Got my Motorola Milestone

Android Phones

My family members have iPhones - and they look great.  They seem to perform well, the user interface is superb - another great example of Apple's excellent design and business execution.

However, I quite often like to walk to the beat of a different drum.  Since I run Ubuntu on my laptop at home, I have always planned to get an Android phone.

Why Android?

When it was first announced that Google was creating an Open Source operating system for phones/PDAs - I was immediately interested.  I believe there are a number of issues around how Apple controls the applications that are available for downloading.

Oh, and you HAVE to buy their hardware to get their operating system...

Which Device?

That's a hard one.  I have just bought a Motorola Milestone (Droid in the USA).  It has a screen that appears a smidgen longer than the iPhone.  After using it for a few days, my immediate thoughts are that it's a pretty good platform.  It also has the benefit of a side-sliding keypad if you want to write longer text input.  It has multi-touch AND it uses Corning's Gorilla Glass - so it's a lot tougher and scratch resistant.

Motorola Milestone

The Future?

At present the number of applications for the iPhone exceeds those for the Android, but think about it a bit more...  You have one platform where a company controls the applications that get listed, and another platform that has both an organised marketplace AND the ability for companies to publish their own applcations.

Many of the useful applications for the iPhone have already been made available for Android phones.  Last night I installed Shazam - an application that "listens" to some music that's playing (not on your device - as long as it's audible), then tells you the name of the song, the artist and a load of other information - amazing.

One last thing.  Like Ubuntu, Android is based on Linux - so it has to be good.

;-D

Configuring the Milestone for Optus

I use Optus as my carrier.  When I connected to the Optus network, it didn't auto configure my settings for Internet access, etc.  For those of you who gt a Milestone on Optus, here is what you have to do (credit to GeekyGirl in this post)

Name: Optus

APN: internet

Proxy:
Port:
Username:
Password:
Server:
MMSC:
MMS Proxy:
MMS Port:
MCC: 505
MNC: 02
APN Type:

Name: Optus Internet
APN: yesinternet
Proxy:
Port:
Username: * -- just an asterix here nothing else

Password: *

Server: *

MMSC:
MMS Proxy:
MMS Port:
MCC: 505
MNC: 02
APN Type:

MMS Settings -

Name: Optus MMS
APN: mms
Proxy: 202.139.83.152
Port: 8070
Username: *
Password: *
Server: *
MMSC: http://mmsc.optus.com.au:8002/
MMS Proxy: 61.88.190.10
MMS Port: 8070
MCC: 505
MNC: 02
APN Type: mms