IRL: Nike+, UTStarcom PPC-6700 and the Droid Incredible

Dec 8th 2011
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Welcome to IRL , an ongoing feature where we discuss the gadgets, apps and toys we’re using in real life and take a re-examination at products that already got the formal review treatment.

We’ve got an inside joke among the many Engadget staff: this sort of days, we are saying, we’ll publish IRL: The Luddite Edition. It is not that we go home to bunny-ear TVs and VCRs, though for a collection of journalists trained to calculate pixels per Super AMOLED inch, we’re awfully set in our ways. That, and there is nothing like brainstorming IRL ideas to make a grizzled tech editor feel somewhat nostalgic. That is the place Darren was in when he dug up his PPC-6700 from ’06 — and Lydia, too, who thinks about ditching Nike+, but won’t. As for Billy, he isn’t wistful; just biding his time until he can replace his Incredible with something he really wants. So how good is nice enough for a host of tech writers? Meet us past the break to determine.

The PPC-6700, unearthed

IRL: Nike+, UTStarcom PPC-6700 and the Droid Incredible The year was 2006. The carrier was Alltel. The operating system was Windows Mobile. And honestly, I even have no clue what the version number was during that phase of my life. All I knew was that my new job was giving me the chance to put claim to a smartphone, and that i couldn’t wait to upgrade from that Nokia candybar I’d been using for years before. Picking up the UTStarcom PPC-6700 turned out to be the best and worst decisions of my life. Back in those days, unlimited data was but $20 per 30 days, however the interface was so god-awful that you simply couldn’t make it suck down a webpage in case you tried. Perhaps that’s why data was practically given away — they knew the hardware couldn’t put it to use.

I fondly recall showing as much as work and there being an influence outage. So, I sat around for 2 hours playing Solitaire. After which, the telephone died. This brick of a phone wouldn’t even last two full hours in use, but somehow, I loved it. It was the long run. It was a glimpse of what was to come back. But i am unable to expect every toe and finger to call what number times this thing locked up mid-call, or what number times it froze once I slid the keyboard out. It was truly a terrible, terrible product.

On reflection, essentially the mostsome of the most insane thing about this phone — and Windows Mobile — was that the unique iPhone was alive while. Are you able to imagine what Cupertino’s engineers were thinking during prototyping in 2006, having the iPhone in a single hand at its closest “competition” within the other? i personally didn’t own an iPhone until the 3G came out, and that i ditched that for a Nexus One not long after. But something is amply clear: the smartphone — the real smartphone — was born in 2007, and the divide between devices before and after that year is simply stunning to peek back on.

– Darren Murph

Running with Nike+

IRL: Nike+, UTStarcom PPC-6700 and the Droid Incredible Humans have long since befriended machines: Fry and Bender, C3PO and the Star Wars crew, Sam Treadwill and his android girlfriend Cherry 2000 – but none of those bonds were quite as strong because the one between me and the voice of Nike+. My long-term workout buddy, this chick gets me through easy runs, hard runs, hot days and cold days, supporting me when no person else would. Okay, fine, i am not running marathons here, but after one too many unbalanced meals and an early Saturday wake-up call, Nike+ girl never fails to teach up.

i started using the OG Nike+ shoe pod and iPod Nano attachment back in 2009. Pulling the insole out of my compatible trainers, I secured the pod snugly, wondering if i’d feel it à la the Princess and the Pea. With the wireless adapter plugged into my third-generation iPod nano, my running companion would track my progress and chime in over whatever one-hit wonder i used to be using for inspiration.

Once I purchased an iPhone two years later, the voice sounded a similar, but I knew she had changed. Not did she require the shoe pod and iPod adapter, as everything she needed was right there in her swank new iPhone app digs. Although she still cheers me through punishing workouts, Nike+ girl now asks me to check in with Nike+ credentials, Facebook or Twitter before i’m able to bring the pain. After my workout, she asks if i would like to share my times with the realm or perhaps rate myself with a smiley face or sad face counting on how good or bad my run really was. Since my friendship with the voice has gotten so complicated, I’ve contemplated switching to the boot camp drill sergeant. Oddly, I always find myself going back to my old friend, although coping with her is more of a pain than the real run.

– Lydia Leavitt

The HTC Incredible: Still kicking (mostly)

IRL: Nike+, UTStarcom PPC-6700 and the Droid Incredible Yep, i do know … most of you will have taken benefit of that pending Verizon upgrade that I actually have lying around, ditched the Incredible and sprung for a Droid X2 or a Bionic or something. Well, to be honest, friends, i do not ought to. I’m rocking the unique battery and it still lasts for an entire day of “regular” use. The one issue i’ve got seems to be Sense-related. Every from time to time, HTC’s Gingerbread fingerprints go nuts and the house screen gets a mind of its own. The telephone remains usable; I just need to manually access apps via the total menu in preference to homescreen shortcuts. No huge deal there, because it only happens about once per week or so and lasts a couple of minutes.

This was the primary time I’d bought into the hype surrounding a phone and bought it at the day it was released. I definitely don’t regret it, as i have been lucky enough not to have major issues like a number of my fellow Incredible owners have. Do not be concerned, though, I’m anxiously biding my time until the Galaxy Nexus finally arrives .

– Billy Steele

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