Android, due to its openness, it's rapidly spreading, and every month new Android-based handsets are released.

But, to sell more units, manufacturers are making low-end devices for a cheaper price, maybe too chep to have a decent experience. What to take in account to choose a device that won't disappoint us? Here is my experience:

T-Mobile G1

• Release date: October 2008 - the first Android-based mobile
• CPU: 528 Mhz - just the minimum, not fast, not too slow.
• RAM: 192 MB - it's impossible to have more than two apps opened at the same time. Open the browser and the home will close. Close the browser and you have to wait 5 seconds to load the home. Open contacts and wait other 5 seconds. Extremely frustrating. With cyanogenmod it's possible to add some cache, but it does not make a miracle...
• Internal memory: 256 MB - but just 50MB can be used. The browser takes 15 MB, Google Maps takes 10, Gmail 5, just install THREE apps from the Market and you've got full memory!
• User experience: awful - slow and unresponsive, a little better with cyanogenmod and various hacks

T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide

• Release date: June 2010
• CPU: 600 Mhz - Whoa, much better than the G1! This is next-gen, with integrated GPU. You can really feel the difference!
• RAM: 512 MB - Yay!!! You can open dozens of apps, and you'll never run out of memory! Just a few minutes and my G1 is forgotten in a drawer.
• Internal memory: 512 MB - but just 150MB can be used... you have to hack the system and repartition if you want to install more than 20 apps.
• User experience: much better! Maybe a little slow in some cases, but it's ok.

HP Touchpad

• Release date: June 2011 - the first webOS-based tablet (+ Android 4 in dual boot)
• CPU: Dual core 1.2 Ghz - wow!!! Extremely fast!!!
• RAM: 1 GB - If with 512 MB was impossible to run out of memory, think what you can do with the double!
• Internal memory: 3 GB! You can install hundreds of apps!
• User experience: Awesome!

So, from my experience, those are the minimum requirements to have a decent experience:

• CPU: 600 Mhz - does not matter THAT much, it's better to have more RAM - once the app it's loaded, it's fast
• RAM: at least 320 MB
• Internal memory: at least 256 MB accessible to the user

If one of this requirement is not met, I can guarantee you that you will be disappointed from your Android mobile. (unless you use the phone just to make calls and send text - but you can just use a dumbphone for that)

All Apple fan-sites are publishing that there is in the works new connector for the iPhone, slimmer and with new useful features like Thunderbolt.

Reading this story makes me wonder: what is the point to use a special connector instead of using the micro usb, (which can also bring HDMI signals, with MHL) that it's a standard, it's cheaper, it's used by the rest of the world, and it's required to use in the European community??

Option A: in this way they can sell for 20 bucks the data cable (real price: $1)

Option B: in this way they can sell for 30 bucks the plastic dock with no electronic parts inside and which still requires the $20 data cable to work (probably the beautiful box it's more expensive to make than the dock)

Option C: in this way they can make millions with the "made per iPhone" certified accessories, like radios and so on

Option D: in this way they can make millions selling another adapter to who already owns the dock connector accessories

Option E: all the other options

I tried in the emulator the new Android 4, which was announced recently.

I must say that, compared to the previous versions, despite the new fancy graphics, it seems much more responsive, whereas the emulator is much slower compared to a mobile phone.

Defects? I found several, here's a summary:

1. Until now you could put in silent mode from the lockscreen. Now that function has been replaced with a button to take a picture, just like in iOS 5. I understand that if Apple did it, it's probably a good idea to copy, but silent mode is much more useful than taking a picture. And that "take picture" button that is available in almost all cell phones has a reason to be, right?
2. "Add Widgets" screen in the drawer. Well, this was definitely "inspired" by GO Launcher, but it is quite useless! There is already an add widget menu by holding down the finger on the desktop, why replicate this function? They could replace it with a list of running programs
3. Applications in drawer will no longer flow in "Android style", but have an "iPhone style" with a black background as seen on iPhone OS 3. Why return to the past by copying from the competitor?
4. The background does not scroll between screens with that parallax effect typical of Android, but it is a simple static background as with the iPhone. How nice...
5. In all screens there is a search bar with Google as if the search button that they put on all the phones is useless. The bar is as wide as the entire screen. Why just don't put, a small icon in the corner for start a new search?
6. The interface is very dark. Probably with a Super AMOLED screen is awesome, but with a normal screen like mine, it will be unreadable in the sun.

