When I announced this “news” on Twitter and Facebook last night I think I stunned just about everyone of my friends and followers. I got a lot of questions like “What did Android do wrong?” but did get a few statements like “I knew you’d be back” … when I left last month, I didn’t intend to come back. But there were a few lingering issues that I just couldn’t get past.

Subsidies

The Nexus One I purchased cost me $529 direct from Google. So I take that phone and attach it to my AT&T account and then pay AT&T the same amount of money for my voice, data and TXT messages as I would if I were on a 2-year agreement. AT&T spends nothing upfront and makes a larger profit from me than it does for someone who spends $199 for a iPhone 4. The obvious benefit for me is that I can take my phone and go to another carrier, or cancel my account anytime I want. But here’s the kicker… my only real choice is AT&T.

Beyond the logistical issues of having every friend and family member I know being on AT&T (free mobile to mobile) and the fact that they have one of the better networks in the Kansas City area… Google for some reason designed two different Nexus Ones. One radio optimized for T-Mobile and one for AT&T. So if I decided I was fed up and wanted to move to T-Mobile, I’d basically cripple my phone by relegating it to EDGE network data speeds. And since obviously Verizon and Sprint are on different technologies, they’re not even something to be considered. Google would have been wise to use a radio that would work on both types of GSM networks, if that were possible. Realistically, I’m locked into AT&T, regardless of if I have a 2-year contract or not.

So the real question for me was, in order to make the value of owning the Nexus One “worth it” … was my experience with it more than 2.5x better than the iPhone 4?

Basically. No.

Quirks

Here’s the thing about reading reviews done by people who purchased the product with their own money… we tend to want to make ourselves feel good about the purchase, so things that might annoy an totally objective person are sometimes overlooked (or not mentioned.)

There were a few things about the Nexus One that annoyed me from the start, but were not enough to make me dislike it completely. If it was going head to head on price with the iPhone 4, I wouldn’t give them much of a second thought and would probably still consider elements on the device and the OS to be superior. But here are a few:

1. Nothing beats iTunes for syncing music. I tried a variety of solutions for Android and was really quite impressed with a program called Double Twist. But the Windows interface was worse than using iTunes on Windows, and the process of syncing tended to take a really long time.
2. The row of home, back and search buttons on my Nexus One were very picky. You have to touch them just above where the actual indicator button is for them to work properly. It’s something you get used to, but when you hand the phone to someone else, they tend to have a hard time getting it to work.
3. Battery life was less than stellar. The more I used the device, the more I saw where I was coming very close to not being able to go through the day without a recharge. Since I’m not much of a night owl (I’m usually at home or even in bed by 10PM on a Saturday) it didn’t hit me too bad. I did initially purchase a second battery for the device, but I never used it.
4. I found the ear hole for the speaker to be in an old location, at least compared to the iPhone. I had to hold the edge of the phone up to my ear to hear other people clearly. It was something I had to get used to, but found to be somewhat bothersome.
5. The on-screen keyboard was just not as accurate as the iPhone version. In fact I found the touch screen to be somewhat laggy compared to the iPhone. By this I mean, the iPhone screen seems what I would describe as “spring loaded” — snappy and ready to flip from around with ease. On the Nexus One it was common to try and flip two or even three times before the screen reacted.

Applications

Despite what I initially said, the Android Marketplace has a long way to go before it catches up with the App Store. While there were a sizable collection of applications that had been ported, many of them did not function anywhere as smoothly as the iPhone version. The Facebook for Android application was painful to use at times, forcing me to manually refresh pages to see updates or get notifications. This was common for most of the applications that I used, things that seemed to just happen naturally on the iPhone either required multiple menus or buttons to access, or the features were missing.

There is also something to be said for the investment in Apps that I’d made over the last two years as an owner of the iPhone 3G. I have hundreds of Apps in my iTunes library, and I’d paid for a sizable chunk of them. Many of them I could just not find a replacement for in Android. Really, the App Store is one of the smartest things Apple did to insure people stay with the platform.

Photography

Nowhere was this lack of Apps more obvious than in the world of photography, which is my main hobby. Apps like Photoshop Mobile, Best Camera and Camera+ were ones that I’d come to use often on my iPhone, and despite my fruitless searches, I could not find anything similar in the Android Marketplace. They were also Apps that I already owned, and couldn’t use.

There is also something to be said for the iPhone 4 camera, versus … well, anything in a phone… or even most point and shoots.

While not really photography, something else I found ridiculous about Android compared to the iPhone was how impossible it was to easily take a screenshot on the Nexus One without doing a USB tether to the Android SDK, or rooting the phone to install custom applications. It’s a simple process of clicking two buttons on the iPhone. Not that I often need to take screenshots, but I do it enough where it was bothersome.

Death Grip

I griped (a lot) about the iPhone 4 and the death grip. Why? Because it really teed me off. However, and I really hate to admit this, the Nexus One had a very similar issue.

While I could never get the signal to drop to the point where I would disconnect calls (which I can do on the iPhone 4) there was a noticeable decrease in signal strength when holding the phone, and the tighter the hold, the fewer the bars. It was not uncommon to watch my signal go from four bars (full) to one bar. Granted, the problem wasn’t simply touching a specific area of the phone like Apple seems to have engineered their device for… but the issue is there.

