[Tushar Raj]

I have got two of these and not very satisfied with this. However I will still go by the pros first. The built quality is good and has nearly all the features. But there is no inbuilt video calling feature and the Android upgrade from Dell comes an year late. Android 2.2.2 was launched somewhere in June 2010 and was launched for Streak an year later. Dell has not been able to give video calling feature which is a very basic functionality. Comes in other smart phones from years. They do not supply accessories to India. They cannot even upgrade to Gingerbread which is very common in nearly all cell phones.

A lot of Android phones do have a secondary front camera meant to be used in video calling, it was never really put to use until recently. The reason was that the platform did not have native support for video calling until the introduction of Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
Google is working on Android 2.3.4 to bring native support for the same to be used via Google Talk. Until then, here is our pick of apps that will facilitate video calling on your Android phone for free. Please bear in mind that video calling through each of these apps works over Wi-Fi as well as 3G, and data charges will be applicable according to the data plan you have opted for.

Difference between naive video call and app based video call is that the first one does not require you to use any app and works only on 3G/HSDPA, just type the phone number and your phone will make a video call and charges will be done on minute basis to your operator. Ask your operator for rates.
But if you use app based video call it can work both over 3G and Wifi, but the other person must have the same application on the other side. Lets for example say oovoo, skype etc. If the other side does not have that application and have not accepted friends request then you won't be able to place a video call. However in 3G Naive video call you can call the same way you make a normal phone call. No extra ID's configuration or app will be required to use it.

Gingerbread has brought this by default, Dell did not update it to Gingerbread hence Streak users will miss this. Now if we check other phones that have video call and we could see how old they were.
Symbian versions:
Nokia 6630: 2004, Nokia N70: 2005, Nokia N95: 2007 etc and forward and every phone after that has it(Phones with front facing camera)
iPhone 4: 2010


Android phones from Samsung have video calling feature in it even in Android 2.2, samsung customized Android 2.2 to make and recieve Naive video calls. Sony made the same as samsung.

Today any phone with hardware configuration with 1 Ghz processor and 512 MB RAM has android 2.3 Gingerbread on it. Even old phones with this configurations have been upgraded. But Dell Streak missed this too.

One solution that many have given me is to use DJ_Steve's jailbreak to patch Gingerbreak 2.3, but that will void the warranty. So it is upto you.

Accessories are available from cheap chinese made on ebay for dell streak, but do not expect anything from Dell india to supply. However the same is available in US, UK and few other countries. Rest won't get them because Dell did not launch it. I had to get the same customized from Ebay USA and that costed a lot. Never mind at least I got my cover.

[Strephon Alkhalikoi]

Video calling: Dell's unlocked units running ROM 351 include Oovoo, which does what you want. What the carrier-specific ROMs have is anyone's guess. But I also don't consider video calling a "basic" feature, nor do I want it, so I rooted and deleted Oovoo from the ROM.

Late ROM Updates: Unlocked Streaks have had 2.2.2 since November of 2010. Carriers love to interfere with the update process because they want to make sure their bloatware is on there, and also to make sure you can't do what you want with the phone. While Dell DID mess up in releasing the Streak with 1.6, I believe they have more than made up for it, as I note below in your next complaint.

Gingerbread: On XDA Developers there was another person who posted a similar complaint about not getting Gingerbread. Most carriers only provide for one update. Dell has gone above and beyond the call of duty in providing updates, providing updates through five different revisions of Android (1.6, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, and 2.2.2). What more do you want?

The other question is what Gingerbread really provides to the Streak. Like I said on XDA in response to the person who made that complaint, while I would love to see Gingerbread or even better, Ice Cream Sandwich on the Streak, I'm not going to complain if I don't get it, because I'm perfectly happy with 2.2.2.

Accessories: Being the United States I don't have this issue. This is a valid complaint.

It's been said that the best complaint letters are ones that clearly spell out what the writer wants the company to do for them to fix the problem. Needless to say you haven't done that and simply posted a rant and a poll. With the exception of the accessories, this is because your expectations are unrealistic.

The reality is that the Streak is old technology in the phone world. It has been available for over a year and a half now, and the subsidized phones are approaching the point when upgrades will become available for the users. So I don't anticipate further updates to the firmware, which renders your complaints regarding updates and their timeliness moot.

