, it could take up to a year for this merge to happen, that is, if it clears the aforementioned departments. With that being said, i’ve had some time to collect my thoughts after the initial shock of the announcement, and I’ve come to a few conclusions..

First, we have to look at it from all perspectives. From AT&T’s viewpoint, it’s a genius move. As much as I hate AT&T, I have to admit that this is a very smart business move on their part. It takes months, sometimes years to gain approval to build new cell towers, and AT&T didn’t want to wait for it. They found the most simple solution possible: they bought towers. Since AT&T and Tmobile are both GSM carriers, it was a no-brainer for AT&T to purchase Tmo, who we’ve noticed has been struggling financially as of late. All AT&T has to do is reconfigure the Tmobile towers, and they’ve got a lot more coverage and the potential for faster speeds. I hate AT&T with a passion, but I must give them their dues here.

Now, from the most common perspective (and mine, I might add), the current Tmobile customer. I, for one, am trying to stay optimistic. Maybe AT&T will change for the better through this deal. Maybe their services will improve, and they’ll grow in a positive way. Obviously, this is not as likely as AT&T staying the same, and just gaining some more towers, but I’ll let you sort that out for yourself. So, as a Tmo customer, what do you do? Stay with AT&T/Tmobile, or head to another carrier, like Sprint or Verizon? Well, that all depends on you. I know some Android enthusiasts who are already planning the move to another carrier, and I can’t say I blame them. While Tmobile is trying its best to ensure a smooth transaction for customers, I doubt it’ll be as easy as they’re making it out to be. Tmobile phones that use Tmo 3G won’t get 3G after the merge, meaning they’ll have to switch to an AT&T 3G (or 4G) phone. This is not a popular aspect among Tmobile customers, myself included.

And finally, we have to look at it from the CDMA carriers’ points of view. At the moment, Verizon is the largest carrier, with AT&T trailing, and Sprint in 3rd. If this deal goes through, AT&T will vastly increase the size of its network, surpassing Verizon. Vzw and Sprint have to be worried about their market shares, and how the merge will force them to step up their game to stay in it. Of course, the HTC Thunderbolt is certainly luring in many Android users from Tmobile to Verizon lately, so don’t count the CDMA carriers out just yet.

Now, what do I think about the merge? I hate it, plain and simple. I’ve been a Tmo user for nearly 4 years now, and I’ve never had a single complaint. Why? Because Tmobile offers the best customer service, bar none. That’s why I’ve stuck with them all these years. You won’t find quality customer service like that anywhere else. And now, Tmobile is being bought out by the company that’s notorious for terrible customer service. That’s not something that will brighten my day.  But like I said, I’m being optimistic. There’s a chance that AT&T will learn from it’s restrictive mistakes and be more carefree with Android. And with the addition of all those Tmobile towers, AT&T’s network can only get stronger from here. What are my plans as a Tmobile customer? For now, I’m staying where I am. If things take a turn for the worse, my contract runs out in November, at which point I’ll move to Sprint.

So, all in all, a smart move for AT&T, sucks for Tmo customers, and worries CDMA carriers. Any questions?

Samsung has a long history of not updating their hardware. I first noticed it with the Behold 2. Yeah, that stoneage device that was cool for a whole 5 seconds when it came out. They failed to give the thing Donut. Donut. The last time I used Donut was over a year ago, on my G1. Really Samsung? You couldn’t just throw out an OTA?

Their failure progressed and now continues with the Galaxy S line. I’ve heard whispers of some lucky people getting Froyo on their Epic 4G or Fascinate, but there’s no full rollout for Froyo yet. And to top it off, you’re planning to release the Vibrant Plus on T-Mobile, which has everything the original Vibrant didn’t. HSPA+, a front-facing camera, and most importantly, Froyo.

I understand the need to release new and up-to-date devices, but the least you could do is give Galaxy S owners Froyo before letting pictures of the Vibrant Plus leak. My Twitter feed blew up last night with angry Vibrant owners that haven’t gotten Froyo yet and heard about the Plus. I’d be throwing chairs across my living room if I had a Vibrant. Samsung didn’t exactly please a lot of people on this one. When I was writing about the Vibrant Plus, which broke last night, I could tell that it was going to upset a lot of people.

