It was time to renew my phone contract so decided to check out the android side of life and picked up a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.
So far so good and the number of apps to log my running are numerous. None (so far) are up to Nike+’s smoothness and completeness but none are backed by company’s like Nike and Apple. So I’m happy to play with the apps that are available and test them out.
So I’m using Buddy Runner (as I did today) and there is another one (My Tracks) which I’ll try on my next run.
The GPS seems to be accurate enough and Buddy Runner announces my progress every half k. The funny thing is the voice is very computerised (not sure how Nike+ did theirs) and rather than just saying “seconds” it says “seh-KONDS” – if that makes sense. The emphasis being on the second syllable. Of course this doesn’t affect the distance, just sounds weird. Meh! 
It covers all the usual stuff (refer image) and presents the dashboard in quite a simple to understand way. It seems to be attempting to replicate the Nike+ metaphor by showing how many runs have been completed by all users and how many kms they have done. Not necessarily better, just different.
Clearly I need to do a lot more running and the pace is all over the shop. What I do like about it is that it uploads from the phone as soon as the run is over. I don’t have to connect the phone to the Mac at home like I do with Nike+.
Hopefully the Android market continues to grow and develop and will match the iPhone and apps eventually. (though I wonder if it will ever match Apple in the total number of apps available!)
Anyway the phone is good with a lot of positives (like an 8MP camera) though sometimes there is a fair bit of lag between touching an icon and the app launching. With a system upgrade in September, that should be fixed.
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Us boys and our toys eh!
Personally I think Apple have the market pretty well sown up. It’s going to take a turn=-around to have anyone else get a significant market share I reckon.
Yeah, I have to agree. They don’t bring out cutting edge specs but they bring out cutting edge usability. Ease of use is underrated!