"My next phone would be a...if..."

[Guest jaycarl]

There is nothing at Verizon worth upgrading to over the Omnia 1. In the future that will change but until then the O1 is the most functional overall.

BTW I'm glad Verizon didn't hype up the O1 like they did the Droid. Most people are not ready for a phone you have to customize to your specific needs (why we use Windows Mobile) for it to be fully functional for your daily routine. O1 would of been blasted by ignorant users because they are not willing or lack the mind frame to learn how to customize it. Verizon would have lost tons of money on the O1 if they hyped it up because people would return it because they would be unable to figure it out (read the reviews on VZW site to see what I'm talking about).

When I bought my niece a O1 for her Bday she hated it after 2 weeks of use. After I flashed it to Liortyes rom, installed MS3.5 and a bunch of games and apps she absolutely loves it now. Not many people know someone to do this for them. If you can't figure it out yourself of course you will not like the phone (I didn't like it either out of the box) and return it.

[Guest kdkinc]

There is nothing at Verizon worth upgrading to over the Omnia 1. In the future that will change but until then the O1 is the most functional overall.

BTW I'm glad Verizon didn't hype up the O1 like they did the Droid. Most people are not ready for a phone you have to customize to your specific needs (why we use Windows Mobile) for it to be fully functional for your daily routine. O1 would of been blasted by ignorant users because they are not willing or lack the mind frame to learn how to customize it. Verizon would have lost tons of money on the O1 if they hyped it up because people would return it because they would be unable to figure it out (read the reviews on VZW site to see what I'm talking about).

When I bought my niece a O1 for her Bday she hated it after 2 weeks of use. After I flashed it to Liortyes rom, installed MS3.5 and a bunch of games and apps she absolutely loves it now. Not many people know someone to do this for them. If you can't figure it out yourself of course you will not like the phone (I didn't like it either out of the box) and return it.

Hi jaycarl:

I agree with most of what you said a and reasoning..

The statement on (read the reviews on VZW site to see what I'm talking about) is more than true, Look at the review counts compared the number of reviews counts for the DROID.(on vzw)

The Droid has been on the market 3-4 months the O1 over a year. I believe the Droid is in the right direction but its not for me...yet,

I want 4.3 or bigger amoled screen, Snapdragon processor 5+ MP camera, touchscreen keyboard.

I also favoring Andoid vs MS though wm7 would be nice.

Thankfully I don't have to make this decision until SEPT...

:) :)

Edited January 18, 2010 by kdkinc

[Guest kdkinc]

Checkout this RUMOR at "ENGADGET "

Windows Mobile 7 megarumor: LG Apollo and HTC Obsession running flagship '720p' specs, Zune Phone Experience</h4>

The first two to break cover are the LG Apollo and HTC Obsession. The Apollo is a 3G worldphone (EV-DO and HSDPA) that runs a 1.3GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 processor and a 3.8-inch AMOLED 1280 x 720 WXGA display. The phone also is purported to have a 10 megapixel camera capable of 720p video recording

:) :)

Edited January 19, 2010 by kdkinc

[Guest Lisbian08]

Checkout this RUMOR at "ENGADGET "

Windows Mobile 7 megarumor: LG Apollo and HTC Obsession running flagship '720p' specs, Zune Phone Experience</h4>

The first two to break cover are the LG Apollo and HTC Obsession. The Apollo is a 3G worldphone (EV-DO and HSDPA) that runs a 1.3GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 processor and a 3.8-inch AMOLED 1280 x 720 WXGA display. The phone also is purported to have a 10 megapixel camera capable of 720p video recording

:) :)

That phone is a beast. I love the idea of a Zune phone.

