The Sprint HTC Evo 4G: Fun Toy; Great Distraction; Much Too Big

Andy Sternberg — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:59:19 +0000

I was thinking about trying the HTC Evo — Sprint’s latest offering which was rumored to rival iPhone. And I’ve never had iPhone nor do I care much for the platform (not to mention the principle of needing to plug something in to iTunes). So I walked into the Sprint store on June 5th and heard about the Sprint Free Guarantee. 30 days. Try it out. You don’t like – you get everything refunded (new Sprint customers only). We’ll see if this is actually the case – I still have about ten days left to play with this toy — and it really is a toy.

I still have two devices (a Blackberry and a Sierra Wireless Laptop Connect 3G USB card) on AT&T that I would add up to about $200 in ETFs so it’s just not practical to switch. Not for the Evo. The Evo is less than perfect.

1) It is too big to function as a phone. I feel like I’m walking around with a mini-iPad and STILL

2) I can’t type as effectively with a virtual keyboard as I can with the Blackberry Bold’s physical QWERTY.

3) The battery life is unconscionable. Completely unacceptable and unheard of. This is simply not a portable device — it must always be plugged in or on its way to being plugged in. A two battery approach MIGHT get you through the entire day with minimal internet and app use. NOTE: The software update pushed out this week has improved battery life quite a bit (relatively speaking). I was lucky to download it OTA before it was halted.

4) 4G. I knew this was somewhat of a gimmick to begin with. Sprint’s data network is shifting over to WiMax — more powerful towers that blanked larger areas with higher data speeds. Sprint purchased the existing towers and networks built by Clearwire and others to get going on this. The 4G system is very limited in LA. I’ve experienced it in and near downtown as well as in parts of West Hollywood. It is nice to get download speeds of 4MB down (and up to 1MB up) from a cellular connection (in reality, this is a wireless connection transmitted to a WiMax receptor in the phone). But truth be told, I regularly get 2-3 Mbps down in the same areas with AT&T 3G (note: not tested with iPhone).

But… ANDROID FTW! I am in love with the Android platform and the variety of applications made available on it — mostly for FREE. Similar to the iPhone platform, it is very easy to download and upgrade (as well as uninstall) third-party applications. This is not the case on Blackberry.

Do I feel like I’m stuck on AT&T? Yes and no. I don’t want to blow $500 bucks to switch (and buy the new phone). I’d rather wait for AT&T to get a top notch Android phone (hopefully by the end of the year). The service isn’t THAT bad and truth be told… I make very few calls.

On the other hand, I have already used over 3.2Gb of data on the Evo over the course of this 3 week trial. While it is likely easier and cheaper to use tons of bandwidth on an Android phone than an iPhone, it’s still likely that I’d go over the 2Gb limit that AT&T is apparently enforcing (although I’m not certain if that is just for iPhone owners or for all data plans). I’m going to miss Android but it doesn’t pay for me to switch off of AT&T right now – perhaps I’ll pick up the Samsung “Captivate” Galaxy S when it is released (supposedly in July) – assuming it isn’t too overloaded with AT&T bloatware and allows third-party apps including Swype.

I’ve posted an update to this post, My Life with the HTC EVO.

That said, stay tuned for my review of the many Android apps I’ve tried (ALL FREE!) on the HTC Evo 4G

For a list of the final 101 apps that I ended up keeping on the phone (before wiping and returning it) for a grand total of FREE, see below:

netzoo’s Android apps on AppBrain

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netzoo’s Apps on the PC36100 (Sprint HTC Evo)

Phone: PC36100
101 total, 101 free (100%), 0 paid (0%), 98MB total size, $0 total price

View this app list on AppBrain

The Sprint Free Guarantee:

We love and believe in our products and services. We’re confident you will too. That’s why, as a new customer — or an existing customer adding a new line of service — we’ll give you 30 days to try us for free.

If for any reason you’re not happy and want to cancel service, just call us to deactivate your service, go to the original place of purchase to return your undamaged phone or mobile broadband card, and we’ll:

Refund monthly charges incurred as part of your service plan*

Refund the activation fee

Refund the purchase price of your device

Waive the Early Termination Fee

Waive the restocking fee

Refund taxes and Sprint surcharges associated with the above charges

*You’ll be responsible for extras like usage not included in your plan, premium content, 3rd-party billing, international charges, and any taxes and Sprint surcharges associated with such extras.

Just one more thing we give you that our competitors don’t. And one more reason why there’s never been a better time to give us a try.

via shop.sprint.com

GrandCentral to Become Google Voice. Finally!

Andy Sternberg — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:47:07 +0000

As a lucky (or just crazy) early adopter who snapped up a Grand Central number, I’ve been waiting a couple years for Google to finally do enhance the service. I did notice last week that the GrandCentral Facebook App had gone blank.

Tonight, Google Voice was announced, but still — I can only log in the old-school GrandCentral way. The screenshots and features are awesome. And they’re even talking voice mail transcription. But again I must ask — when can I REALLY have my Google Voice?!? Supposedly at some point today [Thursday] according to Barron‘s and others.

More on the news here, here, and here. Now let’s see if it all functions and is available at some point today, as promised! And will I be able to finally invite more people to use the service again?!?

Ooma Lives and is Featured at Amazon

Andy Sternberg — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:34:21 +0000

I was surprised to jump to Amazon.com just now and find the Ooma box as the top featured item. I’ve been using Ooma as my “land” line for about a year-and-a-half as a Beta tester and have been awaiting reports of improved sales of the VOIP boxes since they recently started promoting it for about half of the original $399 sticker price. I found it a bit ironic that it was featured alongside Amazon’s Kindle — which is so overhyped on the site and perpetually claimed to be “out of stock” ala recent Nintendo Wii marketing ploys.

When I first learned of Ooma, the idea of having a box at home through which to make phone calls (for free) and having access to messages online and via e-mail was intriguing. I do not have a personal land line and was tired of paying for Skype. I was using GrandCentral but wanted an alternative since cell reception at my house is so spotty. I was lucky to meet Andrew Frame, founder of Ooma, for a tour of Ooma’s HQ in Palo Alto in the summer of 2007, when I was an intern at the San Jose Mercury News (video below).

When I returned to Los Angeles, I signed up as a beta tester and was impressed with the quality, and loved having a phone number that I could remember (909-0090 nearly trumped the AT&T land line number I had when I first moved to LA — 669-9969). I’d recommend it to anyone who uses VOiP and incurs charges above and beyond ooma’s one-time-only charge for their Core system — now $219.90 at Amazon. If it means anything to you, Ooma still has the endorsement of the almighty Michael Arrington as well.

So is Ooma about to take off into the mainstream?
Or is it nearing its last gasp?

http://www.podtech.net/home/3717/inside-oomas-new-phone-service-with-ceo-andrew-frame

phone – Andy Sternberg

The Sprint HTC Evo 4G: Fun Toy; Great Distraction; Much Too Big

netzoo’s Apps on the PC36100 (Sprint HTC Evo)

GrandCentral to Become Google Voice. Finally!

Ooma Lives and is Featured at Amazon