[marvin02]

If you are going to complain at least get the facts right. Nearly 86% of Android phone are running on Android 2.1 (Eclair) or 2.2 (Froyo), less than 10% run on Android 2.3 or 2.33 (Gingerbead). See this article. Since Android is only on about 50% of the smart phones in use and most cell phones are not smart phones it's obviously not true that Gingerbread is "very common in nearly all cell phones".

There are video calling apps that work, perhaps with a bit of research you might find them?

I believe that there are vendors that sell to India on eBay and there are probably others. Most of the accessories (chargers, cables, cases) for the Streak have alternatives that are less expensive.

Can I ask why you bought a phone that does not meet your needs?

[Tushar Raj]

@Strephon Alkhalikoi vbmenu_register("postmenu_189559", true); Hey, ooVoo does not solves the purpose of Video calling. Let me know if you dial a phone number to do a video call or call an id to do that. ooVoo is not naive 3G video calling it is internet based video call that can be done from my laptop as well. However, video call works in the same way you do an audio call, instead of only audio it brings video as well.

Now here with Streak I cannot do so. If you see mobiles from Samsung, Apple, Sony, LG, Black Berry they have video calling even if there is an Android version as well. I do not need to justify my thoughts but as I can see that you are quite uninformed, Dell Streak did not come with 2.0, XDA might have come with that but Dell did not. It was upgraded from 1.6 to 2.1(Eclair). I curse Dell that they did not launch Gingerbread is because it has video calling feature in it. No offense dude.

Dell is a brand name that need to keep up, instead mobile unit is the only one that is a disgrace to Dell. I have had 2 laptops from Dell the service and support was fabulous. But the mobile unit lags a lot. Dell sales figure of Streak is very less. Compare it to Apple and you will know.Also let me know when in its history did Apple reduce its products price except a newer model is launched, this shows how brands and kept. Dell mobile unit seems to follow the wrongs here.

---------- Post added at 02:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:56 AM ----------

@marvin Dude you may need to understand a bit of technical info here. The requirements for Gingerbread is 1 Ghz processor and 512 MB ROM. Let me try to explain in general terms, tell me if you can install Windows 7 in a 1995 computer?
This is the reason that if you calculate all the numbers taking processor speed you will definately get to know that 90 % with that hardware configurations will have ANDROID 2.3 GINGERBREAD, so it is Dell's incompetence that we do not see OS upgrades coming on time. Dell streak price that we paid were high and came in premium range. So whenever you buy a first class flight ticket you expect service. So what is wrong here to expect good service.

Compare Dell mobile's sales with Apple, Blackberry you will know the answer right there.

[Strephon Alkhalikoi]

*sighs tolerantly*

1. It's abundantly clear to me that you did not in fact really read my post, since you've chosen to focus on minutae within the post rather than addressing the general points.

2. Oovoo is what Dell provided for Video calling. That's a fact. The fact it doesn't meet your expectations is not Dell's fault.

3. The fact I mentioned 2.0 in my post doesn't invalidate the general point, which is that Dell has gone above and beyond the call of duty in supporting the Streak. Ignoring that fact because it is inconvenient to you changes nothing. Dell still has gone above and beyond in supporting a device that is over a year old in a market where most devices see one upgrade from the manufacturer in their lifetime.

4. Regarding Dell and the Streak, they did screw up. They botched the release in the United States, and sold the units with Donut on them in a time frame when Eclair was the standard. The Streak wasn't well marketed, and updates were slow. I'm not denying any of that. Dell could have done a lot better. On that you are 100% correct. But, you're missing the point. The Streak is not Dell's core business. Dell's core business is laptops and desktops, and for Dell the Streak was a marketing experiment. The Streak's replacement (Dell Opus) will likely be far better marketed, based upon the lessons learned with the Streak.

5. Dell does what Apple does and reduces the price of product before the new model is released. Case in point is the laptop I'm typing this on. Just after I got it, in February of this year, Dell phased out the Inspiron I'm typing this on in favor of one with a customizable shell and a slightly revamped Intel i3. So do ask me that question about Apple again, because Dell does the same thing Apple does. The only difference is that you're aware of the process with Apple, since the Apple marketing machine hypes it up.

