We’re inundated with a couple really new phones — namely the Nexus 4 and the Droid DNA — and that means it’s a working weekend ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. It’s also decision time for a lot of people. Get a Nexus 4? Get a Droid DNA? What about the Galaxy S3 or the Galaxy Note 2? And AT&T’s still powering ahead with the One X+ and One VX.
Some quick thoughts to send you on your way this week:
- We talked about it on the podcast last week, but the failure of the Google Play store as the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 went on sale last Tuesday is disconcerting, to say the least. This is the almighty Google, indexer of the entire freakin’ Internet, We trust it with our e-mails. Our pictures. Our videos. Our documents. Our phone calls. How is it e-commerce — which by comparison you’d believe to be far more simple — gave Google such fits last week? That must be fixed.
- On the other hand, I wonder how ShopAndroid.com would fare under that kind of load. Quick — everybody go buy a case or battery or something. Let’s find out. :p
- You’ve gotta wonder what the inventory levels were for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10. Such a quick sell-out either means great popularity, or low availability. I haven’t even managed to buy one yet.
- Here’s to hoping Google releases sales numbers.
- Between the lockscreen widgets and the shrinking of the icon dock on the Nexus 7, I’m doing something I don’t think I’ve done before — I’m questioning whether the cosmetic changes Google’s made in this latest version of Android are a good thing, at least cosmetically. (And that’s to say nothing of how the lockscreen widgets can present a bit of a security/privacy issue.)
- I don’t think I’ve ever seen expectations so far out of whack as they’ve been for the Droid DNA. The battery life is not bad. In fact, it’s pretty darn good considering it’s pushing a 1080p resolution display. I think folks are trying to lump it into the Galaxy Note category of phones, and that’s just not the case for the DNA. It’s a phone — a tall phone with a ridiculous amount of pixels — but it’s also physically smaller. The Note 2 has a 53 percent larger battery, in terms of capacity. It’s basic math at that point.
- But, damn, that display is gorgeous.
- How I look at battery life: From the moment the phone is unplugged from the charger, it’s “in use.” For me, that usually starts about 6 a.m. I still think “display on time” is obsessed over a little too much. It’s important, to be sure. But a poor network connection will kill a battery even if you’re not using the phone. So don’t discount what’s happening when you’re not holding the phone.
- My tl;dr version of Droid DNA battery life: It’s good. Not just kinda good, but really good. At least as good as the Galaxy S3.
- We’re a month and a half out from CES. Good, lord.
And that’s it for this week. Back to work.