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I wanted to not love the iPhone, really I did. All those smug apple fan boys, all the glowing media reports, it couldn’t be that good right? Its just a phone people, and the app store is evil and draconian in its review of applications. I wanted to be different and choose a phone that was completely open, so when the last upgrade cycle came around, I avoided the iPhone (at the time it was just before the release of the 3GS) and went with the Rogers HTC Dream Android based phone.

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Rogers White HTC Dream

Android, Google’s Open Source OS for smart phones has finally come to Canada in the form of the HTC Dream (T-mobile G1 in the USA). Roger’s Android phone features some changes from the default Android 1.5 (Cupcake) OS that makes it unique to Canada, most notably, built in support for ActiveSync, allowing you to get push email from a Microsoft Exchange server.

There are some caveants, the most important being, if you want to use your Rogers HTC Dream with an Exchange Server, it must be running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 applied. In our testing, we discovered that HTC has formatted their https commands differently than the iPhone, and other ActiveSync devices causing a “Sync Protocol Error” to be displayed on the phone.

Overall, I quite like the device, and I am quite fond of its ability to run an SSH client full screen, and allowing me to use the 5 line qwerty keyboard to control servers and routers that I need access to remotely.  Web browsing is also nice and fast thanks to built in HSPA 3.5G support (7.2Mbps download, 2Mbps upload).  The built in mail client is very similar in operation to the Apple mail client that comes with the iPod touch, and iPhone.  I really like the built in Calendar’s ability to sync with Google Calendar, as well as exchange, showing the events in both calendars in different colors. This allows me to keep my personal calendar separate from my work calendar.

As expected, all of the Google apps really shine on Android, Maps, Talk, Youtube and Mail all work seamlessly with Google, and are activated with the very first setup screen when the phone is started up for the first time.

The Rogers version of the HTC Dream comes with a 2GB micro SD card already installed in the phone.

So far, I’ve only had the phone for 6 days, I’ll be posting a more detailed post on the phone after I’ve had a chance to use it for work for a month.

Post a comment if you have a question that you’d like me to answer.

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As you may or may not be aware, Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron is just 11 days away (as of this writing). I’ve been running the beta for the last 20 or so days and so far I am very impressed with it.

I’ve had a couple of small hiccups with the integrated intel video and my widescreen monitor, but this is nothing new. A quick installation of ’915resolution’ and I was up and running in widescreen once again. The built in Intel graphics work very will with the integrated compiz fusion graphic features enabled by default. Hardy Heron exibits a level of polish that is on par with OSX. The extra graphical features are not of the gee-whiz variety, like OSX, they provide a pleasing and integrated level of animation into the desktop.

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I origionally switched to Linux over 10 years ago because my modest hardware could not keep up with Windows, and I was rewarded with a reliable, stable, and responive system. Fast forward 8 years and I am now a very satisfied Ubuntu user, however, I have never been a fan of desktop enviroments such as GNOME and KDE. I normaly prefere something very light weight such as WindowMaker.However, I found a way to keep a “mostly default” Ubuntu install with a light weight desktop. I had used Xfce a couple of years ago while experimenting with Redhat 8,9 and Fedora, and I quite enjoyed it.

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For the last few days, Microsoft has been distributing Ubuntu Linux from the Windows Marketplace website. Over 10,000 people downloaded Ubuntu via a link to CNET from the Windows Marketplace website. Curious about how Microsoft described Ubuntu? Well they called it “Perfect”

Note: This is the desktop version of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops, and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you’ll ever need, from word processing and e-mail applications, to Web server software and programming tools. Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing.Version 7.04, named “Feisty Fawn,” adds the Ubuntu Studio, a multimedia editing and production suite, to the distribution.

The page is gone now, and is currently still available via a google cache, but not for long. Groklaw has a screenshot.

via digg

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LifeHacker has chosen their ten favorite Ubuntu Linux applications that are exclusive to GNU/Linux. The list includes everything including 3D Desktop, mouse gestures, and a couple of applications that will save you a lot of time. A couple of the applications are blatantly obvious, but the list is good starting point for the new Ubuntu user.

What applications are on your top 10 list?

read more | digg story

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Dell releases a preliminary overview of what customers can expect from Dell’s Ubuntu offerings. So far, things look good for the Open Source community, and it appears that Dell “gets it”. I especially appreciate how Dell would like to use an Open Source hardware driver where possible, and how they appear to be thinking about the details, such as recommending users purchase post script printers, etc.

I’m not holding my breath about seeing this north of the 49th, hopefully, us Canadians will see something before the end of the year.

read more | digg story

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