Technology Android

[dilla]

The S5 has been leaked.

http://www.redmondpie.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-images-specs-leaks-in-full-glory-ahead-of-mwc-unveiling/

 

[Pittsey]

Might be tempted by the Galaxy Gear Fitness, dependent on price.

The S5 is not much different to the S4. Not that I expected it to be, really. Could do without the fingerprint scanner. As much as it will annoy, Masta. I'd rather get the N5. Quicker updates and better value pricing. Or buy the S4.

I think I'm about to get a job managing a T-Mobile store. With commission I'd make around 50k a year. I'd sit around and sell/look at phones all day, seems like a job I'd enjoy.

Any of you guys done this or know anyone who has?

A friend of mine runs a few Phones4U stores in the UK. He was managing a bookies, then managing a major bank. But he got sacked for having sex with his staff basically. Now he is an area manager at phones4u. He has since left his (large) wife for a girl 15 years younger. So... I'd say it's not all bad...

 

[dilla]

I like the phone, but I think what Casey said holds true. Samsung is coasting. Phone design-wise.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/24/5441668/samsung-galaxy-s5-announcement-launch

 

[THEV1LL4N]

I was hoping that there would be a Google Play Edition that sells for a cheaper RRP online.

Fingerprint scanners can be cool but it's too gimicky and will drive the price of each unit up for a luxury that i'll probably never use after the first week of trying it out. I've never actually used the face unlock feature either. Only got my mum to try it and even now she doesn't bother with it, she just presses the X button to go straight to the PIN entry screen. I think she got bored of that feature lol.

 

[ARon]

i'm surprised they wouldn't hire from within.

My sister is friends with the chick whose husband is a district manager at T-Mobile. I went and met them at the bar and we we're talking phones all night. He asked if I'd be interested in that position.


So the S5.... biggest meh in the world

 

[S O F I]

My sister is friends with the chick whose husband is a district manager at T-Mobile. I went and met them at the bar and we we're talking phones all night. He asked if I'd be interested in that position.


So the S5.... biggest meh in the world

Gotcha, good luck. Hope it works out.

just so you know i've been paying attention to your goals and hopes and I hope you follow through on some of this shit lol. like, moving to seattle or starting a clothing company lol

 

[masta247]

Ok, ok so Samsung did fuck up epically with the S5. I'm so disappointed as it was supposed to be so good, yet it's the worst next generation ever (but to be honest the Z2 from Z1 from Sony is also the tiniest upgrade possible so this might be a year of no changes).

I'd like to defend the S5 here, but I can't. There's nothing good about it. The S4 was smaller while having only 0,1 inch smaller screen. There's already S4 with Snapdragon 800 chipset. There are editions of the S4 that look better than the S5.

There's nothing I can say really. At this point LG have a better phone with the G2, even though it was released late last year it IS better.
Sony have a better phone with the Z2. There's even a chance HTC might have the better phone with the new One after it gets released as long as they minimize the bezels and improve the camera (that's a big deal), they have a month until release date so lots of time to make tweaks.

It's the first time ever that by the time of its announcement the newest flagship from Samsung Galaxy S series is not the best phone around hardware-wise.

 

[S O F I]

Since late August, I've rooted my HTC one twice and put on pure vanilla android (GE version). The first time, it more or less bricked during an OTA install update and last week, it effectively died. It started with camera failure and when I shut it down to restart it, there was no restarting. So I called T-Mobile and got a new one and sent the old one in under manufacturer's warranty. This time around, I decided to not mess with it. It's been about 5 days now and I've noticed better responsiveness in opening apps and a longer battery life. I still think HTC Sense is ugly and I can't stand the main screen. But other than that, I'm coasting.

 

[dilla]

Ok, ok so Samsung did fuck up epically with the S5. I'm so disappointed as it was supposed to be so good, yet it's the worst next generation ever (but to be honest the Z2 from Z1 from Sony is also the tiniest upgrade possible so this might be a year of no changes).

I'd like to defend the S5 here, but I can't. There's nothing good about it. The S4 was smaller while having only 0,1 inch smaller screen. There's already S4 with Snapdragon 800 chipset. There are editions of the S4 that look better than the S5.

There's nothing I can say really. At this point LG have a better phone with the G2, even though it was released late last year it IS better.
Sony have a better phone with the Z2. There's even a chance HTC might have the better phone with the new One after it gets released as long as they minimize the bezels and improve the camera (that's a big deal), they have a month until release date so lots of time to make tweaks.

It's the first time ever that by the time of its announcement the newest flagship from Samsung Galaxy S series is not the best phone around hardware-wise.

