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Trying to decide

This got a little longer than intended. Thank you for your patience in reading and any replies you can make!

I've never owned or used a cell phone, let alone a smartphone. The reason for this is a disability I have (C5/C6 spinal cord injury) where I cannot use my fingers. Therapists and other medical professionals describe my hands as "clawed". That gives a wrong mental image of how my hands look. Saying they are "fists" gives an exact mental image. :smileywink:

Recently I've been very intrigued by Android devices with their large-ish touchscreens and integrated speech recognition/voice commands(2.1). Looking at videos of the touchscreen leads me to think I can touch or type when needed using the middle knuckle of my little finger. I can manage this on my computer's keyboard even though I have no tactile feedback from my hands.

I've used and programmed computers in my home for over 30 years. I'm not completely adverse to writing an app or two if I need to but I don't want to reinvent the wheel. :smileyhappy:

If I do buy one of these devices I plan on using it either hanging from my neck with a lanyard or lying on a table or desk. Also it would be used in speaker phone mode 100% of the time.

These questions are for both Verizon Droids. Some of them should be answered from the user manuals but weren't.

Can the lock screen be disabled?

When the Droid goes to sleep, after x minutes of inactivity, can it be awakened by touching the screen? If no, can an app add that capability?

When a call arrives does the screen display a button to answer by speaker phone?

Can the phone feature be set to default to speaker phone?

Are the tools the Droids use to make and answer calls simply apps that can be changed via the market? If yes are there many alternatives?

Are sounds from phone, ear piece and speaker, music, ringing etc adjustable by an on-screen volume control? Does it take much pressure to use the volume buttons on the Droids?

On the Eris do the 2 hardware keys on the front require much pressure to activate? Same question about the Moto's power and camera buttons. When I'm asking about pressure needed to work these hardware buttons I'm thinking they might be similar to buttons on an average TV remote. And yes I won't really know until I do a hands on.

Do the Home, Menu, Back, and Search touch buttons require more pressure to use than the touchscreen in general?

The Eris has a home screen 7 screens wide. While the Moto manual shows only 3. Can more screens be added to the Moto?

I've read that Moto uses the standard Android UI while the Eris uses SenseUI. Can a UI be changed by a user through the market or other download?

Is there a web site I can visit with my PC that will show ALL current apps in the Market with their descriptions and cost?

One final question: Does anyone know if any new "real soon now" Android phone is coming with a larger screen?

Thank you for your time and any feedback! :smileyhappy:

Comments

unknown

I can't answer those questions, but I think it would be extremely difficult to operate a Droid without full use of your fingers. Of course, you could buy one and give it a try for up to 30 days and send it back for a refund if it doesn't work out. You might do better to find a simple cell phone for voice and continue to use a computer for non-voice purposes.

fezzik

My answers below relate either to the Motorola Droid or to the Android market and software in general. I can't speak for the Eris or the Android build it runs.

knuckletyper wrote:
This got a little longer than intended. Thank you for your patience in reading and any replies you can make!

I've never owned or used a cell phone, let alone a smartphone. The reason for this is a disability I have (C5/C6 spinal cord injury) where I cannot use my fingers. Therapists and other medical professionals describe my hands as "clawed". That gives a wrong mental image of how my hands look. Saying they are "fists" gives an exact mental image.

Recently I've been very intrigued by Android devices with their large-ish touchscreens and integrated speech recognition/voice commands(2.1). Looking at videos of the touchscreen leads me to think I can touch or type when needed using the middle knuckle of my little finger. I can manage this on my computer's keyboard even though I have no tactile feedback from my hands.

I've used and programmed computers in my home for over 30 years. I'm not completely adverse to writing an app or two if I need to but I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

If I do buy one of these devices I plan on using it either hanging from my neck with a lanyard or lying on a table or desk. Also it would be used in speaker phone mode 100% of the time.

These questions are for both Verizon Droids. Some of them should be answered from the user manuals but weren't.

Can the lock screen be disabled?
I have not found that capability yet. I do know you can change the screen display to not shut off for long periods of time I am not sure if never shutting off is an option unless it is plugged in. I haven't looked to see if there was an app to help with that but I am sure it would be possible but some of what you need here would require rooting the phone.

When the Droid goes to sleep, after x minutes of inactivity, can it be awakened by touching the screen? If no, can an app add that capability?
It can not. It sort of goes into a sleep or standby and requires the power button be depressed. Sitting on a table trying to use knuckles I think that would be difficult. I imagine you would be a better judge of that than I would since you would have more practice operating that way but from what I can tell it is awkward. Again I haven't really had a need to look for an app to add a feature like that but I imagine it would require rooting and would use a lot of battery life. Even if it was all that was running when the phone was asleep it would use screen resources and definitely processor resourses during the sleep mode. However, I imagine that it could be done in theory without using a ton of resources if the screen were dark and you made it where you just have to touch the screen or touch it in a certain way.

When a call arrives does the screen display a button to answer by speaker phone?
When a call arrives you have to slide the answer button to the right or the ignore button to the left. Then it will bring up a display where you can touch a speaker button. I often use this while driving. I just have to answer the phone then push the button and usually I can do that before the other person realizes I have answered.

Can the phone feature be set to default to speaker phone?
if there isn't an app for that it would be ridiculously easy I imagine to do that. I realize you don't want to reinvent the wheel but you may want to design your own phone interface.