Another related issue, was I could never get my phone to remember to automatically reconnect to my home wireless. It had no issues at work, but for some reason when I came home I’d always have to enter the wireless settings and reconnect. It managed to save my SSID and WPA2 keys, so it only took a few seconds… but for some reason it would never stick. Same goes for leaving the phone on standby and then waking it up. It would connect to 3G but never Wifi without a little extra encouragement.

Discontinued

It never makes you feel good when you buy something and then two weeks later learn they’re not going to sell the product anymore. On the other hand, it made it a lot easier to find a buyer on eBay.

It’s Not All Bad

Even with my complaints about Android and the Nexus One. It’s not all bad. I still stand by my analysis of the intricacies of the operating systems from my previous review. Things like the notification system and the integration with Google services are really top notch and the notification system in iOS is something Apple really needs to address.

Synopsis

Will I miss my Nexus One? Yes.

Would I buy it again? Yes (subsidized) Would I encourage others to buy it? Yes.

Would I encourage others to look at Android? Yes

But in the end, I just couldn’t make it stick. Weighing all the factors, the iPhone, with it’s assorted Apps and features was the better choice for me. Forgive me Father Jobs, for I have strayed from the light. Please accept me back to the comfort of the Reality Distortion Field once again. I promise I’ll (probably) buy an iPad!

We had an overwhelming response and as a consolation prize to all our visitors, we’d like to offer you all a second chance to win!

Ivy Worldwide, which was our partner in giving away the last system, is conducting a survey of people involved with small and medium business, to get their opinions on technology purchases. It’s an easy, 15 question survey, that enters you into a random drawing to win a Lenovo A70z, as well as many other prizes.

• Grand prize: One Lenovo A70z all-in-one PC
• Second prize: Five prize packages, each containing one of each of the following three devices:
  • One LG Bluetooth headset (HBM-210)
  • One LG Bluetooth stereo headset (HBS-250)
  • One LG Bluetooth Solar Car Kit & Emergency Charger (HFB-500)

There are some caveats, and there is no set cut-off date for the contest. When Ivy receives a sufficient number of submissions they’ll take that data and select a winner. Only people who complete the survey fully will be eligible to win, and you’ll need to give them your e-mail address as that’s how they’ll contact you to let you know you’ve won. Don’t worry, they’re good people  and won’t give away your contact information to bad people. In fact, once the contest is over they’ll remove the contact data from their records forever.

We’re also looking forward to getting some other gear to giveaway in the coming months, so keep checking back for more awesome free stuff (and check back for our regularly scheduled IT content too while you’re at it.)

Complete the Survey

Ever since the iPhone supported Exchange, I’ve been a huge supporter. I’ve spent two good years on the iOS with my iPhone 3G. … When the iPhone 4 was announced, I followed the WWDC keynote with great anticipation. I ooh’d and aah’d at all the advances in design and software. … (after getting it) Taking it home that night, I started to notice something was a little off with my phone. … (antenna issues) I dropped a few calls that weekend, including one to my father who seem’d to have lost my mother, but I could make due. … The view from most of the people within the Apple world was that it was firmware related, and would be quickly fixed. Then Steve Jobs opened his mouth. … I found myself deeply disappointed in the device and the operating system. Enough so that I’ve made the switch to Android.

There, now that we’re all up-to-date, I’m happy to say that my Nexus One is activated and I’ve had the last couple days to play with it. Having had experience with many different mobile device styles and platforms, including Windows Mobile, Palm OS (the original, not the WebOS) and iPhone, I can honestly say that the Nexus One and Android OS is the best mobile experience I’ve ever had.

I say play, but really, I use my phone as a tool. It’s a tool for me to communicate with friends, family and co-workers. Not just through phone calls, but SMS, email, Facebook, Twitter and IM. I need that tool to work reliably all the time, because if its not, I’m going to miss out on the important events of my life. This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone with a smartphone. It’s pretty standard stuff.

I put a lot of thought into what device to make a switch to, so why did I choose the Nexus One? It’s been out since January, and can’t be considered a new device. In two weeks Motorola will release the Droid X and you can already get the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint, today.

• I needed a solid phone, now. Not on July 15, so that made the Droid X a non-starter.
• 2x I needed a solid phone now. Since the HTC Incredible is on backorder until the return of Jesus, it’s not an option, and thus Verizon was out since those were the only two phones I was interested in.
• Sprint’s network in Kansas City can be considered third world, in some areas. Having experienced this while living less than 2 miles from the Sprint world headquarters in Overland Park, while using a Treo 700wx, didn’t even allow me to consider the HTC EVO 4G.
• Everyone I know in this area is on AT&T, because unlike what you may see in San Fransisco or New York, they have the superior network in Kansas City. As a result, my entire family and a large chunk of my local friends are all on AT&T. Seeing as these are the people I communicate with most often, the free mobile-to-mobile made them an attractive network to be on. It’s also the same network I was with on my business account for the iPhone. This made transferring my number to a personal account a lot easier.
• I was attracted to purchasing an unlocked phone and keeping myself out of a contract. Since the Nexus One came direct from Google, and not tied to the provider, I can use it on any GSM network. I realize it would limit me to only two in the US, and if I used T-Mobile on it I’d only get EDGE speeds for data, but the ability is attractive and also the ability to travel outside the US and swap SIMs without any fuss was one I added into consideration.