Yeah, I agree. I've already started seeing comparisons between the Z2 and I thought of you how you said how Sony phones were not big in the US. Then I looked into it a bit and saw that they really don't seem to be making CDMA phones. So they miss out of Verizon and Sprint. T-Mo and ATT have them only. Otherwise the Z2 looks really nice, as do most other Sony phones.

So is the S5 essentially an overclocked S4, since they have the same chip or is there more to it?

Some people were upset and said they were expecting a 4K screen. Do we really need that when we've established most people can't distinguish between something the Retina display or even the S4's screen and then anything "more HD" than that? I know it can record in 4K now, but is that the only reason people wanted a 4K screen to go along with it?

It's good the S5 took a breather. I was actually thinking about switching manufacturers this time around. I've had an HTC and Motorola phone. I'm with a Samsung phone now. I was thinking about giving LG a shot, or maybe HTC again. My first two phones ever were LGs and came in the form of a flip phone and then the LG EnV. They were good phones, I guess.

I won't do the G2 since it is dated, by tech standards, so I'll wait for the next update and see what happens. Maybe the next Nexus. I really want to keep this S3 for as long as possible, though. I'm not going to be motivated to sell it, even if I upgrade (the hassle) and I really want to get the most out of it.

 

[masta247]

Yeah, I agree. I've already started seeing comparisons between the Z2 and I thought of you how you said how Sony phones were not big in the US. Then I looked into it a bit and saw that they really don't seem to be making CDMA phones. So they miss out of Verizon and Sprint. T-Mo and ATT have them only. Otherwise the Z2 looks really nice, as do most other Sony phones.

The US is not that big of a market for Sony actually and T-mobile and ATT are the "good" networks in the US anyway. Making a CDMA version costs money and if someone wants the best phone (which the Z2 is right now) then they're going to switch carriers.

So is the S5 essentially an overclocked S4, since they have the same chip or is there more to it?

Unfortunately, the S5 is an overclocked S4 with bigger bezels and waterproof lol. Such disappointment.

Some people were upset and said they were expecting a 4K screen. Do we really need that when we've established most people can't distinguish between something the Retina display or even the S4's screen and then anything "more HD" than that? I know it can record in 4K now, but is that the only reason people wanted a 4K screen to go along with it?

As a matter of fact there was an article about it on Anandtech. 2K screen would be better since Samsung uses pentile screens and the subpixel density (of some colors) at that point would reach a regular RGB full hd display.

It's good the S5 took a breather. I was actually thinking about switching manufacturers this time around. I've had an HTC and Motorola phone. I'm with a Samsung phone now. I was thinking about giving LG a shot, or maybe HTC again. My first two phones ever were LGs and came in the form of a flip phone and then the LG EnV. They were good phones, I guess.

There's part of me that hoped Samsung will move the industry forward again since all other phones are basically very similar lately. On another hand there's part of me that hopes the S5 will not sell well at all because they went wrong way with it, I hope they'll learn a lesson.

I won't do the G2 since it is dated, by tech standards, so I'll wait for the next update and see what happens. Maybe the next Nexus. I really want to keep this S3 for as long as possible, though. I'm not going to be motivated to sell it, even if I upgrade (the hassle) and I really want to get the most out of it.

The G2 is not dated. It's more modern than the S5 which will not be even out until April, really. It turned out it was ahead of its time.
The next reasonable phones are going to be out in Q3-Q4 (G3, Note 4, new Nexus) and they're probably going to pack the Snapdragon 805.. which is essentially what the S5 has but with better GPU.
The smartphone tech is stalling. I'm hoping for reduced bezels and better, optically stabilized cameras.

 

[ARon]

Gotcha, good luck. Hope it works out.

just so you know i've been paying attention to your goals and hopes and I hope you follow through on some of this shit lol. like, moving to seattle or starting a clothing company lol

The clothing company thing is happening, it's just not big lol. The guy I was talking about before is still in the mix we just don't agree on a lot of things.

Seattle is to take care of my Great Aunt who is dying of lung cancer. She lives in Portland but is going to move to Seattle for better care, I think one of my other cousins is going to go do it instead though

 

[dilla]

The US is not that big of a market for Sony actually and T-mobile and ATT are the "good" networks in the US anyway. Making a CDMA version costs money and if someone wants the best phone (which the Z2 is right now) then they're going to switch carriers.



How are they the good networks? I guess T-Mo is in price, but coverage is probably the worst of the four main carriers. If you live in a metro area, I guess you'll get coverage but maybe not speeds since there's so many people there.

Unfortunately, the S5 is an overclocked S4 with bigger bezels and waterproof lol. Such disappointment.




As a matter of fact there was an article about it on Anandtech. 2K screen would be better since Samsung uses pentile screens and the subpixel density (of some colors) at that point would reach a regular RGB full hd display.