[Guest arirang]

Checkout this RUMOR at "ENGADGET "

Windows Mobile 7 megarumor: LG Apollo and HTC Obsession running flagship '720p' specs, Zune Phone Experience</h4>

The first two to break cover are the LG Apollo and HTC Obsession. The Apollo is a 3G worldphone (EV-DO and HSDPA) that runs a 1.3GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 processor and a 3.8-inch AMOLED 1280 x 720 WXGA display. The phone also is purported to have a 10 megapixel camera capable of 720p video recording

:) :)

i feel the 10 megapixel camera-spec is gratuitous and bait for the "higher is better"-crowd and their $$$. i'm an amateur photographer with a decent 10 megapixel DSLR camera [nikon d80]. because the apollo's camera assembly is jammed in a phone form-factor the pixel-pitch will be absurdly high--tunneled light is sharper than funnelled--so pic quality will be no better than a 5 meg or a 2 meg for that matter.

not gonna bite if it costs more than its peers.

Edited January 19, 2010 by arirang

[Guest pules]

this is a great topic.

I'm considering two major factors for me; proc speed and network radio.

I've been a bb user since 2003 and have watch it grow from a pager to a full blown smartphone (engadget had a great article covering this)

Omnia i910 has been great due to this community, but WinMo is just too corporate and not with the times (some argue the same with BB)

with today's rumor of WinMo7 having two flavors, I guess I'll have to wait to see if I'll appreciate WinMo

going back to my two major factors.

I def want at least a snapdragon proc. (the LG's Apollo 1.3GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 is sounding pretty sexy too)

I want to be on the latest Global 4g network, which is going to be LTE. VZW will have 30 markets live before the year is over, but their phase 1 focus is more on data and less on voice, so I'm not sure what this will mean for phones.

lastly, 3rd important on my list....the OS. I'm a huge Google whore. I think Android is going to work best for me.

[Guest arirang]

this is a great topic.

I'm considering two major factors for me; proc speed and network radio.

I've been a bb user since 2003 and have watch it grow from a pager to a full blown smartphone (engadget had a great article covering this)

Omnia i910 has been great due to this community, but WinMo is just too corporate and not with the times (some argue the same with BB)

with today's rumor of WinMo7 having two flavors, I guess I'll have to wait to see if I'll appreciate WinMo

going back to my two major factors.

I def want at least a snapdragon proc. (the LG's Apollo 1.3GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 is sounding pretty sexy too)

I want to be on the latest Global 4g network, which is going to be LTE. VZW will have 30 markets live before the year is over, but their phase 1 focus is more on data and less on voice, so I'm not sure what this will mean for phones.

lastly, 3rd important on my list....the OS. I'm a huge Google whore. I think Android is going to work best for me.

i too have fully leveraged Google Apps services, so sensitive and important data resides in its cloud [contacts, calendar, documents, google check-out, etc.]. however, my research and digging shows that today's google-, android-stamped phones don't give me true single, sign-on access to ALL its services--why should i expect partial?

pules, as a long-time BB-user [and great link, btw], what new and/or improved BB feature would keep it on your short-list? radio tuner? music-player? browser? less or zero reliance on blackberry internet service? can't be the apps. from what i can tell wherever there's an app for android, there's a 99% chance a BB-version is on the same download page [including those by google].

Edited January 19, 2010 by arirang

[Guest pules]

i too have fully leveraged Google Apps services, so sensitive and important data resides in its cloud [contacts, calendar, documents, google check-out, etc.]. however, my research and digging shows that today's google-, android-stamped phones don't give me true single, sign-on access to ALL its services--why should i expect partial?

pules, as a long-time BB-user [and great link, btw], what new and/or improved BB feature would keep it on your short-list? radio tuner? music-player? browser? less or zero reliance on blackberry internet service? can't be the apps. from what i can tell wherever there's an app for android, there's a 99% chance a BB-version is on the same download page [including those by google].

I think over time we'll see single sign on with google and android, but at the sametime, how much of "big brother" would that be? I fully trust google with my data, but it's still kinda scary.

The BB has had one goal in mind and it does that goal very well; to deliver e-mails securely and in a very timely manner. I don't think any current wireless device does a better job of delivering e-mails like the BB does. BB has grown to become a full functional smartphone by adding multimedia, phone, camera and web browsing, which was great until the iPhone came along and changed general population's expectation of the wireless/PDA industry.

