LG GW620 Android Phone Review

For the last few weeks we’ve been playing with the LG GW620, the first Android phone from LG.  Here is our quick review on how we got on.

Summary
The LG GW620 is a decent entry into the Android phone market.  The Google integration is excellent and there are a large selection of free applications you can install.

It needs a more responsive touch/slide interface, a larger screen, improved browser and an upgrade on the installed Android 1.5 firmware.

If LG can improve these areas this would become a very attractive phone.

Out of the box the phone looked good and of a decent build quality, nothing too flimsy and the phone looked like it would survive a few knocks and bumps quite easily.

The phone was a bit chunkier than we were expecting but nothing excessive, the phone easily fits in the palm of your hand.  Considering the slide out keyboard the overall dimensions of the phone are pretty good.

The touch/slide interface at times is fiddly to use, and is not as responsive as the iPhone interface.  You have to press the screen quite firmly before you can scroll the screen.  This can make it difficult when navigating a list of options, you can end up selecting an item from a list when all you want to do is scroll down the list.

Our other minor niggle was the proprietary USB port on the phone.  For a phone that is trying adopt open standards we would have liked a standard USB port like those used on other devices like digital cameras for example.

Other phone manufacturers are equally to blame in this area but it would be nice to see some standards between manufactures here.  It certainly would save having different flavours of USB cable scattered around your home.

We were disappointed to find that under the covers the LG GW620 is only running Android 1.5 (Cupcake).  We would have preferred an Android 2.0 phone.  The 2.0 version is better, more robust and provides a greater selection of applications.

Since this is an Android phone the integration with Google services such as GMail and Google Maps is excellent.

GMail contacts can be synchronised with the phone.  This can provide a very powerful contacts management system on the phone, especially if you hold information like a person’s address and web site within your GMail contacts list.  You can select a contact on the phone, click on their address and Google Maps will automatically start up and show you their location on a map.  Click on a person’s web site URL and the browser will display their web page.

There are a good number of applications available, both free and non-free, via Android Market, such as the BBC iPlayer.  Android Market works pretty much the same way as the iTunes store does on an iPod, just search for an application and install it on your phone.

The LG GW620 provides good integration with social network sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Twitter applications like twidroid can be downloaded from Android Market.

The built in browser worked well in our tests.  Web pages don’t render as well as the iPhone and the LG screen size could do with being a bit larger, but it’s not a bad effort.

Text messaging works slightly different than some other phones.  Text messages are displayed on screen as if you were having an instant message conversation with a person, which can make tracking conversations easier.

The keyboard on this phone is pretty decent overall, it is easy to use and keys were just about sufficiently far apart to avoid hitting the wrong keys.

Our only gripe was the delete key positioned directly above the enter key.  We had a tendency to press the enter key by mistake on a number of occasions, this was most annoying when performing tasks like updating your Facebook status.  The result being a half finished sentence posted to Facebook.

The LG GW620 sports a 5 megapixel camera with a good selection of options available to tweak items like exposure and metering mode.  The quality of photos taken with this phone was very good too.

Overall this a decent phone from LG with some really nice features, but it needs to improve in several areas before we would consider buying one.

If LG can provide an Android 2.0 phone with a touch/slider interface to rival the iPhone then we’d seriously consider buying one.

Buy the LG GW620 from Amazon.

Google integration excellent Good selection of applications from Android Market Decent sized QWERTY keyboard Good 5mp camera More responsive touch/slide interface Better browser Larger screen Latest Android firmware Standard USB port

 

Slide Phone QWERTY Keyboard Dimension: L x W x D (mm): 109 x 54.5 x 15.9 Android Cupcake Bluetooth Touch Screen Camera Resolution: 5 megapixels Video External Memory: Micro SD up to 16Gb 3.5’’ Audio Jack

The Three Differences between Chrome OS and Android

On December 7th, Google is expected to announce the release of a laptop with the first version of the Chrome operating system. Concurrently, Google is going great guns with Android. Does Google really need two operating systems? So what’s going on here?

