Technology Android

[S O F I]

A lot of the points he makes don't really apply to me.

1. Customization - He likes Dolphin better and Apple won't let him open files with Dolphin instead of Safari. This is a non-issue for me.
2. Finding a location in a browser and navigating to it - I can find In N Out through an app (maps, yelp, foursquare) and easily find directions to it. I don't have to go through the browser. Again, non-issue.
3. Widgets - I don't use them. I also use just one screen for my apps.
4. No back button - There is no back button per se on every app, but going back is always a click away. I've had an iTouch for 4 years so this is not an issue.

 

[Casey]

There's 4 more parts to that video.

 

[Casey]

looks like the Sony NSZ-GS7 is going to be the first Google TV set-top box to hit the UK this summer. US pricing is $200 so hopefully we get it for £150 or so here.

Couple of things I was thinking about - with the Xbox 360 being a dominant player in the internet-connected-TV-with-apps space, it would make a LOT of sense for Sony to put Google TV onto the Playstation 4.

Secondly, Motorola have traditionally been a strong player in the set-top box manufacturing industry. Perhaps a Nexus-esque "official" Google-branded GTV product is in the pipeline. That'd be pretty dope.

I'm definitely interested in getting a GTV box when they launch here.

 

[Pittsey]

A lot of the points he makes don't really apply to me.

1. Customization - He likes Dolphin better and Apple won't let him open files with Dolphin instead of Safari. This is a non-issue for me.
2. Finding a location in a browser and navigating to it - I can find In N Out through an app (maps, yelp, foursquare) and easily find directions to it. I don't have to go through the browser. Again, non-issue.
3. Widgets - I don't use them. I also use just one screen for my apps.
4. No back button - There is no back button per se on every app, but going back is always a click away. I've had an iTouch for 4 years so this is not an issue.

Why the fuck wouldn't you use apps.

looks like the Sony NSZ-GS7 is going to be the first Google TV set-top box to hit the UK this summer. US pricing is $200 so hopefully we get it for £150 or so here.

Couple of things I was thinking about - with the Xbox 360 being a dominant player in the internet-connected-TV-with-apps space, it would make a LOT of sense for Sony to put Google TV onto the Playstation 4.

Secondly, Motorola have traditionally been a strong player in the set-top box manufacturing industry. Perhaps a Nexus-esque "official" Google-branded GTV product is in the pipeline. That'd be pretty dope.

I'm definitely interested in getting a GTV box when they launch here.

Until it looks and behaves like XBMC, I couldn't give a fuck.

Also... Will google allow us to stick google tv on HTPCs we build ourselves? Provided it gets good, of course.

 

[S O F I]

Why the fuck wouldn't you use apps.

I'm lost, lol. When did I say that? All I said is, all apps I frequently use are on one screen. The others are in the default launcher.

 

[Pittsey]

I'm lost, lol. When did I say that? All I said is, all apps I frequently use are on one screen. The others are in the default launcher.

I meant widgets... lol

 

[S O F I]

I don't use widgets because they're only artificially convenient. I am also not a fan of instant notification anything except that I obviously want to know when I get a text message. All widgets boil down to this fact:

"DO I NEED A HUGE CLOCK WIDGET THAT TAKES UP HALF MY SCREEN TO TELL WHAT TIME IT IS? NO, I FUCKING DON'T".

All that customization shit that Casey and Masta like to do reminds me of little girls playing with their barbie dolls and houses and dressing them up in different outfits and putting different make up on. I don't need that shit in my life.

I belong in a different era where everyone wore the same clothes, drove the same cars, and lived in the same houses and the only differentiation was found in intellect and actions (and what your family name and background is, which wouldn't work in my favor).

 

[Casey]

I don't use XBMC. Besides - what I want is the GTV specific Android apps, easy and integrated Google Music, etc.

Google TV is open source like the rest of Android and it has it's own dev community.... whether they are able to build ROM's of it to use on self-built hardware or not, I have no idea.

 

[Casey]

I don't use widgets because they're only artificially convenient. I am also not a fan of instant notification anything except that I obviously want to know when I get a text message. All widgets boil down to this fact:

"DO I NEED A HUGE CLOCK WIDGET THAT TAKES UP HALF MY SCREEN TO TELL WHAT TIME IT IS? NO, I FUCKING DON'T".

Well that's an idiotic (and untrue) way of looking at it.

Why open up the Gmail app (for example) to check mail when you can have a Gmail widget with live information on a homescreen? Why open a weather app to check the weather when you can have a live weather widget? Why should I have to open Reader when I only want to glance at the headlines? Why should I have to open TuneIn Radio just to see the name of the song that's playing when there's a widget that can tell me that? I have a To-Do widget on my home screen that shows me what I have to do today, and it's motivational because I see it every time I unlock my phone, so the things I have to do are always at the forefront of my mind. I also have a calendar widget on my front page that shows me my general schedule.

