[Noisebridge-discuss] Seeking advice -- new Android phone with good physical attributes?

[John Magolske]

Thanks for the excellent writeup, Rubin.

* Rubin Abdi <rubin at starset.net> [120720 12:01]:
> If you're looking for a GSM Adnroid with a keyboard in the states, G2
> and the MyTouch 4G Slide are pretty much about it. I have both and
> they're currently running various versions of ICS.

That was my impression. Question -- when you say "...versions of ICS"
(Ice Cream Sandwich), would those all be installed via CyanogenMod?
I'm a little foggy on how all this works...

> If I had to buy a new Android right this minute (as in my life
> depended on it, and literally this minute), I would go with an
> unlocked Galaxy Nexus. The only caveats I currently see with keeping
> them from being the "perfect pocket computer" is a lack of a keyboard,
> and storage issues (lack of MicroSD support, and unable to mount
> internal storage as a removable device via USB).

No MicroSD? No mounting internal storage via USB? Ouch! Taking a quick
look, I see the Galaxy S II does have MicroSD...will have to see how
much of a hack community is behind any of the Galaxy phones. Taking a
look at them in the T-Mobile store, I saw one of them did not have a
notification LED (forget exactly which one), and another did.

> Other factors that I'm going to take into consideration when making my
> next pocket computer purchase would be Ubuntu's work towards getting a
> full desktop running off of them, front facing camera, NFC, and
> surprisingly, a nicer camera.

A factor that plays into my leaning towards a Samsung Galaxy S II is
that this phone is supported by Mozilla's B2G effort (HTML5 based
mobile OS utilizing the Android kernel): https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G
Very interested to see where that project goes.

> Hope this advice is helpful.

It most certainly is! Hope your leg is feeling better soon,

John

-- 
John Magolske
http://B79.net/contact