The Android thread

It's hard for me as a Nokia man, they served me well, rarely malfunction for any other reason than negligence...but I don't know, their touchscreen line of phones doesn't really float my boat and Android seems to be all the rage now.

I have a package offer of 31? per month , I get the phone for 1? and I sign a contract with them for 2 years. I get 1000 minutes free for my service provider, 200 minutes to other networks, 1000 free SMSs and 1000 free MMSs. And I've done the maths, I would struggle to use all of this up.

I'd also like to know any other good Android phones, Samsungs or something like that?

Oh and is there a service like Ovi Maps for Android, e.g. free GPS?
 
There are many free GPS solutions for android that work well...

and then there are the paid ones which some people usually pirate (not encouraged) instead of buy due to their price (Co-Pilot Live w/ License is $149.99)
 
I think Locus is supposed to be a good free map program. I downloaded it to my tablet but haven't figured out how to load custom maps for offline yet.
 
Ok, what about Google Maps? I presume if a phone has GPS hardware, it does the job with them? Seems to me that this is going to be one of the key things in deciding what to buy. It's why Nokia+Ovi Maps still have me on their side, that system works great.
 
Google Maps is great, but you need a data connection. Since you brought up Ovi Maps I figured you were looking for offline mapping.

The stock application does do caching, but you can't specify what it caches. You'd basically have to move around the map and hope the area you want is cached, and then it also can't give you turn-by-turn directions offline even if the map data is cached.
 
Google maps requires Data, but Google does have beta navigation that works well for me.
 
The stock application does do caching, but you can't specify what it caches. You'd basically have to move around the map and hope the area you want is cached, and then it also can't give you turn-by-turn directions offline even if the map data is cached.

Afaik, they are implementing proper route and map caching in one of the upcoming updates. Not sure when and where I read that, though, so it may only be rumors...
 
That sounds awfully familiar.... it might have been included in one of the recent update already because I feel like I read it in the changelog.

As we speak I have a Maps update but it's some stupid restaurant rewards thing.
 
That sounds awfully familiar.... it might have been included in one of the recent update already because I feel like I read it in the changelog.

That's just the offline caching it does now, there is no offline navigation yet.
 
why not keep the nokia phone and maps for a while as navigator, and get a newer phone for other stuff?
that way you can use the maps as long as you find androind alternative :eek:
 
Android is really starting to make sense after doing some research...but honestly guys, everything aside, can I expect any sort of stupid or annoying problems from it? Are the apps a goldmine of good free stuff or is the good stuff up for a fee?

why not keep the nokia phone and maps for a while as navigator, and get a newer phone for other stuff?
that way you can use the maps as long as you find androind alternative :eek:

Just to clarify, I familiarised myself with Ovi Maps on my pals Nokia N8, not on my ancient E50. =) So I don't currently have nav. Come to mention it, the N8 was attached to his windscreen, doing live navigation, like a Garmin let's say...warning about the speed limit, turn there now/in 100 metres. Are you saying that Android powered phones don't do this? Or am I missing something?
 
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Yes, they can.

Live navigations are systems, which use your data connection (3g, 4g and whichever g is now in use) to download maps, traffic info, etc while you drive. This is generally avoided since on almost every carrier data connection is limited and/or expensive.

Offline navigations are these, that store all the maps, speed limits and POI data on your memory card and only use the GPS module while you drive. Since this has nothing to do with carrier, it is free.

Both types are the so called turn by turn navigations, that can tell you "in 100 meters turn right". Generally live navigations, such as Google Maps are free or cheaper, while offline ones tend to be quite expensive. I'm not sure what the situation on Slovenia is, but for Bulgaria Google maps are always at lest 2 years behind and lack detail. Same goes for Serbia and the parts of Hungary I've visited. I can recommend CoPilot 8, which tend to have relatively current data and overall pleasant interface.
 
Google Maps with Navigation does very limited caching...if you start a route in Navigation, it'll cache that route for you and continue to provide directions and voice guidance if you lose connectivity. It doesn't cache much else though so if you stray too far off route it will try to use data.

Maps works offline as well...I just put my phone into Airplane Mode and launched the Maps app...so it's doing more caching than I thought...

It seems like Offline Navigation software like savamane mentioned is wayyy more popular in Europe where very strict (and tiny!) data plan caps make using a smartphone sorta annoying at times.
 
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:nod: over here, unlimited / large capacity data plans are more common. I love being able to do everything OTA without worrying about it.
 
It seems like Offline Navigation software like savamane mentioned is wayyy more popular in Europe where very strict (and tiny!) data plan caps make using a smartphone sorta annoying at times.

This and the fact the Google Maps navigation wasn't available here for quite some time, while you Americans enjoyed it.

From what I see though, the more east we go, the better offers there are. In Bulgaria I had unlimited data plan with some other goodies for ?16 and the competitor carrier offered 1GB/mo 3g data and insane amount of free calls for roughly the same price. Here in the Czech republic, this is unheard of. Actually, internet is an extra to the regular plans, which is hidden in several layers of obscure menus and usually goes within couple of hundred MBs tops.

I suspect, this is a result of the fact, that very few people here have smartphones.
 
Simple question guys: Nexus S, yes or no? I'm upgrading form a 5 year old broken Nokia E50 ( god bless you ), so anything is only up.

I've been pretty happy with mine. If you value fast updates, go for it.

Do you have a data connection?
 
Good news, details of the next Nexus phone have been revealed.

Bad news is it won't be out until Thanksgiving (November-ish).
 
So that Gingerbread update... It's been out for more than 24 hours and yet i've heard ZERO reports of anyone actually getting it to their phones. What the hell, Verizon?
 
I've been pretty happy with mine. If you value fast updates, go for it.

Do you have a data connection?

If you're talking about having an x amount of free MB per month to spend on doing interwebz, they yes, do have. But, it's only 100MB. So anykind of internet surfing will go down through wi-fi or w-lan.
 
......Come to mention it, the N8 was attached to his windscreen, doing live navigation, like a Garmin let's say...warning about the speed limit, turn there now/in 100 metres. Are you saying that Android powered phones don't do this? Or am I missing something?

i was just stating that get the android, and if you have ovimaps on the nokia use it untill you find the best suited replacement in the android.
All i know that gps-programs/devices doing the turn by turn instruction has all the features (free or pay as you go) for not getting speedcam fines etc.

I use ovi maps with buffered maps of Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Germany since i have 40Mb dataplan (of that 40MB i use 25MB max/monht) and i think this way is best for my use, as the maps can/could be updated everytime i connect it to my pc.
 
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