Following on from last week’s post (Apple or Android? The iPhone vs HTC Legend), I’ve had time to ruminate over my transition, and having given the Legend back a week or so ago, I’ve had time to miss the things that I actually grew to kind of love.

For instance, as much as I love the clean layout of the iPhone, it was useful to be able to sprinkle apps and widgets about, dedicating one page to the apps I used most regularly, one to favourite contacts and one to a calendar overview. It’s a different way of working to the iPhone, but one I found I enjoyed.

I loved Spotify. I really liked the maps, and the addition of a compass which my old skool iPhone lacked (you can’t imagine how gratifying it is not to have to spin in circles on the pavement, trying to work out which direction was which).

But as much as I wanted to, I did not love Android.

My conclusion is that Android is still for early adopters. The marketplace is incredibly disorganised, and lacks the sleek standardisation that Apple’s draconian rules result in. The apps themselves were wildly varying in quality, which is something most app stores suffer from. However, this was highlighted in the Android store by certain apps that promised to do one thing, and once downloaded would just direct you to an advert – just when you thought spamming had nowhere else to go.

The Legend, however, I would be all over if it magically started running the iPhone OS: good to hold, super-bright screen, and fast – ohsofast — compared to my sluggish iPhone 3G. So that’s what I’m pushing for in the inevitable June iPhone announcement — simply a partnership and HTC to bring me the new phone of my dreams. Fingers crossed, eh?

If you’re a lover of air conditioning and cool air, get yourself down to Hell right now. It has temporarily frozen over whilst I temporarily dump my iPhone for an HTC Legend.

When announced, I wrote that the Legend might just have the potential to make the swap from iPhone to Android, but it was always going to be a tough transition. Here’s a little diary on how it’s gone.

Day One
This has officially been the worst day of my life.

What, you want an explanation? Oh alright. I have tried to de-Apple myself, and Googlify my life by swapping my sim to an Android phone. The result? A kabillion duplicated contacts on my iPhone, calendar appointments appearing two or three times and inexplicably adding alarms at every opportunity, an iPhone wiped of music and a whole load of tears. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming Google, and I’m doing my best not to blame Apple. I’m sure there are ways of smoothly transferring all of the above between operating systems, but I’ll be damned if it’s ever happened to me.

Day two
I’ve yet to find the time to take advantage of all the things that make Android phones a compelling option, and I’m still in mourning for my well organised, if slightly Apple-dominated, life. Having said that, I spoke to my mother today, and her review of the phone was as follows: “Buy this phone immediately, Susannah. This is the first time I’ve been able to hear you properly in several years”. I’m thinking of getting her a column in Mobile Reviews.

Day three
The battery seems to be worse than my iPhone, which is saying something, and it takes me a while to realise this is because of that damned multitasking I was so excited about. Exiting to home from the middle of a programme keeps it running, and I’ve now got a dozen things sucking up the battery all at once. A quick Task Killer app installation, and I think I’ve got it sorted.

Day four
Today it came close to clicking. I always thought Spotify was my killer app for an Android, or at least the ability to run it in the background made it leaps and bounds ahead of the iPhone version. I’ve now upgraded Spotify and so could listen to my cached playlists. If I keep the Android handset it’s going to change the way I listen to music – currently I have 2,000 songs on repeat, most of which are old news. With Spotify I can see myself preferring whole albums, simply because the playlists are easier to manage that way. No bad thing, actually, as it might increase my musical concentration from ‘first line….bored of this…skip…hate this one… skip…’.

Find out if Susi survived the week in the next gripping instalment.

With Google Android phones set to become the big talking point of 2010, it only seems natural for a crafty geek to have recreated the Android logo in cuddly form.

The creator has even kindly thought to include a pouch to keep your Google phone safe.

Recombu have created the video below to give you a step by step guide to create the Android Doll, which we’ve embedded below for your ease and convenience.

So, CES has drawn to a close, and the UK tech contingent is heading home. Or at least we would be, if something that looks suspiciously like The Day After Tomorrow hadn’t been happening in our absence…

CES this year has been… fine. It’s been slightly more interesting, in terms of launches, than last year, but not as good as when Philips launched all those diamond encrusted USB sticks. I’d rate it a 6.5 out of ten.