6. No one is asking you to justify your thoughts. However, you are placing your thoughts in the wrong place. This forum is not run by Dell, therefore no one here is going to help you out. The only people who can help you out are at Dell, which means you need to talk to Dell's customer complaints department. When they get it they will read it and send you a canned response.

I want to touch on something you said in response to Marvin, and then I'm done for the time being.

Dell has screwed up, as I've mentioned already. However, your statement that it is their incompetence that denies you Gingerbread on the Streak betrays you. It shows that you're taking Dell's decisions personally, as if Dell set out to screw you and only you over because of a feature you supposedly need that Dell doesn't support to your satisfaction. It is solely the manufacturer's decision as to whether they will provide an update to a given version of Android, and at this time Dell has not committed to supporting the Streak beyond Froyo. Honestly, I can't blame them because the Streak is over a year old now, and getting a bit long in the tooth.

It is a business decision on Dell's part if they choose not support the Streak past Froyo. If you cannot cope with that, then go to your local store, find a phone that can do the things you need it to do, and get on with your life. Because the Streak isn't for you.

[marvin02]

Originally Posted by Tushar Raj

@marvin Dude you may need to understand a bit of technical info here. The requirements for Gingerbread is 1 Ghz processor and 512 MB ROM. Let me try to explain in general terms, tell me if you can install Windows 7 in a 1995 computer?
This is the reason that if you calculate all the numbers taking processor speed you will definately get to know that 90 % with that hardware configurations will have ANDROID 2.3 GINGERBREAD, so it is Dell's incompetence that we do not see OS upgrades coming on time. Dell streak price that we paid were high and came in premium range. So whenever you buy a first class flight ticket you expect service. So what is wrong here to expect good service.

Compare Dell mobile's sales with Apple, Blackberry you will know the answer right there.

Why do many smart phone buyers think that OS upgrades are guaranteed? The Streak was sold with 1.6, ay no time has Dell stated that it would be upgraded to Gingerbread. They said that it would get Froyo and it did.

The numbers I posted are the actual numbers, not some figment or projection of what might be in some perfect future. Your assertion that most cell phones have Gingerbread was just flat out wrong. As an example, my wife's HTC Inspire is a newer model than the Streak and the official ROM is Android 2.1 while my Streak is running Android 2.2.2.

When you buy a phone you have to decide if it worth what you are paying for it in the configuration it is delivered, as no upgrades are guaranteed. You knew what it was sold with and you bought it anyway. If you think any of those other companies you mentioned provide better phones and better service then why didn't you buy one of those?

It appears that the main reason that you are dissatisfied with the Streak is because you did not do your due diligence when you made your purchase. The Streak I bought was exactly as advertised, has worked great, and my experience with Dell has been positive. I understand others have not had the same experience, but I see nothing in your opening post that you can lay at Dell's door. All of the cons that you mention were well documented before the phone was ever released and do not apply solely to the Streak.

[Tushar Raj]

Originally Posted by marvin02

Why do many smart phone buyers think that OS upgrades are guaranteed? The Streak was sold with 1.6, ay no time has Dell stated that it would be upgraded to Gingerbread. They said that it would get Froyo and it did.

The numbers I posted are the actual numbers, not some figment or projection of what might be in some perfect future. Your assertion that most cell phones have Gingerbread was just flat out wrong. As an example, my wife's HTC Inspire is a newer model than the Streak and the official ROM is Android 2.1 while my Streak is running Android 2.2.2.

When you buy a phone you have to decide if it worth what you are paying for it in the configuration it is delivered, as no upgrades are guaranteed. You knew what it was sold with and you bought it anyway. If you think any of those other companies you mentioned provide better phones and better service then why didn't you buy one of those?

It appears that the main reason that you are dissatisfied with the Streak is because you did not do your due diligence when you made your purchase. The Streak I bought was exactly as advertised, has worked great, and my experience with Dell has been positive. I understand others have not had the same experience, but I see nothing in your opening post that you can lay at Dell's door. All of the cons that you mention were well documented before the phone was ever released and do not apply solely to the Streak.

I would like to reply to your statement politely that when Dell launchedStreak at that time there was no Gingerbread from google. So upgrades arenecessay. Aa I understand that you like Dell streak, please let me know onlyone answer. If you buy Microsoft Windows 7 today and there has been no servicepack launched for that after few days’ bugs and threats are found in thesoftware and they do not launch service packs. Will that not be frustrating?

