Technology Android

[dilla]

I was just saying recently how I was considering the iPhone 6 some time this fall...and then I visited the other sections of the Sprint S3 XDA forum and forgot how many goodies were in there and how easy it was to flash them and get back up to date.



Also, this is probably Casey....

 

[Casey]

LMFAO!

On the real though, maybe it's a UK thing but almost everyone I know and/or people I observe in public has Android these days. When I've been in the US, I've noticed more people with iPhones. But in my circles here, it's all Nexus, Galaxy, the occasional non-Nexus LG, the occasional HTC. Two people I know well have the Xperia Z. It's to be expected since Android has what, 70%+ market share now? I literally can't imagine a situation occuring where I'd be in a car full of people and be the only Android user. iPhone owners are the minority here. Unless you're at a hipster location of some sort.

 

[Pittsey]

It's one of my requirements for a new phone, a spare battery. But.... It seems less and less phones allow you to. Otherwise I'd have bought that G2.

 

[dilla]

What are the benefits of having a non-removable battery? Seems like the One X, the One, and even these LG phones are starting to move in that direction.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

Price should be the next thing, and battery the next after that. Optical zoom will probably be another big feature in the coming years. And as always, storage is becoming cheaper so we can store larger files in the cloud for less.

I would really love for wireless charging to be available around the whole room (like Wi-Fi) instead of being placed on a charging mat. It is only then that we can truly say we have more freedom.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

My colleague opposite me at work bought the iPhone 5C because she could get it in yellow LOL. She's convinced that manufacturers make your phone processor slow down after 1 year so the user feels obligated to upgrade to a new handset. I think she may have also taken out a 4G plan when she can only get 3G lol.

She asked me for advice but she should've listened... I guess I had no chance against yellow.

 

[Casey]

My colleague opposite me at work bought the iPhone 5C because she could get it in yellow LOL.

I'm sure it's no coincidence that there's a GIGANTIC billboard in the middle of Birmingham showing the iPhone 5C..... in yellow.

I guess these companies wouldn't spend so much on marketing if it wasn't effective...... people are sheep.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

IFTTT has come to Android.
https://ifttt.com/wtf

What do people think of this? Some of you said you had difficulty with getting to grips with the Tasker app. Do you think this will make functionality any easier for you?

 

[THEV1LL4N]

What do people think of 64-bit chips in tablets? Masta, I'm looking to you...

I've read that they are better optimised thus providing the tablet with better performance while saving battery life. Does 64-bit architecture mean that the apps will need to be developed in 64-bit as well? I guess most apps will still be coded in 32-bit and will therefore not make any difference at all.

I thought Android RunTime was good but not everything was compatible with it and I just wish it didn't take up as much memory as it did since I have no expandable memory on my Nexus 4. I think I may be tempted to keep my Nexus 4 for a third year and install CyanogenMod on it so I can get the latest version of Android (after Google ends official support). It will be more cost-effective for me than buying a brand new phone and hopefully come the fourth year I may buy a new phone which will be much much better in terms of battery life and everything all-round that I feel it was worth the money.

 

[S O F I]

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/24/google-is-walking-dead/

word.

 

[dilla]

IFTTT has come to Android.
https://ifttt.com/wtf

What do people think of this? Some of you said you had difficulty with getting to grips with the Tasker app. Do you think this will make functionality any easier for you?

Well, I'll give it a shot. It seems pretty nifty. Signed up and added a few "recipes."

Good looks. Seems to be at least a lot easier to set up a task. There are some grumblings on accuracy, but....

 

[dilla]

As far as getting an Android tablet, the 10.1 2014 edition has come down in price drastically. Saw it go for under $350 refurbished by Samsung. I'd get it in a hearbeat over the Air. But I think portability will be my big issue and that's when I may need to look at the Retina Mini again. N7 isn't going to cut it.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

I have played around with the iPad Air and it was a very nice tablet and was very nice to use - the best iPad by far. It has a 64-bit system which could have something to do with how smooth it was. I hope to see more tablets that are future-proofed this way, but local storage might be the limitation as OS sizes are becoming increasingly larger.

Would I buy the iPad Air even if I had the money? No. Because I do not feel it gives me good value for money at all.
Can I do those things on a £200-£300 tablet? Yes.
I would not require a secondary/tertiary device to be so high-end (my phone and my PC are my two main devices).

 

[Casey]

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/24/google-is-walking-dead/

word.

http://mattcruikshank.blogspot.co.uk/2014_04_01_archive.html

word.

 

[dilla]

Eh...that IFTTT service kind of sucked. The reviews on the Play Store were right. The GPS doesn't work or it is delayed by minutes. I didn't have any of the criteria go off once I got to the clinic today. I even waited 5 minutes. Checked to make sure everything was activated, but still nothing.

I guess this technology still needs some more time. Only compromise is using NFC tiles.

 

[Casey]

LG G3 is launching in a month, apparently!

There's been some more news about "Android Silver" as well, supposedly Samsung and LG have Android Silver devices launching soon, and the Android Silver program will ultimately replace the Nexus program. Maybe that's why we haven't heard much about an N10 refresh.

 

[dilla]

Ah man, looks like I might be late to the G3 party, if it ends up being the phone I get in Q4 of this year. Around the same time after launch as when I got my S3. Summer release date and me getting it around September or October.

Maybe I'll spring for the Silver Program phone at that point. Being on Sprint, though, means I won't be buying it unlocked from Google but instead from Sprint itself.

 

[masta247]

Sandeep - 64 bit chips and OSes mean that more than 4GB ram can be accessed and also sometimes delivers slightly higher performance depending on how an app is coded, even if it's just 32bit. The difference is tiny though.

To me none of the phones announced this year look exciting in any way. Maybe except of OnePlus One. The only fresh thing and I'm actually very curious how it works out. Specs look like everything is exactly top notch, while the price is lower than the Nexus phones.

 

[dilla]

Sandeep - 64 bit chips and OSes mean that more than 4GB ram can be accessed and also sometimes delivers slightly higher performance depending on how an app is coded, even if it's just 32bit. The difference is tiny though.

To me none of the phones announced this year look exciting in any way. Maybe except of OnePlus One. The only fresh thing and I'm actually very curious how it works out. Specs look like everything is exactly top notch, while the price is lower than the Nexus phones.

Yeah, but are they making a CMDA version of it for those of us on Sprint or VZW? Otherwise, I will have to look at how the G3 or the N6 looks, since those will be the flagships announced whenever I'm looking to upgrade.

 

[masta247]

Yeah, but are they making a CMDA version of it for those of us on Sprint or VZW? Otherwise, I will have to look at how the G3 or the N6 looks, since those will be the flagships announced whenever I'm looking to upgrade.

I don't think so. Why don't you consider going GSM though? Much more convenient, popular, more versatile and you're getting more potential phones, the true global versions, not some minor-market variants which don't even get tested as well with more niche radios. The world is doing GSM and smartphones are designed as GSM devices. CDMA is an abomination.

You can also replace your phone any time and just swap the sim card. Change networks at any time even with the same phone, and get global versions of phones straight from any store, without branded software with super-late updates.