Are the tools the Droids use to make and answer calls simply apps that can be changed via the market? If yes are there many alternatives?
They are essentially apps. there are some replacements in the market. I am not sure if they would be more or less accessable fo you. As I said above you might want to program your own since that is a capability of yours. I would say if you do put it on the market so other people with similar challenges could have options.

Are sounds from phone, ear piece and speaker, music, ringing etc adjustable by an on-screen volume control? Does it take much pressure to use the volume buttons on the Droids?
Most of them can be controlled in the settings menu through various sliding bars. As to the pressure I often accidentally adjust the volume brushing over the toggle. I think on the table and probably on a lanyard that would be easier than the power button. The camera button requires a long press. You have to hold it in until it starts. I guess they didn't want you accidentally starting it also I think there are apps that make use of the short press to do things like screen captures.

On the Eris do the 2 hardware keys on the front require much pressure to activate? Same question about the Moto's power and camera buttons. When I'm asking about pressure needed to work these hardware buttons I'm thinking they might be similar to buttons on an average TV remote. And yes I won't really know until I do a hands on.

Do the Home, Menu, Back, and Search touch buttons require more pressure to use than the touchscreen in general?
The buttons on the bottom are pretty much like the touch screen. You pretty much just touch them.

The Eris has a home screen 7 screens wide. While the Moto manual shows only 3. Can more screens be added to the Moto?
Home++ is a replacement UI that offers the ability to have between 3 and 7 home screens and continuous scrolling so you don't go to the end and have to go all the way back to get to the other side.

I've read that Moto uses the standard Android UI while the Eris uses SenseUI. Can a UI be changed by a user through the market or other download?
See above. All though Sense does offer some features you can't just download from the market. A lot of the coolest features will either be included or obsoleted by 2.1 or I guess 2.1 and a home screen replacement.

Is there a web site I can visit with my PC that will show ALL current apps in the Market with their descriptions and cost?
ANDROLIB.COM isn't perfect but it is pretty much the best we got. It pretty much has everything you will want to know it just might have a few duplicates and the application count may be a little off. Basically though it is a web version of the market.

One final question: Does anyone know if any new "real soon now" Android phone is coming with a larger screen?
No there is going to be a huge influx of Android devices this year and supposedly a lot of them in the first half of the year. AT&T is going to be playing catchup and the rest of us are going to be loading up on cool stuff. The Nexus 1 is coming to Verizon in the Spring. It has the same size and resolution screen as the DROID but doesn't have the wasted weight of the external keypad which I don't think you will be able to use. It will have a faster processor and brighter screen it will also be lighter and depending on your tastes a little more stylish. Beyond that I don't know of anything with a larger screen. I know there are some and there are rumors of some but as to when and what network and all that no one can really say.

Thank you for your time and any feedback!

I am not sure how much you will be able to do what you want with stock Android and apps from the market. You may have to create a few apps. You might also have to root your phone to do some of it. Android being Linux based means you can pretty much make use of anything available on the phone if you have the know how and access. The problem is Rooting and making your own apps can leave you vulnerable as I am sure you understand. Rooting the phone is much like running Linux on your computer and always booting up as Root. Sure it is more convenient when installing stuff and what not but it also leaves your system files open for whatever whomever wants to put on them. Also and probably because of that Rooting your phone can void your warranty. it is considered a hack and so if you do it you will need to be able to support it and replace it should anything go wrong. On the bright side it makes it where it isn't worth paying the 9 bucks for insurance and extended warranty. LOL. I would think the Nexus 1 would be a better bet for what you want being lighter and probably a little easier to handle.

fezzik

Might I suggest a third option. I don't know much about your issue, limitations or what not but you might want to consider a Netbook. You can get either a netbook from Verizon which sometimes has killer deals or any one of a number of other vendors who sell netbooks with Verizon network receivers inside. The advantage there would be that you would have more battery life, easier buttons, more functionality, and with a VOIP service or magic jack you would have unlimited talk and data for what $79 bucks. Of course this only works if you carry a backpack or something or are in a wheel chair which I didn't catch if you were or not but with spinal cord injuries I assume if your hands are effected your legs would be too. If you aren't I would say one of the smaller and lighter weight netbooks can't be a whole lot heavier than the Droid, and if you use VOIP of some sort then you could get a myriad of tools to make talking easier not to mention some have built in microphones and all of them have built in speakers for things like video and voice chatting.

If you are interested in Linux there are Ubuntu and Chrome based Netbooks out right now that would be cool. The ChromeOS and even AndroidOS netbooks would be like having a big fuller functioning Smart phone.

There are also tablets like the Archos and things like that which run Android and I don't know if they have USB ports and if they have Verizon data capable tablets. So consider the tablet route purely theoretical.

knuckletyper

Thank you for your replies they have been helpfull.

Before I buy, or try, an Android phone I'll study the SDK and do a hands-on.

I do not own a moble phone, a portable MP3 player, a portable video player, a camera still or video, etc. An Android device is all that in a nice small package.

fezzik

That it is.

Shouldn't be too tough if you are familiar with Java. I believe there are few other ways to develop and I am not sure what the primary language is. My understanding is Python support is supposed to be coming (odd for anything with a Linux Kernel to have trouble with Python but whatever) but the Jython is at least partially an option. From what I can tell it is pretty simple as long as you are good and familiar with object oriented programming.

Also most of the tools are a separate object or whatever so you can develop using just about any tool in the phone. In theory some of the features or rumored features like wifi and bluetooth broadcast could be activated just they will frown heavily on it and it won't be in the market at least not for long. The tweaks you are looking for should be pretty simple things.

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