Last weekend, a wonderful Google Galaxy Samsung i7500 came to me. I would like to share my first impressions and give some advice to those who will use phones based on Android OS.

About a piece of iron

The phone is quite nice. The main feature is a very bright capacitive AMOLED display. It is quite a brand, but this is offset by the brightness and saturation of the screen. Compared to the main competitor (HTC Hero), the Galaxy is thinner, lighter, smaller, has a brighter display, 8 gigs of internal memory, but less RAM (I personally haven’t encountered a shortage of RAM yet). Much more detail about the iron component was written in Mobile review .

Firmware

The phone came to me without having a Russian interface (originally from Germany); later it turned out that it is not difficult to fix: you can download the firmware here , and the update instructions are here . Since Russian words are on average longer than English, some items in the menu are now not displayed to the end. But now, without additional software, you have a Russian keyboard with switching to English.

Soft

Unlike Hero with its Sense, the Galaxy comes with a standard Android OS interface, which does not shine with beauty (and is not always obvious), but it works quickly and after you get used to it, it turns out to be quite convenient. Android OS has warts, but the concept is that all the flaws are corrected by third-party applications. Big bold plus Google for the openness of the platform: in the security settings you can allow to install software from any sources. The Android Market does not have its own website; but fortunately there is Cyrket which is like a mirror of the Android Market for a regular browser. There are no paid programs in Russia yet; All software that I put on a smartphone is free.

Important programs

• aContacts replaces the standard notebook; You can now search for contacts using T9 by any part of your name or phone number.
• tasKiller free - Android does not provide for closing programs. You can live without it, but if you want to have control over the device, I advise you to install such a program.
• WiFi OnOff and / or its analogs for Bluetooth and GPS allow you to quickly enable wireless functions; In the Russian firmware there is a similar program (although not so convenient in my opinion).

Useful programs

• SMS Backup allows you to synchronize sms with Gmail via IMAP.
• Wifi Analyzer conveniently and beautifully displays the available networks and the channels they occupy. Very useful for eliminating conflicts.
• RMaps - while the developers from Yandex are sleeping, Robert Developer has made an ordinary software that can not only Google Maps, but also Yandex traffic jams (and even can read offline data, read more in the developer’s blog; Yandex maps in Moscow take about half a year).
• Russian Keyboard - Russian keyboard; if you decide not to Russify your google phone. Or if you want to erase the character with a stroke to the left.

Cool programs

• Google Sky Map - an indescribable feeling: you look at the stars through the phone (also try searching); Please note that in the old firmware the compass was a little broken, because of which the program worked rather strange.
• Metal Detector - metal detector (!).
• Bubble will make your phone level.
• Labyrinth Lite - a labyrinth with a ball; as in the iPhone, only better :).

Other

In fact, a huge amount of software: currency converters, calculators, Wikipedia optimized for Google Phone, GPS trackers, Documents To Go (for reading office formats), ssh client and much, much more. When installing software, pay attention not to the number of downloads, but to user ratings.

Conclusion

After bringing the software stuffing to mind, the phone began to make a very pleasant impression. It is very nice that you do not need to hack anything, free software is enough for almost all needs. I think that after a short time, Android will become one of the most popular phone software platforms. If you have questions, ask.

UPD: For those who do not know anything about the platform, it is worth noting a full browser, full integration with email, calendar and contacts from Google (you will never lose an important number and will not forget an important reminder). Convenient communication by SMS in the style of IM. Cross-platform free SDK.