Two things bother me about the BB.....small screen and a very basic JAVA OS (albeit a very secure one) I carry both Omnia and BB Tour with me. I've caught myself using the BB Tour more often when is comes to having to type due to its full qwerty. I'm very happy with the BB. I guess other than a bigger screen and a fancier/flashier OS, I'm pretty okay with it.

With this said, I think the Nexus One on VZW is prob going to me my next phone until something with LTE support comes out.

[Guest DonCasio]

I would choose htc HD (blackstone) if it had at least a direction key and more non-touch soft keys. I miss this thing in my omnia :)

[Guest arirang]

I would choose htc HD (blackstone) if it had at least a direction key and more non-touch soft keys. I miss this thing in my omnia :)

i agree the omnia has it right. a dedicated optical mouse/trackball/direction key is better than none. i favor the trackball [ala blackberry] but your mileage may vary.

[Guest semmtexx]

Just got my HTC droid Eris a few days ago and my opinions on it compared to the Omnia i910 are as follows:

touchscreen: The Eris touchscreen is capacitive and the omnia's is resistive... need I say more?

OS: Android is far easier to navigate than winmo. Everything takes way less time to get to, change, and modify.

Interface: Sense UI pretty much murders all stock and or third party UI's on all fronts. Speed, fluidity and eye candy are all of course oustanding etc.

processor: Better than the Omnia's

memory: Better than the Omnia's.

Battery life: Actually NOT better than the Omnia's. (Probably because there is so much going on with android).

Camera: Color is better than the i910. Not as much tweakability to the type of shots you can take though. Viewing photos is alot smoother though on the Eris.

Virtual Keyboard: Of course easier to use on the Eris due to the differences in screen type.

Trackball: Well...it's a trackball...

Messaging: Smoother and easier to use on Eris, also, all contacts are integrated alot better with apps.

Applications: way more quality on android marketplace. way more free apps than winmo, and all the free apps i've tried so far are just as good quality as paid apps.

I know that this is a pretty quick and not so professional run down on the Eris but I'd like to point out that between owning the omnia and the Eris, I switched to the BB Storm for about two months. That's another horror story in itself. My point here is not to slam winmo. I used winmo phones for about three years and the whole time was spent sort of liking it but never quite being satisfied and always having to do some kind of hacking just to make it bearable. The truth of the matter is that If you like winmo, stick with winmo. But, if you like any of the above comparisons that favor Android and more specifically the Eris, then you should definitely give one a whirl if you are up for an upgrade soon. I for one still don't understand some flamers that get on here and slam android, iphone and any other OS that isn't winmo. Winmo compared to some of the newer players lacks on alot of fronts and from what I have seen there is sort of an evolutionary refusal or roadblock if you will on microsoft's part. All I know is I have been right along side with alot of you guys flashing from rom to rom sometimes 4 to five times a week and for once I can finally say that I am actually happy not having to do that to try obtain some sort of satisfaction.

[Guest semmtexx]

I was looking at phones today and I still have yet to find anything I think

I'd like better than my O1. Blackberry is out because I don't want everything (EVERYTHING!) funneled through Blackberry's servers. Android is still in its infancy. Even if it does look good, and does pretty things, it still has a way to go before it gets as user-friendly (read update-able, customizable) as WM. Palm Pre and it's OS was pretty impressive a year ago, but they've taken way too long to move forward - progress on that entire front seems very, very slow. Besides, the keyboard keys were just too small.

So, I sit here with my O1 and see nothing better out there. I like updating my ROM to the latest and fastest at a whim. My 5.0 MP camera with flash is still near the top of the competition's specs. GPS and phone work great and I can make it look and work almost any way I want. Free apps are easy to find. I can upgrade in less than 4 months, but I have yet to see a better phone out there....at least for now. :)

As far as your comment on Android "Even if it does look good, and does pretty things, it still has a way to go before it gets as user-friendly (read update-able, customizable) as WM." Umm... I think if you were to go to youtube and search "HTC Hero" and watch the first video that plays, you'll see that Android is well alot more user friendly AND customisable than winmo has ever been. I'm actually shocked to hear someone say that about Android. Customization and ease of use are pretty much the selling points of a phone with the Android Sense UI running on it. Have you ever actually see a demo of it in action or played with one?

