Guess it really is true that good things come to those who wait. I mentioned just a few posts down that I wasn't really keen on the Nexus S because I was expecting the dual core phones to be coming out.
This is way back in December 6 and at that time there were rumors of the LG dual core that was due to come out soon which did come to pass. It was released sometime in January and created quite a bit of excitement being the first dual core Android Smartphone. However the rest of the phone wasn't really much of an improvement over my current stable of phone so I wasn't really tempted into getting a new phone just yet.
I was given the chance to get an Iphone 4 at a really great price because our company is a good client of Globe, but I just couldn't get myself to want the Iphone 4 particularly when I know that the Iphone 5 is coming out soon. Let me say that contrary to what some people say, the HTC or the Galaxy are most certainly not the poor mans Iphone. I could have bought any of these phones but the usability of Android, particularly my HTC Desire is way beyond the capabilities of the Iphone 4. Am I an Apple basher? Most certainly not. In fact I have been pining for a 27 inch iMac with an I7 which I hope to get this year. I am just not blind to technology and price/performance. I don't mind paying premium price as long as I get value. I hate paying just for the name of a product, perhaps I've never been a label kind of guy.
Anyway, I digress. So there were rumors floating around about the second iteration of the Samsung Galaxy and sure enough, it was just released along with the Galaxy Tab II as well. While both of them are big news, the Galaxy S II is my primary interest (my family has to eat too) because it is quite an improvement over its predecessor. It's got a bigger screen, 4.3 inch, Gorilla glass super AMOLED Plus display which exceeds the display on the Desire HD. Furthermore it's got a 1 GHz DUAL CORE processor and it's quite thin as well at 8.49 mm which gives it bragging rights as the thinnest smartphone as of this date.
I did get a respite from gadget envy of about 3 months but its officially over and the biggest problem for me now is which phone will be replaced. You see I was able to get most of the bugs from my Galaxy S ironed out. I upgraded the software and am now using Doc Rom from Docs kitchen. I am using the Speedmod kernel which took care of a lot of the phones problems from lag of the phone all the way to some tweaks including backlight modification.
I have to admit that despite the upgrades in all my phones softwares, the most usable phone for me, hence my main phone, is still my HTC desire. I couldn't bring myself to purchase a Desire HD because technically it wasn't a better phone than my Desire. Secondly I was able to upgrade my HD2 to a NAND based android so for all intents and purposes it's like I have a Desire HD since I am running a Desire Z ROM with the new Sense interface.
So I guess I'll wait a little bit more and see what HTC has in store for us in the coming months. Personally though if I get an offer from my local telco about the Galaxy II I'm afraid I may just spring for it without thinking twice. After all, the dual core and the big display alone are enough to win me over, but on top of that, it's also got an eight megapixel snapper, an LED flash and it has a two megapixel front facing camera!
Obviously this is truly an endless parade of gadgets and it there will always be a new one coming. Yes it can be quite expensive but then it always gives you something to look forward to. Furthermore, it also gives you an incentive to save your hard earned cash. After all, you can spend 10 thousand pesos on a night out, or you can keep that and know that you are one third of the way to the cost of a new Galaxy. Then you get a new toy and someone will be happy to get your hardly used hand-me-down.
I am once again looking forward to this new phone and I can't wait for the Galaxy S II to make it to Philippine shores.