Why the fuck would I want to waste my time opening 5 different apps to see all this information when I can glance at my screen and see it all straight away?

Also, I'm sentimental so I have a picture of my girlfriend as a widget on one of my homescreens, it makes me happy whenever I see it, you know like how people who work in offices have framed pictures of their kids and whatnot on their desks. BUT YOU WOULDNT KNOW ABOUT THAT BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE A SOUL, YOU COLD ROBOTIC FUCK.

 

[Flipmo]

And you're unemployed, you jobless monster.

 

[S O F I]

I can't tell if it was my hate towards widgets or the barbie comment LOL.

As I stated, I'm not a fan of instant notification anything. I have a to do list as well, which I use my Calendar app for and set notifications for the time when I want to do it and I get notified. So I don't have to even open the app, I get notified.

Also, I have a job and health insurance to match.

 

[Flipmo]

 

[Pittsey]

You don't even use a calendar widget that displays the weeks important meetings...!!!

I don't use XBMC. Besides - what I want is the GTV specific Android apps, easy and integrated Google Music, etc.

Google TV is open source like the rest of Android and it has it's own dev community.... whether they are able to build ROM's of it to use on self-built hardware or not, I have no idea.

I play my music on my stereo. I watch TV on my TV. That's why I like XBMC. If google can bring out a slick interface that manages my movies and TV, or even better allow an XBMC App on Google TV, I will be in. Otherwise, I probably won't bother. Smart TVs are pointless to me. I have my phone to hand, I don't want to put text in from of the show I am watching.

 

[masta247]

I think you really try hard to argument why you don't need an Android phone now by ridiculing things it simply does much better.
The point with customization is pretty silly - customization is not about the looks. It's about functionality.

1. Customization - He likes Dolphin better and Apple won't let him open files with Dolphin instead of Safari. This is a non-issue for me.
2. Finding a location in a browser and navigating to it - I can find In N Out through an app (maps, yelp, foursquare) and easily find directions to it. I don't have to go through the browser. Again, non-issue.
3. Widgets - I don't use them. I also use just one screen for my apps.
4. No back button - There is no back button per se on every app, but going back is always a click away. I've had an iTouch for 4 years so this is not an issue.

1. It's pretty silly again - it's not about the Dolphin Browser. It's about being able to launch any website, video, music file with whichever app you like the most/does exactly what you want it to do by default - you can set exactly how you want your phone to behave with certain files and actions.
2. You can but how would you know that In N Out or whatever you're googling for was what you were looking for? It's simple convenience, another way of finding things and making good use of information fast and easily.
3. Widgets are just another neat way to bring more convenience and functionality.

The point is that you're trying to justify why you wouldn't care to lose all those things. Why don't you get a feature phone? You know, Motorola RAZR (the clamshell one) was pretty cool too and by the way you make it sound it'd do everything you needed to do too.
I think reality is that you simply don't care about arguments because you simply want an Iphone for no apparent reason, because you think it'd be cool if you had one.
It's like the same mechanism when a kid gets a bike for birthday and isn't satisfied because he wanted to get a skateboard. Fair enough, you want an Iphone. It doesn't change the fact that widgets, customization and convenience are freaking cool and you might miss them.

 

[Jokerman]

All that customization shit that Casey and Masta like to do reminds me of little girls playing with their barbie dolls and houses and dressing them up in different outfits and putting different make up on.

Now wait a minute. I do all that plus me and 50 paint each other's toe nails.

 

[S O F I]

I think you really try hard to argument why you don't need an Android phone now by ridiculing things it simply does much better.
The point with customization is pretty silly - customization is not about the looks. It's about functionality.

1. It's pretty silly again - it's not about the Dolphin Browser. It's about being able to launch any website, video, music file with whichever app you like the most/does exactly what you want it to do by default - you can set exactly how you want your phone to behave with certain files and actions.
2. You can but how would you know that In N Out or whatever you're googling for was what you were looking for? It's simple convenience, another way of finding things and making good use of information fast and easily.
3. Widgets are just another neat way to bring more convenience and functionality.

The point is that you're trying to justify why you wouldn't care to lose all those things. Why don't you get a feature phone? You know, Motorola RAZR (the clamshell one) was pretty cool too and by the way you make it sound it'd do everything you needed to do too.
I think reality is that you simply don't care about arguments because you simply want an Iphone for no apparent reason, because you think it'd be cool if you had one.
It's like the same mechanism when a kid gets a bike for birthday and isn't satisfied because he wanted to get a skateboard. Fair enough, you want an Iphone. It doesn't change the fact that widgets, customization and convenience are freaking cool and you might miss them.

