Thinking of getting a Dell Streak

[mystvearn]

Hi,

I have never owned any smartphone and I am thinking of getting an android phone (Dell Streak) but I read in wiki that the OS keeps getting upgrades at a rapid pace. Why bother to get a phone if its OS is going to be obsolete in few months rather than a year? Maybe the OS is still in its infancy? I have heard that after Gingerbread, there will be no more rapid development of the android OS. Is this true?

I want a android 2.2 phone but the Dell streak comes with 1.6. Dell says that there will be upgrades over the wire, but after reading the review at endgadget:Dell Streak review -- Engadget
I am not really sure that I want it. I don't want to suffer the same fate as those users who bought those Samsung android phone where Samsung indicated that it could upgrade only to not to upgrade it. I have heard that Froyo Streak's will come next month though.

Can't the phone be like iphone where you can upgrade its firmware as long as you own the phone until it does not come to the limits of the hardware itself? As smartphones are not really a cheap investment so it would be nice if you could use it until its very end. (Now I'm thinking of phones more like pc's rather than phones where you can upgrade it effortlessly)

I still find the Dell Streak a great product as I don't think I really need a laptop anymore for mobile internet. This device should be able to replace a laptop and the big screen will come in handy as I use my phone more towards an organiser with google calendar and sms rather than make calls. The gorilla screen thing is very cool. No need to invest in some sort of screen protector.

So far, I don't want to get an iphone cause its overhyped and overpriced. One thing the Iphone4 does have over its competitors is a gyroscope which is a very neat feature. I can see a lot of uses for this in future. Blackberry is ok, but I can see android overtaking RIM by the end of this year in terms of sales.

As of now, I am sticking to my SE C510 phone until HTC comes up with something near the Dell's 5" phone or just wait until Streak II comes out. HTC Evo 4g ain't coming to the UK yet

Anyone has any comments to add

 

[Chroma]

oh wow, ok, your reading too far back into Android OS.

Why bother to get a phone if its OS is going to be obsolete in few months rather than a year?

Android has OTA updates for all their phones, but you know that.

I don't want to suffer the same fate as those users who bought those Samsung android phone where Samsung indicated that it could upgrade only to not to upgrade it

It's a community consensus that Samsung is not a reliable phone company in dealing with firmware updates.

Can't the phone be like iphone where you can upgrade its firmware as long as you own the phone until it does not come to the limits of the hardware itself?

Exactly, but here's the deal. Dell is pretty new into the phone business, and only time will tell if their going to be supportive with their devs. Based on what Dell has said so far, is seems they want to be.

Take a look at this Dell Streak to bump up to Android 2.1 in September, hopefully shipping sometime before that -- Engadget

Maybe you would feel better to wait till September, you seem dead set on the OS, based on your first three paragraphs...

 

[mystvearn]

Thanks for that. I might as well wait longer until all the bugs are iron out. I hope HTC will create something similar in size to the Dell's streak size. Another thing is that Streak is only on O2 but I am on vodafone with my C510 which ends June next year with the phone upgrade available in April. I have no problems jumping ship to O2 and you would be suprise how desperate your carriers are to keep you with them to the point that they will offer outrageous deals just to keep you with them

Only reason why I am a bit aggitated with no mobile internet is that I have sold my laptop and I miss using internet on the go. I was hoping the Dell Streak would replace my Laptop and the ridiculous ipad as you can't place that in your pocket

How I wish HTC Evo 4G would come to UK. It comes with a stand as well which makes a lot of sense. HTC, if you are listening, bring the Evo 4G here and make it slightly bigger. Call it the Evo 4G XL Add an optical zoom lens while you are at it.

I forsee that Android will be the leader in smasrphones overtaking even RIM as the SDK is free unlike RIM, M$ & apple's software. Nokia too will have to swallow that bitter pill or just keep making cheap symbian phones. In fact, I don't see any relevance of symbian phones for midrange phones anymore as it could be replaced with android.

