Topic: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

[BranDonk Kong]

I think you misread his post. And yes you can buy the iPhone unsubsidized, starting at $650.

[TJ Spyke]

I read his post right (or he changed it because he edited it after I posted). Selling a phone unsubsidized would not get more people to buy it because few people will pay $600+ for a phone.

[BranDonk Kong]

He says unsubsidized at a lower price though. Retail prices on cell phones are absurd.

[tendoboy1984]

He says unsubsidized at a lower price though. Retail prices on cell phones are absurd.

That's what I meant. I'm guessing the only reason why smartphones are sold at outlandish prices (off contract) is so the carriers can trick people into thinking they're paying a reasonable price when locked in a contract. It's all a big conspiracy.

[BranDonk Kong]

That's a big part of it.

[shingi_70]

Played with a few phones at my local Att store and I have to say the Galaxy S 4 is probably the worse out of the big high end phones right now. The software has a lot of half baked features and the hardware is very meh. The best hardware I played with was HTC One which is pure sex in your hand.
 
The most was suprising thing was how much I liked the Blackberry Z10 from both a hardware and software perspective.

[BranDonk Kong]

I assume by hardware you mean design because spec-wise (and benchmark-wise) the S4 beats the HTC One. I know specs and benchmarks aren't everything, but if we're comparing actual hardware, they're worth mentioning. The problem with HTC is that they make a cool device, then no one buys it, and they don't support it. Droid DNA is already discontinued.

[shingi_70]

Yep the Galaxy S 4 is feels so bad in the hand. Also at this point where in 2013 do tech specs shouldn't be the deciding benchmark of a phone, The One has bad battery life so there's that.
 

[BranDonk Kong]

I haven't held an S4 but have plenty of experience with S3s...and the dimensions are nearly identical, so I don't think I'd have a problem with one. But I don't want one...yet.

[tendoboy1984]

Yep the Galaxy S 4 is feels so bad in the hand. Also at this point where in 2013 do tech specs shouldn't be the deciding benchmark of a phone, The One has bad battery life so there's that.

So Samsung still makes "plasticky" mobile devices then?
 
ASUS needs to step in and show the world how it's done. Samsung is sacrificing hardware quality for mass-market appeal.
 
And I don't give a damn about smartphone specs, considering I have a Nokia Lumia 810 that works perfectly fine.
 
That's the problem with most smartphones. Companies are discontinuing all their high-end models whenever a new one is released. What's the point in trying to keep up if your device won't get any meaningful support? At least Apple does a good job supporting their older devices. They still sell the 2 year old iPad 2 for crying out loud.

[Stogi]

I would love a phone that was completely metal, leather and volcanized rubber.

Give me that water proof, drop proof, heavy phone.

[TJ Spyke]

I guess Google wasn't happy that Facebook pushed their "Facebook Home" to users outside of the Google Play store. Google now has a policy that any app in the Google Play store, can only have updates released in Google Play store (though they are still allowing companies to release Android apps outside of the store).

[BranDonk Kong]

To be honest I think it's a good policy. Especially for people that would use stuff like facebook home.

[shingi_70]

Yep the Galaxy S 4 is feels so bad in the hand. Also at this point where in 2013 do tech specs shouldn't be the deciding benchmark of a phone, The One has bad battery life so there's that.

So Samsung still makes "plasticky" mobile devices then?
 
ASUS needs to step in and show the world how it's done. Samsung is sacrificing hardware quality for mass-market appeal.
 
And I don't give a damn about smartphone specs, considering I have a Nokia Lumia 810 that works perfectly fine.
 
That's the problem with most smartphones. Companies are discontinuing all their high-end models whenever a new one is released. What's the point in trying to keep up if your device won't get any meaningful support? At least Apple does a good job supporting their older devices. They still sell the 2 year old iPad 2 for crying out loud.

I really want a Lumia 810 but will probably have to stick with the 521.
 
Its only android oems that don't support their devices for two years. If you want proper OS support on Android your buying  into the Nexus Project.

[BranDonk Kong]

Motorola is on top of their **** now (as they should be). Samsung has done a good job with updates lately too. It took a while to get them started, but I think all of the GS2 variants (and Note, Note 2, GS3 obviously) are on Jelly Bean now.

[MegaByte]

Motorola still isn't on the latest Jelly Bean though for stuff in the Droid 4/Razr series... they just pushed out an already old version a few weeks ago.

[BranDonk Kong]

Not the latest Jelly Bean, but it is still Jelly Bean. They also upgraded the Droid Bionic to Jelly Bean which was pretty nice of them. A lot of times these "old" updates are due to Verizon, etc delaying them for "testing" (or hoping people will buy a new phone instead). People that get leaked updates from Cheesecake and whatnot see these updates months before they are released OTA.

[BranDonk Kong]

And this isn't a plus for Motorola themselves, but someone unlocked the bootloader for every Motorola phone recently, so I'm enjoying free tethering now and no more ads!

[BranDonk Kong]

Yeah, so Samsung sells a lot of phones.

[tendoboy1984]

So why do carriers impede on software updates? And how is Apple immune to this? They release iOS updates at their own discretion, while Google has to wait for carrier approval to release Android updates.

[shingi_70]

Just joined team nexus on the things side if things

[shingi_70]

So why do carriers impede on software updates? And how is Apple immune to this? They release iOS updates at their own discretion, while Google has to wait for carrier approval to release Android updates.

A good speced phone that gets updates as quickly as possible it gives little incentive for customers tiupgradw their devices.

[TJ Spyke]

So why do carriers impede on software updates? And how is Apple immune to this? They release iOS updates at their own discretion, while Google has to wait for carrier approval to release Android updates.

I believe you have asked this multiple times before and have had it answered.

Android is a open-source system. Google releases updates and lets manufacturers do what they want with it. iOS is a closed system (which is not always good, especially on the computer side), and Apple pushes updates directly to consumers because they want as little customization as possible.

[tendoboy1984]

But that still doesn't explain why Apple can release updates on their own schedule without carrier restriction. I'm guessing it's because many people update their iPhones through iTunes, and carriers have no control over that.
 
You don't see Microsoft restricting which PC brands Windows updates. All PC's are treated equal, regardless of manufacturer. I wish Android was that flexible.

[tendoboy1984]

So why do carriers impede on software updates? And how is Apple immune to this? They release iOS updates at their own discretion, while Google has to wait for carrier approval to release Android updates.

I believe you have asked this multiple times before and have had it answered.

Android is a open-source system. Google releases updates and lets manufacturers do what they want with it. iOS is a closed system (which is not always good, especially on the computer side), and Apple pushes updates directly to consumers because they want as little customization as possible.

I was talking about the CARRIERS, not Google. The carriers control when phones receive updates, when it should be all done by Google directly.