While I’m quite happy with my Android phone (HTC Incredible) I have no love for the standard pile of bloatware that Verizon insists on packing on board.  For months, or at least since the 2.2 Froyo update, I get an annoying browser popup for V-Cast media manager…. complete with music.

Finally I decided I could take it no more and set out on an internet forum scavenger hunt for a solution.  I’m happy to report that I’ve found a quick, easy, permanent solution to share with the world.

• Open ‘Phone’ then dial ##7764726
• Press ‘Call’
• Enter Password 000000 (that’s 6 zeros)
• Press ‘Feature Settings’
• Choose ‘CD ROM’
• Select ‘Disable’
• Finally, press ‘Menu’ > ‘Commit Modifications’

Voila!

Apparently this disables the virtual CD that is set to Auto-Play whenever connected to a PC and should prevent you from being spammed by Verizon each time you connect your phone to charge via USB.

Pass it on!  Any practical solutions of your own?

Any of our faithful readers pick up a Windows phone today?

What are your initial favorite features?  What’s the killer app?  How does it stack up (in the early goings) against Android and Apple?

A recent survey suggests that if the rumors about a Verizon iPhone are true and if said phone is coming in January ‘11, then Big Red (and Apple) stand to make money by the boat tanker load.

Of course you might expect folks from all of the other carriers to come to Verizon for an iPhone, but what is really surprising to me is that 51% of current Verizon customers would purchase an iPhone on the carrier. Given that Verizon has been pushing, and has sold, a ton of Android handsets including the Droid, Droid X, Droid 2, and HTC Incredible which have all come to market with the last year or so, means a lot of folks are willing to either pay full retail for the phone or are hoping that Verizon offers some kind of exception that will allow customers to renew for another two years regardless of where they are in their current contract.

It’s official.  According to market research group NPD, the Android OS has surpassed Apple and RIM for the number one mobile operating system in the US.  Based primarily on the success of Motorola and HTC handsets, nearly 1 in every 3 new devices sold is loaded with Google’s Mobile OS.

According to the press release (see link above), Android owned a 33% share based on Q2 sales while RIM (28%) and Apple (22%) rounded out the top three.

Given that Android 2.2, otherwise known as Froyo, is preloaded on the new Droid X and is already rolling out to several other handsets, it’ll be interested to see if the reported enhancements will continue, or even accelerate, this trend.  Also, it would appear that RIM is preparing yet another salvo with their upcoming OS 6 in hopes of staying in the game a little while longer themselves.

What do you think?  Is iOS still the true leader?  Does RIM stand a chance with their upcoming OS or the release of the Torch?  Can Android’s continued evolution be matched?

The Google ‘Nexus-One’ may, one day, prove to be just as important a device as the original iPhone.  Not only did it represent Google’s foray into the smartphone business in the form of its Android operating system, but it has taken the place as the only real competition for Apple as Palm, RIM, and Symbian search for their place among mobile OS retirement communities.  Whether you’re with me on this or not, you might be surprised to hear that the Nexus One was discontinued on Friday, a mere seven months after it burst onto the scene.

I’m sure that Google squeezed everything it had hoped for and more out of the HTC built handset, but I can’t help but think that most early adopters are going to be a bit upset about how quickly their investments (mainly in the form of a standard two-year carrier agreement) are going to feel outdated.

Think about it.  If you purchased a Nexus One back in January then you probably thought that those folks that bought a ‘Droid’ back in November were pretty stupid.  Well, since then we’ve seen the release of the Motorola Milestone (Feb ‘10); Motorola Backflip, Cliq XT, Devour, and HTC Legend (Mar ‘10);  HTC Incredible (Apr ‘10); LG Ally (May ‘10); HTC myTouchSlide, Evo 4G, and Aria (Jun ‘10); and coming in July the Motorola Droid X and Samsung Moment.  See a full timeline for all carriers, including non-US, on Wikipedia.

For the purposes of this article I’m going to stick with the original Droid, Nexus One, Incredible, Evo 4G, and Droid X as I think they best represent distinct benchmarks in the evolution of Android Devices.

Droid by Motorola - November ‘09

• Arm A8 Processor @ 550 mHz / 256 MB RAM
• 3.7” / 854 x 480 Touchscreen
• 5 MP Camera w/ Dual LED Flash / Video Recording at 720 x 480, 24 FPS
• Feature(s) Hyped at Launch: Slide out keyboard, fast processor.

HTC Nexus One by Google - January ‘10 (+3 Months)

• Qualcomm QSD 8250 @ 1 GHz / 512 MB RAM / 512 ROM
• 3.7” / 800 x 480 Touchscreen
• 5 MP Camera w/ LED Flash / Video Recording at 800 x 480, 20 FPS
• Feature(s) Hyped at Launch: 1 GHZ Processor, Android 2.0 OS w/ Native Navigation and Voice Input

HTC Incredible - May ‘10 (+5 Months)

• Qualcomm QSD8650 @ 1 GHz / 512 MB RAM / 512 ROM
• 3.7” / 800 x 480 Touchscreen
• 8 MP Camera w/ LED Flash / Video Recording 800 x 480 @ 26 FPS
• Feature(s) Hyped at Launch: 8 MP Camera, 1 GHz Processor, HTC Sense UI over Android 2.1 OS, Available on a Major Network (Verizon)

HTC EVO 4G - June ‘10 (+1 Month)

• Qualcomm QSD8650 @ 1 GHz / 512 MB RAM / 1 GB ROM
• 4.3” / 800 x 480 Touchscreen
• 8 MP Camera w/ LED Flash / Front-Facing 1.3 MP Camera / Video Recording 1280 x 720 @ 20 FPS
• Feature(s) Hyped at Launch: First 4G Capable Phone, Front-Facing Camera

Motorola Droid X - July ‘10 (+1 Month)

• ARMv7 @ 1 GHz / 512 MB RAM
• 4.3” / 854 x 480 Touchscreen
• 8 MP Camera w/ LED Flash / Video Recording 720p @ ?FPS
• Feature(s) Hyped at Launch: Shipping w/ Android 2.2 (Froyo), Can be used as a mobile hotspot, TV-Out via HDMI

From one device to the next you might not think that there’s too much new being offered, but considering that all of these phones have come to market in roughly eight months is a little disturbing.  As an owner of the Droid Incredible, I’m not too upset about failing to wait around for the Droid X.  On the other hand, it may be shallow of me, but a year from now I’m probably going to start feeling a little left out when it comes to having the latest and greatest.

I’ve left the iPhone out of the discussion because they have one many other things going for them.  The one thing that I’m actually starting to appreciate is their release cycle.  You can count on them putting out one new handset a year, no more, no less.  The fact that you only have to fall behind one iteration in between upgrades seems a little easier to swallow compared to watching your phones tech get trumped every other month.

Maybe Android in general still feels like they’re playing catch-up to Apple and iOS which necessitates smaller, more frequent updates to software and hardware, but it kind of makes early adopters (like myself) feel like a chump.