On second thought, I think I confused 4K camera and 2K screen and made them both 4K. I think people were expecting the 2K screen, which sounds less lucrative now since the Retina is over 2K anyway. My bad.

There's part of me that hoped Samsung will move the industry forward again since all other phones are basically very similar lately. On another hand there's part of me that hopes the S5 will not sell well at all because they went wrong way with it, I hope they'll learn a lesson.

Does the industry term "tick-tock" apply to hardware like this, or just internal components like CPU/GPU? This seems like the S4 and S5 now both have been small improvements in performance and perhaps increases in efficiency? I don't know, I don't think there are numbers that back that up as yet, but it's still two minor updates in a row. Apple is guilty of this too, though, and they managed to still post-iPhone 4 record sales.


The G2 is not dated. It's more modern than the S5 which will not be even out until April, really. It turned out it was ahead of its time.
The next reasonable phones are going to be out in Q3-Q4 (G3, Note 4, new Nexus) and they're probably going to pack the Snapdragon 805.. which is essentially what the S5 has but with better GPU.
The smartphone tech is stalling. I'm hoping for reduced bezels and better, optically stabilized cameras.

Well, dated might have been the wrong word. I suppose it still has the top hardware on the market right now, but what I meant was the release time made it rather old. It was released in October or November, right? That was almost five months ago. It'd be hard to bite on that, for those upgrading, unless it was $50 or less, on-contract. What I was saying is what you are saying now, that it would be worth looking at the next batch of flagship phones due later this year. I don't think the Summer will bring much noise from LG since the G2 is still new (to them). The S5 and the HTC phone that's due out soon will probably be the big summer phones, and then we probably see LG's offerings and a new Nexus phone in Q3/4. That is when my proper upgrade date is (instead of the early upgrade I can do in April).

See bold above.

Also, I agree with the smartphone tech. I kinda of miss the "wow" features Google used to come up with back in 2009/10. Voice Search was big for me four years ago and I couldn't believe how accurate it was. Google Goggles was also good. And then all the other neat features that have come out since then which we now take for granted. Google needs to keep doing that. I don't really care about app performance and all that jazz anymore. My S3 is fast enough, and I imagine it's enough for the millions that have bought the S3 and S4 and the phones that are comparable. Yeah, it needs to be more efficient, but how about making the OS more functional in everyday life? I know they already play a big role, but it would be nice to see some integration with stuff we use every day.

 

[ARon]

People are all wrong about T-Mobile and their LTE.
http://gigaom.com/2012/05/07/ericsson-nsn-keep-their-t-mobile-jobs-for-lte-build/

that article is old but it explains lte advanced relatively well

 

[Casey]

Google Now Launcher is now available in the Play Store for all Nexus and GPE devices.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.launcher

Also, seems like this is the first fruit of the Samsung-Google partnership. "Powered by Android" on the boot screen of the S5. This is good news and not something Samsung would do on their own, since it hasn't been present on any previous device.

 

[Casey]

The S5 seems less aesthetically pleasing than the S4. Truly strange.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

Installed the Google Now Launcher. It is nice, but I have a few things I don't like.

1) The icons in the launcher are too big - I wish to resize them
2) It does not allow me to have a blank homescreen for the sake of seeing my background picture more clearly.
3) It seems to be freezing more often (it does not exit when I press the 'back' button)
4) I cannot change the app icon settings because I'd like to try the new icons out.

That's all based on a few mins of playing around with it. But still, it's nice to have a change.

 

[Casey]

Installed the Google Now Launcher. It is nice, but I have a few things I don't like.

1) The icons in the launcher are too big - I wish to resize them
2) It does not allow me to have a blank homescreen for the sake of seeing my background picture more clearly.
3) It seems to be freezing more often (it does not exit when I press the 'back' button)
4) I cannot change the app icon settings because I'd like to try the new icons out.

That's all based on a few mins of playing around with it. But still, it's nice to have a change.

Are you rooted? If so, install Xposed Framework and then check this out:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...-to-the-google-now-launcher-for-rooted-users/

 

[Casey]

Funny post I saw on The Verge about the different types of Android users.

After spending time on this and other tech forums, I have noticed that many Android users fall into certain archetypes. This is my attempt to classify some of them:

The Nexus Warrior
He deeply believes that Google's implementation of Android is the only version that is worthwhile. He is filled with the light and purity of his beliefs. He considers himself intellectually superior to normal users, especially those who buy skinned and carrier-locked devices. He despises TouchWiz, and he hates Samsung more than any other company in the world.
Allies: The Design Enthusiast, the Hacker, the Apple Hater
Enemies: The Samsung Fan, the Google Hater
Phone of choice: Nexus 5
Favourite site: Android Police

