Turns out though, that choosing a new smartphone is not that easy. Given I still haven’t decided what to buy I at least wanted to write about what smartphones I looked at and what I did and didn’t like. If there are any inconsistencies, inaccuracies, or you have a recommendation on what to buy, please help me out by posting a comment.

The following are essential smartphone capabilities that I need:

• Calling & Texting – it’s a phone, after all :-)
• Push e-Mail
• Contacts synchronization
• Calendar synchronization
• Offline Maps – to find customer sites and hotels even when roaming

The following are nice-to-have capabilities that I want to use every now and then:

• Navigation
• Tethering
• Google Reader, although this is also available as a website
• Social Media (Facebook / Twitter / Google+), also available as a website
• Google Talk / Jabber

I looked at the following phones and reviewed their capabilities.

Apple iPhone 4/4S:

- No offline maps, unless with an app like TomTom
- Google maps app is still tile-based
- Weird Google integration, the Gmail app might be a good first step to fix this
- No decent Google Talk
- Glass front & back that might easily break when dropped
+ Tethering with WLAN is now available on the iPhone 4 and 4S

Nexus S:

- No offline navigation
- It’s slowly getting old
+ Nice Google Reader app
+ Almost all apps available that you might want
+ All the latest Google apps

Galaxy Nexus:

+ Same as Nexus S
- Humongous form factor

Nokia Lumia 800:

- Weird Google integration, no Gmail app available
- No Google+ integration
- No tethering yet
- No native development environment on my MacBook Air
- No decent Google Talk
+ Offline maps and navigation built-in (Offline navigation only after an update?)
+ Improved Google Sync is now available for WP7.5 [via vowe]

Update 1/28: Also check out the visual size comparison of these phones. [via vowe]

This is a great step for the Apache OOo project and for Symphony. Not only because we get the chance to consolidate this fork, but I really like the UI changes that have been made for Symphony and it can only be positive to make them available to a broader audience.

The announcement was sent to the Apache mailing list and the thread is well worth a read.

MacBook white Core 2 Duo 2GHz
2GB RAM
80GB HDD
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Box Set incl iLife and iWork
US Keyboard (was replaced in 2009 by the Apple Store in SF)

The price I consider fair is about 250,- EUR. This MacBook was ordered and shipped in December 2006. The battery has been replaced by Apple several times and is still in good condition.

If you’re interested in buying it and live in Vienna or plan on picking up the MacBook in Vienna, please leave a comment below and I’ll get in touch with you.

In general I’m very pleased. I don’t like the fragmentation in the Android handset market, but that’s maybe just me. On Android the Alarms still work when the phone is muted. The options that are provided are pretty nice and I especially enjoy the fast switching of input-locales, which switches keyboard layout and dictionary between German and English.

So what’s annoying?

• When contacts are joined and the names differ the one that is selected to be joined will be ignored. This is a reasonable behavior and was only fixed in froyo issue 6067. What’s still annoying is that to do this with Facebook contacts you need to go into the Facebook app to import all friends into your contacts because otherwise the names you don’t have in your address book will not be displayed and later turn it back off. Is that a workflow I want to tell someone how to do? This is crazy.
• Graphical emoticons in the messaging and gtalk apps can’t be disabled. Not sure if there are any plans to fix that or when.
• Integration with Flickr is lacking and is much behind Picasa. Still, I like Flickr much better than Picasa.
• Miles/KM usage is confusing in Maps and other applications and there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to configure it.

Apps I installed and plan on using:

• Adobe Reader
• CheckMyTrip
• Facebook
• Goggels
• Maps
• Talk
• Shazam
• Twitter
• Calendar and Gmail
• Finance
• Mein A1

Missing for me:

• Public transport timetable app. ÖBB (Austrian Train Agency) made the stupid decision to no longer provide timetable data for public transport to Google, so this is not available in Google maps anymore.
• Billig Tanken (as available for the iPhone) or a similar application to find the nearest & cheapest gas station.
• Movies app to find what movies are on and to book tickets. – Movie Finder and the Flixster app look cool, but don’t support Austria.

Interesting apps I’m not currently using:

• Yelp – very US-centric, but might be interesting when on vacation there
• OpenTable – too limited in Austria; maybe useful in other countries
• cab4me – interesting idea, but I didn’t ever have the need for something like that
• Astrid – the ultimate todo app, but I’m currently trying not to use todo lists anymore :-)
• NewsRob – I currently don’t really see the point in reading RSS feeds on a mobile device
• WordPress – Yes, you can blog from your phone, but why would I? Maybe for getting alerts for comments and replying to them, but I already get e-mail notifications anyway.
• ConnectBot

Mobile web sites I bookmarked:

• Gmail Tasks
• Dopplr mobile
• Flickr mobile

Want to know more about my life on Android? Do you have any other questions about the N1? I’ll be more than happy to answer any of your questions about Android and the N1 in the comments.

i5-520M(2.4GHz), 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 14.1in 1440×900 LCD, Intel 5700MHD, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn wireless, WWAN option, Bluetooth, 1Gb Ether, UltraNav, Sec Chip, FPR, Camera, 6c Li-Ion, Win7 Pro 64

+ ThinkPad GOBI 2000 Broadband Option (part 78Y1399 / Qualcomm Datasheet)

You really have to see this thing to believe it. I think it’s currently the ThinkPad I’d buy if my MacBook died. At 21.1mm thick and 1.77kg/3.91lbs (with optical drive) it’s thinner and lighter than any MacBook Pro currently available. The SSD makes this TP extremely responsive and nice to use.

I was using the default Lenovo build with all the Lenovo ThinkVantage tools. While you really notice these tools being loaded on startup on my T61p they’re not even noticeable on the T410s. This is very nice given that these tools are really useful and now they just feel like a part of the OS.

In the time I played with it I didn’t really get used to the keyboard. It’s somehow different from my T61p and I sometimes seemed to type characters in an incorrect order. The TP also now has lights directly on the keyboard for mute and caps-lock, which is nice.

Unfortunately it only has one light for the wireless receivers; my T61p has separate indicators for when WWAN, WLAN, or bluetooth is activated. There is a software tool available (same as on the T61p) that will show the state of the wireless receivers separately and allows you to active/deactivate them.

Configuring the WWAN card with a T-Mobile Austria SIM through Access Connections worked instantly. I’m still confused by how easy it was.

I really like it; too bad it’s not mine ;-)

• irssi
• MacVim
• Vimperator
• Muttator

They’re not exactly new, but I’ve recently noticed they existed while reading a blog post and I definitely intend to try them :-)

It’s not really a question of if, but when.

Don’t ask me for solutions. This time I only provide the questions :-)