Some HTC Desire screen captures for Jon

[Steve]

Jon, I know you've ordered one of these so I thought I'd post up a few screen captures to show you how awesome this phone is!

 

You can create "scenes" that consist of 7 screens. The phone comes with several pre-configured scenes, including a blank slate, but you can literally add shortcuts to whatever you like to any of the screens, delete what you don't want etc.

 

Here's my 7 screens: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/4.png

 

The wallpaper I'm using is a live wallpaper, so those circles of light slowly float around.

 

My home screen with a few shortcuts: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/2.png

 

The phone detects your current location and displays the weather.

 

Friendstream screen: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/0.png

 

This shows friends' status updates and messages from any social networking sites you're a member of.

 

Email screen: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/1.png

 

Not much to see here!

 

Favourite contacts screen: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/3.png

 

The phone will automatically link a contact to their Facebook page if they have one (denoted by the little blue F sign in the corner of some of the contact pics), then it'll show status updates (denoted by the green circle, as you can see on Claire's pic) and the person's profile photo. You can choose what you want the phone to do when you touch the icon for a friend, so you can have it so you view their profile, you can have it so it just calls them, and there's a couple of other options.

 

BBC news feed: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/6.png

 

Clicking an article takes you to the full article on the BBC's website.

 

Another screen with widgets and shortcuts: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/7.png

 

At the top is a music player widget. The phone is linked to my Last.FM account, so it automatically "scrobbles" any tunes I listen to. Underneath that is a power control widget with shortcuts so I can quickly turn on/off bluetooth, wi-fi, GPS etc., then underneath that are a few more shortcuts.

 

Weather screen: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/9.png

 

It will detect your current location, and you can also add as many other locations as you like manually, then you scroll up and down through them with a swipe of your finger.

 

The lock screen when the phone is used as a music player: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/5.png

 

When you press the unlock key, that screen comes up, so you can skip tracks, pause and so on. Swiping down on the curved bar with the clock on it unlocks the phone.

 

This thing is SO customisable it's untrue.

[Steve]

Here's a couple of free apps I like: -

 

Google Earth: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/a.png

 

1337pwn Xbox Live friends list: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/b.png

 

That gives live updates of when your friends come online and go offline. You can also view their profiles and achievements: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/d.png

 

Google sat nav with turn by turn directions: -

 

http://www.djfbattles.com/sigma/desire/c.png

[djdiggla]

DOPE!

 

...I need to reup my 360 account!

...and friend Claire and Carol. XO

[iexist]

...and friend Claire and Carol. XO

[Jon]

sweeeeeeeeeet

[doppelkorn]

Shit steve you're already a power user. I kind of settled in the "not really sure how to work this bit" stage.

 

It's totally true that you get what you put in with smart phones. I wish I had mine properly set up with the scenes. I can't ever get th BBC feed to work properly. Grrr!

[Steve]

Haha, I dunno about that man. Most of those screens are the default screens when you get the phone. When I first started messing about with it, I was just adding shortcuts for apps to the screens, but then I joined Android Forums and looked at some of the images people had posted of their screens and I realised there was more I could do.

 

Here's the thread on Android Forums: -

 

http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/84650-show-us-your-desire-homescreens.html

[doppelkorn]

Cheers Steve that's bosssssss

[Wax On]

...and friend Claire and Carol. XO

lol no doubt!

 

So Carols your little sister then Steve...

[texas pete]

Dammit Steve... I hate you!

 

The iPhone 4 is released here at the weekend. and I have been sat on my contract after it expired so I can upgrate as soon as it was released. However, im now having second thoughts !

 

I still really want the iPhone becasue of a few speicality apps that i dont think that will ever be on the android (like the local tram and bus timetables) Also I have spent ages arranging my music in itunes with all the right artwork etc. Yes, Itunes is a pain, but at least evrything is arranged nicely in 1 place. I dont really mind too much about the antennae issue becasue i rarely use my phone for calls. i would say 80% internet and apps, 15% messages and 5% calls so i am not too bothered about calls being dropped while holding it worng.

 

So a few questions that might just sway me to the dark side...

 

Does it have an inbuilt radio ? (im too lazy to look at the specs )

What is the touch screen button response time ? Since I upgraded my 3G to the new OS I can bash buttons for about 30 seconds before it catches up and then you hit 3 or 4 things that you didnt want to (dangerous while facebook stalking).

How does the file transfer work between the computer and phone for music albums? Is it like drag and drop like with digital cameras tjhen the phone arranges the playlists by what it sees in the folders ?

