Motorola in the Android playground

The Spotlight has had a chance to review some of the external ascetics of the Photon so let’s dig into the UI and the features unique to Motorola’s overlay on the Android operating system.   When you consider purchasing an Android based phone I would highly recommend that you review your options and understand what features each manufacture brings to the table.  This will allow you to compare the features between each and determine which one best supports your intended use.  The convenient characteristic of the Android operating system from phone to phone is that the basics of interacting with the homescreens and performing commands will remain constant allowing users to easily adapt to new Android phones as they upgrade. The real beauty though of the wondrous world of Android lies within the open nature of the platform allowing each manufacture’s creativity and vision to influence their device’s capabilities and niche in the market place.   During the EVO 3D’s time in the Mobile Spotlight I had the opportunity to cover off on HTC’s take on Android and the wonderful job they did with widget presentation and social media integration.  Now that the Spotlight has it glaring beam set squarely on the Photon let’s see what features Motorola has incorporate to enhance their user’s experience and see what sets it apart from the Android pack.

Kickstand Mode

In the first post on the Photon we briefly discussed the quality of the kickstand and the optional mode the phone can be placed in while the kickstand is engaged.  The kickstand mode is a nice software addition placing a little more purpose behind integrating a kickstand into the device. (more than simply propping it up)  Here are some quick highlights:    

1.       Mode Selection-  upon the initial launch of the kickstand mode you will have the option to select which mode you want to appear when the kickstand is engaged presenting you with two options.  The first is the widget clock display and what I would consider the intended display of the kickstand mode.  Explained below this mode gives you a customizable view that differentiates your view from the standard homescreens.  If your desktop is to your liking simply select  Homescreen mode and the device will display your  seven homescreens in landscape mode. 

2.      Widget Clock display customization-  The widget clock display places a digital clock in the center of the screen, three static icons vertically on the left side of the screen, and a scrolling bar of customizable short cut icons at the bottom.  The static icons presented vertically cover the three basic functions of diming the display of the device, setting a timer/alarm clock event, and exiting out of the kickstand mode.  I can understand why Motorola selected the exit command as a key function but can’t say I fully understand the need for the other two.   The customizable scrolling bar at the bottom of the screen is the real gem allowing users to select up to 4 app shortcuts and doc widgets on each of the three scrolling bars. (that’s right potentially 12 short cuts, I don’t care what anyone says I think you are good at math. . . )  Transitioning between the 3 bars is done in the same manner as moving between homescreens by swiping across the bar area.  Customizing the apps is as simple as long hold an empty space in the ribbon and select which of your favorite apps you would like quick access to.

Features Features Features

In addition to the kickstand mode and a couple of other cool viewing modes, which we’ll get to on another occasion, here is a list of what Motorola brings to the Android party:

1.       Dock Icons-  Four stationary icons viewable across all seven home screens, arranged in a single row at the bottom of the display.   Three of the four are customizable allowing you to pick any of your apps for quick selections; the fourth is a launch button bringing you to your app list screen.  Since I’m an entertainment geek naturally Netflix and Doubletwist made my dock icon list.  J

2.      Home Button Navigation-   as mentioned above the Photon has seven home screens, three flanking each side of what I would consider your main home screen.  In an effort to be able to quickly navigate screens and save a few flicks when you find yourself on one of the secondary home screens and want to make it back to the main screen simply hit the home icon button.   Nothing special here as several phones do the same, but touch the home screen button again and an image of all seven window appear on your display.  From this view any one of the home screens can be selected, which is handy when you just can’t remember where that dang flashlight widget is. . .

3.      Double Tap Home Button-  No I’m not talking about a Gangster finishing move here but rather another short cut tool.  In the settings menu under Applications there is an option to leverage your home button as an application launcher.  Simply select from the list the allowable applications to assign to this function then test it out by doing a quick double tap of the home icon button.  I find this particularly useful when attempting to place a phone call as initiating voice services on an Android device can involve a ridiculous amount of screen selections when you don’t have the contact set up as direct dial shortcut. 

4.      Group Applications-   This one is a nice little organization feature that rids the user from having to comb through massive application lists just to find that one app rarely used.  Instead of having a static list in alphabetical order a group or category can be created and apps can be assigned to it.  Once established you can go into your list view, select a category and only those applications assigned to that category will appear.  Traditionally I have organized my apps on my device leveraging subfolders on my home screens but if you are looking for a way to keep your display free of clutter this is definitely a viable option.

5.      Widget Customization-  Ever wished you could resize a widget to change it’s appearance?  The photon has you covered.   By long holding an established widget one can customize the size of the widget by leveraging the resize arrows that appear.   Resizing will be limited to standardized tile dimensions so you can’t go really crazy but it does provide some flexibility if you want to shrink or expand a widget’s display. 

Well in an effort to stay true to my mission statement I will end there and live to post another day.  In an effort to fully arm you with all my experiences I do need to make a quick mention of an annoying little bug I’m running into with voice calls.  A software glitch is creating a silent audio problem where both parties involved can’t hear are unable to hear each other.   The problem is known and being worked but just know until a fix is available you will need to powercycle your device to get the audio working again.  Many more topics to discuss so stay tuned and see you next time in the Spotlight! 

