IT Security public service announcement time: So far, the only viruses spreading on Android OS phones are being spread by third party applications. If you don't know what you're doing, you're dangerous if you're rooting to download third party apps and your phone carrier isn't going to help you fix it either.

ETA: Third party apps= apps found in places OTHER than The Market.

You can download 3rd party apps on most Android phones w/o rooting it. I think AT&T are the only ones who block that option (unless you root it.)

(And didn't Android have to remove some bad apps from The Market after all?)

Pun intented.. "it's all Greek to me".;)

Yes, they did end up removing some in March. I was thinking about the first one was from a third party app and forgot that they removed a bunch from the market too.

Ok, I'm giving Android one more shot.

I bought my first Android last June. Liked it for a little while but then hated it. It had SO SO many problems. It had to be factory reset twice and I am close to having to do it again. The same problems keep coming back...and it's basic stuff too; for example, someones I will get a call and my screen (a touch screen) is just black. It's lit up, but there's nothing on the screen, even though it's vibrating and ringing, so I can't answer. It also won't hang up sometimes--I have to manually turn off the phone to hang up. Not to mention every other call gets dropped...

The phone company said I could switch the phone out for the same phone. Heck no!!!! After much complaining and finally telling them that this huge disappointment is going to make me reconsider renewing my contract next year, they finally let me trade it in for a different new phone. I'm getting the Samsung Captivate in a few days (my options were a bit limited because there were only certain phones that were available for the warranty exchange). I hope it's a good one!...like I said, this is Android's last chance so they better impress me!!!

^^ Which Android phone did you have? A Motorola Droid? One of the HTC phones?

You might have had one of the models that wasn't so good, but don't blame the OS!

Motorola Backflip. It is God awful.

Ah, I don't know anything about those. I know there were some serious problems with one of the early HTC models among a few others. However I've only been thrilled with the Droid2. Hoping your samsung is much better. My coworker just got a new HTC *mumble* something or other. It's big and shiny and I'll have to see how she likes it when my contracts up for renewal.

A co-worker of mine and her husband both had Vibrants and had so many issues with them. They both had their phones replaced THREE times for the same phone and none of them ever worked right. They gave up and got Iphones.

And this is why I demanded that they give me a different phone and not the same model.

The good thing is that this new phone is not a new warranty--if it sucks too then I can still do my upgrade based on the timing of when I bought this current phone. If I hate this one too, I'm going iPhone.

Have had my Droid (Samsung Galaxy S) for half a year now and still madly in love with it. No issues what so ever!

Ditto with my Motorola Droid (original).

This phone is amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Finally getting the hang of the Droid 2 Global. But the battery SUCKS!! It seems to be EXTRA EXTRA slow in charging.

Might consider taking it in, or trying a different charger. The connection might be bad.

It's been almost a month and I am still loving my iPhone. LOTS.
I'm definitely glad I didn't get a Droid based on side by side comparison/trying to use mom's Droid X.
It was a lot easier to use a system I was familiar with than to have to learn a new one.

Could someone please explain what this Droid Gingerbread program and and if/how should I upload it! The Droid Forums is too confusing because it sounds like people know what they are asking about, lol.

Gingerbread is just Android (not Droid) 2.3.3. Your phone will auto update to it, most likely and it's not something you need to worry about getting a pre-release or anything.

If your phone can't handle the update it shouldn't download it. I don't know when it's being released.

(That whole Android/Droid thing is getting trickier. It's just too easy to reduce to "droid" but gets confusing quickly.)

Thanks. Supposedly you have to be willing to pay$12 to get an answer from a IT person on their chatpage.

That's the sort of question it's not worth asking, although generally I go with 'if it's that complicated a question I probably don't need X anyway.' Their IT people are more for actual tech support, but I have no idea about cost since I haven't used them or looked into it.

Bought a Dummy book; let's hope it helps.;)

Bumping for new opinions. I can upgrade on Monday and I think it's time for me to say BUHBYE to Blackberry.

So, Iphone 4 or Android? (yeah, I know Iphone 5 is supposed to come out this fall, but my phone has been acting up and I'm too damn impatient)

For anyone who has an iphone, how does the internet work? I see on Verizon's website that it is wifi capable and 3g hotspot capable. Does this mean I can only get the internet in certain places? No mobile web like Blackberry?

Also, can anyone enlighten me on their typical data usage? I have unlimited currently with Verizon, but that plan no longer exists for renewal. Everyone seems to say 2 gb is plenty, but I have nooooo clue how much I'll use once I have a fancypants new phone. Right now it's not even close to that amount.

