Why an Evo phone running Android?

After two weeks waiting, I got the call. My new Evo had arrived. I dashed over to the friendly Sprint store and picked it up.

Now I can experience the joys of the mobile internet.

Why an Evo phone?

- I wanted a phone running Android because I'm a programmer (among other things) and I want to write apps for Android. Seems like I should start by becoming an Android user.
- I wanted Sprint because I believe they have the cheapest unlimited data plan. I expect to need a lot of data because I'm a technophile.
- This is my first Smart Phone, so I wanted a good one. HTC's new Evo, released June 4th is a great one.

The folks at the Washington Square Sprint store (next to Nordstrom!) were great to work with. They put up with me calling (nearly) every day to see if my phone had come in. They called me when it came in Friday. The store manager proudly told me all about his new Evo phone while we were waiting for my number to port over from my previous cell carrier.

LaDeene spent nearly an hour giving me a guided tour of the Evo and some of the things it can do. The folks at the Sprint store seemed to be having a lot of fun getting me (and two or three other folks) up and running on their new, amazing Evo phones.

Seriously, if you get a chance to buy a phone from LaDeene at the the Washington Square (Portland / Tigard, OR) Sprint store - you should.

First impressions:
- Screen is beautiful.
- The phone can do so many things. (This blog will be digging into that.) For example, when it wakes up, it shows you the current time and weather with a cool animation (often clouds swirling around or rain drops falling).
- Finding and adding Apps is quick and easy. I've already added: Color Notes (for ToDo lists), Dolphin Browser, Solitaire, Black Jack and several other games.
- Typing in text using the touch screen is faster and easier than I expected.

On the downside, later in the day when I tried to play a video from YouTube (just to see how it would work) the download from YouTube was very, very slow. However, I don't know if that's the mobile network or YouTube's fault.

I'll have lots more to tell you about the phone later.