Ask NerdGirl: Uber-Contact List? Android Skype! Verizon Androids!

by n3rdg1rl May 30, 2010 10:22 AM – 5 Comments

Today, I’m covering some questions I received through Twitter. I’m just everywhere!

Let me know your thoughts on Android. I am thinking of jumping from Blackberry to a HTC Desire. Main priority is single contact list which BB does brilliantly, sync with Facebook and LinkedIn. Can Android do the same?

@scottHSL

Ahhh….the classic Android vs. Blackberry debate. Now as far as the contact list syncing, Android does do the Facebook syncing well. The app built in by HTC called Facebook for HTC Sense will sync all of you contacts as well as keep you updated on what is going on in your Facebook world.

As of right now, there is no direct LinkedIn app that will import your contacts. I have heard that it is in the works and should be coming out soon. There is a workaround however if you plan on syncing your phone to Outlook. If you download Microsoft’s Outlook Social Connector, you can import your LinkedIn contacts to Outlook. That way, when you sync your phone, you will have your contacts from LinkedIn in the same contact list as everything else.

Is there a full Skype app for Android?

@scottHSL

There is! There is an app called Skype Mobile an official app just for Verizon smart phones like the Android. If you had it on your Blackberry, it’s the same one. You use your Skype account, you can make calls without using your plans minutes. I was very excited when I first saw this and I use it pretty frequently.

You can get this app by going to http://www.skype.com/m on your phone and or go to the Skype website and enter you phone number to have a link sent to you.

Seriously considering getting the HTC Incredible. Have any thoughts on the new phones out there?

@ymordfin

First let me say one thing. One of the caveats of working with technology is that the second you purchase the best thing out there something else that’s so much better will come out. It’s just how it works, unfortunately.

That being said there are, as of my last count, 39 Android smart phones currently floating around and another 21 that have been talked about. Since you’re asking about the Incredible, I’m assuming you have Verizon, so that will narrow it down some.

First there’s the HTC Droid Eris. This is my baby. I love this phone. Yes, it’s not the fastest thing out there but I haven’t found it to be enough of an issue to upgrade. The Eris was released in October of 2009 and just this month got upgraded to Android 2.1 via an Over The Air (OTA) update. It has HTC Sense user interface, which I love.

Next, the HTC Droid Incredible. It’s only been out a month and a day and came with 2.1. It has a 8 megapixel camera and a built in flash. I love that it has a built in FM radio tuner and 8 GB of built-in flash memory. The screen is a little bigger than the Eris’ at 3.7”, which also makes the phone a little bigger over all. The processor is significantly faster than the Eris, but depending on what you are going to use the phone for, this may, or may not, influence your decision. I think of the Incredible as the bigger, wiser Eris.

Then, there’s the Motorola Droid. I’ve always thought this phone was kinda…meh…for lack of a better word. I mainly think this because the thing is a brick! I personally don’t like a phone that is heavy enough to use as a weapon. If you like having a physical keyboard, that is what the weight is coming from and then the Droid would be your pick.

The other Motorola Android phone that no one really is talking about is the Devour. It’s only running 1.6 with Motoblur as the user interface. It also has a physical keyboard and the same processor as the Droid, but a much lower end camera with 3 megapixels. I just think that any phone that seems to be stuck at 1.6 isn’t worth considering at this point.

Honestly, if I didn’t have an Android phone right now and I was going to grab one, I would pick up the Incredible. If I felt like I needed the physical keyboard, I would go with the Droid.

If you see njn3rdg1rl on Twitter, feel free to tweet hello! In the meantime, keep sending those questions to nerdgirl@androidtapp.com!

~n3rdg1rl

Tags: Android Advice, Android Questions, Ask NerdGirl, DROID Incredible by HTC, Help with Android, HTC Incredible, Skype Mobile, Sync Facebook Contacts, Sync LinkedIn Contacts

Categorised in: Android Advice, Ask NerdGirl

5 Comments

By Michael on May 30, 2010 at 12:21 pm:

And one add-on that the original poster did not ask about …

When you talk contact list and android, one of the most useful features is that your contact list can automatically sync with your Google contacts list.

This means that you can add/delete/update contacts on Google and they will automatically show on your phone. There is no need for any special syncing software and you don’t have to do any update process to make this happen. When you set up your android phone it will ask for a related google account. From then on, all of your contacts are in two places, the phone and online and they are mirror images of one another.

When you switch phones or upgrade your software all of your contacts will seamlessly transfer forward.

Reply
- By n3rdg1rl on May 30, 2010 at 1:30 pm:
  
  Great point, Michael. Thank you! ^_^
  
  Reply
By de on May 30, 2010 at 2:08 pm:

If you stopped titling these articles with “nerdgirl” then maybe i would read one.

Reply
By Mark Mandel on May 30, 2010 at 8:54 pm:

In answer to “Is there a full Skype app for Android?”
Really, the short answer is actually “No”, unless you are on Verizon, and even then, you can only make phone calls on 3G, not Wifi.

So in my mind when someone says “full”, I would expect that it works on all platforms, and via both 3G and Wifi – which this client currently doesn’t.

Now, that being said, Skype has promised that a full client will be released sometime this year:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/28/skype-mobile-with-video-support-coming-to-android-market-later-t/

Reply
- By n3rdg1rl on May 31, 2010 at 1:45 am:
  
  Thanks, Mark! I hadn’t heard about this yet! I must have missed it. ^_^
  
  Reply