Here’s what Google is up to. Yes, both Android and Chrome OS are Linux-based operating systems. Neither, at the application level, uses the common Linux desktop application programming interfaces (API) that are used by the GNOME or KDE desktops and their applications.

They’re also similar in that both use a common set of techniques to make them more secure. The most important of these is process sand-boxing. What this means is that any Chrome or Android application has just enough access to the system to do its job.

Once you’re past this, the two look and act in very different ways. Here are their main points of difference:

1) Android is for Phones & Tablets; Chrome OS is for Netbooks

Google said at the start that “Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the Web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems.” Google hasn’t always been on message with this.

Google also took its time getting even a Chrome beta out the door. Now that Chrome OS is about to be unveiled, we know that it is going to be Google’s “desktop” operating system, while Android is for smart phones and tablets.

The Android interface is designed foremost for touch. Google Chrome OS looks and acts just like the Chrome Web browser.

2) Chrome OS won’t run Linux desktop or Android Apps

I use quotes around “desktop” with good reason. While Chrome OS will be used like a desktop operating system, it’s not a traditional fat-client desktop like Windows or even a Linux desktop such as Mint. Instead, all of its “applications” will be cloud-based. To see what I mean, just look at the Chrome browser and Google Apps. You’re looking at a sketch of the Google Chrome OS.

There will be just enough Linux in Chrome OS–thanks, in part, to Ubuntu– to support the browser and Web-based applications. You will also likely be able to run some traditional desktop applicationsusing a remote-client computing technology called “Chromoting.”

As for Android applications, where all the applications are Java-based and depend on Dalvik, I don’t see any way that those applications will run on Chrome OS.

3) Chrome OS Constantly Updated

Like the Chrome browser, you can expect Chrome OS to be patched and improved constantly. This instead of being patched to fix problems or having features added in service packs, Chrome OS, for better or worse, will continually evolve. With Chrome OS, there won’t be any wait for different versions a la Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Still having trouble visualizing it? Well, don’t worry too much. Within the next few days, we’ll have the opportunity to see Chrome OS and see how it differs from Android and other desktop operating systems.

Microsoft strategy against Android comes together

The Microsoft strategy against Android owes less to Ray Ozzie than it does to John Roberts.

As I noted at the time, the non-decision in Bilski vs. Kappos gave companies a green light to try and sue innovation out of existence.

This nightmare has now come to pass.

The problem with software patents, as opposed to those for drugs or medical devices, is that they don’t cover the way you do something, but the idea of doing something.

Thus, Microsoft claims to control the syncing of e-mail between the Web and a mobile device. You can’t innovate around the patent, as you might around the patent for a new pacemaker.

This is what makes software patents so dangerous. They place an ever-larger tax on innovation, because innovations are always based on what came before. And if you can’t innovate around an idea, then you must pay for it. And pay and pay and pay.

So we come to Android, which is drawing patent suits the way a fumble does 300-pound linemen. Microsoft is telling Android phone makers they must still pay it for use of its patents, that it might cost them less in Intellectual Property rights fees to go with Windows than with Linux.

In that scenario Windows doesn’t have to be better. It doesn’t even have to be as good. It just needs to be in the ballpark.

Patent rights in this scenario do for Microsoft what bundling did for it in the early 1990s. They get rid of competition.

Yes, this is a dangerous game. Other companies have big patent portfolios, not just Microsoft. Customers won’t like being denied choice, and being forced to buy inferior products at monopoly prices. You could have either a patent “nuclear war” — everyone suing everyone — or potent political blowback.

These are questions for another day. For now Microsoft’s patents are putting it back in the game, putting enough Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt into the minds of manufacturers that its offerings will get a hearing, and will likely find a place in the market.

How will Google respond, given the relatively small size of its patent portfolio compared with those of its proprietary rivals? How should it respond?

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

Google Chrome OS and Android are Keys to Linux World Domination

When we talk about web servers and supercomputers, the leading operating system in terms of usage share is Linux. However, on the desktop and mobile device categories, Linux is not so lucky.