Does the screen feel scratch resistant ? I dont like phone cases, and my iphone has survived really well for 1 and a half years of jean pocket scraping without any scratches to the face.

Does the internet browser reload the pages automatically once you have moved away from the original page ? (its hard to explain so i will try explain what I mean) I go to an internet page that is updated frequently, click on a link, a new page opens up and starts to load. After I have finished with the new window, i close it down and then it puts me back on the original webpage, but it then automatically starts to reload the page even though it was only loaded a few minutes earlier. really gets on my wick.

 

Cheers!

[Chris]

i'm famous!

[djdiggla]

...and friend Claire and Carol. XO

lol no doubt!

 

So Carols your little sister then Steve...

 

aaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

[Steve]

Does it have an inbuilt radio ? (im too lazy to look at the specs )

Yep, although I haven't used it because I have wireless bluetooth headphones and you need to use wired headphones for the radio to work as the wire acts as the antenna.

 

What is the touch screen button response time ?

Instant. It's a more powerful phone than the 3GS with twice the RAM and a 1 GHz processor instead of 600 MHz. The iPhone 4 is also more powerful than the 3GS though so I wouldn't assume you'd have response time issues with that either.

 

How does the file transfer work between the computer and phone for music albums? Is it like drag and drop like with digital cameras tjhen the phone arranges the playlists by what it sees in the folders ?

Yep, it's drag and drop. The phone only has 512 MB of internal memory, but it comes with a 4 GB microSD card that can be replaced by one that's up to 32 GB in size. The phone reads the music tags and then you can browse by artist, genre etc. I'm not sure if you can auto-sync music with the Desire as it's not something I need to do.

 

Does the screen feel scratch resistant ?

That's a hard one to answer mate. The screen is glass according to the specs, so it should be pretty scratch resistant. I put a screen protector on mine though (the official HTC one) and it doesn't affect the feel or responsiveness of the screen.

 

The Internet browser doesn't do that annoying thing you're describing. It also supports Flash (Flash 10.1 when Android 2.2 is released too). There are various browsers you can download for free although I've just stuck with the default one for now because it works fine.

 

I couldn't say which phone I think is better as I've not used an iPhone 4. If you want a phone that runs IOS then it's Apple or nothing, while with Android you have a choice of handsets, some more powerful than the Desire. HTC phones use HTC's own custom interface on top of Android (called Sense UI) and other manufacturers may also use their own front ends or they may just use the stock Android interface. One thing I really like about Android is how customisable it is. I can start with 7 completely blank screens and add widgets, shortcuts, folders, programs etc. where I like. The app store isn't as locked down either and you can download apps directly from the web, put them on an SD card and install them (like you can with a jailbroken iPhone). If you like tinkering, you can "root" the phone (kind of like jailbreaking an iPhone) using a 1-click app and then you can install custom version of Android as it's an open source operating system and there's a big developer community behind it.

 

I think if you're happy with your iPhone 3G/3GS, then the iPhone 4 will be a good choice for you, because you know that you can get the same apps you have now (I'm assuming all current apps are compatible with the iPhone 4 though - they may not be) and the extra power should sort the responsiveness issues. Maybe try and download a different browser too. An Android phone may be better for you, it may be worse - I wouldn't really like to say. While it doesn't have the issues you asked about, there may be other things about it that you don't like. If the iPhone is locked down to a particular carrier where you live, I'd also check to see what monthly deals are like on Android phones, because in the US for example, you can pay much less for the same monthly service if you go with Android, but that's not really the case in the UK and it might not be the case where you live. That said, overall I'm paying less than if I'd got an iPhone 4, but that's only because of the cost of the phone itself. Unlocked, the Desire is about £390 where an iPhone is £499 and £599 depending on whether you go for the 16 or 32 GB version so obviously the handset price affects the deals you can get on a contract.

[doppelkorn]

Don't be evil - buy Android

 

Is there actually more powerful handsets than the desire Steve, excluding tablets?

[Steve]

Don't be evil - buy Android

 

Is there actually more powerful handsets than the desire Steve, excluding tablets?

I guess it depends how you define "powerful". Just looking at the CPU and RAM, I think only the Samsung Galaxy S is more powerful in terms of phones you can buy right now and it's not really a huge leap in power as it just uses a different kind of CPU that has the same clock speed, but pushes out a little more grunt. I believe it has a slightly better GPU as well. One or two Android phones have slightly higher res screens and cameras. Certainly, there's no phone out there that puts the Desire to shame though, otherwise I'd have bought it instead!