Link to the previous Motorola Photon Post:
http://mblspt.blogspot.com/2011/08/motorola-photon-not-just-for-suits.html

Motorola Photon, not just for the Suits

Posted this in the Sprint Community Forums last week and didn't want to cheat all you Spotlighers so here you go!  Enjoy :) 

As I get the Mobile Spotlight blog (www.mblspt.blogspot.com) up and running with the Motorola Photon I thought I would do a quick post on a feature of the device that has me slightly geeked.  As I’m sure you have heard the Motorola Photon is packed with features that Corporate Tycoons and Wall Street traders clamor for.  With security measures like data encryption, restriction locks, and remote device administration capabilities corporate espionage will be kept at bay.  But what about the rest of us schmucks that like mindless hours of multimedia entertainment!   Well fret no more because your device can become a content source for your HDTV.  Through what Motorola is calling Mirror mode, and a connection via a mini HDMI to HDMI cable, you can view everything you see on your device screen on your HDTV.   This opens up a host of non-productive activities like watching Youtube, surfing the web, viewing pictures and home recorded video, and playing video games on the big screen.  The activity I’m most looking forward to trying out is Netflix!  If you are like me and are use a gaming console to stream Netflix to your TV with a WiFi connection you now have a device option that can easily transition to different TVs in your home.  Here is the stock photo of what the device connection will look like:

      

As I wrote this I decided to go try it out at the new activity center here at the Overland Park Campus.   After a couple of easy connections and the selection of the Mirror Mode on my device I was up and running.   The screen I was leveraging looked to be around 50’ variety, the view of my devices homescreens looked good but know that you will get picture degradation because the connection is simply expanding the smaller image on your device.   If you are looking for a cheap option to stream content to your HDTV consider the Photon!  Cables can be found for as little as $9.99 all the way up to $99.99, I got mine at the Sprint campus campus for $29.99. 

Previous Motorola Photon Post:
http://mblspt.blogspot.com/2011/08/motorola-photon-in-mobile-spotlight.html

The Motorola Photon in the Mobile Spotlight

It is time to get the second device up and running here at the Mobile Spotlight and it is yet another one from the category of what I am going to start calling super phones, the Motorola Photon.  The Photon is well qualified to lay claim in this space due to some very impressive hardware spec which we’ll get to in a future post.  As the HTC EVO 3D parts ways with the Spotlight we waive goodbye with tears in our eyes but consider ourselves fortunate for having a great benchmark to leverage when digging into new devices.  As a new device this should be a little intimidating and I’m interested to see how the Photon stacks up over the next few weeks as I get my dirty claws into it’s features.  Since I’m new to Motorola’s version of the Android platform we’ll get into the numerous functions I’ve had the opportunity to read about but let’s start with the form factor of the device and Motorola’s widget set up since these are largely influencing my initial impressions.

Form Factor

 

The two form factor elements that immediately jumped out at me is the profile of the device and the kickstand.  The picture above does a good job of illustrating both.  (and no I don’t know who Scott Wilke is but good luck with your fictitious big launch)  Motorola has decided to angle off the corners of the device in what I think is a good move to try and delineate the looks of the device from the rest of the candy bar style smart phones in the market.  The move isn’t a huge deal but I think it does a good job of make the phone distinguishable and recognizable vs other iconic devices and in my opinion creates a good look by adding a thoughtful stylish touch to the device.  I can’t say I can really tell a difference the corner styling makes with the feel of the device in my hand, after comparing it to the EVO 3D, so the design to me only influence the appearance.   Depending on your opinion this could be a good thing if you like the feel of a standard uber phone and like the styling element.   For those of you that became addicted to the kickstand of your EVO 4G and were disappointed that the EVO 3D didn’t have one you now have a viable upgrade option if you don’t want to have to purchase a kickstand enabled case for an EVO 3D.  The Photon’s kickstand is constructed with solid metal materials and is spring loaded which gives it a very sturdy feel.  As one of my peers on the Product Ambassador team pointed out the spring is strong enough to prop the phone up from either landscape side of the device.   This comes in handy because Motorola located the USB charging port on the down side of the device when in the kickstand is engaged so you can simply flip the bad boy over, plug in your charger and the kickstand is strong enough to hold up the device.  If you have owned an EVO 4G I think you will find that the kickstand on the Photon has improved on the design and throwing in a customizable kickstand mode makes it that much more functional and fun.   The last thing I will say about the form factor is the much appreciated use of the soft touch matte finish on the battery door covering the backside of the device.  The barely there case I bought for my EVO 3D had this same finish so it was a welcome use of materials on the stock form of the Photon.   The soft feel of the materials combined with the grippability of the surface makes it ideal cover material for handheld devices. 

