Messages

201

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 08, 2014, 01:18:49 PM »

I just bought a Moto G from Amazon. I was considering the Nokia Lumia 521, but the Moto G has better specs.

Finally something to replace my shitty Galaxy S2. I'll just stick with Motorola from now on. They only use stock Android now, and they should get updates directly from their parent company Google.

202

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 08, 2014, 01:13:57 PM »

Are all of those community-developed Android mods allowed by Google? I know Linux has a lot of mods developed by the community, but what about Android?

203

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: January 08, 2014, 01:05:47 PM »

I finally have enough money to get a Wii U! Which bundle is the better value? The Zelda bundle, or the Mario bundle?

Also, if I get an external hard drive can I use it for save data?

204

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 07, 2014, 04:37:16 PM »

Well since Google owns Motorola, they should get updates much quicker than the other manufacturers. The Moto X and Moto G got KitKat shortly after the Nexus devices got it. And Motorola is now sticking with stock Android, making things even better.

205

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 07, 2014, 11:41:48 AM »

Why does Microsoft have full control over Windows updates (regardless of what brand device you have), while Google has to rely on manufacturers for Android updates?

My Samsung Windows 8 laptop will get the same updates as your ASUS Windows 8 desktop. But my Samsung Galaxy won't get the same updates as your HTC One.

Does Microsoft just have more control over their own OS?

206

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 07, 2014, 01:03:32 AM »

I've been curious about something... If Chrome OS is open source like Android, then why can't manufacturers make their own skins for it like they do with Android?

207

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 07, 2014, 12:56:01 AM »

ASUS announced their new ZenFone line of low-cost Android smartphones. They currently run Android 4.3 and will be upgradeable to KitKat.

Their off contract prices are as follows:
ZenFone 4 - $99
ZenFone 5 - $149
ZenFone 6 - $199

All three phones have recent Intel Atom chips. They start with 4GB storage and go up to 16GB (and they also have a micro-SD slot).

What do you think? Should I get the Moto G or wait for these new ZenFones to come out?

208

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 06, 2014, 02:37:25 PM »

I've been playing around with my Galaxy S2, and I actually like the TouchWiz UI. Navigating the interface feels very intuitive. I also like how Samsung phones have a menu shortcut button next to the Home and Back buttons (it makes navigating apps much easier).

Apparently LG likes TouchWiz too, because their Optimus UI is a blatant copy of it.

How does TouchWiz compare to HTC's Sense and LG's Optimus UI?

209

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 05, 2014, 12:29:49 PM »

Is the Nook worth buying? It has Google Play now, and it's extremely cheap (especially the 9" HD+), but the hardware is very outdated.

I was also looking at the new Kindle Fire HDX, but it's locked to Amazon's ecosystem. The hardware is amazing though.

210

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 05, 2014, 12:23:59 PM »

The thing I hate about stock Android is how you can't rearrange and delete home screens like you can on Samsung Galaxy devices. Galaxy devices also have a quick menu button which makes navigating apps much easier.

211

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 03, 2014, 12:49:51 PM »

Acer just announced a pair of new tablets, the 8" A1-830 ($149), and the 7" B1-750 ($129). The A1 has similar specs to the Dell Venue 8 (including an Intel Atom processor), while the B1 is a slight upgrade to last year's model. Both tablets come with 16GB storage.

So now I have more choices for when I eventually buy an Android tablet. My budget is $200 and under.
- Dell Venue 8
- Nook HD / HD+
- Acer A1-830

The Dell and Nook tablets come with 32GB storage for under $200, but the Nook has outdated hardware. The Acer tablets only have 16GB storage.

212

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: January 02, 2014, 11:54:38 PM »

Verizon and AT&T = No unlimited data
T-Mobile and Sprint = Unlimited data

Good thing I have T-Mobile. Verizon is overpriced anyways.

213

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U is the new PS3?

« on: January 02, 2014, 11:38:43 PM »

Sony and Microsoft make up for their hardware losses with PSN/Xbox Live subscriptions and 3rd-party royalties.

214

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: December 31, 2013, 12:45:00 PM »

But the problem with the Galaxy S2 is that you only get 2 GB for apps, and the rest of the 16 GB is used for media files (music, videos, photos). Imagine if iOS or Windows Phone did **** like that...

