Rating Smartphones on AT&T

This is just my Opinion, but this is how I see the current (and a few of the devices launching in the next couple of weeks) smartphones on at&t.

1. Samsung Galaxy Note - Biggest, and Best display, Super Amoled Plus HD, S- Pen, Dual Core 1.5ghz processor, 8mp main camera, 2mp front facing camera, LTE compatibility, upgrading to Android 4.0 in the next couple of weeks.
2. Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket - Basically a smaller version of the Note, without the S- Pen.  Also receiving Android 4.0 in the next couple of weeks.
3. HTC One X - Should basically be a better, Faster Vivid, LTE  compatibility, Beats by Dre Audio. No expandable memory.
4. HTC Vivid - Moved up in my rankings, thanks to being first at&t phone with Android 4.0,  LTE  compatibility, Beats by Dre Audio.
5. iPhone 4s - Smooth and fast, but old design, and small screen 8mp main camera, vga front facing camera. Not LTE, but is HSPA+. Siri voice control is cool, but not much more useable than Vlingo or VoiceTalk on Android.
6. LG Nitro - nice display, fast processor. Small internal memory compared to Galaxy and HTC phones. will move ahead of iPhone 4s when it receives Android 4.0
7. Nokia Lumia 900 - The only Windows Phone in my top 10, LTE compatibility, 8mp Camera with Carl Zeiss optics is the best camera I have used. Unfortunately, WP7 is limited by a lack of good app development, and doesn't do anything significantly better than Android or iOS, to set itself apart.
8. Pantech Burst - Nice Super Amoled display, fast dual core processor, LTE  compatibility, smaller screen than high end Android phones, but still significantly larger than iPhone 4s. 5mp camera is a step down from high end, also. But, at $49.99, is the best bang for your buck in the at&t smartphone lineup. 
9. Samsung Captivate Glyde - No LTE compatability, but still HSPA+.  Super Amoled Plus display, slide out keyboard. Also slated for Android 4.0
10. iPhone 4 - basically same as iPhone 4s, sans Siri, with only 5mp camera.

What do you think of my rankings? Which is your favorite, and why?

Why You Should Root Your Android

There are 2 types of users of technology, those who take and use the technology as it was delivered to them (the average user), and those who look at the tech, and see the vast potential waiting to be unlocked (geeks, nerds, Superusers). This holds true for Smartphones, even more so.

Even back in the old Windows Mobile days, smartphone Superusers have been cooking up custom ROMs, and finding workarounds to unleash the full potential of their devices. When the iPhone launched, hackers saw the true potential past the very limited and locked down software that the iPhone shipped with, and thus "jailbreaking" was born. When Android was born, developers saw the same thing, and went to work creating custom ROMs, and workarounds to exploit the powerful hardware that was being presented.

Even though Android is "open source" software, it is still hamstrung by many factors, including the OEM's custom UI, like HTC Sense, Motorola Blur, and Samsung TouchWiz, which, while providing some innovative functionalities, also tend to be very obtrusive, and resource hogs. So, the developer, and hacker comunity began creating new versions of the Android software that optimizes the hardware, while retaining the useful tweaks of the OEMs.

Before installing any of these awesome tweaks, you must obtain "root" access, which basically gives you control of the system files of your Android device. Obtaining that access can be very easy, or very difficult, depending on your device, and whether or not the manufacturer of your device leaves the bootloaders unlocked. The number of ways to gain root access is as numerous as the number of available Android handsets. Since this is a WHY, and not a HOW TO, article, I am not going to post them all here. If you really want to root your phone, the best place to find the method for your particular device, is the XDA Developers forums. Just search for your device, and go to the section labeled Development, The walkthroughs are very thorough, just be sure to read EVERYTHING completely, and follow the instructions exactly.

Ok, now to the reasons to root your phone.

Performance Update

There are just too many flavors of Android on the market, with every OEM or carrier adding their own personalization and customization to devices. While these may appeal to some, they do not let the device take full advantage of what the hardware is capable of. With root access, you can actually tweak the OS to behave entirely differently, and with developers like Cyanogen working on custom ROMs and mods, people have actually reported significant performance boosts. Take the Samsung Galaxy S, first generation. Samsung has officially stated that it will not get the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) updat, but thanks to Cyanogenmod, the Galaxy S is getting an unofficial update thanks to the CM9 custom ROM.

Hardware/Software Interaction

Most Android devices come with hardware that is very powerful (many of the high end devices are more powerful than our PCs of just a couple of years ago), yet the OS limits them and becomes the bottleneck. By rooting, you actually remove the bottleneck and hence can take full advantage of your Android. For example, overclocking a device’s CPU is fairly simple and rather safe thanks to many third-party apps, yet the OS does not allow it natively. Overclocking can only be done with a rooted phone. Or suppose you want to use your mobile’s LED as flashlight but cannot because the manufacturer won’t allow it? Rooting allows you to bypass these limitations!

WIFI Tethering

After having rooted your device, you can also use WiFi tether to share your cellular data connection with your laptop or PC. The application works with ad hoc connections and will get you up and running online on your laptop in no time. There are numerous apps for this, but it is also included in the builds of several custom ROMs.