The Samsung Fan
Judging from his posting history, he cares about two things in this world: SD cards, and removable batteries. He writes long, detailed posts in which he waxes rhapsodic about the merits of SD cards and removable batteries. He has even deluded himself into thinking that Samsung's commercial success stems from SD cards and removable batteries (as opposed to selling lots of phones in lots of markets and marketing the crap out of them). He considers stock Android "boring", and can't understand why everyone hates TouchWiz.
Allies: The Google Hater, the Spec Junkie
Enemies: The Nexus Warrior, the Design Enthusiast, the Troll
Phone of choice: Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Favourite site: Sammobile

The Multi-Platform Boy Scout
He uses many different products from different companies. He probably has an Android phone, a MacBook, and a Surface tablet. He tends to value cross-platform services, and has a good sense of each platform's strengths and weaknesses. He despises "fanboys" of all types. He has a lot of sensible things to say, but he generally gets shouted down in forum flaming sessions.
Enemies: The Apple Hater, the Troll
Allies: The Design Enthusiast
Phone of choice: HTC One
Favourite site: The Verge

The Hacker
He's always running the latest nightlies. He knows what the word "deodexed" means. He doesn't care about stock Android, because he's just going install a custom ROM anyway. He doesn't understand why other people care about petty inconveniences like "warranties".
Allies: The Spec Junkie, the Nexus Warrior
Enemies: The Normal Person
Phone of choice: LG G2
Favourite site: XDA Developers

The Normal Person
He doesn't post on tech forums. He is completely unaware of the capabilities and power of the OS he uses. He still has the default widgets that came with the phone. He gets freaked out by Android updates, because he doesn't like it when things change. He has a Samsung phone because he "heard it was the best". He uses Verizon Wireless because "it has good coverage".
Allies: None
Enemies: None
Phone of choice: Galaxy S3 Mini
Favourite site: Yahoo.com

The Google Hater
Despite hating Google, this user has chosen to purchase a smartphone that is designed to integrate heavily with Google's cloud. Nobody else is sure why he has put himself in this unpleasant position. He is constantly angry about privacy, surveillance, and the "creepiness" of Google Glass. The thing that he hates most in the world, however, is Google+. Every time a new Google+ feature is added to Android, he is guaranteed to write an angry screed that will include the words "forcing Google+ down our throats". He swears that this Android phone will be his last.
Allies: The Samsung Fan, the Troll
Enemies: The Nexus Warrior
Phone of choice: Samsung Galaxy S4
Favourite site: Ars Technica

The Design Enthusiast
The design enthusiast loves well-designed apps. He use phrases like "split action bar", "action overflow button" and "navigation drawer" in normal conversation. He like to buy new apps, and will sometimes even pay for apps that he doesn't intend to use, just to reward the developer for making something nice.
Allies: The Nexus Warrior
Enemies: The Samsung Fan, the Troll
Phone of choice: Moto X
Favourite site: Android Niceties

The Apple Hater
The Apple hater does not get involved in petty internecine fights over issues such as TouchWiz vs stock. He is resolutely focused on the higher cause of Apple-bashing. He is convinced that the entire mainstream media, including tech sites like The Verge and Ars Technica, is intrinsically biased in favour of Apple. He makes unironic use of words like "iVerge" and "crApple".
Allies: The Nexus Warrior, the Samsung Fan, the Spec Junkie
Enemies: The Troll, The Multi-Platform Boy Scout
Phone of choice: Any Android flagship
Favourite site: Reddit

The Spec Junkie
This type of poster was a common sight in the early days of Android, when ARM SoCs were advancing rapidly, and each generation brought rapid improvements to the underlying hardware. Now that the spec wars have levelled off, most people have moved on to arguing about other issues like software. But you can still find this type of user, whiling away his free time at sites like Andandtech, and forming strong opinions on topics like how much he hates Nvidia.
Allies: The Hacker, the Samsung Fan
Enemies: The Design Enthusiast, the Normal Person
Phone of choice: LG G2
Favourite site: Anandtech

The Troll
The troll does not actually use Android. He pretends to be an Android user in order to complain about the platform and stir up trouble. Everyone hates him.
Allies: None
Enemies: Everyone
Phone of choice: iPhone 5S
Favourite site: Daring Fireball

 

[dilla]

One sentence, maybe, describes Masta in the "Samsung Fan" section lol

Seems like I'm a cross between the Multiplatform Guy and the Hacker.

Seems like most of us are Hackers too. Although I am slowly inching towards rooted Touchwiz now that the CM nightlies have unexpectedly just stopped for the past 10 days.

Should we start a group chat on Hangouts about this or is that too much? I'm obsessed with Hangouts now.

 

[Pittsey]

I'm the Nexus warrior twat. Although I have an N4.

I hadn't seen the Xperia Z2 until Casey posted that pic. Was it designed in the 90s? Fucking ugly.