Just an addendum to my previous post on my pretty new Thunderbolt. I’ve had it for a couple weeks now, and have to say that I have absolutely no buyer’s remorse. As I’d said my biggest issue was the battery, and that was the #1 reported issue that I’d read about prior to jumping in. It turns out to have been a non-issue… after the first couple days (with some admittedly heavy usage) it seems to have stabilized. It normally comes off the charger around 7AM and goes back on at 10PM when I go to bed. On average I’d say I still have maybe 30-40% battery remaining at the end of that period, and I’ve only had maybe 2 instances where it was close to dying at the end of the day.

Still loving the giant high-res screen, been playing around with various themes (currently sporting a nice dark one), and movies look great on it. Movies look great on it, I have 7 on it right now, and though the files are large and I have hundreds of MP3′s on it, there is still about 18 gig available for me to find some other ways to fill.

Final note, though I haven’t tested it, I managed to find a pre-release version of the Skype video chat that will use my front-facing camera. Since the only people I really know that use the video Skype on their computers that I have to talk to live in my own house I haven’t had a chance to test it out, but now I know I CAN if I want!

Lately seems like I’m only posting something when I get a new toy, and this one is no exception… but life just hasn’t been that interesting lately. For my birthday I just got myself the new Thunderbolt, Verizon’s newest Android phone from HTC, the the first 4G phone in it’s lineup.

All I have to say is, it’s awesome. vivid high res 4.3″ screen, snappy performance, and comes with a 32GB micro SD. Unfortunately I’m not able to take advantage of it’s 4G capabilities just yet, the LTE network in Portland hasn’t reached my area yet, but I can’t wait to experience those 4G speeds I keep hearing about.

The bad with the good… after 3 days of playing with it, there is only one drawback I’ve found with it – the battery. With my Droid 1 I’d remove it from the charger at 6:20AM, and in most cases would be low but still doing alright by the time I went to bed around 10PM. I’ve been off the past 3 days so getting up closer to 8AM, and getting low battery alerts by around 6PM. with numbers like that, my phone will be dying before I even leave work to go home. I’m going to try a few battery saving trick, primarily screen brightness to see if that helps, but I may need to break down and get an extended battery if it keeps up.

Battery issues aside, all in all I have to recommend the phone, it rocks!

Good christmas this year… I didn’t get the Archos 101 tablet that I’d been wanting, but I got the Viewsonic 10″ Android G tablet instead. It’s awesome… the initial reviews for the device weren’t the best, and after my initial unboxing I was inclined to agree. The TapNTap interface they stuck on it was crap, the advertised flash was not installed, and the performance for running the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor was slow and choppy.

Then in steps the great people at XDA Developers. They have pulled the OS apart in every way possible and put it back together… I rooted the device and installed the “Vegan-tab” ROM, based off of the firmware from the Advent Vega tablet. Now… it rocks! There has been a huge performance increase, this thing really zips along. The battery lasts forever, and when I’m not near a wifi access point I can tether to my Droid phone and use it’s 3G connection.

I also got some Firefly/Serenity stuff from my wife (see the enclosed photo), including a large book of maps from the Firefly univere, a stack of currency from the Serenity movie, a Serenity keychain, and even a small model of Inara’s shuttle that I can put next to my Serenity model on the shelf at work (not pictured). Yes, I am fully aware that the sonic screwdriver in the picture is not from Firefly, but it’s cool anyway!

Also got plenty of new Blu-ray movies for my collection, including the expendables, Hitman, The Crazies, The A-Team, Kick-Ass, Knight & Day, Iron Man 2, Clash of the Titans, Hot Tub Time Machine and more… Still My favorite is the Tablet, which I have been using constantly.

I really want one of these babies… but all word is that there is no Android application out there for it yet, and you are limited to iPhone, iPod or iPad to control this awesome device. If you don’t know what it is you can read my previous post here: Parrot AR Drone, but basically it’s a 4-propeller self-stabilizing flying device that is controlled by WiFi and can transmit video feeds from it’s 2 cameras directly to whatever device you are controlling it from (what, a remote-control helicopter that you don’t need to see to fly?).

Well apparently as far back as May at the Google I/O Conference Parrot did a demo of the AR Drone, controlled by non other than an Android Nexus One. I was at the mall today, and was very tempted to buy one… all it needs is a little Android love. Here is a video, showing a cool Android branded version. Now let’s get the Android app out to the public!

Alright, now I think I’ve found item #1 on my Christmas list. As a fan of Android, ever since the iPad came out I’ve been looking for the Android equivalent… and I think this is it, the Archos 101 Internet Tablet. Right now there are some crappy first attempts out there (some by this same manufacturer), and the higher-end models coming out are all going to have GPS/Cellular capability. Well, I already have a phone with GPS, and don’t need to add another smartphone to my plan, thank you very much.

The Archos 101 fits me needs (wants?) perfectly. Huge 10.1″ screen, WiFi only, with a price tag of $299 that is half of that for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab. And although it doesn’t have GPS/Cellular, they included plenty of other options. I think Archos really outdid themselves on this one, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it…

Here are the specs:

Internal Memory: 8 & 16 GB flash memory
External Memory: Micro SD Slot (SDHC compatible)
Screen: 1024×600 pixels (WXVGA), 10.1” TFT LCD
OS: Android 2.2 Froyo
Processor: ARM Cortex A8 at 1 GHz with DSP
WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
Dimensions: 270 x 150 x 12 mm
Weight: 480 grams

Additional Options:
Webcam
Built-in speaker
Built-in leg stand
Built-in Microphone
G-sensor
Front VGA camera

All pretty good for what I consider to be a reasonable pricetag, and it’s gotten some pretty good reviews. Check out a video of one taken at IFA last month:

Anyone want to volunteer to get me one this Christmas?