I'm surprised consumers haven't complained to Samsung / Google about this. Why couldn't Samsung just give us a single unified partition to do whatever we want with?

215

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: December 30, 2013, 02:25:45 PM »

I was never talking about installing apps onto an SD card. I was explaining how the internal storage was broken up into different partitions ("device storage" and  "USB storage").

Anyways, my next phone will be the Moto G. $200 for a new mid-range smartphone with stock Android is a great deal, and I won't have to deal with my Galaxy S2's wonky storage issues.

I'm surprised there wasn't a disclaimer on the box showing that only 2 GB (out of 16 GB) is available for app downloads. That's misleading advertising. It's like buying a 500 GB hard drive and only having 100 GB available to use.

216

General Chat / Re: Question about Android storage partitions...

« on: December 30, 2013, 02:16:53 PM »

I read that Android was designed with those partitions in the pre-ICS days, but once Jellybean came out, Google combined everything into a single partition.

My Galaxy S2 came with Jellybean 4.1.2, so why does it still have that that wonky 2GB partition? Shouldn't the storage be unified?

217

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: December 30, 2013, 01:42:57 AM »

My Nokia Lumia 810 had 8GB of storage and a microSD card. Apps weren't installed to a seperate partition, they had full access to the entire 6GB (after the OS was accounted for).

This is what I mean by "unified storage"... Giving apps and media files full access to a single partition of internal storage. It's like how iOS works.

218

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: December 30, 2013, 01:27:55 AM »

I was surprised that my Galaxy S2 has its storage split into separate partitions, with only 2GB available for app downloads. The rest of the 16GB is set aside for app data, OS files, user media (pictures, videos, music), and carrier bloat. I want an Android phone with unified internal storage, like how iOS and Windows Phone work.

I know the Nexus devices have unified storage, but what about the Moto X and Moto G?

219

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: December 29, 2013, 10:32:44 PM »

My Nokia Lumia 810 supports T-Mobile's 4G, as does the Samsung Galaxy S2 I just received as a replacement. How can the Moto G (which is newer than the Galaxy S2) not support 4G?

220

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: December 29, 2013, 11:50:31 AM »

Are you saying the Moto G is incapable of 4G? Because if it's a tower issue, then all phones would have that problem.

221

General Chat / Re: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread

« on: December 29, 2013, 09:52:02 AM »

I want to get a Moto G, but I don't know if I can return my Galaxy S2 to T-Mobile since it was a replacement phone.

222

General Chat / Re: Question about Android storage partitions...

« on: December 28, 2013, 12:41:21 PM »

The thing I hate about Android is how is partitions internal storage. Why does it only give you 2GB for app downloads? That's very misleading, especially since my device has 16GB of internal storage.

Why can't Android be more like iOS and Windows Phone, where they give you the entire storage for app downloads, and only a small part is for the OS functions? It seems like Android has things backwards in this regard.

223

General Chat / Re: Question about Android storage partitions...

« on: December 28, 2013, 12:59:39 AM »

T-Mobile offered it as a free replacement for my defective Nokia Lumia. You can't turn down free!

I'm thinking about getting the Moto G next month when I have the money. $200 for a 16GB mid-range phone is a great deal; and since Motorola is owned by Google, the Moto G will (hopefully) be treated like a Nexus device and receive timely OS updates.

224

General Chat / Re: Question about Android storage partitions...

« on: December 27, 2013, 10:16:07 PM »

I don't want to root my phone because I'm not that tech savvy and I don't want to risk breaking it. It already has Jellybean 4.1.2 installed.

So Samsung is the one to blame for the crazy storage partition? I thought all Android phones have storage partitions like that.

225

General Chat / Question about Android storage partitions...

« on: December 27, 2013, 10:03:45 PM »

T-Mobile let me trade in my Nokia Lumia for a Samsung Galaxy S2 because the charging port was defective. I love this phone, but I am wondering why Google only allows 2GB of ROM for app storage. Why isn't the entire 16GB available like on iOS and Windows Phone?

Do newer Android phones partition storage like this? I want to get the Moto G, but if it also only gives you 2GB for apps then I might as well go back to Windows Phone.