[Guest arirang]

Just got my HTC droid Eris a few days ago and my opinions on it compared to the Omnia i910 are as follows:

touchscreen: The Eris touchscreen is capacitive and the omnia's is resistive... need I say more?

OS: Android is far easier to navigate than winmo. Everything takes way less time to get to, change, and modify.

Interface: Sense UI pretty much murders all stock and or third party UI's on all fronts. Speed, fluidity and eye candy are all of course oustanding etc.

processor: Better than the Omnia's

memory: Better than the Omnia's.

Battery life: Actually NOT better than the Omnia's. (Probably because there is so much going on with android).

Camera: Color is better than the i910. Not as much tweakability to the type of shots you can take though. Viewing photos is alot smoother though on the Eris.

Virtual Keyboard: Of course easier to use on the Eris due to the differences in screen type.

Trackball: Well...it's a trackball...

Messaging: Smoother and easier to use on Eris, also, all contacts are integrated alot better with apps.

Applications: way more quality on android marketplace. way more free apps than winmo, and all the free apps i've tried so far are just as good quality as paid apps.

I know that this is a pretty quick and not so professional run down on the Eris but I'd like to point out that between owning the omnia and the Eris, I switched to the BB Storm for about two months. That's another horror story in itself. My point here is not to slam winmo. I used winmo phones for about three years and the whole time was spent sort of liking it but never quite being satisfied and always having to do some kind of hacking just to make it bearable. The truth of the matter is that If you like winmo, stick with winmo. But, if you like any of the above comparisons that favor Android and more specifically the Eris, then you should definitely give one a whirl if you are up for an upgrade soon. I for one still don't understand some flamers that get on here and slam android, iphone and any other OS that isn't winmo. Winmo compared to some of the newer players lacks on alot of fronts and from what I have seen there is sort of an evolutionary refusal or roadblock if you will on microsoft's part. All I know is I have been right along side with alot of you guys flashing from rom to rom sometimes 4 to five times a week and for once I can finally say that I am actually happy not having to do that to try obtain some sort of satisfaction.

i fiddled with the eris and really enjoyed it, and it's on my shortlist. however, i'm curious to see how many OS upgrades it will be compatible/eligible for beyond 2.0. google is churning out new revs literally every business quarter so a minor concern of mine is investing contractual time and $$$ for a device that gets left behind in the OS/apps upgrade race before it's barely out of the gate. apps developers will hedge their time and money keeping up with latest revs, and divest from older revs--bearing in mind that "old" in this market is typically less than 6ms :)

Edited January 31, 2010 by arirang

[Guest arirang]

How will psychologists describe the iPhone syndrome in the future? interesting read

[Guest Stevenlomb]

I'm hoping that by the time Nexus One gets to Verizon, all the bugs will be worked out.

I love WinMo, but Android might be just as customizable. If not now, maybe soon.

[Guest arirang]

I'm hoping that by the time Nexus One gets to Verizon, all the bugs will be worked out.

I love WinMo, but Android might be just as customizable. If not now, maybe soon.

if the rumors are true about winmo7--no multitasking, locked-in synching with zune app. i think android may be the OS to rule them all.

[Guest rfarrah]

if the rumors are true about winmo7--no multitasking, locked-in synching with zune app. i think android may be the OS to rule them all.

Just ran across this:

http://www.elsemobile.com/#/Touch/ThesPlay

(You have to go thorugh their portal with a few information pieces before you get where you want to go. Hang in there.)

Totally new phone and OS. Not out yet, but the UI looks interesting.

[Guest arirang]

Just ran across this:

http://www.elsemobile.com/#/Touch/ThesPlay

(You have to go thorugh their portal with a few information pieces before you get where you want to go. Hang in there.)

