[lug] smartphone question

[Davide Del Vento]

Carl,

> With Virgin you can get unlimited data and text + 300 Minutes for $25 a
> month with no contract.

This is speaking! I wonder why other people pay 3 times or more this amount....
... unless coverage is the issue. From their map it looks like the
Denver/Boulder area's got only voice coverage: no 3G, in fact no data
coverage at all! Is that the case in your experience?

> I picked up a LG Optimus V on Virgin mobile (Android) for $130 at Best
> buy a while back,  I think they are about $200 now (still not bad as
> there is no contract).

It's $150 now on their website, which it's a fine cheap price. The
only downside, is that this phone doesn't work oversea where I go in
vacation (not big deal, but a downside). And it doesn't have my
killer-app (if I understand correctly), which is front-facing camera
and videocall capability (better with Google Talk, Skype or Ekiga ok -
I think I need  Gingerbread==Android2.3 for this right?). In other
words, it's the fact that they don't allow me to pick *any* phone I
want, as they do in Italy (I know, part of the issue is technical:
this network is not GSM/UMTS, but isn't there any compatible
Android2.3 phone I could buy unlocked directly from mfr and use with
them?)

> On another note, has anyone seen a GPS application that you can buy to
> put on an Android phone that makes it work like a real stand alone GPS?
> (works without any 3G or WiFi signal)

I think just the Google standard thing has a cache option which you
can set, then you check the map of the area you're interested in say
at home with wifi or where you have 3G coverage, and it'll save the
data. When used off-line, it'll use the data cached. Check their blog,
but I'm pretty sure they have something like this (not exactly what
you ask, but maybe good enough for your purpose)

Thank for the information, I'll keep an eye on this carrier, at this
price I may end up buying it even without my killer app.

Davide