Technology Android

[Pittsey]

The iphone 6 is going to be shaped like a penis so all the Apple lovers can fuck themselves.

 

[S O F I]

I hope the Iphone 6 phones are going to have something really cool about them, just because there's that Status Quo on the phone market and whoever comes up with something new and cool immediately gets copied by the others. For the last 2 years or so it was Apple copying software solutions from Android, now it's Apple's turn to do something first (and I don't mean a fingerprint reader). I'm especially hoping for tiny bezels - if they significantly reduce the bezel size, the device footprint wouldn't get much bigger despite using much bigger screen.

I wouldn't buy an Iphone yet because I really find iOS inconvenient to use, and it doesn't provide me with the same feeling of safety that I can do whatever I need on my phone that Android does to me. Needing to unrar and edit graphic files away from my computer and email them rared back? No big deal on Android. Wanna download all kinds of files from someone's laptop when travelling? No big deal, just plug in the usb cable and transfer files, then I can work on them on my phone if needed. An Iphone wouldn't give me the same comfort and I'd be worried that I won't be able to do something that needs to be done, just because of iOS' limitations, lack of regular micro usb etc. Kind of like limitations I felt when owning a Macbook Air, just bigger.

your issues with the iPhone don't apply to like 90% of people, lol.

 

[masta247]

your issues with the iPhone don't apply to like 90% of people, lol.

I think 70% alone don't use Iphones for more than phone calls, texts and facebook/whatsapp, so it doesn't mean much. Smartphones get wasted on most people, but since we're here we're not within that group, right?

 

[dilla]

The last paragraph is the truth about Android flagships.... http://anandtech.com/show/7903/samsung-galaxy-s-5-review/10

 

[masta247]

The last paragraph is the truth about Android flagships.... http://anandtech.com/show/7903/samsung-galaxy-s-5-review/10

I agree. Phones have never been as similar hardware-wise, yet each model is missing something.

I think Anand likes the GS5 too much though, lol. I don't think it's that much of an upgrade to the S4.

 

[S O F I]

I think 70% alone don't use Iphones for more than phone calls, texts and facebook/whatsapp, so it doesn't mean much. Smartphones get wasted on most people, but since we're here we're not within that group, right?

70% of smartphone, desktop, laptop, and tablet users. I'm completely throwing out a random statistic but I am pretty sure that a majority of people who use desktops, smartphones, laptops, and tablets don't use them at full capacity/all features. So, you can either work on improving the way most people use these products or you can keep adding corny gimmicky features (Samsung, HTC via their bloatware).

 

[dilla]

I agree. Phones have never been as similar hardware-wise, yet each model is missing something.

I think Anand likes the GS5 too much though, lol. I don't think it's that much of an upgrade to the S4.

Yeah, he says it is still a significant upgrade over the 4, which is debatable, but over the prior models it is huge. S3 to S5, obviously, a lot changes. Screen, camera, processor... RAM? What more do you want?

Apple needs a radical hardware change. iOS 7 was a radical software change, so I think it's time for the hardware to get with the times, a bit. The camera is phenomenal. I'm not sure what the 5S's screen size is, but I feel like my S3 is big enough for a phone screen. Stick to that.

Have you seen the tweaks Cydia allows for iOS now? It's pretty neat. It pales in comparison to Android and perhaps even an expert user such as yourself, but for most of us, it's enough to fix the phone to our liking.

 

[masta247]

70% of smartphone, desktop, laptop, and tablet users. I'm completely throwing out a random statistic but I am pretty sure that a majority of people who use desktops, smartphones, laptops, and tablets don't use them at full capacity/all features. So, you can either work on improving the way most people use these products or you can keep adding corny gimmicky features (Samsung, HTC via their bloatware).

The corny gimmicky features are actually for the majority of users who rarely even download any apps because they're not sure how, so they have everything preinstalled. No power user wants bloatware. Apple took just a different approach of aiming at the technologically challenged

Yeah, he says it is still a significant upgrade over the 4, which is debatable, but over the prior models it is huge. S3 to S5, obviously, a lot changes. Screen, camera, processor... RAM? What more do you want?

Apple needs a radical hardware change. iOS 7 was a radical software change, so I think it's time for the hardware to get with the times, a bit. The camera is phenomenal. I'm not sure what the 5S's screen size is, but I feel like my S3 is big enough for a phone screen. Stick to that.

Have you seen the tweaks Cydia allows for iOS now? It's pretty neat. It pales in comparison to Android and perhaps even an expert user such as yourself, but for most of us, it's enough to fix the phone to our liking.

The S5 has a faster chipset, slightly better camera (poorer processing) and slightly longer battery life, but is bigger and heavier than the S4 despite having screen of almost the same size. That's the most disappointing thing. The bezels are actually bigger.
While it's a huge upgrade over the S3 (so is the S4) it's not a good upgrade for the S4 users I believe.

Cydia is basically a platform for jailbroken iOS apps right? I'm not sure how it's special but I might be interested to read about it.

 

[dilla]

The corny gimmicky features are actually for the majority of users who rarely even download any apps because they're not sure how, so they have everything preinstalled. No power user wants bloatware. Apple took just a different approach of aiming at the technologically challenged



The S5 has a faster chipset, slightly better camera (poorer processing) and slightly longer battery life, but is bigger and heavier than the S4 despite having screen of almost the same size. That's the most disappointing thing. The bezels are actually bigger.
While it's a huge upgrade over the S3 (so is the S4) it's not a good upgrade for the S4 users I believe.

Cydia is basically a platform for jailbroken iOS apps right? I'm not sure how it's special but I might be interested to read about it.

