I just picked up my San Francisco! Findings as I go in here...

[Guest Simon O]

Really torn now, just got the pulse working nicely and this new kid "San Francisco" arrives. Flibblesan will you stop Pulse ROM development if you get the San Fransico?

Nope, I'll do both :lol:

[Guest Gigahurtz]

Nope, I'll do both :lol:

Great news, only asked because iv'e loved your hard work and ive convinced about six people to buy Pulse after showing them your Rom.

[Guest Paul]

Android 3.0 requires much higher specs than this phone. I would say that this phone will have at least 2-3 years of use as long as a Froyo port is made.

No wireless N or HSDPA

No flash on the phone. use myplayer for BBC iPlayer content

Slower CPU is the main disadvantage. Galaxy S has a 1Ghz snapdragon which is a lot quicker than the 600MHz MSM7227 in the sanfran.

Google Maps should be installed on the device already. It's part of the Google Android experience.

It does have HSDPA I believe?

P

[Guest Fulch]

Well, this has certainly complicated my phone purchasing choices. Considered the Pulse but was a little bit underwhelmed by the specs, same with the Wildfire. I then found out I can get a Samsung i5700 for about £130 unlocked, then this thing comes along and over complicates things!!! I'm going off to Uni next year and will be doing some general Android app development but also some games development - therefore I need the phone to have some semi-decent 3D performance (not at the level of the Galaxy S or anything). I know that the i5700 is having a new 3D driver written for it but that was supposed to be released a month ago... So if there is ANY help anyone can give that will aid me in my decision then it would be very much appreciated :lol:

[Guest jlgmax]

Any news on the camera quality ? Similar specs to the Pulse but as we all know the Pulse camera was next to useless....!

[Guest Oysterman]

Dammit - if i lived in the UK i would sell my Pulse asap and get one of these.

Quite sure they will charge a LOT more for this in Austria and/or tie it to a 2 year contract -

if they ever sell this here. :lol:

[Guest Samlock]

Nope, I'll do both :lol:

That's made the decision for me, off to Orange I go today then! Lets just hope they have some in stock >.<

[Guest flash2004]

Any news on the camera quality ? Similar specs to the Pulse but as we all know the Pulse camera was next to useless....!

Camera quality is not good.. Just read it on some other post....

[Guest Simon O]

It does have HSDPA I believe?

P

Hm I was told it doesn't.. if it does have it then it makes the phone even better.

[Guest jlgmax]

Camera quality is not good.. Just read it on some other post....

Hmmm...shame but perhaps too much to ask on a £99 device !!

[Guest supertwisted]

I've been playing with mine a bit, and I've noticed the WiFi reception is fairly poor, I'm sat infront of a Airport Extreme, Ive got full strength on my macbook, two iPhones and a Palm Pre, but the SanFrancisco says the wifi signal is 'poor'

The camera is rubbish in Low Light, I've been taking some pictures and then doing the same with my iPhone4, I'll upload the comparison later..

Wifi reception seems to vary depending how you hold the phone, gripping it with your hand wrapped round it decreases reception dramatically. Holding it with your fingers, PSP style, results in pretty clear signal.

That said, even on low reception I've had no issues with speed or loss of connection.

[Guest dwl99]

detailed spec here

Appears to have HSPDA

[Guest Simon O]

detailed spec here

Appears to have HSPDA

PDAnet are often wrong with specs, sadly. Looks like they really need to update the page for the Blade...

[Guest supertwisted]

How about the leds? Do we have several or just one?

All 3 hard keys have LEDs - they are all backlit white in low light automatically, the right 'back' key also glows red (not sure what function that indicates yet as I haven't read the manual!)

[Guest puj]

The manual says there are icons for hspa : http://help.orange.co.uk/orangeuk/com.inst...924&Usage=2

Also the orange website mentions 3G+, so it is there.

[Guest Simon O]

The manual says there are icons for hspa : http://help.orange.co.uk/orangeuk/com.inst...924&Usage=2

Also the orange website mentions 3G+, so it is there.

Fantastic.

[Guest Paul]

I was particularly impressed by the ambient light sensor (auto brightness) and proximity sensor (screen off when near face).

Those are pretty high end features imho.

P

[Guest Simon O]

This is just bonkers. All these high end features for a low end price. Orange must be seriously subsidising these.

[Guest The Soup Thief]

PDAnet are often wrong with specs, sadly. Looks like they really need to update the page for the Blade...

True enough. At one point a couple of months back the pdadb sheet for the Blade was claiming it would have a 1000mhz processor. That sparked my interest for sure, but people here are reporting it's nippy enough...

Off topic, but the Orange Boston, forthcoming in France looks interesting too. Similar kind of spec Foxconn manufactured handset, but a smaller screen and a 5mp camera

Looks like Orange are bringing out a lot of new branded handsets over the coming while (as with LG and their Optimus series - the One and the Chic being the next couple). I wonder if Project JAL, rather than being the SanFran handset itself, might refer to this range of Orange branded Android devices? Just a thought

Proper question now - I live in Ireland at the mo and hope to buy an Orange San Francisco and bring it over here for use on Vodafone Ireland (no Orange over here so it will unlikely to be sold here). When you first boot this phone, I'm guessing it will need to connect to Orange and do it's registration procedure on the network. Does anyone know if it would need to be in the UK to do that or would I be able to do that on Roaming? (until it can be unlocked). It's significant, cos if I can do it all from here I can mail order it to mum's over the coming days then just have her post the box over, while if it needs booted with the UK network first time, then I'd best wait til I'm next over there, buy it and sort it out before coming back

Thanks for any suggestions

Edited September 24, 2010 by The Soup Thief

[Guest dwl99]

I just discovered that Orange give a £20 discount for NHS workers for any handset over £30!!!

[Guest Paul]

Bah. :lol:

P

[Guest Paul]

And 10% for students on production of NUS card?

P

[Guest daniel_owen_uk]

Just talked the missus into letting me have one (lost my Hero on stag night so in bad books).

Can someone confirm this has HSDPA?

And can we have a user review on the screen? Brightness? Viewing Angle? Contrast? Input?

Thanks very much :lol:

(just checked local shop and they have 2 in stock, hopefully still have them tomorrow morning)

Edit; Sweet just saw the NHS thing, I work for them :)

Edited September 24, 2010 by daniel_owen_uk

[Guest fluxcapacitor]

I'm just about to get one today so i'll take a load of photos and maybe do a little review.

I had a quick play with one in the shop, the viewing angle looks very good, no inverting of colours.

[Guest supertwisted]

And can we have a user review on the screen? Brightness? Viewing Angle? Contrast? Input?

Thanks very much :lol:

The screen is what most impresses me, very bright and saturated colours and great blacks. Briefly compared it to a colleagues Desire yesterday and it looked as good if not better.

How they specced a screen like that for less than a ton I don't know.