 

[mrqs]

In fact, I don't see any relevance of symbian phones for midrange phones anymore as it could be replaced with android.

that's very shortsighted of you - nokia is just about to release s^3 with the n8 and there are certainly more to come
plus you should see meego on some nokia devices soon enough, if the maemo on the n900 wasn't good enough


anyway, back on topic, i agree with chroma, if i was wanting the streak (or any other android for that matter), i'd wait until i'd get at least 2.1 and be certain that it'll get at least 2.2 at some point (granted i already am pretty sure it will)

 

[mystvearn]

that's very shortsighted of you - nokia is just about to release s^3 with the n8 and there are certainly more to come
plus you should see meego on some nokia devices soon enough, if the maemo on the n900 wasn't good enough


anyway, back on topic, i agree with chroma, if i was wanting the streak (or any other android for that matter), i'd wait until i'd get at least 2.1 and be certain that it'll get at least 2.2 at some point (granted i already am pretty sure it will)

Thats why I say forsee. Anyway, sorry for offending your nation's pride & joy. Last time I used a Nokia was the Nokia 3350, before that was Nokia 3310. For some reason, Nokia no longer exite's me. Maybe that's my preference. Migrated to Samsung C100 then SE K750i, SE W810, SE C510.

Thanks for clearing it up. Will wait for whatever android 2.1 or higher this Autumn

 

[mrqs]

just for the record, i've never bought a nokia myself, tho' i had an e70 and an e71 as work-phones for half a year each

 

[Chroma]

I still have my 6822

Back in my youth, Nokias were the thing to have. All my popular friends had them

 

[macprv]

I still have my 6822

Back in my youth, Nokias were the thing to have. All my popular friends had them

I owned that phone too!! Ha! It was the coolest thing back in time...
anyways...the streak has a 1ghz processor, and plenty of internal memory, so I don't see how its hardware could limit the streak from any software upgrade... I guess it all depends on de.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

Hi,
Blackberry is ok, but I can see android overtaking RIM by the end of this year in terms of sales.

Not in the US. What green are you smoking? Blackberry will be on top (despite the fact I don't care for it) because of its corporate enterprise features. Android is no where as close to them in these regards. This is just pure fact. I don't see any of the enterprise level features needed by a majority of corporations slated in the next few Android OS releases. Not everyone uses gmail for their email.

 

[mrqs]

Not in the US. What green are you smoking? Blackberry will be on top (despite the fact I don't care for it) because of its corporate enterprise features. Android is no where as close to them in these regards. This is just pure fact. I don't see any of the enterprise level features needed by a majority of corporations slated in the next few Android OS releases. Not everyone uses gmail for their email.

funny thing is, change "usa" to "europe" and "blackberry" to "symbian" and you're still correct

 

[mystvearn]

Not in the US. What green are you smoking? Blackberry will be on top (despite the fact I don't care for it) because of its corporate enterprise features. Android is no where as close to them in these regards. This is just pure fact. I don't see any of the enterprise level features needed by a majority of corporations slated in the next few Android OS releases. Not everyone uses gmail for their email.

No way to port enterprise apps to android? That would settle the problem then

 

[ari-free]

Not in the US. What green are you smoking? Blackberry will be on top (despite the fact I don't care for it) because of its corporate enterprise features. Android is no where as close to them in these regards. This is just pure fact. I don't see any of the enterprise level features needed by a majority of corporations slated in the next few Android OS releases. Not everyone uses gmail for their email.

Froyo takes Google's Android into the enterprise | Mobile Devices | ZDNet UK

 

[mrspeedmaster]

Froyo takes Google's Android into the enterprise | Mobile Devices | ZDNet UK

Not quite. If you reading the companion article:
Android gets enterprise-grade email app | IT Strategy | ZDNet UK

The Good for Enterprise apps, comprising secure email, calendar and contacts, were announced on Monday. The apps themselves are free, but only work with paid-for Good for Enterprise server software.

and

The iPhone has seen adoption in the enterprise over the last couple of years, partly because it offers on-device encryption and remote wipe capabilities — functionality that Google's Android platform has not had until now.

However, according to Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi, Good Technology's new application does not mean Android has become enterprise-ready.

"At the moment, [Android] is changing so rapidly that enterprises might be sitting on the fence and waiting for it to get to a level of maturity that is enough for them to consider deploying it throughout their organisation," Milanesi told ZDNet UK on Tuesday. "That level of maturity is not there yet."

None of the articles do not even mention ipsec vpn.