Totally new phone and OS. Not out yet, but the UI looks interesting.

it looks promising, and there is definitely a GUI-based paradigm shift taking place all across the field.

also, based on several reports, including this, it appears that 4G/LTE roll-out and full deployment will be a major and costly cross-road for phone manufacturers. phones would have to be backwards compatible as far as 2G. therefore, holding out for a 4G/LTE phone in 2010 [and even 2011] may be moot and more vapor than reality.

google's android shows no sign of intelligence when it comes to unifying/streamlining a very fragmented OS ecosystem. the iphone and blackberry has moved to the top of my list. winmo7 is also still vaporware in my book and not in the running until i actually can fiddle with one.

i have a year remaining on my contract, and the OS/service landscape will dramatically change [more openess? more closed?] when it's time to decide. so expect continued waffling :-D

Edited February 23, 2010 by arirang

[Guest arirang]

interesting POV from a BB->iphone->BB user

http://designmind.frogdesign.com/blog/good...blackberry.html

[Guest cruddasj]

My next phone would be an HTC touch pro 2 IF it were a bit slimmer and had a higher cam res/flash (and a capacitive screen would be nice =/)

Reasons being that it can be flashed from SD so custom ROMs are pretty safe to flash to the phone :( Android can be run on it using haret and has nearly ALL features working :( just needs some further tweaks and it should be there! Awesome qwerty staggered keyboard too :(

Would definately not get an iPhone. I want a phone, not a fashion accesory. If you want to argue against that apple fans, learn what a proxy server is then try and connect your iPhone to it. You'll find it wont work on version 3.0 and higher because it is buggy.....it doesnt just work, in fact it doesnt work at all. Also pressure points in its design means you'll easily crack your screen when you drop it (i have seen so so many broken screens, all in the same way) Yes windows mobile has its flaws, but then microsoft doesnt claim for its products to be perfect, and your not paying through the nose for hardware/software that is nothing new to the mobile world (copy & paste.....woohooo!, and holy crap! a camera!)

As for my HTC hopes....maybe the htc tera will be the answer :( at least it should have a few of the extra features i was looking for :(

[Guest arirang]

if you got your omnia before 11/09 then your ETF is only $135. if after then, it's $350. i'm in the former group, and this has really got me DIGGING hard in research and forum-lurking. however, the more i dig and lurk, the more i realize giving up the omnia i910 is NOT so easy. if you thought last year was busy with new makes and OS udpates, wait till this summer.

*verizon is desperately trying to clear their stock of droids and eris with BOGO offers.

*google nexus is a clusterf*ck when it comes to customer support--who you gonna call? t-mobile? HTC? google? good luck!

*android platform is so fragmented it has fragmented the android community over who should get an OTA 2.1 update first. droid? eris? though google says it want them all to run 2.1, not all will run it well.

*HTC is coming out with more models to confuse the consumer even more.

*blackberry video/camera HW sucks--i'm an amateur photographer. i like to share good pics/vids. not crappy ones.

*the iphone is due for a refresh in the summer so i'd rather wait and get new contract discount on a 4G then the current 3GS. however, there's still the issue of well-documented dropped calls, and spotty data connection with its carrier. look to see how well ATT handles the iphone mob at this year's austin, tx SXSW--this will be a litmus test.

...and they all have crappy battery- and talk-time. the eris is the worst [3.5hrs per OEM].

the more research i do, the more i like my omnia. thanks to the chefs, winmo 6.5.3 [28223] is a balanced performer and battery-sipper. i like how it organizes mms, sms, exchange and domain accts. the GPS chip could be better, but i've done location-based lock-on races with friends' BB, and iphone, and i get an AGPS lock as fast, and though last, GPS locks minutes later. its camera/video is peerless among smartphones. the overall build is tough--nothing loose, the connector's dust-cover is still firmly attached, the telescopic stylus still snaps and clicks, ALL the buttons are responsive like new. and it still looks SEXY. i know resistive screens are a thing of the past, but the omnia works really well. while iphone users are literally poking at their iphones with sausages, i just grab whatever has a point that wont scratch--add swype keyboard and now you're typing.

at this juncture, i really dont feel like i'm using an OLD phone. samsung got it right on the i910--affordable, use-able, durable, flexible, powerful, i could go on and on...which i have :(

if i've got anything wrong, pls link to correct info. we ALL want to make an informed decision.