Ordering & Delivery

The process of ordering the phone from Google was almost flawless.

I placed an order for the out-of-contract AT&T version on June 29, for $529, at around 9AM. The web store was very straight forward and easy to use. My only complaint is that the confirmation screen can be confusing for those who don’t know which bands the AT&T phone uses vs the T-Mobile, and it doesn’t clearly say on the receipt and invoice. However, this was my only complaint. Google gave me the option to engrave a custom message on the back of the phone, for free, but said it would delay the device by up to 72 hours in shipping. Since I needed the phone by next Friday, I opted not to. If I’d known how fast things would ship, I would have reconsidered. Overnight shipping via FedEx was free. I opted to purchase an extra battery for $25.

By lunchtime Tuesday, my phone had left the Googleplex and was on it’s way to my office. By 8AM on Wednesday, it was in our campus mailroom ready to use. Less than 24 hours after I’d placed the order. Already, I’m impressed at their speed.

Build Quality

Out of the box, the build quality of the Nexus One is obvious. In your hand, it feels lighter than an iPhone 4, about the same as the 3G/3GS. Size wise, it’s slightly longer and thicker than the iPhone 4, but looks smaller than the 3G/3GS. The face is glass, wrapped in an aluminum band which crosses over the back and bottom of the face. The slightly darker plastic feels very nice to the touch, and is much easier to keep a grip on compared to the all glass back of the iPhone 4, or even the slick plastic back of the 3G/3GS. The curves are attractive, and feel very natural in your hand, compared to the squared off and ridged feel of the iPhone 4.

Other than the glass front, there are no places on the Nexus One where I feel like normal use will damage or scratch the device. The back of my iPhone 3G over the course of 2 years had normal wear and tear, but the iPhone 4 I used for a week, after three days of use, had a large scratch in the glass on the back, right where my wedding ring sits. This scratch was easily visible and easy to FEEL. My tungsten band had cut into the glass after only a short term of casual use. Two days later, another scratch appeared.

I have no indication that the Nexus One will have any of those issues.

Hardware

Apple doesn’t like to talk about the internals of their devices, unless they actually have a technical advantage over their competition, except to say that their “magical” or “amazing” — that said, others constantly tear down and analyze their equipment, so we end up knowing a good deal about them. In contrast, HTC (who makes the Nexus One) and Google (who designed it) are pretty open about the hardware specifications. Reason being, the Nexus One was designed to push mobile devices (and Android) forward, something it has been pretty successful at doing. When the Nexus One came out, the only thing to compare it to in the Apple world was the iPhone 3GS, which in a hardware tear down, the Nexus One was superior in nearly every way. Now that the iPhone 4 is out, we have something else to compare it to… and in a side by side comparison they stack up pretty well against each other.

Processor
The iPhone 4 features a “custom” ARM chip called the A4, the same chip that is in the iPad. This chip is able to run at 1GHz but the current understanding is that it’s purposefully under-clocked by Apple to reduce battery consumption and the amount of heat that it gives off in such a small body.

In comparison, the Nexus One features a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. The chip is not underclocked and can actually be over-clocked using non-stock kernels. While Apple sets their chips down a notch to keep them from heating up, I always had issues with iPhone’s being warm in my hands after long periods of use. With the Nexus One, I’ve never had that problem.

Memory
Both the Nexus One and iPhone 4 feature 512MB of RAM. The previous 3GS only had 256MB, as does the iPad.

In terms of internal storage, the iPhone has the advantage of a built in 16GB/32GB of storage. On the flip side, it is non-expandable. The Nexus One only has 512MB of internal storage for the operating system and applications, however, with Android 2.2 applications can now be installed on the external micro-SD card, which is capable of going to 32GB. Bundled with the phone, is a 4GB card.

This is a double edged sword of sorts. Trying to find 16GB microSD cards is no problem, and a great SanDisk card can be found on Newegg or Amazon for as little as $30 plus shipping. However, the jump to the 32GB cards more than quadruples the price in some cases. To be honest, I wish Google would have included a larger card as 4GB is tiny when you start adding pictures, music and video to the device. For the $529 I paid, they could have easily ponied up for a little more memory. Add-in installed applications, and it fills up quick.

The best path I’ve seen is what Motorola is planning for the upcoming Droid X. 8GB of internal storage PLUS a microSD slot able to go to 32GB WITH a 16GB included at purchase. This equals 24GB of storage for the same price (with contract) as a iPhone 4 16GB. If you’re willing to go a little farther you could surpass the max storage of the iPhone platform at 40GB. (8GB internal + 32GB expanded) — it’s my hope that this is the model that every Android phone takes in the future.

Screen
Nothing beats the “Retina Display” of the iPhone 4. Nothing. It’s superior DPI, resolution and color clarity is unparalleled. It looks good in all lighting conditions even at low brightness. It’s the one thing about the iPhone that anyone can look at and compare the previous versions and instantly see massive improvements.