Yeah, for me it'll be a big upgrade from my 3. For the 4, I can understand why one would not want to upgrade, especially with the chipset being somewhat similar, right? But the 720p screen on my S3 would pale in comparison to the 1080 of the S4/5. And the camera issue, too.


You are right about Cydia. This is the forum that has aided me in finding new jailbreak apps and explaining some of the tweaks to me. http://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/

You can just browse through some of the top posts in the section and see what is popular and what has been improved. The thing is, I didn't appreciate Cydia until I had used it on a potent device, like the iPad 3, compared to my dinky iPod Touch 3 Gen. So maybe getting some hands on time is important to really appreciate it.

 

[S O F I]

The corny gimmicky features are actually for the majority of users who rarely even download any apps because they're not sure how, so they have everything preinstalled.

This is not true. The gimmicks are there to differentiate from other Android manufacturers and Apple. People don't even think they want the stuff Samsung is pushing until they see the feature on a commercial and think that it's kind of cool. Then they use it once and never again.

No power user wants bloatware. Apple took just a different approach of aiming at the technologically challenged

What I've been trying to say is that the majority of smartphone users fall within the "technologically challenged" spectrum. Power users and tech-savvy users make up the minority.

A lot of people in the US switch to Android for reasons unrelated to what you think the benefits of Android are. My guess is you don't think Android's biggest draw is bigger screens but a lot of people in the US switch because of that.

 

[masta247]

A lot of people in the US switch to Android for reasons unrelated to what you think the benefits of Android are. My guess is you don't think Android's biggest draw is bigger screens but a lot of people in the US switch because of that.

Actually it's the biggest negative of Apple and all other manufacturers are better at reaching peoples' requirements in this case. I bet Apple will release bigger screened Iphone this year though due to this, just because of how ridiculous the size difference has gotten between the Iphones and all other major flagships (Android, WP). Now I know there's a minority of people who want smaller phones. There are many other "minorities", such as the power users - due to the fact that most phones are becoming similar these days those minorities are getting neglected in favor of aiming at the few most popular user groups. I find that Samsung and Apple are trying to be the most versatile, while both omit some groups - Apple omits the power users, while Samsung omits the users who actually want a really premium feeling device.

We have Samsung's R&D here in Poland that is responsible for making software for Samsung phones, including preinstalling bloatware for each market separately and "gimmicky" features.
Most of bloatware is preinstalled because Samsung signs contracts with third party software makers in order to deliver the most popular apps preinstalled because they assume most people are not going to download apps.
Most Android makers install them so people don't act like "oh my phone doesn't have Facebook/Dropbox/TripAdvisor!" just because it's not preinstalled.
"Gimmicks" are a separate thing - they are in fact included in the custom launcher (Touchwiz, Sense) and deeply rooted in phone's software and only they are understood (by OEMs) as means for differentiating from other manufacturers.

iOS has less gimmicky features and is less bloated with apps partially because it's more basic out of the box and doesn't feature Google services preinstalled, unlike Android, so it feels less overwhelming - but you're going to end up installing most of the apps that are preinstalled in Android anyway.
There are also no widgets, it's harder to fill the launcher with "gimmicks" because of that OS being aimed at less tech savvy users, not power users whatsoever. Siri, iCloud etc. are Apple's "gimmicks" though.

I know that the American market and choices made in the US are different compared to other countries as well. The preferred size and price range of phones is different and features that people want are different. Most of all - outside of the US, Android unit sales are driven by low to mid-end devices, which alone makes the market situation entirely different.
In China people buy phones that look more "fancy" by the Chinese standards which are entirely different than American standards, and it's a potentially bigger market (as far as we're talking about units sold). The awareness of amounts of CPU cores (even if they're shitty) and dual sim are very important as well - things that people don't care about in the US.
In South America and Africa people buy smaller phones so mini variants dominate the markets etc.
And the US is not the biggest market for Android - it's just the biggest market for Apple.

Also in general Android phones in the US (especially those that come from certain carriers) are bloated significantly more than their global variants.

 

[S O F I]

There we go.

 

[Casey]

New LG phone coming to Japan. Could be indicative of the G3 and/or next Nexus.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

Very nice.

 

[ARon]

Just got a new camera update. I like it, does away with that stupid menu they were using

 

[dilla]

New LG phone coming to Japan. Could be indicative of the G3 and/or next Nexus.

Yeah, I read sometime this summer and that the screen would have some ridiculous resolution. Like 2500+ x something

 

[Casey]

Yeah, it'll be the first phone in western markets with a Quad HD screen. 4 x the resolution of 720p HD.

LG are killing it right now. My nephew needed a new phone, and after asking me a bunch of questions about a few different models,
he decided to get the G2 and is very impressed with it.

Keep the prices low (you can get a G2 off-contract now for the same price as an N5), boost up the marketing, and I can see LG gaining
a nice amount of market share this year.

So far, the S5, Xperia Z2 and HTC One 2014 have all failed at really coming out the gate with all guns blazing and impressing everyone.
LG could really take advantage of that.

 

[Pittsey]

I am tempted by the G2. What's a good price?

 

[Casey]

I am tempted by the G2. What's a good price?

£295 on Amazon right now. Fucking bargain IMO.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-G2D802-1...?ie=UTF8&qid=1397850794&sr=8-1&keywords=lg+g2

 

[dilla]

I too like earth-shattering features on phones, but I'm starting to think that we've hit a wall in terms of what our phones are capable of doing. We can refine some things and expand slightly on other things that we use currently, but I don't see anything huge happening any time soon. I remember when the voice search feature impressed me...back in 2009. NFC was another neat technology. Samsung had that string of stuff like the eye-tracker. How many more things can we come up with to use as "wow" factors to sell a phone? The screen (quad HD) seems to be the biggest thing this year. Maybe the only thing?