Edited March 3, 2010 by arirang

[Guest rfarrah]

I agree! There is STILL nothing better out there for the money if quality, customizing, and overall cell experience are what you're after....as long as you're okay with the virtual keyboard. And I am.

[Guest arirang]

so i finagled a 2yr contract renewal [incl. phone discount], and am awaiting the moto droid. if you got your omnia before 11/01/09 then your ETF is still $135. it's a compelling bargaining chip--i told them dollar and cents-wise, it would be cheaper for me to cancel with them and go somewhere else and take of advantage of other carriers' new activation phone discounts.

i researched HARD, and it was down to android or BB. unforunately, with BB OS5.0 in the horizon, software developers are holding off their updates [ie--evernote, qik, etc.] until its official release and list of models are official. moreover, i read reviews on newer BB models [ie-tour 9630] that all complained of short battery life compared to older models [curve 8330]. in the past, long-battery life was the BB's strength; however, as RIM adds on more features and eye-candy, it is finding itself in the same boat as other emerging smart phones.

the android platform is ideal for me since since i fully utilize google's services [picasa, gmail, gvoice, etc]. so it boiled down to choosing an existing model [eris, nexus1, G1, droid]. Eris's is great except for its glaringly poor battery life among its peers. nexus1 customer support is too convoluted. G1 is on a carrier that i feel doesnt match big red's coverage, so that left me with the droid [with its warts and all]. plus, android's update/upgrade roadmap will include the droid much longer than the eris and G1. holding off on a senseUI-skinned HTC wasnt appealing either since HTC needs to mod android upgrades to SenseUI first THEN release the upgrade. ASFAIK, droid and nexus are bare-bones; consequently, at the front of the line for upgrades.

i will miss the omnia's high, quality build and HW components--very hand-held friendly, SD-card storage, dedicated camera button [w/quick&long press options], start-end call buttons, optical mouse, amazing camera, powerful battery, customizable Main menu bottom [quick&long press]. if samsung had come out with an omnia replica with an android platform and just a few HW upgrades [capacitative screen, 3.5mm headphone jack, standard micro-usb, GPS], i would've chosen it in a heart beat.

i am sensing a common strategy with all platform developers [ala iphone and BB]--control the HW and diversity as much as possible. HTC needs to trim its line otherwise it risks fueling the osborne-effect, and confusing consumers with its steady stream of new releases.

Edited March 15, 2010 by arirang

[Guest rickhamilton620]

I'd choose the HD2 if Microsoft wouldn't have killed it's upgradability to WP7S. I love my Omnia but find the screen to be just a bit too small for easy typing. The HD2 solves that but then MS take's the wind out of the US launch (essentially osborne effecting the device) by saying it won't be upgradable directly. After hearing that it might be a formidable challenge for people to port WP7S to the HD2 w/out a upgrade, I'm torn because while I love Windows Mobile 6, I want the choice to take advantage of the apps that developers are only releasing for the "in" platforms. It's disheartening every time I want to try something like Slacker or last.fm free and find out "oh its only on iPhone and Android." Hell, even the BlackBerry get's better new app support! Engadget released a app...for everything but Windows Mobile. It gets kinda frustrating after a while I guess, esp. since the Omnia's hardware is still one of the most attractive, robust, handset's I've used.

[Guest renee613]

I am taking a break from my omnia and using my husbands blackberry storm for awhile. and so far I am loving it :) my omnia was having some serious touchscreen problems (got to the point that I was using the optical mouse more than the touchscreen)and I was ready for a change. at first I thought the storm touch screen was a nuisance but now that I got the hang of it, I think its awesome. when it comes to customization, the crackberry apps r endless.

I am eligible for an upgrade and Ive been holding out for the nexus one but as of right now vzw doesnt have it. I read somewhere that sprints getting it now. according to rumors i read somewhere else it was supposed to be released through vzw TODAY. anyway, when I decide to use my upgrade my next phone is definitely gonna b an android device or storm 2.