I have no clue about phones (obviously), so any help is appreciated.

The 3g hotspot thing just means that (for extra $$) you can turn your phone into its own wireless router so you could connect a friend/iPod touch/laptop as long as you don't mind 3G speeds. Mostly I've found it to be pretty useless when I had the feature, but some people like it.

Check with the people at the store. Last I was in they swore you'd get notified if you were close to your cap and then could adjust your plan. I bought unlimited so I dunno.

Also, Android do or die unless you're a big Apple fan (but since you had a BB you're probably not ;) )

As for my usage I download quite a bit, but don't tend to stream music and use wifi as much as possible and despite my unlimited data (rather keep it than ditch it in case netflix comes through!) I have used .366 GB in 13/31 days.

My two teenagers and I, together, use around 2GB a month with our smartphones. My daughter is, far and away, the highest user at around 800 MB. She uses Pandora, Facebook, surfs a lot, etc.

I'm looking at the Droid 3 when it's time for upgrades for us. The whole "touch screen only" with the iPhone is the main thing keeping me from going that route, still.

I too am at the point where I can upgrade. If I stay with AT&T I can do it now and if I change to Verizon, I will do it at Thanksgiving. My daughter has a iPhone and her boyfriend has a droid. They are with Verizon and got his just before the announcement that Verizon was going to get the iPhone. He is going to change to the iPhone the day this contract comes up for renewal.

Daughter said that if you use a MAC, the iPhone is such a breeze that there is no way she will get anything else. I have an iTouch right now and she said if I am comfortable with its touch screen I will have no problems with the iPhone. Both she and her brother told me to wait until fall when the iPhone 5 comes out and then I can get the 4 at a good price. They both recommend that I not get the 3 even though it is dirt cheap right now.

DaffyKD

I like Android phones. But BB are more reliable.

If you have a Mac, using an iPhone is definitely the easiest thing ever. All of your apps, music, contacts & calendars all back up onto programs already installed onto your computer. SO simple.
Also, I do really like my iPhone 4 and I'm not particularly worried about the iPhone 5 coming out, as far as feeling like I got left behind in the dust, so I feel like waiting until that comes out and then getting an iPhone 4 is so worth it. iPhone 3 is really cheap right now but it is definitely not worth it. You're missing out on a lot of really nice features.
There will likely be some price cuts on iPhone 4 when the iPhone 5 comes out & you might especially find Christmas/Holiday deals if you wait and upgrade in November.

As far as AT&T & Verizon, I really feel like Verizon is making waves right now. Even though they are expensive (but still about the same as AT&T) I feel like they are a very reliable network. I'm in an area now w/o Verizon service but they have an extended network running with the more local cell company (Bluegrass Cellular) and I think that's pretty nice. Idk if AT&T has these things though.

Currently the only thing on iPhone 4 that you'd be missing out on going Verizon is simultaneous talk & data. Like you can't get on the internet while talking on the phone...but in reality I haven't found myself in much of a situation where I've wanted that. Usually talking on the phone is about talking to someone on the phone.

I've used my mom's Droid X and personally think it is harder to use and much more confusing than iPhone, but I do know that android phones are more customizable (unless you want to Jailbreak your iPhone --whole different story). As far as user interface, it actually took me awhile to figure out how to even set up her phone (and I'm a college student who's usually able to get these things in a snap).

Changing to the iPhone would be seamless if you have iTouch now. It was for me. It is amazing how much nicer iPhone 4 is from the iTouch though to me (I have the first gen iTouch)

Good luck! I vote to go iPhone! I have zero regrets.


ALSO FOR ANYONE UPGRADING
Check into getting your phone at Best Buy. Often you get the "instant rebate price" without actually using instant rebate and their protection plan is awesome. $15.89 a month for my iPhone and it covers everything except lost or stolen. You can break it in half and still get a new iPhone.

Bump.

So I just had two different Android phones over the past year and a half or so. Never. Ever. Again.

The first one was God awful. It was a Motorola Backflip, and while it had cool features, THEY NEVER WORKED because the thing was so clunky and slow. It always froze and was barely functional after about 7 months (mind you, I did all the updates and reset it to factory settings, TWICE.) When AT&T told me they'd replace it with another Motorola Backflip, I told them I'd be moving my business elsewhere once the contract expired, and they let me pick a new phone :D

I got the Samsung Captivate as a replacement and there were big improvements. The apps and features all worked, but over time I did experience freezing issues. Not NEARLY as bad as the first phone, but it still froze at very inconvenient times (I was missing 75% of my calls because the "Answer" button did nothing when I tapped it...and when I made a call, I would get a black screen and then the phone would freeze and I would have to dial again, even though the first call went through because whenever who I was calling finally answered they'd say "did you just try to call?" So frustrating). Not to mention the battery would die in 10-12 hours, even on days when I lightly used it.

