Month: March 2010

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Experiment! Nexus One

I currently live in the US and I have an iPhone. I like my iPhone. The apps you can download to it can be extremely useful (or extremely dumb), it works well, the design is great and it’s easy to use. These are the traits that made the iPhone a market transformer.
However, since I’m in the US and stuck with AT&T as my carrier (since they have the exclusive to the iPhone here), there are some serious downsides. In the US (unlike Singapore, for example), the iPhone is SIM Locked. Fine. AT&T does that to all their phones. So wait until your contract is up and get it unlocked. And AT&T does that for every other phone EXCEPT the iPhone. A call to Customer Service blames Apple. A call to Apple blames AT&T. So in the end, the status quo remains and the problem isn’t solved. It’s not like this in Europe where people whose contracts are up have their phones unlocked via Carrier Update that is synced with iTunes. The carrier update is sent by Apple by request of the carrier. And AT&T ain’t doing it.
Of course, if you want an unlocked iPhone, you can always jailbreak and unlock it. The problem is that sometimes the jailbreaking process kills certain functions, like push notifications. All things being equal, it’s best to get an unlocked phone unlocked from the factory.

IMG 0785
The box and packaging is very Apple-like.


Which brings us to the Nexus One, an Android powered device sold direct and unlocked. Since practically all phones in the US are sold with a subsidy that justifies the SIM lock, this is a first over here. For the past few trips back to Asia, I’ve been using an original iPhone (EDGE data) that’s been nothing but a glorified phone since there’s no 3G data and no GPS. The point of using a smartphone is to make your life easier and more efficient. So this trip, I will take the Nexus One with me, keeping notes on how useful it can be using prepaid services in various countries. So let’s see how it goes…

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Fly into SFO instead of LAX if you’re coming from Oz?

So the SF Airport publicity team released a Australia-targeted video touting SFO’s charms over LAX’s, although not naming the latter specifically.

It’s merely called “the other airport” and since flights from Oz go to either SFO or LAX, it’s not hard to figure out what airport the video is calling out. This is the most obvious example of airport competition in the US, although since they practically all suck rocks, it’s a matter of advertising how much less airport A sucks compared to airport B.
True, LAX is a deep dark hole with no facilities and in some areas, very old, outdated and sketchy (if it’s possible to be that way while still remaining an airport). The train connection is a 20+ minute ride from the terminals and you have to wait forever to get from one end of the airport (say, Terminal 7) to the International Terminal (TBIT) because all there is to get you there is a bus. One. That’s it.
SFO is not all peaches and cream either, despite the upbeat tone of the video. First off, the nicer, more modern planes (like the A380) fly into LAX. Why? Because LAX has the runways and the jetways to handle the big fat hen. SFO’s International Terminal, despite being designed for the A380, does not have the runway space (due to inbound parallel runways too close to each other) for landing nor the long runway needed for takeoff. A few years ago, Mayor Brown proposed to build a new runway that would need a tiny bit of reclaimed land. The environazis whined about “wanting to fill in the bay” and got the plan killed. So SFO wants more flights without having to provide more space. Typical.
The video goes on to show typical happy things, like a BART train, flight attendants riding kick scooters in the terminal and waiting with you for your baggage and for the eco-mentalists, a Pious Prius taxi being held open by Mayor Newsom. Some caveats: You will pay US$8.10 for a 30 minute, 12 mile ride on trains that show up every 20 minutes. If you choose to take a cab, you will pay close to US$65.00 including mandatory optional tip to get downtown. And contrary to popular belief, relatively few of the taxi fleet are Piouses.
LAX is definitely a hole. Transit from the airport is such a non entity, you either get a local to get you or you rent a car. Since you’re down in LA, you will need a car anyway. SFO, the International Airport is probably the nicest in the USA. The building is new (2001) and it’s reasonably thought out. However, the connections to the airport still suck rocks if you insist on taking transit. The best way is to get a local to collect you and to buy said local brekkie/lunch/dinner/supper for the ride into town.
So if you’re coming to California from Oz, take the advice of a fellow flashpacker. Fly into the airport that is near where you want to visit. And on the airline that can upgrade ya!