The other day, Josh Topolsky at Engadget published a lengthy and detailed review of the new Samsung Nexus S smartphone which runs the very latest version of Google’s Android operating system. The 3,300 word review seemingly runs through every feature, includes a dozen or more pictures and generally appears to be the most thorough run down of the hardware and software imaginable.
But nowhere, not in one single place, in the whole review, did Topolsky mention watching TV shows and movies on the phone. Venture capitalist and blogger Bijan Sabet, who’s a pretty big Android fan, has also been blogging about his experiences with the S and, again, nothing about commercial video (I even asked in the comments). The Christian Science Monitor even did this nifty round-up with links to a bunch of reviews and you can click through all you want but still find out nothing about video purchases.
It’s actually become a huge problem in the product reviewing blogosphere — seemingly no one can tell you anything about purchasing, downloading and watching commercial video programming on Android devices. Ben Brooks wrote a loooong review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab and, again, no video mention¹. I mean, isn’t it a core use of tablets to watch movies and stuff? Come on, world o’ gadget reviewers!
It’s not because there isn’t any. A friend has the new HTC EVO Android phone operating on Sprint’s 4th generation mobile broadband network. It has some sort of Sprint video application that lists dozens of movies and TV shows (there’s some guidance on this Sprint TV web page). I’d have to say it’s an ugly mess with some channels operating on a schedule and others “on demand.” Some basic set of channels is included but others are packaged in tiers just like the bad old cable box at home. As far as I could tell all the content was streamed — no Internet signal, no video.
On the Apple side of the fence, of course, it’s trivial to assess what video programming is available for Apple’s iPhone/iPod/iPad universe — just go and look. The iTunes store has a dazzling array of movies and TV shows. Prices are pretty standardized and content is available for rental or purchase. It’s silly to even discuss in detail. Recently, I wanted to catch up on the BBC/PBS modern-day series of Sherlock Holmes. It’s on iTunes in standard or high-def. Bing. Gift the PBS series from a few years ago, On the road again: Spain, to a friend? Bam. Rent Ed Burn’s new movie, Nice Guy Johnny, to watch on an iPad? Bada-bing.
So what about Android? Can you rent movies for any or all Android devices? Or is it a carrier by carrier questions? Where’s the comparison of what they offer? Are you dependent on some third-party sources like Netflix? Without more and better reviews, it’s very hard to make the decision to abandon the Apple mobile world.
Footnotes
¹I emailed Ben and he replied “Depends on the carrier, though there may be apps that can do it – I didn’t investigate that. I also don’t have the device any longer to check.”
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