You might have been wading through the liveblogs, the analysis and the constant updates, but more likely, you were sledging. So, for you sledgers, here’s a round-up of what you missed:

Nexus One
Woo hoo! It is the Google phone! Except it’s not really – it’s an HTC phone. And there have already been loads of HTC Android phones. But wait! Google are revolutionising the phone market by offering it SIM free! Which is only new and exciting if you’re American, and are used to buying phones with SIMs locked inside. So, it’s a new Android phone. But at least it’s a good looking one. It’s running Android 2.1, has a 5-megapixel camera, snapdragon AKA superfast processor, 4GB MicroSD card which can be expanded to 32GB. I’m sold.

Panasonic 3D TV
Like it or not (I don’t) the age of 3D is upon us. Naysayers have been hushed as manufacturers have launched actual available to the common man 3D TVs this year, and the best of the bunch seem to be coming from Panasonic. They’re so into the third dimension, they’ve even launched a 3D camcorder. Just imagine the nightmarish scenes your younger brother could produce armed with a teenage imagination and a 3D camcorder.

Lenovo U1 (above)
This is mental – it’s half laptop, half tablet but it’s 100% brills. Whilst the screen resides in the case, it works as your average notebook, but you can unclip it from the casing, at which point it becomes a tablet. When it’s a notebook, it runs Windows 7, when it’s a tablet it uses Lenovo’s Skylight OS and has 16GB of flash memory. There’s also wifi, 3G, speakers and a webcam in the tablet, so unless you’re after a keyboard, it’ll be tempting to dump the casing all together. Although for $999, that’s some expensive discarding.

Polaroid PIC1000
Polaroid are back, and this time, with added Gaga! Yes, Lady Gaga is apparently now a creative director of the company, complete with her own business cards. No word on whether she’s the driving force behind this latest launch, which takes Polaroid back to its roots with a new instant photo camera. It’s totally retro-tastic in its design, and at £60, might make a cool alternative to your bells and whistles digital camera. [Photo via Pocket Lint]

Despite my desperation for a Google Android phone, I still feel that shiver of envy when someone else pulls out their iPhone. I want one.

So, in a moment of unclarity (i.e. before my morning cup of tea) I got a little bit excited about this tutorial on Crafty Crafty on how to make your own iPhone. Sadly, it’s only a paper one, but it’s pretty awesome all the same.

You can check out the video below:

Amazing Paper Craft IPhone! – Funny videos are here

Browsing through our other reviews, you might be a little surprised to see an Alcatel phone review.

Traditionally, this brand of phone is seated at the low budget end of the market. Basic features for a basic price.

Now though, Alcatel are pushing themselves into the high tech market. The Alcatel OT-708 is billed as the cheapest touch screen phone currently available. With prices starting at £30, it’s certainly pocket money in comparison to some of the other phones we’ve tested recently.

Does it pass the Dork test? Read on to find out.

Now, I wasn’t expecting anything particularly amazing from this phone. I’m a firm believer that you tend to get what you pay for, and this lightweight phone wasn’t exactly facing any high expectations. We’re not looking at a rival to the iPhone or Android phones here.

What we are looking at is a great basic all rounder. The phone is equipped with a 1.3-megapixel camera, 2.4-inch touch screen (which is very easy to navigate around) a radio and music player. Not bad for £30. It comes with 5MB of memory, but you can always boost that with a memory card.

So, pros and cons.

Wins points for:

• Price. At £30 (or free on some pay as you go schemes with Orange) it’s very cheap for a touch screen. Or any phone really.
• Easy to navigate, and the side-bar allows you to drag widgets onto the main screen.
• Light and small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

Loses points for:

• Features. A little unfair really to mention this considering the price, but don’t expect to have access to thousands of applications
• Browser. With a 2.4-inch screen, anything more then a quick check of your e-mails will probably give you a headache.
• No Wi-Fi or GPS. Also it’s only available on Orange. Enough said.