 

The minimum specs for Android 3 will be a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM, so we're all good for updates long into the future. That's one of the reasons I went for the Desire, because I didn't really fancy the Galaxy S and I didn't want to wait any longer before buying a phone, so I made sure I wouldn't be left feeling gutted if a swanky new version of the OS appeared that my phone couldn't run. By the time that happens, we'll be ready for upgrading our phones anyway.

 

Android 2.2 offers a decent boost in performance over 2.1 (as well as new features) and if you have an unlocked phone, HTC should be rolling that out some time in the next couple of months. People with locked phones will have to wait for their carriers to roll out the update, as they'll want to add their own branding and what not to it. If you root your phone, you can actually install 2.2 now. Amongst other things, the Desire will be capable of recording video in HD once 2.2 hits. You also get the ability to install apps to the microSD card, rather than them having to go on the internal memory.

[texas pete]

Nice one Steve... ever the bearer of information!

 

At the momnet it seems like a complete dead heat to me between the 2 phones.

 

Iphone 4

+ better display

+ already all my music and apps are sorted

- dodgy antenae

- no radio

 

HTC

+ radio

+ customisable

- rejigging my music collection

- losing my good apps

[Steve]

Which city do you live in, Pete? I can have a look if there's apps for local bus/tram timetables. There's one for the UK that uses GPS and tells you exactly when the next bus is due wherever you are, but I know you're not in the UK right now. Are there any other apps you use, where you want to see if there are Android equivalents?

 

I think in your case though, the iPhone maybe edges it, simply because it does almost everything you want and you're used to it. I don't think you can ever find a phone that's 100% perfect.

[djdiggla]

Steve has somehow kept this thread on topic, despite all our efforts, Wax.

[Wax On]

on the contrary, i think he's kept it on topic because of our efforts!

[Dan]

Nice one Steve... ever the bearer of information!

 

At the momnet it seems like a complete dead heat to me between the 2 phones.

 

Iphone 4

+ better display

+ already all my music and apps are sorted

- dodgy antenae

- no radio

 

HTC

+ radio

+ customisable

- rejigging my music collection

- losing my good apps

 

I've had the iPhone 4 for a few days and it's stunning! iOS 4 runs nice and fast with no lag at all and the screen makes the 3GS look like a toy. I've only noticed a small signal drop when totally covering the corner, no where near as bad as what some web sites but then some people have said the don't get any loss at all. Can't comment on the desire as I've only had a quick go.

[Bubba]

I bought an HTC Hero with Android 2.0 on it and after 3 Months basically threw it in the corner. It sucked. First issue: I own a mac. At that time the HTC and Mac were completely incompatible (even whilst hooking up over a USB cable). Second the blue tooth didn't work, so I couldn't back up my contacts, which pissed me off endlessly (i.e. not over my old phone, nor over my computer). Third the phone software got hooked up all the time, and the touch screen was soooooo slow. Then the updating of facebook profiles never worked. Then my clock started lagging, then my alarm clock wouldn't ring anymore and only vibrate. Then it would start calling people and not answering the phone properly. And finally I listened to my music via headphones once, and since then I can't use the phone anymore, because the headphones sign is always on and no there isn't a hardware problem.

Because I can't be arsed to manually put in all my contacts again (yes I have more than one can put on a sim and there is no contact back-up via the SD-card) and gave up and started using my old phone again. Oh btw the signal on my oldphone is MIIIIIIIILES better than with my hero.

 

So sadly, HTC died with it's first product in my books. Up until then Sony Ericsson was my board leader. Now I'm gonna try an Iphone 4 and see what that's like...

 

pee.z

[texas pete]

Im in Basel, CH so the special apps i use alot are the SBB timetable and local.ch (the one for the loacal timetables that uses the GPS)

[Steve]

There is a version of the local.ch app for Android. There was an unofficial version of the SBB app, but it looks like SBB forced the devs to remove it because it used their logos. There's other apps available, such as Timetable CH and Timetable Switzerland. The latter uses data provided by SBB. It looks good actually and has an average user rating of 4.9 out of 5 with over 1,400 ratings but obviously I couldn't say how any of these apps compare with the iPhone ones.

 

If you go to AppBrain.com and search for those apps, you can see screenshots and the feature lists.

[iexist]

ive had no issues with my antenna on my iphone4... dont let the media scare you.

[djfoly]

I have an iPhone 3gs but the desire is fucking amazing. They are quick too. I dont think there is much between them though unless you subscribe to all that wiget bizness!