Of course there are also other advantages:

1. 3G data counter is well integrated with the system. Farewell 3G Watchdog 
2. Settings are more intuitive and accessible from the notification bar
3. The wireless networks menu is nicer
4. Better management of photos (although in 70% of cases, the manufacturer provides a different program to manage your photos, because the default one is too rough)
5. You can disable apps. Once an app is disabled, it will be made invisible and will not be executed. Hurray! Finally, I can turn off some ass-programmed apps like Facebook and Skype, which are executed even if I do not use them!

WOW!

Microsoft, on their blog, has written that, with the upcoming Windows Phone 7 version, you will be able to - hold up on the chair - choose a custom ringtone!!!

That's a shocking innovation!

And this is not the end of the shocking announcements: they will include nine new default ringtones!

That's awesome, that's the future, custom ringtones, who would have think that 10 years ago?

Wow!!!! I love the future!

Thanks to the NORAD (acronym for North American Aereospace Defence Command) and to Google, from this year you can just take Google Maps for mobile and search for "norad santa", to see where in the world is Santa right now: (shot from my italian mobile)

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Engadget is telling us that at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas has just been announced an iPhone keyboard, for writing in full comfort for very long texts, without being forced to use the awkward touchscreen . Awesome, the main drawback is that, thanks to the many restrictions imposed by Apple on its own AppStore, you could be able to type with it only in the included software.

However, iType (what an original name!), is very easy to use, just slide the iPhone in, and use it anywhere, at school, on the bus, in the car while driving, and everywhere you'd like to improve your texting abilities, thanks to its small size:

Oh no! A little bit big!

Anyway, i see a great thing on the background, a musical keyboard for the iPhone! Oh! It would be great to compose and play songs on it! Great for musicians! It is the iDiscover, here is a detailed picture:

According to Engadget, this keyboard can also be used as a MIDI peripheral, to be used to compose music on Mac and PCs! 

The price? Still unknown... (but i suppose that it will be hundreds of dollars, like the majority of "premium" addons for the iPhone )

Creative is about to launch their new Zii, a video+mp3 player, this is a preview sketch from the FCC:

Uhm... where i saw this design? It looks so similar... to a mobile on sale from some time... let's try to merge the drawings:

Creative Zii in red, Apple iPhone in blue

So cool! The Zii is almost compatible with iPhone covers! What a smart move! It's a pity that they placed the camera in the wrong place... it's a matter of millimeters, otherwise they could write on the box: "New! Compatible with Apple iPhone covers!"

Also, the logo looks similar to another logo... and the name also is similar; Zii... Zii... it resembles another name, become famous 2-3 years ago:

Wow, Creative has been so... creative!

A reason not to buy a Sony product, is absolutely the Memory Stick. In our homes, there is certainly an SD card floating around, from cellphone, digital camera, even the Wii. Instead, the memory sticks are expensive and nothing except Sony products can use them.

A Memory Stick is ABSOLUTELY more expensive. Here is a comparison on a 16 GB card, from the same manufacturer (Sandisk):

Paying 24 euro more for essentially the same product! Who will pay a "36% Sony tax"??

So, the great idea to lock Sony users with the Memory Sticks, has proven to be not so good: it renders the product less appealing!

Recently, on new cellphones, and on expensive cameras, Sony chose to use "standard" formats. (microSD for mobiles, compact flash for D-SLRs). Now they confirmed it!

The next step? As Engadget says, they could kill the UMD. Oops, they already did it