Nexus One (part two)

I have been using and very much enjoying my Nexus one for about a month now. Here are my impressions.

I am still not quite used to typing on the touch screen However, I have learned to use the good predictive text features. While that is probably the most efficient way to go, it requires a whole different set of typing habits that will come slowly.

Speech Recognition
The holy grail of the UI. While we are not yet at the level of HAL 9000 (Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey) we are well on our way. Most people think of Speech recognition as simply being able to verbally communicate with our digital devices. Giving commands is one thing. Translating speech to usable text is quite another.


Wile I am on this subject please allow me to muse wildly on the possibilities here. HAL was not just a speech recognizing computer. HAL was also programmed to "see" and to understand and appreciate what it was seeing. Google Goggles, and some of the barcode apps are an approach to this capability. 


Because computers don't know anything that isn't stored in a dataset, the crux of this feature is dependent upon a huge supply of comparative data.  What could be a better supply of data than the Google cloud?  Because of the vastness of the Google cloud, and the power of relevant searching. These features will now become reality. Fact is though that they can not exist without the power of the Google engine behind them. 


Now you can easily see why a search engine provider such as Google is relevant to just about any technology. Without the database, the device is crippled to it's own experience. For even simulated intelligence, a device must have seamless and instantly searchable access to a large database.  And what better database is there than the web? And who does a better job of compiling and searching that database than Google?


Speech recognition technology has been evolving for many years but it has always been a bit frustrating. We have evolved through the era of trainable devices to a more natural and universal recognition engine. We are all familiar with the voice prompts that we experience when calling large corporations for support. Some work great, while others can make us hang up. One thing I have noticed about this is that it works well for some people, and others it doesn't work at all.  I keep telling my wife that it will probably work better for her if she doesn't yell at it, and it will probably never understand all the swearing. 


The Nexus one, offers me the choice of inputting text via speech at just about any function. The Voice search option is a great concept, and works pretty well. It has some trouble with like words (like weather and leather) But otherwise functions better than I have experienced in the past with other devices. 


I also use the speech recognition feature for composing texts and emails. While not perfect, I think it is a little more efficient to edit what it writes than for my big thumbs to compose from scratch. The only caveat here is that I MUST read carefully and edit the test it produces. I have on more than one occasion received replies full of ???? because my prose was unintelligible. I am getting better at this. And I have planned to test out some more command and control features. I want to eventually want to be able to control the video camera via voice commands. I heard this was possible but have not figured out how yet. 


I want the Nexus one to replace other devices that I now carry. Consolidating many devices into one is probably my biggest goal here. That said, I must say that the nexus does a great job with many functions that I use on a daily basis. I post to and read Facebook seamlessly. Emails are a no brainer through Gmail, and note taking has finally become a digital function for me instead of the miriad of sticky notes that used to decorate all my spaces.


The Camera
I can not say enough about the Quality of the camera. It is simply freaking fabulous!. Rich color composition, accurate focusing, and quick response.  I also love that the Gallery is completely integrated with Picasa. Which makes Sharing from the road quick and easy. Above you can see some pictures and hopefully some video I shot with the Nexus. 


The Video Camera is of equal joy and quality. Yesterday. I used qik to stream video live from the handlebar of my motorcycle while on a short ride. You can bet, I will be using this in the coming months.

Media player.
I have always been a fan of iTunes, and the iPod I use both extensively and recommend them to my customers. One of the reasons I recommend iTunes is because I want my customers to be in the habit of buying music instead of the risky practice of  using file sharing. I also like to keep my own music library "pure" with album art, and high quality compression.  I recomend the iPod because it usually just works. Though there is DRM, it usually doesn't get in the way of me enjoying my music. iTunes however can be pretty frustrating if I want my music on a different device, or want to save my music o a file server and access it from many devices.  I am obviously enough of a geek to circumvent the DRM enough to make it all useful, and to hack everything together to make it all work the way I want it to on my iPod and iTunes library. However, I view all this as a big time waster. I paid for the content, and therefore I should not have to resort to nefarious means to use it.

 The Nexus one has turned me on to a whole world of media outside of iTunes. Obviously YouTube is now a big part of my mobile life, but I am also starting to use Amazon MP3 Store for my music. And hulu for some other content. I have discovered the Discovery Nexus app for streaming Discovery content, and I use it frequently. I must say that so far, the Nexus One has performed as advertised in all of these functions.

I am also using Pandora. While I used Pandora on my iPhone, and iPod touch, it was pretty flakey. Not so on the Nexus, as a matter of fact I was amazed that I was able to listen to Pandora through en entire 200 mile motorcycle ride without dropping.

The screen
My review can not go any longer without lauding the beauty of the screen on the Nexus One. The resolution and quality far accedes anything I have experienced in any other device. I especially love to show off the live wall papers.  While I have experienced some instability while using some of the live wallpapers. the joy that they bring far exceeds the hassle.

Navigation
What can I say, speak it, click it, follow it. Works every time, and works well even for places I know have moved recently. It has prompted me to remind my customers to update their websites, and to make them Search Engine Friendly, and I have had a number of inspirations for customers to make their websites work better with Google.

All in all, my only complaint so far is that their is a dearth of accessories available for the phone. I would like to see an Otter case (So I can better protect my precious) and maybe some dock options that would allow me to use the USB interface for pushing music out to whatever amplification device I am in front of.

Going way out, I would like to see a USB camera plug in for the Nexus though the built in camera is fabulous, I have need for more than one angle.

Thanks for reading! I will be trying more applications this week, and will review them in the next episode.