The arrow of time

Ivan Voras' blog

HTC Desire / Android impressions

Until I get to organize it into a proper post, this page will be a dumping ground for my impressions with Google Android and/or HTC Desire.

Yay! I have a HTC Desire phone!

Problems so far:

These problems make the platform look like it's still immature though it looks like the "only" thing that's missing is UI implementation.

On the other hand there is a ton of good things about it. Here are few things I've noticed that make it a class above others:

  • Sound mixing is at a layer above audio-output; meaning I can start a dozen different mp3 and video players and start them playing all at the same time - multitasking will make it possible and all the sound will be properly mixed before being sent e.g. to my bluetooth headphones. Anyone who says multitasking "the Apple's way" is anything but a silly scam needs education.
  • I can crash the UI (which is bad; though it really doesn't happen in normal use, only when I'm doing more power-userish things with the device) but the OS keeps running. Some nice X-like separation here.
  • I've tried some programming for it and it's insanely easy when compared to old platforms like Symbian and J2ME. I haven't tried programming for iPhone but there are rumours it's a bit harder than for Android.

#1 Re: HTC Desire / Android impressions

Added on 2010-05-24T13:46 by radde

What, no WPA2-enterprise?

I have a HTC Hero, running a Android 2.1 ROM. There is no problem with connecting to eduroam at Chalmers. I see Desires and Nexus Ones, they seem fine too...

#2 Re: HTC Desire / Android impressions

Added on 2010-05-24T13:54 by Ivan Voras

@radde: I think the "(P)EAP" bit is important (edited) - the default menus on the Android show some kind of "WPA2-Enterprise" but this is not what I need. Or if you actually use the PEAP+MSCHAPv2 combination, feel free to post your instructions here and at the Google thread :)

#3 Re: HTC Desire / Android impressions

Added on 2010-05-24T14:18 by radde

Well, I'm pretty sure. Especially since i use eduroam too :)

If you can't connect to it automatically, try configure it manually. This is what it looks like on my Hero (sorry for the swedish): http://bit.ly/cfPJOI

#4 Re: HTC Desire / Android impressions

Added on 2010-05-24T17:49 by Ivan Voras

Cue Homer Simpson's "d'oh!". It looks like I've missed more than a half of a dialog because of a stupid beginners mistake - it was hidden by the keyboard. I'll try again tomorrow at Uni.

On the other hand, if it works, I wonder why are all the people on the Google issue tracker still complaining - and also about Eduroam...

#5 Re: HTC Desire / Android impressions

Added on 2010-05-25T12:41 by Ivan Voras

The results are - half&half. For one thing, it looks like it actually does support PEAP+MSCHAPv2, but there is still a problem with my network - it uses WEP with "automatically provided keys" so I have this strange situation:

  • The Android WiFi scan finds my network but marks it as WEP and asks me for keys to connect to it (which I don't have)
  • When I create a new WiFi network as 802.1x with the same SSID, it shows both the autodetected one and the created one (with the same name!) but marks the created one as "out of range"

The saga continues...

#6 Re: HTC Desire / Android impressions

Added on 2010-06-24T14:16 by Fabian

Any news on this?

I seem to get the same problem as you, Ivan, I have now two eduroam networks listed, with teh created one marked as "out of range". The original one, found by my Desire, is shown as protected by 802.1x EAP, but I cannot access it, though I (think I) have installed the certificate etc. Radde, could you tell us how you connected to Chalmers' eduroam? I'm there...

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