All this week I’ve been in New Orleans at TechEd 2010 using the Google HTC EVO phone that I got while at Google I/O in May. The phone is on free service through Sprint for 30 days and is an incredible piece of hardware with an huge screen, very fast processor that’s been an absolute joy to use even though there are a few UI features/apps from the Droid I prefer. It’s going to be really sad to return to the Droid once the service ends as it runs circles around it.
The Falafel team here with six people has two Motorola Droids, two HTC EVO’s, one iPhone 3GS and one HTC Tilt 2. We taken tons of photos, many of which ended up being immediately posted to Facebook or sent via email. I’ve posted live streaming video to qik.com, photos and status updates to Facebook and Google Buzz, listened to podcasts, found directions to restaurants, coffee shops and all sorts of other locations, posted to Twitter read the news, posted updates to the Falafel team on Yammer, sent tons of free SMS messages via Google Voice, identified landmarks using Google Goggles, instant messaged via Meebo, tracked my travel via TripIt, connected to the web via Sprint Hot Spot countless times, scanned barcodes, installed apps and oh yeah, even made a few phone calls!
In fact, this afternoon I was working at a Starbucks connected via the Sprint Hot Spot feature sharing my connection with Falafel’s President John Waters while he was dialed into a GotoMeeting call with other Falafel employees located both here in New Orleans as well as back home in California.
Last night, we were walking along the Mississippi and caught Anderson Cooper filming AC360 where we watched the show streamed over a Slingbox to an HTC Tilt 2 located in Amarillo TX! It’s really amazing what these pocket devices can do and how close you can get to replacing a PC with one.
With Android you can literally pick up a new phone, log in with your Google account and be off in running with your contacts, email and lots of other goodness in minutes. I can’t wait to take a look at the new iPhone though I can’t imagine a case where I’d switch from Verizon to AT&T because at the end of the day I want/need to make phone calls.
As fun as all this has been, I’m ready to go home and see my family again so now it’s time to go to bed because I have to be up in a little over three hours to catch a 5:25am flight home.