Snaps of pals can be already be applied to their address book entries to make it easier to spot them in the list. Now, though, you can tap on a contact's photo icon to get a mini menu of the methods by which the person can be reached: phone, SMS, email accounts and so on. The menu appears in the Email, Messaging and Calendar apps. Google has exposed the code that makes this happen, allowing developers to support the feature in their own applications and to add in other contact methods.
Tap a chum's icon to see how he or she can be reached
Speaking of Email, the application can now be set up to interact with Microsoft Exchange servers - though Google warns that this is optional and not all handset manufacturers may choose to support it. If you have multiple email accounts, incoming mail from all of them can now be fed into a single, combined inbox
Feed all your email accounts into one inbox
Android 2.0 will keep your SMS folders tidy because it can be configured to automatically delete the oldest messages in a conversation when a user-defined limit is reached. But if you insist on hoarding every message ever received, then Android 2.0’s message search feature should at least make short work of finding specific texts or pictures.
Text and media messages can now be searched
Contacts can likewise be sync'd in from multiple sources into the Éclair device's one address book. Any contacts who you've invited to join a meeting that you've scheduled and added to Android 2.0's Calendar app will appear separately, the better to show which ones will be coming along and those who won't. Further guests can be invited after the initial invitation has been sent.
COMMENTS
So you wrote half a page to bitch about the iPhone and Android that you don't own and won't buy
You knew about Google's "privacy problem" long before they created the Androit platform, so how were you tempted by it ? I call bullshit. You just wanted to bitch a little bit about Google without seeming an unreasonable ass (which you are) and since you were at it you took the opportunity to bitch about Apple as well.
If your privacy is so damn important to you and everybody is out to get you, how about you get off the fuckin' Internet and leave us alone. Cause here we can all see you. We got your IP and we know who you are. We're coming for you. Better throw away your computer and run hide in that cave.
Bored with iphone?
It's supposed to be a Phone. Not a toy.
When the E65 came out I had fun installing Sat Navs, Maps, pairing with BT keyboard, laptop, BT GPS etc.. Installing Scumm for Games, VNC, Putty etc. Streaming music clients, barcode decoding via camera etc. Setting up email accounts, browsing websites.
Now I use it for what I bought it for. Phone calls and occassional SMS or Snap if I don't have real camera.
I've tested a lot of gadgets and built a VOIP touchscreen PDA running Qtopia & Linux. I conclude that really anything less than 800x480 @ 4.5" to 5" approx is a novelty for anything productive. Even the iphone screen is just too small and too low a resolution.
A 5" 800x480 gadget can *just* be pocket sized if the designer is clever (1024x 400 might fit in pocket better), but for a phone with no buttons (stupid) an iPhone has a big a screen as you would want. For an actual PHONE that is mostly for phone calls, a smaller screen and physical keypad is more ergonomic.
Galaxy
Got a Galaxy?
"Samsung HQ are currently not supporting a migration path to upgrade Galaxy to Android 2.0. Samsung UK continue to push for this but confidence on the change is low as Samsung HQ will be launching new devices on Android 2.0 in Q1."
From O2, today.
No mention of the basic faults....
Hopefully they have now added a way to delete multiple emails in one go, and a way to empty the deleted items in one go as well. And maybe even a notes app that can sync to the desktop. And a WiFi driver that doesn't disconnect when it feels like it and need WiFi turning off then back on again to re-connect. And a calendar app that actually shows a week in a useable format (like Agenda Fusion and Agendus used to do on my Palm).
And I wonder how many existing devices will get this update. At least iPhone users GET the updates all at the same time. I have two Android phones in the house and one of them is still on 1.5, one on 1.6 and no idea if either will get an update.
Paris - because like the Android, I like the look of her but not sure if I could live with her.
E-mail?
How are the IMAP capabilities looking on the new e-mail package? The Hero / G2 Touch is a lovely device but Android's standard mail package is a complete dog if you filter your e-mail into folders at the server end.