Conclusion

Apple have nothing to worry about at the moment, but this little touch screen would make a great stocking filler for young teens and grandmothers alike.

Since the Apple vs Android war has officially kicked off, I’d like to pledge my allegiance to Android. I’ve yet to get my paws on the newest generation of phones, but I’m an avid Google fan and the idea of buying an iPhone leaves me feeling a little blah.

After checking out what’s currently on offer, and what’s to come, I’m more than a little excited.

The HTC Magic (right) sits at the more aesthetically pleasing end of the Android scale.  The HTC was the second offering from the Google Android market after the T-Mobile G1, and the improvements show.

It’s much slimmer than the G1 thanks to the removal of the QWERTY keyboard, and general reports seem to indicate a system with far more usability.

HTC are dominating the Android market at the moment. Their latest offering, the HTC Hero, is professional-looking and stylish enough to face up against Apple’s iPhone.

Following in the footsteps of the Magic and the G1, it features that ‘chin’ at the bottom that seems to be bit of a Marmite feature. The Hero’s camera is the big difference between this handset and the others, boasting a high quality 5-megapixel camera.

The search feature is a nice touch too, allowing you to search through tweets, e-mails and messages.

Samsung have recently entered the Android market with the Galaxy i7500 (right), currently exclusive to O2. Measuring just under 12mm, it’s a skinny handset packed full of features and widgets.

There have been some complaints of slow reactions on the touch screen, and a lack of customisability (a common complain with most of the Android handsets), but overall it seems to have strong reviews.

I’ll be interested to see what the recently announced i6500 Saturn will bring to the table, and whether it will fix the buggy screen.

The Motorola Dext (left) reverts to the old QWERTY keyboard, much to my fat-thumbed glee. An Android aimed at social networking fans, the handset boasts the Motoblur function to make keeping in touch even easier.

Whilst this initially wooed me, the news that it’s currently only available on Orange was a massive turn off. Rubbish signal and sitting on the phone to customer services for hours is not an appealing feature.

Sony Ericsson have finally entered the market too with the Xperia X10, the first of many headsets that will be appearing in early 2010.  The handset includes a wireless stereo headset, 8.1 megapixels camera and a features called Timescape which holds all your communication for one person in one place. So in theory you can browse the texts, e-mails, tweets and facebook messages of one person at a single click.

The phone everyone is really waiting for though, is the Motorola Droid. This smartphone features a huge screen, 5-megapixel camera, and a free GPS system powered by Google.

The system is reported to be ultra fast, and many are comparing it to the iPhone for its performance.

With news of several more handsets in the works from Archos and NVIDIA, 2010 should be a very good year for Android.

You can’t open Google, turn on the telly or talk to certain people called Charles at the moment without being assaulted by vampires, actors who have played vampires falling out of sub-standard nightclubs, and interviews with people who have written about vampires.

You can’t blame it on Halloween – the whole of 2009 seems to be the year of the vampire. Also, the ox, but he doesn’t seem to be getting so much publicity.

But vampires aren’t even that good . They’re fussy eaters, pretty antisocial and will never be able to partake in a summer picnic, unless it’s at night, which is rubbish.

I think we need to regain a bit of vampire perspective, and so I’ve collated the top five things that are better than vampires.

• Browser shortcuts to specific Google docs
  

These are way better than vampires: they are productivity gold in a way Bram Stoker could never comprehend. Now, I can get to my ‘huh, what an awful lot of people are yet to pay me’ spreadsheet in seconds. You can even have a ‘new document’ shortcut, which is why I’ve created 67 new documents in the last three days.

• The Motorola Droid

Last week I wrote about how much I wanted an Android phone that wasn’t ugly, but had yet to be convinced. This week, I have all my hopes pinned on Motorola (a sentence I never thought I’d be writing), as the Motorola Droid has been officially launched in the US, with rumours of it coming over here.

It runs Android 2.0, has a 5-megapixel camera and a QWERTY keyboard (not entirely sold on that one).  It’s official: cute little android characters are cooler than vampires.