And it did. It does. And it probably will for some time, or at least until Vibrant owners get their precious Froyo. They have every reason to be angry with Samsung. I wouldn’t blame Tmobile too much for this one. They can’t control whether or not a manufacturer’s update is ready for a device.

But as far as Sammy goes, blame them all you want. They screwed up, big time. Too bad Tmobile has to suffer for it by losing so many Vibrant customers.

Having a rooted phone, I’m constantly looking for a fast home replacement that suits my needs. That being said, I’ve grown very close to ADW Launcher. It’s fast, highly customizable, and easy to use. The developer, known on the web as Anderwebs, has released a faster, even more customizable version of ADW called ADW Ex. If you haven’t heard of it, crawl out from under that rock and search for it in the Android Market. It’s hands-down the best home replacement I’ve ever used, and I’ve used quite a few. Let’s take a look at some of the features of ADW Ex, shall we?

ADW Ex is pretty similar to ADW Launcher, so if you’re familiar with that, there’s not much here that’s new. For starters, you’re given a 4×4 grid for apps, widgets, shortcuts, etc, the same as the stock Android launcher.

The dock on the bottom is a bit different from stock Android. You get the standard desktop dots for jumping from screen to screen. These can be disabled for more dock room, giving you up to 5 spaces for apps or shortcuts. If you drag up on the app drawer icon, you’re given a hidden dock that stores items. This dock is scrollable, meaning you can drag it to the right or left to reveal more space. Standard ADW stuff here.

What really sets ADW Ex apart from the rest is the settings. The transition animations between screens are amazing, to say the least. There are 8 different effects to choose from, and they’re all awesome. They vary from rotating screens to zooming screens and several other effects. Words can’t do these animations justice. It really looks great in person.

You can also change the icons of apps or shortcuts. There’s an option to give the icons a “fancy background”, which is basically a colored square around the icon. You can see what that looks like in the picture above.

Now, to the app drawer. There are several styles you can pick from, including a vertical 4D drawer and a horizontal, Galaxy S style drawer  The vertical 4D drawer looks like a 4D cube, obviously. It’s a very cool effect, especially if you have a quality Android phone (i.e. Nexus One, G2).

Recapping, ADW Ex is fast. It’s a very sexy, easy to use, customizable home replacement. I’ve never seen or used another launcher quite like it, and that’s saying something. If you haven’t already installed it, I HIGHLY recommend doing so. It’s only $3.50, which really isn’t that much. And if for nothing else, buy it to support your Android developers. They’re the ones that truly make this platform what it is. Check out some screenshots below. So, are you getting ADW Ex? Already gotten it? Tell us what you think about it in the comments below We look forward to your feedback!

I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about Verizon’s LTE 4G network. And yes, I actually said 4G, because it is, despite what some people have told us. I’ve heard some say T-Mobile’s HSPA+ isn’t “4G” because the speeds aren’t quite up to par yet, as with Sprint’s WiMax network. Well, those two may or may not be, but I can assure you that LTE IS 4G. Why? It’s simple: speed. Verizon has what T-mobile and Sprint lack: the actual speed to back up their “theoretical” claims. Average speeds were clocked at 5 to 12 Mbps download, and 2 to 5 Mbps upload.

Sure, Sprint was the first out of the 4G gate with the Evo, and Tmobile soon followed suit with the G2 and MyTouch 4G. But now it’s Verizon’s turn. They have yet to release an LTE device, although I’m willing to bet that may very well change after CES. All assumptions aside, at the moment, Verizon has the fastest 4G network. There’s just one little problem with that: it won’t last very long. True, LTE produces speeds that blow Tmo and Sprint out of the water, but we have to keep in mind that there’s LITTLE TO NO TRAFFIC on Verizon’s LTE network at the moment. The reason for this is obviously stated above, that there’s not an LTE-capable device out there right now save for Verizon’s 4G USB modem.

After CES, expect Verizon’s speeds to drop, fast. Because after CES, there’s most likely going to be several LTE Android phones available on Verizon, and they will sell like hotcakes dipped in gold.

Once the device become popular, Verizon will learn about this magic thing call “traffic” and how it slows down a network. Are they ready for it? We’ll just have to wait and see. But one thing’s for sure: the 4G Wars are on, and Verizon is in the lead.. for now.