This is the same here with Android, Dell needs to keep up, everyone has itsown level of satisfaction, and I belong to IT and from a very good firm, beingdoing that for big companies I could tell that Dell lags here. Dell at laptoplevel does good I use a Dell Latitude both at home and office. So I am a fan ofDell computer division, still I keep my opinion neutral not biased that I startadvocating for it. I did not like Dell not launching Gingerbread I posted; ifthat worries you please see other blogs too. You may find whiner saying Dellstreak was there biggest mistakes of their lives. I, on the contrary do not saythat Dell Streak is a very bad phone, the phone has a hardware that needs to beexploited, which Dell is not doing. Please check and verify if the phones thathave the config that Dell streak and above have gingerbread upgrade for them ornot.

Stating the example of HTC Inspire does make your case strong when weconsider Dell as a mediocre not a leader. Let me elaborate, if there for examplesay 10 phones with the hardware config and 6 phones have upgraded from Froyo toGingerbread, then in that case the other 4 are mediocre in good words. Pleasedo not compare this way.

Stating another example, Apple has gone from their version of OS from 1.0 to4.3 and that too on all their iphones, even my ‘oldie’ iphone 3G gets updatewhenever Apple launches phone upgrades for iphone. So no phone user, even anold Apple iphone user feels left behind.

I do not want to make this personal as this is going, I would suggest thatyou join I love Streak club and brag about its vintage options there, you havemade your point here, however in my standards Dell has not done enough that Iexpected from ‘the brand’.


---------- Post added at 10:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Strephon Alkhalikoi

*sighs tolerantly*

1. It's abundantly clear to me that you did not in fact really read my post, since you've chosen to focus on minutae within the post rather than addressing the general points.

2. Oovoo is what Dell provided for Video calling. That's a fact. The fact it doesn't meet your expectations is not Dell's fault.

3. The fact I mentioned 2.0 in my post doesn't invalidate the general point, which is that Dell has gone above and beyond the call of duty in supporting the Streak. Ignoring that fact because it is inconvenient to you changes nothing. Dell still has gone above and beyond in supporting a device that is over a year old in a market where most devices see one upgrade from the manufacturer in their lifetime.

4. Regarding Dell and the Streak, they did screw up. They botched the release in the United States, and sold the units with Donut on them in a time frame when Eclair was the standard. The Streak wasn't well marketed, and updates were slow. I'm not denying any of that. Dell could have done a lot better. On that you are 100% correct. But, you're missing the point. The Streak is not Dell's core business. Dell's core business is laptops and desktops, and for Dell the Streak was a marketing experiment. The Streak's replacement (Dell Opus) will likely be far better marketed, based upon the lessons learned with the Streak.

5. Dell does what Apple does and reduces the price of product before the new model is released. Case in point is the laptop I'm typing this on. Just after I got it, in February of this year, Dell phased out the Inspiron I'm typing this on in favor of one with a customizable shell and a slightly revamped Intel i3. So do ask me that question about Apple again, because Dell does the same thing Apple does. The only difference is that you're aware of the process with Apple, since the Apple marketing machine hypes it up.

6. No one is asking you to justify your thoughts. However, you are placing your thoughts in the wrong place. This forum is not run by Dell, therefore no one here is going to help you out. The only people who can help you out are at Dell, which means you need to talk to Dell's customer complaints department. When they get it they will read it and send you a canned response.

I want to touch on something you said in response to Marvin, and then I'm done for the time being.

Dell has screwed up, as I've mentioned already. However, your statement that it is their incompetence that denies you Gingerbread on the Streak betrays you. It shows that you're taking Dell's decisions personally, as if Dell set out to screw you and only you over because of a feature you supposedly need that Dell doesn't support to your satisfaction. It is solely the manufacturer's decision as to whether they will provide an update to a given version of Android, and at this time Dell has not committed to supporting the Streak beyond Froyo. Honestly, I can't blame them because the Streak is over a year old now, and getting a bit long in the tooth.

It is a business decision on Dell's part if they choose not support the Streak past Froyo. If you cannot cope with that, then go to your local store, find a phone that can do the things you need it to do, and get on with your life. Because the Streak isn't for you.