However, the Nexus One screen is still very nice. A lot has been said about the PenTile display and the color clarity, and while it’s not as nice as the iPhone 4, I find it to be superior to the 3G/3GS screen, and a lot better than most other devices. It’s also slightly larger than the iPhone 4 (3.7″ vs 3.5″) which isn’t a horrible thing. I will say that it takes a little adjustment, and for someone who has smaller than average fingers, any bigger and I’d be afraid it’d be too hard to hold. This is one thing where I worry about devices like the Droid X and EVO (4.2″+), that for most users it’ll be too large to comfortably hold and type on. Some people like the large screen, I feel that the Nexus One is about the biggest I could comfortably use.

I’ve found that in low/no light, the AMOLED screen on the Nexus One is superior for long term reading compared to the iPhone 4. I like to sit in bed after my wife has gone to sleep, catch Jon Stewart or Letterman on TV and use my phone to read the news, Twitter, etc, and with the iPhone 4 my eyes would get tired and irritated quickly. With the Nexus One screen, it was much easier to use for long periods of time.

Camera
The camera on the iPhone is hard to beat. However, the Nexus One is pretty comparable. Both feature a 5MP sensor with an LED flash. However, the iPhone sensor has a lot more power behind it and as a result the color quality and speed at which the camera fires is superior. Although, the Nexus One seems to have a lot deeper depth of field and a slightly wider angle of view, resulting in images where more of it is in focus.

It’s a trade off, as an proamature photographer, the thought of having a great camera with me at all times is very appealing, and with my iPhone 3G it was my daily shooter for almost anything. There were times I’d find myself taking pictures of things where my Canon point and shoot or even my Nikon D200 DSLR would have been the far superior choice. However, as Chase Jarvis says (and wrote a book and iPhone app about) “the best camera is the one you have with you.”

When you look at color quality vs image sharpness/focus, it’s a tie. However, the speed at which the iPhone 4 is able to perform takes the cake, and when you add in 720p video out of the box (the Nexus One will do it with third party software) it’s impossible to do anything but hand it to Apple on this.

My ONE caveat in saying that, is that iOS 4 currently has a bug that adds a “green ghost” to the center of images taken under florescent lighting. However, I’m confident Apple will correct this and as pointed out to me, HTC has had issues like this in the past, and even the big dogs of Nikon and Canon who do nothing but make cameras have similar issues with their high end DSLRs that frequently require firmware updates to correct.

Android vs iOS

I could spend the next three days comparing these two operating systems, their features, multitasking abilities (or inabilities) and their quirks. But, there are already many reviews out there doing exactly that. However, I will point out a few key points that I find beneficial on each platform.

Integration
The Nexus One is probably the only fair comparison to the iPhone when it comes to the integration of hardware and software. It’s the only device that Google has had total control (along with their partner HTC) in building the device and designing the Android OS around it. Obviously this is Apple’s primary business model in all of their hardware products, and little explanation of the benefits they see from it are needed.

That said, Android is very well integrated with the Nexus One, and the entire process of using the device is nearly perfect end-to-end in terms of tie in with other Google powered services such as the Maps, Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, Google Talk, Google Voice and of course Search. The fact that every text box or search field can be powered by voice commands that are highly accurate (as long as you speak clearly) is a huge plus. In contrast, Apple has to rely on a lot of third party technologies that are integrated with the iPhone like… Google Maps and Search. Even Apple’s implementation of MobileMe as an “all in one” provider of email, calendar and contacts is somewhat flawed. My wife uses MobileMe for her primary email after purchasing a 3GS and we’re just waiting for it to expire and switch her to Gmail or Live Mail after their ActiveSync service comes online. She complains constantly about MobileMe not pushing email and about calendar events disappearing. Problems I didn’t even have with iOS tied to Microsoft Exchange 2003/2007, which always seemed to work flawlessly.

The Nexus One is pure Google, end to end. For some people who worry about what Mountain View and their datacenters are up to, that’s scary, but the device is very well integrated into all their services. It’s a total Google package, or as they put it “the Google experience.”

Notifications
The funny thing about the iPhone notifications system, is that it didn’t used to bother me, until I used the Android system and saw how far superior it is. No more hunting for desktop icons with indicators, spread across multiple screens, with Android every system or program notification is displayed in a single drop down menu at the top of the status bar. They can all be cleared with the push of one button, or opened and flipped back to the app that needs your attention. No app can overtake another app you’re viewing with random status windows, they all cleanly take their place and await your attention in the top corner.

In this area, the Android OS is superior to the iOS in every way. Maybe for iOS 5, Apple can finally implement a real notification system.

Applications
One of the things I was really worried about after making the switch, was that the applications I’d grown to love on the iPhone, wouldn’t be there on the Nexus One. I was wrong.

