The T-Mobile experiment is over and the shameful walk back to AT&T begins
Only 7 months into a 2 year contract, poor cellular reception and shoddy Samsung craftsmanship has led to the demise of my relationship with T-Mobile. It wasn’t all for naught though. The little time spent with Gingerbread (Android OS 2.3.x) clearly demonstrated that the gap between iOS and Android is non-existent at this point. Sorry Apple fanbois, but it’s true. Google integration (maps, Gmail) is much better, sound and theme customization is available out of the box, etc. But this isn’t an Android vs. iOS post, so I’ll stop there.
Back to the phones…The Nexus S phones lack quality materials which is surprising given that the Nexus S is Google’s flagship phone. Not using Gorilla Glass or equivalent really isn’t keeping up the Joneses, err iPhone. Then again, Apple’s decision to use regular glass on the back of its iPhone isn’t exactly making it bomb proof either. Regardless, at least the Nexus S fits nicely in hand with its curves and weight. Speaking of curves, the glass screen is curved a bit. Samsung/Google claims it’s for better face fit. I honestly can’t say whether that’s true or not. All in all, my time with the Nexus S didn’t leave me wanting another, now that it’s available on AT&T.
Instead I decided to return back to my roots—something small and lightweight. Enter the HP Veer 4G. Initially I was hesitant of going with HP’s WebOS, but after 2 days with the phone I personally like it over all other mobile OSes. The cards UI is much more intuitive for multitasking and the copy and paste gestures is more easy to use compared to trying to move 2 tiny cursors in iOS and Android. WebOS’s only downside is its anemic app catalog. The major apps (Facebook, Pandora, etc) are available, but not much beyond that. (Side note: I did read that development for WebOS is HTML/Javascript based. Could there be a future niche market there for the company?) I don’t spend as much time on my phone as I used to, so the lack of apps isn’t a deal breaker for me.
Update: After a bit of activation trouble, I’m back in the office with a number of AT&T backed phones. Reception in the office has been restored.