Several sources put the Linux desktop market share at a mere 1%, which is lower than that of Mac OS X (6%). After all these years, Windows is still leading the pack with a dominant usage share of around 90%.

On the highly competitive area of mobile devices, the growth of Linux is faster than ever. Thanks to Android, it has gained enough usage share to beat Apple iOS and RIM. Although Symbian is currently at the top of the hill, it is not sitting comfortably there as Android or iOS is expected to dethrone it any time soon.

To all my fellow Linux advocates and enthusiasts, we have to accept the fact that “the year of the Linux desktop” will not be coming in the very near future. But I’m not saying that it would never come.

Although the Linux desktop is far from dead, a lot of things have to be done to keep it from being stagnant. It seems like Ubuntu is the only one that's been keeping the Linux desktop afloat. But Linux can't rely on a lifejacket for long. I think at the moment it needs a rocket booster that could help accelerate its growth. That rocket booster could be the upcoming Google Chrome OS.

Why Chrome OS?

Google has the resources for creating a high-quality Linux distribution. They also have a proven track record of making and releasing products that became extremely successful. In addition, Google is well respected and trusted by the PC industry, so getting support from different component makers and device vendors will be easy.

Some people are saying that a cloud-centric desktop operating system like Google Chrome OS will never have mass appeal and may just vanish into thin air. They might be true in the sense that most PC users are not yet prepared or are pessimistic about completely taking their data on the cloud. But I still think Chrome OS will succeed in the long run as it will constantly improve and in effect will gain trust.

When Android was unleashed in 2008, I did not expect it to become quickly popular. Back then, detractors were saying that it is bound to fail because it is a geeky OS just like Linux and that people will not even touch it. But look at it now. The growth of Android in terms of usage share is going at an amazing pace.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin said that Android and Chrome OS would likely converge over time. So imagine the possibilities of having a Linux-based PC that works hand-in-hand with all of your Linux-based mobile devices.

The future is bright for Linux, and Google Chrome and Android will help lead the way to world domination.

What do you think?

 

Sony Opens Android Developer Site

Sony becomes the first third-party manufacturer to open an Android development site based around the Google TV platform. The development site launch coincides with Sony's demonstration of its first line of Google TV-powered products. Sony is the first television manufacturer to incorporate Google's television search indexing and Internet browsing platform directly into their televisions with four HDTVs in 24-, 32-, 40-, and 46-inch models. Sony has also announced a Blu-Ray player with Google TV onboard that costs around US$ 400.

With Google TV running a modified version of Android 2.2, the platform features its own, specific apps such as a Netflix, CNBC, NBA Game Time, and an Amazon.com app for streaming media, but the platform is also compatible with smartphone apps, which can be downloaded from an Android user's phone onto the platform via the cloud. Google TV apps can also be purchased from the App Marketplace on a desktop and pushed directly to the platform.

There's nothing much to do on Sony's developer site at this time. Developers can register a developer account and then will receive updates when additional tools go live on the dev site. As Google TV gains popularity, expect more sites like Sony's to pop up in the future.

Android Apps Secretly Sending GPS User Data to Advertisers

Privacy has been a long-held concern with the Android OS and the news that a significant number of popular apps sending GPS location data to advertisers certainly won't quell these concerns.

Ars Technica reports that researchers from Duke, Penn State and Intel Labs have confirmed that of the 30 popular applications they tested, half sent data to remote advertising servers without the users' knowledge. The researchers performed this test with an application called TaintDroid, named so because it uses dynamic taint analysis to detect and report when applications send sensitive information.

Any Android user who has installed an app knows that before installing, the app prompts the user with a list of phone features the app will be able to access. A user looks these over and if they approve of the features, approves the app and it installs. It's a safety feature designed to give users control and reveal permissions that might seem fishy.

But when an app already uses location features to function, there's no way of knowing what else the app will use those features for, based on the generic description.