While the Android Market features a fraction of what the iTunes App Store has, it’s only been around a fraction of the time. The built in Twitter and Facebook applications for Android are top notch, and beautifully integrate into the Contact list on the phone, as well as flow with the rest of the Android interface. While the Twitter application lacks some of the advanced features of the official iPhone Twitter App (aka Tweetie 2) it’s still a great application. The upcoming social networking platforms like Foursquare all have their official applications, as well as many others. To my great surprise, I’ve yet to be unable to find the app I was looking for in the Market. In many cases, the application developers have ported their programs to Android and in other cases, a nearly identical program exists. I don’t do a lot of gaming on my phone, so I can’t speak to the Market vs App Store in that respect, but there are plenty of other resources that can if you know where to look.

One thing the Market has that Steve Jobs would rather die before he allows is a open submission process. There are apps in the Market that require your phone to be “rooted” to function. (For you iPhone users, root = jailbreak+) — And beyond that, with the click of check box, non-market approved applications can be installed from any source.

Updates
Because the Nexus One is the Google flagship phone, it’s been updated pretty frequently since it’s launch. Other Android phones have not been so lucky and official 2.2/Froyo updates for devices like the Droid and EVO have yet to be released, and some devices such as the Hero and Moment may never get official updates. My Nexus One came with Android 2.1 installed, and since then has been updated twice. Once as a full upgrade to Android 2.2 soon after unboxing, and again last night with a security patch. While the frequency of updates for all devices leaves something to be desired (and Apple has Google beat in this department) the method in which updates come really shakes Apple’s tree.

The over the air update process for Android is something Apple should be looking into right now, if they’re not already. I have known too many iPhone owners who’ve never even plugged their phone into a computer, let alone sync’d and updated with iTunes. As a result, people on the iPhone 3G can still be running 2.0 firmware when there is 3.1.3 or 4.0 for their consumption.

The manual update process for Android is fast, and fairly simple. On the Nexus One it’s simply a matter of copying the updated firmware to the SD card, rebooting the phone while holding down a magic button combo, and selecting the firmware update. The upgrade from 2.1 to 2.2 took around 5 minutes, and the patch last night was about 2 minutes. This includes copying the file to the card and booting the device into the update mode. Most times it takes iTunes/iPhone this long to even begin the process syncing to tell you there is an upgrade for the phone. Then there is a process of writing the entire upgraded firmware to the phone (300MB) instead of just what needs updating (900KB) — in my view, Android wins. For anyone technical enough to read this website, the manual update process should be a cakewalk.

For the average non-technical user who actually does sync, and stays up to date, the iTunes method is probably superior to the manual update method… but nothing beats over the air updates.

Final

In conclusion, I have found the Nexus One to be superior for my needs as a power user. If you’re the type of person who buys an iPhone just to jailbreak it soon after, or finds themselves restricted by Apple’s methods, then Android is the obvious choice to switch to. The Nexus One, while not fully superior hardware wise to the iPhone 4, can hold it’s own in processing power, and when combined with Google’s fully integrated and yet open platform, is a win-win.

I’ve been very happy thus far with my choice to switch, even from the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer.

TechVirtuoso, Lenovo, 21 other technology blogs, and Ivy Worldwide have teamed up to offer our visitors a free Lenovo A70z All-in-one PC. Each site is giving away their own computer, and this is the same machine that Frank Owen reviewed yesterday, except brand new and without his grubby fingerprints all over it! This is $1200 value that can be yours by doing two simple things!

1. Make sure you’re following the @techvirtuoso Twitter account. (We’ll contact you via DM to let you know you’ve won)
2. Tweet this message, exactly as it says below:
   Win a Lenovo A70z PC by following @techvirtuoso and RT this! See http://bit.ly/bRPNRI for more details. #freestufffromTV

But wait! There’s more!

As a special treat for our regular visitors, we’re giving you a second chance to enter your name into the running. All you have to do (after you do the steps above) is comment on this post and tell us what you’d do with a A70z. Would you replace your current desktop? Put it in your kitchen? Use it as a kiosk at the office? The possibilities are endless.

The contest starts NOW (July 2) and ends on Tuesday, July 6. We’ll announce a winner here on the site and on our Twitter account. We’ll contact the winner directly via Twitter DM, with information on where to send us your name, shipping address, phone number, email, etc.

There is one small catch for our visitors, we can only give this unit away to those of you who live in the US & Canada. Sorry to everyone who falls outside that area, it’s not our computer and those are the rules. We’ll get something cooked up next time that has world wide appeal.

Hardware Specs

You can check out more specs and images or configure your own A70z, by visiting the Lenovo website.

More Contests

As we mentioned, we’re not the only site giving away this system. Each site will have different rules for their contents, and you’re welcome to enter as many or few of them as you like. But you can only win one system. We encourage you to enter as many times and visit these other sites.

