After using Android 2.1 — and some custom ROMs — for the past five months, I’m impressed overall with Android 2.2, aka: Froyo. The user interface provides nice enhancements and the system is slightly faster. Here are some hands on thoughts from the past day.
Google plans to close its online retail store for the Nexus One handset in the U.S. and instead pursue the mobile operator retail model it uses in Europe with Vodafone. A failed experiment? Perhaps, but at least now Google won’t be competing with its partners.
I finally took the plunge and flashed a Sense UI ROM on my Google Nexus One. My first impressions are overwhelmingly positive — if those don’t get you excited about running Sense, then the screenshots of HTC’s interface surely will.
Since I’ve stated my desire for a Snapdragon-powered Android device for the past few months now, the Google Nexus One (s goog) is definitely on my radar. But it’s not yet available, which means a current Android purchase would be for something like the HTC Hero or Motorola Droid. So just how does the Nexus One stack up in terms of size when compared with the Hero? HTC Nexus One has the goods and shows the physical difference between a Nexus One, a Hero and an Apple iPhone 3GS (s appl), just for good measure.
Even more exciting than the size comparisons is the above silent but telling video walk-through — it demonstrates the speed and fluidity of the user interface when paired with a speedy ARM processor like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon (s qcom). At this rate, I might as well make a 2010 prediction right now — there’s a good chance I’ll be grabbing a Nexus One next year.