I was sticking with the Samsung phone because my contract expires in Febuary. Then yesterday my dad asked if I wanted to use his old iPhone 3G. I AM NEVER GOING BACK TO ANYTHING BUT IPHONE.

I think it speaks volumes for the fact that I'm using a 3 year old phone and its running 10x better then my newer Android phones. My dad complained it was getting slow, but I reset everything on there and it's working just fine for me. He said the battery lasts only about a day, but that's what I'm used to anyways.

So I guess the reason I bumped this is because if you're looking for a new smartphone and you don't know what to do, GET AN IPHONE!!!

I know I'm totally being old school here but I have a BB Tour and after 2+ years with it I still like it. Now of course there were problems. My original phone's charging port broke (though from what I can tell this is more a Verizon thing than a BB thing) and the rollerball kept getting stuck (but what can you expect from something that still uses a real trackball?) But I found that if you kept your email inbox clean and didn't have a ridiculous amount of apps on your phone, it ran pretty well.

Things I love about it? The email. It syncs faster than my school email does. It's super compatible with gmail. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the physical keyboard. It's been my favorite of all the phones I've ever had. It also has a good predictive text feature (no d#$! you autocorrect for me).

The thing I'm not crazy about is that it does turn off randomly. Not sure why. It also takes awhile to load (but much less so if you're good about keeping your inbox lean and sending your pictures instead of saving them to the phone). Its camera is also pretty good.

Overall I'm still happy with my phone. When the charging port broke on my old one I got another Tour, because the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. I also only really want to get the 4S, not any earlier versions, because they aren't world phones and I really would like that feature. I think eventually I'll switch to an iPhone (maybe), but I'll wait until this new Tour dies spectacularly first. I just don't see the need to spend the money before that.

I have been a vocal member of Team Blackberry, but I'm starting to hate my phone (Curve).

I am frequently out and about, so I have several apps that I use to help keep me organized. A few months ago, opening ANY app started causing my phone to turn off randomly. Anyone who has a BB knows that it takes 2 years to turn back on after a hard reset.

I will likely switch to an Android phone once I'm eligible for an upgrade. I can't take it anymore.

^^Funny you say that because I LOVE my BB Curve (I have one for work). Granted I don't use it a TON (checking work emails, occasional light browsing, phone features if my personal phone is dead) but it's worked so well for me. If iPhone didn't exist, I'd be going back to BlackBerry for sure (I had a BB Pearl for a short time--it was another phone previously owned by my dad that he gave to me when mine died...I break phones a lot lol).

My work phone is also a Curve and runs a lot better than my personal one. My hatred for the personal phone is spilling over to all Research In Motion products, though lol

My work phone is also a Curve - it's ancient, I'm not the first person to use it, but I love it. For my work purposes it rocks; I'm not sure if I'll get one for my personal phone when I start a new contract in January though. I've never had internet, email, or apps on my personal phone, so I really just need something that calls and texts. I know, I'm lame.

My Blackberry Tour has been temperamental for the past few months (freezing, randomly rebooting, buttons/trackball not responding, battery dying extremely quickly, and so on.) Since I've had an iPod Touch for a few years and a 1st Gen iPad for about a year I wanted to go with the iPhone 4s. DH didn't think I "needed" it. Got a new Droid Razr on Tuesday and ended up going back to Verizon this am to return it and order an iPhone. The battery on the Razr literally died within six hours overnight the 1st night I had it! It was just sitting on my nightstand, and I went to bed with a 90% charge still on the battery. Had to make a lot of "battery saving" adjustments including turning off the 4G just to get through a normal eight hour day! The preloaded audio and email apps kept crashing, even after shutting them down and adding them to the "auto off" list.

Enough already! DH finally agreed that the iPhone made sense for me. The Blackberry is back on and hopefully holds out until my iPhone gets here!

Well, Blackberry, it's been real. I crossed over to the dark side.

My new iPhone is waiting at my apartment office :D

I have endured over 2 years with the Droid Incredible. My iPhone 5 arrives tomorrow!!

I don't understand all the hype for the iPhone 5. My Android device does all the same things as the iPhone plus I have Google Maps and YouTube. ;)

Agreed. And my screen is bigger.. which is my most important requirement in a phone.