droidStory

A number of blogs are speculating that the long anticipated ship date for the Nexus One on Verizon might be March 23rd. The date sounds plausible as it would coincide with the first day of the International CTIA Wireless Expo in Las Vegas, and Spring officially starts on March 20th .
Other evidence is a recent FCC approval of a CDMA device that seems to resemble the Nexus One.

I can’t wait to compare the 3G performance of the current T-Mobile GSM version against a Verizon CDMA model and see if the signal strength and 3G performance is still as sensitive to environmental factors e.g. holding the phone. The unreliable 3G connectivity and general network performance is probably my biggest gripe with the N1 right now. I have not observed any touchscreen problems as other people reported.

The Motorola Devour is available this week, on February 25th, exclusively at Best Buy Mobile for $99 with contract, after rebates. It will be available at Verizon stores sometime next month.

This newest phone in the Verizon Droid lineup could turn out to be a great entry level Android device. I think its sturdy aluminum case with slide-out keyboard combined with MotoBlur is going to appeal to many current Blackberry users and people that are looking for a simplified Android experience. 

Although the specs are not as impressive as some of the other Android phones, it will satisfy most users:

• Android 1.6 with MotoBlur
• 3.1-in.; HVGA (320 x 480 pixels)
• 3MP Fixed Focus Camera with Video
• WiFi 802.11 b,g
• GPS
• Dual microphone noise cancellation
• 1400 mAh Li Ion Battery

Wow – Droid prices are dropping to new lows. Motorola Droid now $50 at Sears online. Droid Eris free at Best Buy with new 2 year contract or extension. New Droid Devour rumored to be $99 at launch.

No more fighting over the remote, just use your Droid to change the channel.

Verizon just released an app exclusive to the Motorola Droid that allows you to control your FIOS HD set-top-box from your phone. Just install the free mobileremote app from the Android Market Place, connect to your Wi-Fi network and pair the Droid with your FIOS Box by using the Mobile Remote Widget on your TV, enter your phone number, and you are all set.

Now you can use your Droid just like your FIOS remote to change channels, pause, rewind, fwd, etc. In addition, you can view pictures stored on your Droid directly on your TV, either individually or as slide show. The app will even mute the TV when a call comes in. Pretty cool, huh?

Of course, you can also use this to prank your family and change channels from another room, since Droid uses Wi-Fi to remote-control the FIOS box.

At the height of the Mobile Map War, a small French company called Sensorly just launched an Android app that maps out wireless and Wi-Fi network coverage. This comes in handy to look-up ahead of time, whether or not a certain area has 3G coverage.

The way the app works is that your own phone reports its network experience, combined with location information (GPS and/or cell tower) back to Sensorly’s servers. The more people participate the more detailed maps get built.

Frankly, I’ve been wondering for a while why the wireless providers are not using this kind of technology to map out their problem spots.

It is not clear how many data samples are required and what statistical algorithms are being used for building a map. Also, problem phones like the Nexus One could potentially skew results by reporting insufficient 3G coverage for areas that in fact are working with other phones.

The app itself is a basic map viewer with a color coded overlay, with each color and shade representing a specific network and signal strength level.

The Android version currently maps only GSM and some Wi-Fi networks – sorry Droid users, but CDMA (Verizon and Sprint) maps are planned to be rolled-out in the coming weeks.

The company also plans to release versions for the iPhone and Windows Mobile.

The following maps are now available for free:

I figured this now warrants an extra post after there’s been much discussion on the Google support forum. It is absurd that Google keeps trying to put the blame on T-Mobile. The video below clearly shows that 3G network connectivity is fine until you firmly hold your phone in your hand.

Here’s an excerpt from my recent forum post.

I’ve been saying all along that this is a RF issue. I noticed this right away when I got my phone and even posted this video on Jan 9 to show how the N1 drops 3G as soon as you hold it in your hand.

The problem occurs only when you are in an area with a weak 3G signal, anything less than -80dBm. (Higher negative numbers mean weaker signal.)

Basically, if you have -90dBM or less signal strength with the phone sitting on your desk, holding it in your hand will push it down to -100dBm or less. At that point all bets are off. Before the update it would switch to Edge around -100dBm, now it seems to hold on until about -105dBm.

The “dBm” (dB-milliwatt) is a logarithmic measurement of signal strength, and dBm values can be easily converted to and from mW values. So a decrease of roughly 3dBm yields a change of roughly HALF in the mW value.

1mW = 0dBm
-96dBm = 0.0000000002511mW

In essence, the difference between a -80dBm signal and a -100dBm signal is HUGE. Check it out yourself here.

So here is my big question: Why is the N1 getting such a weak signal in solid 3G territory, and why does the signal degrade that much more when holding the phone in your hand?

IMHO the recent update just tweaked the switching thresholds, while the actual problem may be rooted deeper in the RF guts of the Nexus One.