• Fireworks night

On the surface, you might think fireworks and vampires go together, both requiring night as they do. But I have never seen a vampire display, and the latest vampires do not explode into awesome shapes, like lips and hearts. Fireworks do in both cases.

• Philippe Starck
  

If you did not see him in his ‘Masterchef for people that want to design knives, forks and chairs’ programme on BBC2, get thee to iPlayer.

He was the best French man I have ever seen, and should almost certainly be releasing a Christmas coaching video on how to be so awesome-ly French. You never see a French vampire, now do you? (Oh, and the programme was called Design for Life, in case the previous explanation yielded no results in the BBC’s stupid search facility. Katie wrote about the winner the show and her Kaspa Lamps here. She was also inexplicably rude about Philppe Starck.)

• Werewolves

The main reason werewolves are better than vampires comes down to your basic Mean Girls halloween conundrum. If we can make werewolves the new vampires, it can only result in Hilarious Consequences as girls try to work out how to make a Sexy Werewolf costume.

Because face it – there’s nothing sexy about a hairy wolf. There just isn’t.

• More Vampires on Dork Adore
  
• More Opinion from Susi on Dork Adore
  

You should probably know right now, I use a Macbook. And an iPhone. And I briefly considered buying the new Magic Mouse, even though I work on the sofa, which isn’t massively conducive to miceness (or non-twisted spineness, since you ask). So, yeah. I’d like to protest I’m not a fangirl, but the facts point to the contrary.

Having said that, I think it might be time for my iPhone and me to part company.

[I just had to take a little break to re-read that sentence for a few minutes. This is going to be hard].

There have been one too many complete wipes of the phone. I’m fed up with running out of space and having no choice but to delete, rather than to add memory. And most of all, Android is looking just too tempting (also, the latest release is called Doughnut. It’s like they know me).

In the Alien’s corner

• Apps run in the background

This is useful for many applications, such as being able to receive Skype IMs whilst you’re checking your email, but it becomes downright essential with Spotify, which is an app closer to my heart than my pulmonary veins. I love it on the iPhone, but if you’re listening to Spotify, you can do literally nothing else. Twitter becomes dead to you, and Scrabble is but a distant memory.

• Battery meter

Much like the Task Manager on your PC, there’s a battery meter on the Android which can tell you which of the apps are sucking up the most power – essential for those of us that would get so excited about running apps in the background they’d run them all. So, um, me.

• Augmented reality

Augmented reality uses GPS and the compass in the phone to pinpoint the exact position of the phone, which then allows developers to create application that can layer information over what you can see through the camera. So, it’ll point you towards the nearest tube stop, or give you historical information on the building in front of you. If you haven’t checked it out, go google it, for it is teh awesome. Anyway, the point here is that you need an iPhone 3GS to appreciate it via Apple, but all of the Android phones have it. That makes them more futuremafied. Futuremafied = good.

But then there’s the iPhone…

• Choice of handsets

Hmm, you too initially read this and thought it should go in advantages, right? But really,  have you seen them? They’re… fine. Some of them are even quite nice. But honestly, none of them even come close, design-wise, to the iPhone.

• User interface ishoos

I’ve played with a few Android handsets, from a few different manufacturers, and I’ve yet to see one with a touchscreen as sensitive as the iPhone, and no matter which way you slice it, the Android OS ain’t as intuitive as the iPhone.

• Change! ARRRGGGHHHH!

It takes a long time to get everything playing nice when you sync your phone to your computer, regardless of manufacturers. I’ve finally got there, and I’m hesitant to upset the apple cart (LOL-ish). I’m staring down the barrel of hours of research as to how to get my Gcal to sync with my iCal, how to transfer my DRM protected music out of the almighty iTunes, not to mention the fact that I’m going to have to train my ear to recognise an entirely new ringtone. I ask you, is it worth it?

I was hoping I was going to be able to do one of those ‘So, in conclusion…’ summaries the likes of Charlie Brooker always seems to manage, but instead, I’ve got myself in a bit of a pickle. I hand it over to you, dearest reader. Please tell me what to do. And I will do it. Probably.