OK, here are the real reasons. I agree, I am arguing just to argue. It's what I do. I should get paid for it. As I was saying, the reasons are this:

1. My Android phone's screen is broken, it's starting to lag, and I am completely uninterested in every single Android phone on the market right now
2. Both my G1 and my Nexus S have been buggy, slow at times, and not 100% responsive to touch. Out of every 10 texts I type, one or two will not register the letters I'm hitting on the screen. This was true back when I first got my Nexus S and I went to Best Buy (where I bought the phone) to complain but I couldn't demonstrate the issue because it simply wanted to work that time.

There are steps I could take to fix that. I could go and replace my screen for 50 bucks. I could root my phone in hopes of fixing the lag problems. I could complain to the manufacturer that there's something wrong with my screen even before it broke. But I don't want to do those things because they're a hassle to me.

One thing for sure is, I don't want an iPhone because it's seen as cool or because I buy into the marketing ploys. It's just that my dad has both an iPhone 4S and an Android phone and every time I used his iPhone, I loved using it. Now I didn't fully test it out but it just felt faster, the display was clearer and more crisp, and that it was better responsive to my touch. It's possible that if I used it for a longer period of time, I might find things annoying and less functional. But what I've been trying to convey this whole time is that I don't use my phone the way you, casey, and pittsey use it. Most of the reasons you prefer Android don't fully apply to me. That's all. I still like Android and I wouldn't argue that iOS is better, but I am not fully sold that the Android OS is the better OS for me. In the end, this is all pointless because I won't buy a new phone until at least November.

 

[Casey]

Even though I don't particularly support the idea of custom UI's..... here's a new one by Sharp called the "Feel UX"

Feel UX feature highlights

• Personalized and innovative lock-screen experience, allowing users to browse photos and widgets without unlocking the devices
• Real-time weather display motion experience and animation
• Desirable, gender-neutral palette and visuals
• Streamlined, curated home space to smoothly manage applications, widgets, and shortcuts

Show Press Release

frog Redefines Android Experience
The new Sharp AQUOS smartphones with Feel UX, designed by frog, will be available in Japan summer of 2012.
TOKYO, June 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Leading design and innovation firm frog today announced that it has partnered with Sharp Corporation (Sharp) to create “Feel UX”, a new Android smartphone experience that is easy to use, highly personalized, and visually stunning. The collaboration brings together a global interdisciplinary team of strategists, designers, and engineers across both companies to design a distinctive and meaningful connected experience for the next generation of Sharp’s AQUOS smartphones.
According to global business analytics firm comScore, four out of five mobile phone users in Japan currently own a feature phone. However, in February 2012, the number of purchased smartphones surpassed the number of feature phones over the same period. This signals an ever-increasing importance for handset manufacturers to design and develop compelling and differentiated smartphone experiences for consumers.
“To capture the expanding market of smartphone users, we wanted the new Sharp AQUOS handsets to be a unique kind of Android experience, to look and feel different and standout from competitors,” said Paul Pugh, Vice President, Creative, Software Innovation at frog. “By simplifying the interaction model and reducing clutter through a more curated experience, it will be immediately apparent to customers how to use the phones and make them more personal. In addition, the design caters to current Android users by giving them new tools to organize and optimize their handsets, while personalizing the phone in ways not previously possible.”
The newly designed “Feel UX” for Sharp’s AQUOS smartphones will be available in Japan during the summer of 2012 and include the following features:
Personalized and innovative lock-screen experience, allowing users to browse photos and widgets without unlocking the devices
Real-time weather display motion experience and animation
Desirable, gender-neutral palette and visuals
Streamlined, curated home space to smoothly manage applications, widgets, and shortcuts
“frog was chosen as Sharp’s innovation partner because of the company’s unique combination of consumer insights, strategy, design, and software engineering capabilities,” said Itsuki Kouchi, Division Deputy General Manager, Global Product Development Center at Sharp. “Through our collaboration with frog, we have adopted an advanced approach to Android’s concept, features, and philosophy, creating a distinctive device that will ultimately increase the life of the product and enhance customer satisfaction.”

 

[Casey]

Looks a lot better than anything HTC, Motorola or Samsung have come up with.

 

[ARon]

Microsoft's tablet is kind of cool. Pretty interested in what this Nexus one will look like

 

[THEV1LL4N]

The UI looks quite nice actually.

The Mircosoft tablets looked nice. I hope that they sell well and that Windows 8 proves to be a good mobile OS. What manufacturers are making the Windows 8 tablets?