Cell Phones

What's important:

Need texting. Maybe phones. Wifi (via xfinity when on the move) may be enough. Beam.in Uber and Lyft Some kind of map app. Way to tell if a Green D train is a leader or a chaser. Show a presentation. Is HDMI and a full-screen browser enough? Alexa - not a great option available for either, but more available on iPhone. (Could make for an interesting android project) http://www.techhive.com/article/3068187/software/apps-that-put-amazon-alexa-on-your-phone-arent-as-good-as-they-could-be.html Some platform I can hack. Android is better than iOS: Scala v Swift. Phone insurance - Definitely want that. Deb says "it needs to fit in your pocket."

Keyboard?

Consumer reports - http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cell-phones-services/buying-guide.htm

Blutooth headset

"A few have buggy Bluetooth stacks that make pairing with headsets and in-car hands-free stereos a pain."

Which carrier?

T Mobile has the best coverage for Boston metrowest, but all are reasonable. http://www.pcmag.com/article/345123/fastest-mobile-networks-2016/10

Small carriers - Consumer Cellular, Ting, and Republic Wireless - may be cheaper. Big carriers - AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon Wireless - may have a better deal for multiple devices. (I have to pay per-device??)

Deb already has a prepaid plan. Maybe piggybacking on that would be OK.

GoogleFi - http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2489872,00.asp - as of 8-2015, Nexus 6 only. Swaps between Sprint, T-mobile, and wifi (without dropping a call). Price is about right. Not sure if it's a google experiment or a long-term thing. Worth considering if either it works beyond nexus 6 or nexus 6 is the right fit.

"The top four carriers in our Readers' Choice poll last year were all virtual: Consumer Cellular on AT&T, Republic Wireless on Sprint, and Straight Talk and MetroPCS on T-Mobile.

AT&T owns Cricket; Sprint owns Boost and Virgin; T-Mobile owns MetroPCS; and Google owns Google Fi, which combines the Sprint and T-Mobile networks. Tracfone is another prominent virtual carrier, with spinoff brands like Straight Talk, Family Mobile, and Net10" http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367064,00.asp

"there are a few popular unlocked phones—most notably the Google Nexus series, the Moto X, and the iPhone 6 and 6s—that work just fine on all the national and prepaid carriers."

"If you want to spend a total of $100-300 for your phone, opening yourself up to unlocked phones gives you some high-quality choices that aren't in carrier lineups. Blu Products sells several Android models in that price range, and we expect to see more from Huawei's Honor line in the future."

US Mobile's minimum is an a la cart menu, minimum is $2 + $2 for 100MB data (100 minutes of talk is $3, 100 texts is $2) "which is pretty impressive, and you can scale your plan up from there. The carrier uses T-Mobile's LTE network with any T-Mobile-compatible phone." https://www.usmobile.com/

TPO at $8/month for 1,000 minutes and 500MB, $12.50 for 2 GB and scaling up to 7GB for $60. https://store.tpo.com/plans. Sprint.

Republic Wireless https://republicwireless.com/cell-phone-plans/ $20/mo for 1GB data. $30/mo for 2 GB. Wifi emphasis. Sprint or T-Mobile networks.

How much data?

I'm likely to use 2-4 GB/month. Dev instead of gaming, plus the commute. "4G LTE networks beating many home Internet connections in terms of speed"

OS

Latest android OS is Marshmallow, 6.0. Previous was 5.1. ? what's the difference between 6.0 and 5.1 ?

Latest apple OS is iOS 9

Devices

Latest iPhones are iPhone 6 and 6S, for about $700.

Lots of Android phones in a table: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2483688,00.asp

"If you want a pure Google experience, then you want to go for either Nexus or Motorola devices, both of which deliver very clean, Google-centric versions of the software."

Blu Life One X for ~ $150. PC magazine really liked it. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2497072,00.asp " Blu promises an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow in early 2016."

Moto G ~ $220 with 16 GB . http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2488823,00.asp "Just picking up the phone reveals the time and your notifications, taking a lot of unnecessary Power button presses or screen taps out of the equation. In the camera, being able to tap anywhere on the screen to take a photo is hugely refreshing, and makes it much easier to take spur-of-the-moment shots. And Moto Assist automatically mutes the phone when you're sleeping." "On my 16GB unit, 11.81GB was free—that's the largest percentage of free space I've ever seen on a non-Google Android phone."

"True Android devotees should spring for the latest pair of Google Nexus handset, the 5X and 6P." http://www.cnet.com/topics/phones/buying-guide/

Google Nexus 6P $470 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2493305,00.asp "...sensor hub (which powers Doze, the power-saving feature in Marshmallow that puts apps into deep sleep when unused), an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a barometer, a proximity/ambient light sensor, a hall sensor (to detect magnetic fields), dual-band (2.4 and 5GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, and a compass." "With 32GB ($499), 64GB ($549), and 128GB ($649) storage options at relatively reasonable prices, the lack of expandable storage shouldn't be a problem for most users." "9 hours, 59 minutes of battery life" "The 64GB model we tested came with 53.67GB of available storage. "Editors' Choice for unlocked smartphones."

Alcatel Idol 4S $400 http://www.pcmag.com/review/346289/alcatel-idol-4s . Comes with a VR jig that basically straps the phone to your head. " LTE bands 2/4/5/7/12/17, so it works well on AT&T and T-Mobile networks" " Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and Alcatel has promised that it will get an update to Android 7.0 Nougat" "combined SIM/microSD card slot below that. The 4S had no trouble working with a 200GB SanDisk card$78.69 at Amazon, and Alcatel says it can handle cards up to 512GB. "

iphone 6s http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2491886,00.asp $750-$850. I guess not for me.

• Look into devices from OnePlus

Open Questions

Can I use a tablet (iPad ?) as a phone? Is that the right fit? (Or an iPad and a watch?)

Alexa interface?

Watch-sized texting/phone?

Cost-to-own per month?

Android vs ioS? Hack in Scala vs Swift?