• June 28 – July 2: The Gadgeteer
• June 29 – July 3: Slash Gear
• July 1 – July 5: Chip Chick
• July 2 – July 6: TechVirtuoso
• July 3 – July 7: Mobile PC World
• July 5 – July 9: Moosh In Indy
• July 6 – July 10: Tech Mamas
• July 7 – July 11: Morningside Mom
• July 8 – July 12: Digital Home Thoughts
• July 9 – July 13: Geeks Room
• July 10 – July 14: Twenties Life
• July 11 – July 15: Gear Live
• July 12 – July 16: The Art of Accessories
• July 13 – July 17: Hack College
• July 14 – July 18: Neowin
• July 15 – July 19: Absolutely Windows
• July 16 – July 20: SDR News
• July 17 – July 21: Gear Diary
• July 18 – July 22: Clinton Fitch
• July 19 – July 23: OSNN
• July 20 – July 24: ActiveWin

Ever since the iPhone supported Exchange, I’ve been a huge supporter. I’ve spent two good years on the iOS with my iPhone 3G. My job bought it for me back in 2008 and I got it shortly after launch. It was a solid phone with a lot of good things to say about it. I evangelized to everyone I knew about how they should get an iPhone, how it’s the best smartphone around. I got a 3GS for my wife, I’ve told countless other family members to get one. In most ways, when it was introduced, it was the best thing around. But things have changed.

When the iPhone 4 was announced, I followed the WWDC keynote with great anticipation. I ooh’d and aah’d at all the advances in design and software. When pre-orders started, our company bought 11 to start, and we waited until last week when they finally arrived (early) from AT&T. I rushed across campus to rip open the box and activate my new toy (err) tool. There it was, the iPhone 4, before most anyone else on the planet had their hands on one. I took pictures, I tweeted about how amazing it looked, how the screen was fantastic (it is) and how fast it was compared to my 3G.

Taking it home that night, I started to notice something was a little off with my phone. In Kansas City, AT&T really is the top carrier, and with my 3G, reception was never an issue. I can think of only one place in the city where coverage is any type of issue, and it’s not an area I frequent. So with the iPhone 4, the fact that I was only holding 4 bars at maximum, and typically 3, seemed a bit odd.

Later, I realized I was on EDGE service with hardly a bar to see, for most of my time before I jumped on my home wireless. As I started reading the news on various gadget blogs, I quickly realized I was suffering from the antenna problems that were plaguing almost ever other early adopter.

I dropped a few calls that weekend, including one to my father who seem’d to have lost my mother, but I could make due. The view from most of the people within the Apple world was that it was firmware related, and would be quickly fixed. Then Steve Jobs opened his mouth.

“You’re holding it wrong.” … or something to that affect.

Excuse me?

Beyond that, one of my co-workers (our telecom manager, of all people) got an iPhone with a totally non-functional home button. The only way she could close apps, is to reboot the phone. Since the Apple stores and AT&T were slammed that week, and the SIM cards are a totally different size, she was stuck with a broken phone until today when she was able to get a new one. I’ve also seen issues with the new camera, taking pictures of solid color backgrounds (especially in florescent lighting), where a green ghost appears in the middle of the image. Many I’ve talked to online (although non of my co-workers) cannot sync their iOS 4 devices to Exchange. My bosses phone started making a horrible clicking noise (what inside this thing moves?) yesterday although it seemed to be a one time event. I could go on and on, but just read Engadget, Gizmodo, or any other gadget blog for the daily iPhone/iOS bug.

Not to mention, simply holding the device in my hands for a couple days already allowed my wedding ring to put a scratch in the back glass so deep you can feel it with your finger.

My point is. Any one of these single events, may be something small and not worth getting upset about. Combine them together, and you have a product that is far from 4th generation and an operating system that already is flawed. Now, I’ve been around IT long enough to know major software releases have bugs, and that major hardware refreshes require driver and firmware updates to correct issues. But maybe I’d come to expect more from Apple, with their integrated platform, to expect something that would be near flawless by version 4.

While I don’t expect perfection in anything man-made, I found myself deeply disappointed in the device and the operating system.

Enough so that I’ve made the switch to Android. Yesterday I announced on Twitter and Facebook that I’d be leaving the job I’ve been at for over 4 years now. As a result, I’m turning in my iPhone 4 and going rouge. My new weapon of choice?

Nexus One

Ordered it from Google this morning, unlocked and out of contract, for AT&T bands. It has shipped, and arrives tomorrow. While I know there are other more interesting phones out there, and some like the Droid X soon to come, I will reserve my explanation for choosing the Nexus One for my next update … after I’ve made the switch and fully integrated later this week.

But this decision has some ramifications. Up until last week, I was all set to pull the trigger on the purchase of a Apple computer, something I’d never done before. I had a bright and shiny new iMac all picked out, and was waiting for some news on the job front to come through before giving Apple my credit card info for my own iPhone 4 and that iMac. But now, given my recent burn by Mr. Jobs, I believe I will be rethinking that decision.

Maybe one of those new AMD 6-core processors or a Intel i7, running something other than Mac OS X, is in my future as a home desktop replacement?

Microsoft has also announced that it will be providing full support for HTML5 video in Internet Explorer 9, and will be doing so using the H.264 protocol. Recently Apple has also been throwing support behind H.264 as the HTML5 video codec of choice for Safari. Apple has somewhat famously taken on Adobe in recent weeks saying Flash video is no longer the preferred option for Internet users going forward. Awkwardly, Microsoft agreed.