Widgets

More specifically I’m going to talk about the stock Motorola widgets available in the Photon’s UI.   Here is a quick list the types of widgets you will find:

1.      Toggle Widgets-   On/Off widgets to control things like network connections, Bluetooth, GPS, etc

2.      Weather-  quick view of high/low temp of the day

3.      Sticky Note-  saves a quick note on your home screen, good for those of us with horrible memories

4.      Social Networking-  see latest updates and post to your social media sources of choice

5.      Picture Frame Plus-  slide show widget of your pics, will automatically bring in new images taken

6.      Music: Now Playing-  control of your MP3s, podcasts, and FM radio

7.      Messages-  consolidated message depot for email and SMS

8.      Calendar/Clock-   widgets displaying time and calendar functions

9.      News-  Read the latest news and blogs, allows you to choose your news sources

10.  Bookmarks-  widget displaying the web bookmarks of your choice. 

There is a lot of good functions in this list that will help you manage your device and the content displayed which in turn allows you to customize your homescreens until you are blue in the face.  My only issue with the widgets is the way they graphically appear on your homescreens, this is where comparisons to the EVO 3D’s Sense UI is going to bite the Photon.   Motorola has done a great job of providing meaningful widgets and provide integration of the phone’s functions which makes the device very user friendly but the graphics used in the widgets don’t compare to the quality and appearance of HTC’s Sense 3.0 widgets.  In an effort to illustrate my mind kept going back to the comparison of the graphics on the Playstation 3 vs. the original Playstation, the original is nice but isn’t as nearly visually stunning as it’s successor.  I will have to readily admit I’m unimpressed with the widget’s graphical design and will be going down the route of using Android based widgets to customize my homescreens.

I will wrap for now but stay tuned because there is a lot to discuss with the device.  The widgets are just the tip on the iceberg when it comes to what is packed into this phone!  Until next time may the winds be at your back and as always if there is anything you would like to see commented on let me know.           

3G Speeds and The Wrap Up

Original Post Link:

http://mblspt.blogspot.com/2011/06/spotlight-on-htc-evo-3d.html

3G Speeds:

As I performed my rounds in the Sprint Space forums I noticed several posts speaking to poor 3G speeds on their EVO 3D.   I wanted to see if there was any merit to the claims that it was device related so I decided to leverage Speedtest.net’s connection speed testing app to check it out for myself.  Over the course of two weeks I collected 25 reading attempting to capture test results from work, home, and while on the road.  Here are a few key stats:

Average Overall Speeds:

            Download:                  758kbps

            Upload:                       100kbps

Peak Speed Reading:

            Download:                  1608kbps (Sprint campus workspace)

            Upload:                       648kbps  (same location)

Slowest Speed Reading:

            Download:                  120kbps (Home which is BFE Missouri)

            Upload:                       12kbps (surprising at Sprint campus workspace)

Average Reception:               

            Overall:                       4.5 out of 6 bars

            Work:                          Full

            Home:                         1.5 out of 6 bars

            Travel:                         4.5 out of 6 bars

So what does all this mean?   Well the information’s usefulness is limited since I didn’t take baseline readings with another device at the same time.  All though my overall average speed is less than the expected 3G customer experience of 1 to 1.5 mbps my results highlight how important reception and capacity is to data services and the related speeds.   Given I work at a location where everyone has a Sprint device, we don’t take to kindly to employees with competitor devices, my speeds were all over the place and I have to assume it is due to several users taxing a particular cell site.  I noticed my speeds were in line with what I expected when taking readings during what I would consider light traffic times.  Given my overall experience with the device I would have to say my speed experiences are directly related to network aspects rather than the device but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any devices out there that don’t have issues.   Take some tests for yourself and if your speeds are regularly under 1mbps take it by one of our friendly Sprint store locations and have it checked out.        

The Wrap Up:

It is time for the Mobile Spotlight to move on to the next device so I wanted to sum up my experience with the EVO 3D.   Here is a quick hit list of my pros and cons:

The Pros:  

–        Battery Life much improved over EVO/EPIC (no extended battery for me!)

–        Hardware-  first android device that has been able to keep up with my constant use

–        HTC Sense UI-  best UI I’ve interacted with, ease of use

–        3D-  can’t get over the pic quality and depth of field it provides

–       

The Cons:      

–        External speaker- quality and volume an issue

–        Widgets perform random acts of violence

–        Can’t share 3D, 3D content not readily available in all mediums

–        No kickstand-  may not seem like a big deal but you would be surprised

In all seriousness I really like this device.  The 3D aspect of the phone is a cool thing to have but I have to say the hardware improvements over the original EVO are what will keep this one around as my main device for a long time.  Originally I said that I had “Epic” anxiety letting go of my previous device, well I can say my EVO 3D therapy has resolved that phobia and has turned me into a fan boy of HTC.   So what’s next you ask?   Great question!  (and thank you for providing the transition. . . )   The Motorola Photon!   I’m excited to get to get my claws into this device because I haven’t had a chance to experience Motorola’s Blur UI.  I have several topics planned for the device but if you have anything you would like to see covered just let me know!