Topic: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

[Plugabugz]

I'd rather get a subsidized phone than pay $500+ off contract (which is way overpriced to begin with).

So what you're saying is you'd happily pay more to the network at the end of a contract than pay more up front and go your own way with flexibility.

Example, the Nexus 5 on Three UK:

£50 upfront, plus £35/month for 24 months for "The One Plan". £890 total over 24 months.

What i will be doing:

Nexus 5 on Three UK:

Sim only is £15/month. Same tariff, same network. £299 upfront plus £15/month (£3/month more if you want a 1-month contract). £659 over 24 months.

£231 saved.

[Stratos]

'Subsidized' phones are typically not the cheaper bargain. But non-contract phones do require a large sum of cash up front so you need to be prepared with your dough. My wife and I have decided that once our current contract expires we are just going to buy our own new phones up front. Plus when you are off contract you can do things like negotiate for a lower rate and companies will actually take you seriously.

[tendoboy1984]

My point is these $500+ phones are way overpriced. Not everyone has expendable money to spend. What of you were buying a car or house and you were forced to pay the full cost upfront? Without carriers subsidizing phones, the iPhone would have never gotten popular and the smartphone industry would have collapsed.

Also, carriers now have a program where you can exchange your phone every 6 months so you're not suck with the same thing for the life of your contract.

The Moto G is possibly the best value in the smartphone market right now. It's very affordable ($200 and under), durable, and has decent specs

[Stratos]

Which is why I am 'preparing' for the purchase. I set aside a bit of money a month so that if/when one of our S2s go out we can upgrade or replace it. Kills two birds with one stone as we are basically self-insuring our phones as well so no need to pay some other company a ridiculous fee for that service.

[tendoboy1984]

Think of subsidizing like a financing plan, except you're paying the carrier back for the cost of the phone plus your plan's monthly price. That's why you end up paying more in the long run.

[tendoboy1984]

Lucky with phones like the Moto G and Asus' ZenFone, you can get a high quality phone with good specs at an affordable price.

[pokepal148]

Hopefully asus sees the general distaste for anything that isn't stock android and designs zen ui as a lightweight and unintrusive enhancement to the android experience instead of the whole obnoxious and gimmicky style Samsung has taken.

It's interesting however that ZenUI has brought such a focus to calandar/scheduling type apps. I wonder if this is just something asus noticed that other skins weren't doing or if they are going to attempt to target the business/enterprise market with a greater focus towards productivity. The transformer series would excel in that area.

[BranDonk Kong]

Unfortunately for ASUS, no one buys their phones.

[pokepal148]

This is their first real attempt to make an android phone, it's hard for people to buy phones that don't exist

Asus has had some great success with their tablets to the point of being allowed to manufacture both versions of the Nexus 7. They have also been able to get those weird hybrid devices they have had (the padfone) to some success. This will be their first real attempt to enter the android phone market and it wil be interesting

The advantage they have now is not being an established player in the race. If they can learn from their competitor's mistakes (update schedule, the issues with sense and touchwiz) they can become quite a formidable player.

[BranDonk Kong]

The PadFone and GarminFone must not exist then.

[Plugabugz]

Think of subsidizing like a financing plan, except you're paying the carrier back for the cost of the phone plus your plan's monthly price. That's why you end up paying more in the long run.

That still doesn't add up.

Lets assume i paid full price for an iPhone 5S. Over 24 months i'd pay £1083 for it versus £909 if i bought it outright upfront. £174 saved. And this is just assuming i buy it from Apple directly. Same tariff, same network. Stratos' plan of "self insuring" means you can buy your next phone by simply popping aside $20/month over the life of your existing contract - and if you don't buy one you've saved a wad of cash plus interest.

Subsidy, in their minds, means "pay less up front and more overall".

And here is why those programs like AT&T Next are quite bad (supposedly T-Mobile USA is OK if used correctly): http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/16/4528404/att-next-phone-upgrade-plans-a-huge-ripoff

On a related note, do any of the big four USA networks even offer cheaper sim-only plans?
 

[shingi_70]

Google just bought Nest which is fucking crazy when you think of infrastructure already in place.

http://m.androidcentral.com/google-acquire-nest

HTC cut off support for their 2012 phones so **** them and I hope they die.

[BlackNMild2k1]

So Nest makes smart Thermostats and Smoke/CO2 sensors that you can monitor through an app on your smart phone?
Like get an alert if the smoke alarm goes off or maybe set my thermostat to turn on to 72^o 30 minutes before I get home?