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS was released on April 29. The latest version is a long term support release, meaning updates will be published for 3 years on the desktop and 5 years on the server versions, compared to only 18 months with standard Ubuntu releases. This makes LTS a great platform for business deployments where doing full release upgrades every 6 to 12 months can be a major hassle. The latest version is lighter on features than normal Ubuntu releases are, but still sports the latest stable and public versions of GNOME, X.org and the Linux kernel. It also features a refreshed theme, ditching the brown and orange for a purple and black theme. There is also a new optional “lighter” theme that has a hint of brown instead of the standard Ubuntu color scheme. Boot times, especially on SSD drives have also been dramatically improved.

Palm is dead. Well, actually, HP purchased Palm for $1.2 billion.  The only hope for the WebOS platform now rests with HP and their commitment to “double down” and release new and improved hardware. Pending regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to close rather quickly in July of this year. Hopefully we’ll start seeing some HP branded WebOS devices starting this fall or winter.

Most of the enhancements center around archiving/discovery, Outlook Web App (OWA) and mobile management. There will be a beta of SP1 for download in parallel with TechEd North America this June, giving administrators a chance to test it in their development environments prior to full production.

In Exchange Server 2010 last November, Microsoft introduced integrated archiving capabilities aimed at helping preserve old e-mail data. In SP1, administrators can now provision a user’s Personal Archive to a different mailbox database from their primary mailbox. This allows admins to separate storage strategies (or tiered storage) for less frequently accessed e-mail. There will also be an update that will enable support to access Personal Archives with Outlook 2007. Also coming are new tools to allow admins to import historical e-mail data from .PST files, directly into Exchange. There are also new console tools to automate common archiving tasks, as well as policy tags to give more flexibility in designing retention strategy, as well as improvements to mailbox search to conduct discovery of e-mail.

Outlook Web App will get major updates, including new interface enhancements. OWA will do a better job of prefetching message content, allowing the OWA reading experience to flow faster. Functions like delete, mark as read, and other interface options will now run asynchronously so that they feel instantaneous to the user. The interface has also been de-cluttered and updated to help find common tasks faster, and easier to read on small screens like netbooks. Microsoft has also improved support for Safari on the Mac. There will also be new themes for OWA allowing the user to customize their experience.

Improvements to Exchange Active Sync include tether-free IRM support, support for send-as, full support for conversation view including the ability to sync only unique parts of the message. They’ve also added a support page inside of OWA that will help guide the user in setting up their device by providing information such as server names for EAS, IMAP, SMTP, etc.

Microsoft will also be revamping the Exchange management user interface. Users who are not as proficient with PowerShell will be able to do a lot of tasks that were previously only available there, in the Exchange Control Panel. A few of these options include:

• Create/configure Retention Tags + Retention Policies in EMC
• Configure Transport Rules in ECP
• Configure Journal Rules in ECP
• Configure MailTips in ECP
• Provision and configure the Personal Archive in ECP
• Configure Litigation Hold in ECP & EMC
• Configure Allow/Block/Quarantine mobile device policies in ECP
• RBAC role management in ECP
• Configure Database Availability Group (DAG) IP Addresses and Alternate Witness Server in EMC
• Recursive public folder settings management (including permissions) in EMC

Exchange 2010 is already a great product, and it looks like Microsoft has a lot of big improvements coming with this service pack.

Dan also has some useful tools for encoding video content on his blog, both of which are worth taking a look at.

Workstation Migration Assistant

The Workstation Migration Assistant is a visual wrapper for Microsoft’s User State Migration Tool, designed to simplify the capture / restore process for your end-users, and at the same time being highly configurable so that it can be customised to suit your organisations needs.

Some of it’s features include:

• Migrate via a pre-defined network storage location, external USB drive, or user-specified location. USB drive detection is automatic, and you can decide whether drives below a certain size are ignored (ie, memory sticks)
• Optional Hard Disk Health Check will run a CHKDSK prior to capture and fix errors if any are found
• Optional Encryption using a pre-defined company encryption key, or per-user customised encryption (for highly sensitive data that can’t be stored on a server without being encrypted)
• Use different configurations for “XP Only” (XP > XP) migrations via Standard (XP > Vista and Vista > Vista)
• Automatically run pre and post-capture / restore scripts and programs (very useful to further configure machine settings)
• Migrate domain only accounts, or domain and local
• Automatically exclude certain domain or local accounts from the migration
• Automatically send log files to an e-mail address via SMTP after the migration
• On-screen status during every stage of the migration, including ETA
• Option to limit migrations to a certain size, i.e. if over 20GB of data to backup, then fail and inform user. This is also overridable
• Automatic checks for USMT installation and optional download
• Command-line automation

It requires .NET Framework 2.0 on both the capture and target machines | Download

Software Compliance Tool

The Software Compliance Tool is a small application designed to reduce the overhead in managing unwanted applications in a business environment. While Windows Vista and Windows 7 have made a lot of headway in easing reduced user rights into the Enterprise, it’s still very common that Local Administrator rights are given to end users. The reasoning for this is usually to work around application compatibility (both external and in-house). However, this introduces the ability for end users to install whatever they want on their computers, including games, peer-to-peer software and security vulnerable applications. It is the company’s responsibility to ensure that copyrights are not infringed, and that their network is secure.

The Software Compliance Tool will try to automatically remove any applications which are contained on your custom-built “blacklisted applications” policy.