Enable NFC Capabilitie

NFC, or Near Field Communications, is a technology that is being built in to a lot of devices, but is software disabled by the carriers here in the US. Root access allows you to bypass this setting, and turn on the NFC capabilities of your phone, and use it for many things, such as making payments by tapping your phone on a NFC enabled payment station, or using NFC tags to make certain things happen on your device. Again, generally only available, if you root your device.

Root only Apps

There are tons of very useful apps in the Google Play store, that can only be used on a rooted phone. Titanium Backup, setCPU, cacheMate, and many more. These apps add functionality and control over your system that just isn't available without root.

and finally......

Because You Can!

I am serious, this is actually the best reason, IMHO. You have an awesomely powerful device that you have paid for. You have the right to modify or change it in any way you like. The device is your property, and you would naturally want to see it working at its maximum potential. Hence the point of rooting.

With the each new version of the OS, some of these reasons will become obsolete. But the newest version will not be pushed to all devices. While the OEMs, Carriers, and Google continue to talk about  reducing the fragmentation in Android, until it happens, a rooted device is the best option you have to keep your device running up to it's optimum potential.

Last, please do remember that rooting voids your warranty. Although you can always go back to a stock version of the OS, it is risky business, hence proceed with caution.

Nokia Lumia 900 Review

The Nokia Lumia 900 is AT&T's first Nokia built Windows Phone, and is being positioned as the flagship device for the Windows Phone 7 OS. As AT&T's Jeff Bradley stated,

"at all levels, this is a notch above anything we've ever done." 

While the Lumia's hype isn't at the level of the iPhone, both AT&T and Microsoft seem bent on changing that. The $99 (on a 2 year contract) Lumia 900 has already been handed out to a significant number of retail store employees for test drives, and is going to be front and center in the retail stores on it's April 8th launch day. In another quote from Bradley,

Before you walk in to the store, you know this is our hero phone.

Now, that is a very aggressive statement for a company that carries the iPhone 4s and the Samsung Galaxy Note, but it appears that AT&T, Microsoft, and Nokia are making a huge bet on the Lumia 900. We will see how that plays out with consumers, in the coming weeks.

REVIEW

The Lumia 900 is a beautiful piece of hardware, with a gorgeous 4.3" AMOLED disply that compares favorably to the iPhone 4s and the Samsung Galaxy Series of phones. Nokia is using a technology they call ClearBlack, which gives the display a very sharp contrast, and very vivid colors.

The design of the handset itself is unique and striking, Featuring a squared corners, and rounded edges, it definitely has a different look from the other smartphones available. Initially, it is launching in two colors, the standard Black, and a very striking Cyan Blue. Other colors rumored to be available soon include Ceramic White, and Magenta. This selection of colors is another feature unique to the Lumia 900, as most smartphones tend to come in Black, White or Grey.

The body is a unibody made from a very durable polycarbonate, that gives the phone a nice weight and feel. Basically, the Lumia 900 feels a lot more durable than the all glass iPhone 4s, or the plasticky frame of the Samsung Galaxy Series of phones.

As far as internal specs, the Lumia 900 comes with a powerful single core 1.4ghz processor, 512mb ram, and 16gb of internal memory. While these specs don't match the high end Android phones, they are more than enough to keep the phone running fast and smooth. My only beef with these specs, is the lack of expandable storage. Like the iPhone, what you see is what you get, so if you have a lot of music, take a lot of pictures, or shoot a lot of video, you will need to sync up to your computer often, and offload items to external storage.

The Lumia 900 comes with a fairly large 1830 mah battery, which should give the phone good battery life, as far as smartphones go. My personal experience has been 10-12 hours of battery life with moderate use.

The camera, is where this phone really stands out. While the 8mp camera has become pretty much standard on high end smartphones, the Lumia 900 sets itself apart with the Carl Zeiss Optics lens, and 2.2f aperture. The Lumia 900 takes terrific pictures, and the dedicated camera button, makes this one of the easy smartphones to use as a quick point and click.

On the software side, the Lumia 900 is running the newest version of Windows Phone 7, otherwise known as Mango. However, Nokia is working hard to differentiate it's models from the other WP7 offerings available, mostly by including exclusive apps like Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps, Nokia Transit, and Creative Studio.

As far as, Windows Phone 7, the UI is very smooth, and easy to use, and it has a few features that make it very user friendly. However, if you are an iOS or Android user, the lack of app development is definitely a frustration. Many apps that you have used previously, are either unavailable, or have a very limited functionality (comparatively). As a first smartphone, or coming from Blackberry or old Windows Mobile, these missing features will not even be noticed, but moving from Android or iOS, can be difficult, initially. Hopefully, AT&T's push for the Lumia 900 will be successful, and lead to more app developers adding their apps to the WP7 ecosystem.

Pros:

• Unique Design
• Great display
• Awesome Camera
• Fast and Smooth

Cons:

• Storage not expandable
• Lack of app development