Is google working on a Smart Home app? Turn your tablet into a smart house remote?
What about home security? are they doing anything in that area? Cameras?

[Stratos]

AT&T is doing that home monitoring/security stuff and so is Comcast. Makes sense for Google to get in on it too. Lots of fun things they could do with it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

One day Google will be absolutely everywhere. You will have to wear a digital ad blocker on your wrist just to stop google from profiling and direct advertising to you.

We see you like to jerk off to Jesse Jane & Tera Patrick
may we interest you in some Jergens Soft Hand and Body lotion, some Kleenex moisturized wipes and inform you that the AVN awards will be airing in Las Vegas next month. Tickets to Vegas starting at $69.99 and room and rental car packages starting at 169.99 per day.

Now imagine if Google Watch (Smart House Monitoring) and Amazon decided to team up in the future
You are running low on toilet paper, your milk is about to expire and you are low on eggs.
[Click Here] for 1-Click replacement orders from Amazon Marketplace.
or
[Click Here] to add items to your order.

Now I'm not sure if I'm more scared or intrigued by the possibilities... but definitely both.

[Stratos]

I'm both cautiously optimistic and slightly paranoid about the future of technology and connectivity. I like being left to my own devices unless I want something. It's while I dislike Facebook and if I do log on to it, it is only to connect with a specific long-distance friend or relative and I have the chat feature disabled because I don't want to be bothered unless I feel like being bothered. It is also why I disable Gmail chat and regularly log on to places as a hidden entity. This is one of the few places I don't do that because I already feel anonymous enough it is not a problem.


I also don't support apps and games that badger me to 'like' them or follow them. I am sure my friends don't care what game I am playing right now or what products I use. If I want someone's advice or product recommendations I will ASK them.


I'm not specifically scared of Google or Amazon, but the potential for abuse (especially by corrupt government officials) is always something that concerns me.

[BranDonk Kong]

One day Google will be absolutely everywhere. You will have to wear a digital ad blocker on your wrist just to stop google from profiling and direct advertising to you.

We see you like to jerk off to Jesse Jane & Tera Patrick
may we interest you in some Jergens Soft Hand and Body lotion, some Kleenex moisturized wipes and inform you that the AVN awards will be airing in Las Vegas next month. Tickets to Vegas starting at $69.99 and room and rental car packages starting at 169.99 per day.

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

[Plugabugz]

Motorola has a sale going on for the Moto X, 100$ off between 3-4pm EST today.

I'm going to order a 32gb Moto X (developer edition) and import it here. After the discount, it's £220 which is the same price roughly as a 32gb ipod touch.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I went by the t-mobile store yesterday to check out their $30 unlimited everything plan, and apparently they don't do that anymore or never did. But I remember the ads for it....

Anyway, the reason I came in here was to say that damn, their phone selection sucks.
It's either an iPhone; 1 of 4 Galaxy phones, a Nexus or an LG if you want android; or a Nokia if you want Windows phone.
They literally had less than 10 different phones with Galaxy being the largest of the selection.

[Stratos]

I think that was a limited run deal. My wife and I missed it by a month when we switched from AT&T. I think there is a $50 one now. At least MetroPCS has it still, and T-Mobile and MetroPCS are toghether so in a way is it TMO.

TMO used to do the $50 anything plan too. Usually the catch is you BYOP when you do these deals so no phone 'subsidies'. Currently I know TMO is offering to pay your early termination fee if you leave another carrier.

[BranDonk Kong]

The $30 T-Mobile plan is at Wal-Mart, it's just data and texting - no calls.

[Plugabugz]

So i managed to get the Moto X, but i forgot about taxes.

Because america is backwards and doesn't show the cost inclusive of tax - which all of europe does - the price jumped to $415 for a 32gb model, before shipping it to me and customs.
So i cancelled my order.

Thanks america!

[Stogi]

Not trying to make excuses because it is ass backwards but they we have 50 different states with 50 different sales taxes including provisions for online taxes where applicable.

[Oblivion]

Exactly. Those damn foreigners need to get it through their foreign skulls that our American ways are far superior to their foreign way of shopping.

[shingi_70]

http://mobile.theverge.com/2014/1/28/5352592/google-glass-prescription-lenses-frames-titanium-collection

Who would have guessed designibg frames around glass would have made them look 85% less stupid. From the commercial for the new set Google is trying to make glass a stylish wearable.