Some of the features include:

• Can automatically remove most Windows Installer (MSI) based installations
• Uninstall Strings for non MSI-based installs can be supplemented with switches (ie, “/S” for silent)
• Blacklist allows partial name matches (ie, “Mozilla” will blacklist all Mozilla applications)
• Blacklist allows version matches (ie, allow all versions greater than v1.6.5, remove all previous versions)
• Blacklist, but allow exclusions based on Active Directory Users or Groups
• Blacklist policy is encrypted to prevent tampering or reading by users
• AD Exclusions list is cached and encrypted, to allow running SCT off-domain
• Simple SQL logging to allow tracking of policy breaches (and potentially further action for repeated breaches)
• Extremely fast execution. Can be run from your Active Director login scripts

It requires .NET 3.5 to run, and must be run as a local administrator to successfully uninstall applications. | Download

Microsoft has released MED-V 1.0 SP1 and App-V 4.6. The big update to MED-V is full support for 32-bit & 64-bit Windows 7 hosts, but it also includes support for Japanese versions of Windows. Chances to App-V are mostly centered around language support. MED-V is an enterprise desktop virtualization management system that allows administrators to deploy and control Windows XP or Windows 2000 deployments running inside Windows 7 or Windows Vista host operating systems.

For all five of our readers with a Zune HD, you’ll be happy to know the Zune 4.5 firmware was released last week. It features an new Smart DJ mix with personalized recommendations, Zune Marketplace for TV, and better video codec support. Microsoft will also be releasing a new Zune HD 64GB model soon. To get the update, plug it in and sync with the Zune software on your desktop.

For all five of our readers running Windows Server on Itanium processors, you’ll be disappointed to know that after Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft will no longer be releasing versions for Itanium processors, and will focus on the x64 platform going forward. There was no 2008 R2 version released for 32-bit processors, either. Microsoft will no longer develop other software for Itanium, and SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2010 are also the last versions to support it. Mainstream support for Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems (and R2) will end, in accordance with that policy, on July 9, 2013, while extended support will continue until July 10, 2018.  That’s roughly eight more years of support.

Just so that our entire update isn’t focused on Microsoft today… If you’ve been living under a rock since last week, we just wanted to remind you that the iPad came out on Saturday. It’s magical, especially when you watch Harry Potter on it.

1. Make sure you’re following the @techvirtuoso Twitter account.
2. Tweet this message, exactly as it says below:
   Win a year of RingCentral by following @techvirtuoso and RT this message, see http://bit.ly/tvrcm for more details. #YourBusinessIsCalling

It’s that easy to enter… the contest ends on April 10 so make sure to enter before then. We’ll select a random follower and announce the winner on our site, and through our Twitter account, on the morning of Monday, April 12.

This is a great way to get your consulting business going, and look as professional as the big guys by having your own phone number, extensions, fax line, recorded custom greetings, on-hold music and promotional announcements and more!

But wait, while TechVirtuoso is the first to give away this awesome prize, we’re not the only ones. We’re partnered with other technology sites to offer this service. Each site will have their own contest rules, so be sure to check them out as well. There is no limit to how many site contests you can enter.

• TechVirtuoso (information technology): April 6-10
• The Digital Lifestyle (windows, media, lifestyle): April 7-April 11
• Clintonfitch (mobile reviews): April 8-12
• Geek News Central (technical information): April 9-13
• TCT Podcast (cool tech): April 10-14
• Mobile PC World (mobile pc information): April 11-15
• Mobile Gadgeteer (mobile gadgets): April 12-16
• Mobility Site (windows mobile, pocket pc, smartphones): April 13-17
• GottaBeMobile (tablet pc, mobile pc, multi-touch): April 14-18
• Neowin (technology news): April 15-19
• HackCollege (student lifehacking): April 16-20
• OSNN (windows, linux, macintosh news): April 17-21
• The LazyAdmin (lazy admin): April 18-22
• Slashdot Review (tech news): April 19-23
• GearDiary (mobile, technology, gear): April 20-24
• Mobile Jaw (mobility, mobile): April 21-25
• Mobilityminded (windows mobile, iphone, android, netbooks): April 22-26
• Chip Chick (tech, gadgets): April 23-27
• Daddy Forever (geek dad blog): April 24-28
• Absolutely Windows (microsoft windows, businesses): April 25-29
• GeeksRoom (software, hardware, gadgets): April 26-30
• BostonPocketPC (mobile, technology, news): April 27 – May 1
• Jake Ludington’s MediaBlab (gadgets, movies, music, podcasting): April 28 – May 2
• PlanetAMD64 (64-bit drivers, applications, utilities): April 29 – May 3

The winners from each site, will then be entered into a grand prize drawing for one of five Ultimate Small Business Start-up Packages from Ivy Worldwide. Each package will contain, in addition to RingCentral service:

• company incorporation services provided by LegalZoom
• logo design service provided by Logoworks
• 1000 premium business cards provided by Vistaprint
• and web hosting provided by BlueHost

The value of the entire Ultimate Small Business Start-up Package amounts to over $1000!

This could be the tweet that launches the your next great idea, or helps move your current business ahead of your competitors.