I’ll see if I can take the charger to bits and solder the data pins together or something!

If the data pins on the USB cable are bridged, the device will draw up to 1000mA from the charger (more than enough to power the device) however if they are NOT bridged the device will only draw normal USB current which is not enough to run the device with the screen on.

The way around this is to either mod your charger to bridge the data pins OR to use a HTC charger.

This, incidentally, has been the same on every HTC device released to market and is designed so the phone wont fry a device built to standard USB spec by drawing too much current!

As for app killers – technically they should be a no-no on an Android device for various reasons – but these are well explained over on XDA developers (basically, it can cause some issues with spawned processes and ironically use more power!) – but as always YMMV!

HTH – Nice to see you enjoying your Nexus anyway!

Orange seems to have learnt some kind of error of its ways. My brother recently bought an X10 Mini via Orange and they’ve left Google Talk alone on that, with the result that it’s on his phone but not on mine. On the other hand, I’ve got fairly reasonable battery life (better than iPhone users I know) and I wonder if that has something to do with.

Incidentally, there is a workaround to get Google Talk onto an Orange HTC Desire. It’d be nice if Orange included it in their own version of the latest update of firmware – when they get around to releasing it. Yes – Orange delay even the phone manufacturer’s release of updated firmware because they have to tinker…

I’m not sure I’ve come across a camera on a phone that would replace a real one. The camera on the Desire is largely the same as that on Nexus One from what I can tell – and although it’s satisfactory, and way better than the iPhone 3GS camera, it’s not a true camera replacement. But I am fussy about these things.

Yes the HTC Desire has an FM radio, but sadly it’s not very good. Indeed I’d go so far to say that it’s next to useless. No RDS, and simply terrible reception. So even if Google could switch on the radio on the Nexus One, I’m not sure it’d be especially useable.

I do like Sense UI though – even if it’s likely that overlaid skins on Android might soon be a thing of the past.

I completely agree with James about the Android Market. It’s a mess and needs better navigation to find the good stuff. One thing that does annoy me is that the market will pretend that it’s never heard of an app if for some reason it won’t run on your phone. Google Earth is a good example. I can’t find it in the market. I’d prefer to be able to see it and a message explaining that it’s not available for my handset to appear (it’s a problem that’s being addressed apparently).

As for the “adult” material. I don’t really have a problem, although like James, some kind of “mature” section would be a good idea. That said, at least they have a mature approach to these things and don’t behave like Apple. Given Steve Jobs hollier than thou approach to adult material, it’s unclear to me how The Sun’s app got passed despite its nudity. Could it be something to do with Murdoch owning it? And if Apple’s going to take that approach with apps, why will iTunes let download “mature” songs, or 18 rated films?

Incidentally, Orange, do you really think it’s appropriate trying to sell adult applications on your mobile homescreen? You don’t think that makes you look just a bit cheap and tacky?

With regards to the keyboard, have you tried the HTC IME? There’s a modified version on XDA developers: http://forum.xda-developers.ciom/showthread.php?t=624416

The battery really can be a bit of an issue though, that problem with the satnav draining the battery faster than it can charge isn’t limited to the top end Android devices either though, my old T-Mobile Pulse had that problem, and the Desire isn’t amazing either.

Very good post though, I still don’t regret choosing Android over iPhone!

James