My life with Smartphones just got exciting

NOTE: This is a comment response to a post on Geek News Central.

Ditto. I love my HTC Evo!

I started in the Smartphone world back with the Palm Treo 650 running Palm OS ($449 on Verizon in 2003).

Then, moved to the Palm Treo 700w ($499 on Verizon in 2006) as the first Windows Mobile OS running on a Palm hardware. It was a major improvement, but soon realized that I had to factory reset the thing every three months, just like Windows XP! :)


Next, I moved to the HTC Mogul ($0 trade w/ friend on Sprint in 2009), another Windows Mobile device. However, it had much better hardware, so enjoyed the significant increase in performance, screen space, gps and better camera.

So, it should be apparent at this point, that I prefer smartphones. However, I don't change phones but every 3 years or so. I almost bought the palm pre and was very exited about the Web OS because I always like the shine of palm harware and loved the prospect of merging my social network contact lists and the cloud computing concept of the platform. Unfortunately, I lost my job right before it was release and fortunately, did not purchase the device as it was realized shortly that the performance was lacking when running intensive apps. So, I went on a quest for a new smartphone. I was sick of the Windows Mobile platform. I had hacked it to improve performance and realized that no matter how hard I tried I would always be faced with the Windows experience of having to factory reset every few months to clean out the bugs and improve performance. I had been following the Google Android OS since it's first announcement, but was hesitant. I wanted to wait until the platform matured, stabilized within the market and had a larger app community.

I have had experience with a capacitive screen and on device app marketplace with my ipod touch. However, did not want an iPhone for many reasons, AT&Ts substandard service to be the largest. I prefer the Verizon network. However, Sprint is almost as good and much less expensive than Verizon.

Enter the HTC Evo!

Not only was the device reasonably priced at $199, but it also has some great hardware features that I was attracted to: slim design, large capacitive screen, 8 MP camera (better than my pocket camera at 6 MP). But what I was really exited about is getting a Mobile OS platform that actually worked and served my needs. I purchased my HTC Evo from a local Radio Shack, which offered an instant $100 rebate as opposed to mail in at Sprint, on June 4th. I had always avoided purchasing a device ON release day, so was a bit nervous about jumping into the fire. I did spend about 2 hours waiting for the device to become fully provisioned. But, was immediately impressed and felt like I had just made the biggest, best purchase decision in a long while.

That night, I drove to a heavy metal venue called the Drunken Lass in Prescott, AZ (about 2 hrs from Phoenix, AZ). I was hoping to use the Qik video streaming service that night for the show. Unfortunately, probably due to the high volume of new devices, the service was not available until the next day.

I have since found the device to be more of a resource and tool than just another smartphone device. I am able to access information quickly and reliably with the Android integrated searches, find and install apps from the Android Marketplace quickly and link my multiple google accounts (to include a couple google apps for domains), facebook and twitter contacts. I am in cloud computing heaven!

So, long story short, I am officially an Android fan-girl!

Check out these podcasts and useful Android websites:

Podcasts:
Android and Me Podast
Android Central Podcast
Phandroid Podcast
CNET's Android Atlas Podcast
Android Guys Podcast

Community:
Android Community
Android Developer Community
Talk Android
Sprint Android Community
Android Guys
Hello Android