Quoting again

1. I read all your points and seems that you found exceptions.

2. "oovoo is not from DELL" please goto manufacturer's website and see the developers name. You can download oovoo from the market place of Andorid.

3. You should understand again, when we come to cell phone or smart phones it is nessary to understand that in an example below
If you buy Microsoft Windows 7 today and there has been no servicepack launched for that after few days’ bugs and threats are found in thesoftware and they do not launch service packs. Will that not be frustrating?

4. If Dell needs to do a marketing experiment, seems that this is some internal info you have and if there is any truth in that then Dell could get sued for this. No company can launch something for experimenting in the open market, this is cheating their customers. Also for your info laptop market is the frontend for Dell, but they make servers too, and your bank could have Dell servers at their place and you account info may be on that, now would you like to again state " The Streak is not Dell's core business. Dell's core business is laptops and desktops, and for Dell the Streak was a marketing experiment. The Streak's replacement (Dell Opus) will likely be far better marketed, based upon the lessons learned with the Streak."?

5. Apple never reduces prices till they launch a newer iphone. They wait for the new one to come, on the same day they reduce the prices and that too not very drastically. Dell however did not do that. They did it to sell out their stock. This dips the brand name, and yes this is a business decision.

6. I have placed my comments at several places and this is just one of them. Freedom to speech is what both our countries respect, else it would be like Syria and Libya. So I speak here as well on this "open forum"

I consider this incompetence. If you feel that it is not so, then please go ahead and think in the same way. I cannot change your bias, however you should also respect others opinions. I am personal with Dell or not, for this there is a very thin line. Critisim is always appreciated, this is what makes us democratic.

[Tushar Raj]

Adding to what I said first and few employees of Dell came through to deviate from the topic. Today I went to Dell service center in India at New Delhi. I asked for a data/power cable, an accessory that is critical for a device be used. These guys asked me to call the a call center 18004254050. They said that the data/power cable is not available across the counter anywhere in India. For this I have to mark an email to dellmobile_telecom@dell.com to get this product and will get the reply from Dell after 1 week. What the hell am I going to do this week if I would have not have another Dell cable that came with my other mobile?

[jesusfreak]

I sympathise with the issue RE the charger cable, as I lost one not long after they were released & had to wait 2 weeks for one to come from England. However, they are now readily available as 3rd party units on ebay. So you would be silly to buy direct from dell at the price they are asking and you will not be waiting so long for an ebay item.

Regardless, you are posting your rant in the wrong place. None of us work for Dell, this is a forum for users and fans of the Dell Streak, so you are highly unlikely to get much sympathy when you come on here complaining about "issues" that most of us don't have a problem living with, especially on a device that still has no competitors when it comes to the reason most of us bought it...screen size.

If you are really desperate for Gingerbread, why don't you try DJ_Steve's custom rom available from the Streakdroid section of this forum.

[Tushar Raj]

Hi,

Someone reasonable I have heard from this forum. I believe that one of those 2 guys who writes in points is a Dell employee. Search 'Due Diligence' this is a very common word used at Dell office, see the amount of push they give against Dell Employees not being so competent. I think for that they should read the article on the link below
http://androidandme.com/2010/11/phon...hown-the-door/
Most of the mobiles today which have a hardware configuration have Gingerbread in it and being concerned and unhappy about it, seems like I am the reasonable one here. Also I checked the ebay one and ordered one as well...something Berrynxt. But don't you think I have a much more reasonable point here.
Next is if I go as per DJ_Steve I think I will void my warranty. I did this jailbreak on my iphone which is legal as well. But am not sure about Android.

Originally Posted by jesusfreak

I sympathise with the issue RE the charger cable, as I lost one not long after they were released & had to wait 2 weeks for one to come from England. However, they are now readily available as 3rd party units on ebay. So you would be silly to buy direct from dell at the price they are asking and you will not be waiting so long for an ebay item.

Regardless, you are posting your rant in the wrong place. None of us work for Dell, this is a forum for users and fans of the Dell Streak, so you are highly unlikely to get much sympathy when you come on here complaining about "issues" that most of us don't have a problem living with, especially on a device that still has no competitors when it comes to the reason most of us bought it...screen size.

If you are really desperate for Gingerbread, why don't you try DJ_Steve's custom rom available from the Streakdroid section of this forum.