Author Topic: Verizon phones (Read 175248 times)

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #125 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:44:40 PM »

If you're on an Android or Windows Mobile device, then you need not worry about paying for tethering. Almost, if not every, carrier has the 5GB cap too.

Pale · « **Reply #126 on:** November 11, 2009, 02:12:55 PM »

Aaron, can you link me to something for how you set up this free tethering thing you did?

MegaByte · « **Reply #127 on:** November 15, 2009, 12:55:52 PM »

Here's the one I tried: http://www.junefabrics.com/android/
There are also ones out there where you can turn the phone into a Wi-Fi access point, but I think all of them need root access.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #128 on:** November 15, 2009, 01:09:52 PM »

how is the camera, Ive been hearing people complain about picture quality

MegaByte · « **Reply #129 on:** November 15, 2009, 02:06:54 PM »

Well it's not great, but it's 5MP and has focus, which makes it leaps and bounds better than previous cell phone. Video works pretty well -- I've successfully streamed it live to the internet. I'm not sure how much better you can make something like that without lenses and such. Being in the corner, it's really easy to get your fingers in the way/smudge the cover.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #130 on:** November 15, 2009, 02:35:32 PM »

what about in low lighting situations?

MegaByte · « **Reply #131 on:** November 15, 2009, 02:45:42 PM »

I took some photos in a shaded forest on Friday and it ended up working better than my girlfriend's regular (albeit old) camera in dealing with lighting.

that Baby guy · « **Reply #132 on:** November 16, 2009, 11:21:47 PM »

Verizon has angered me.

I've received a few fliers about "good" and/or "holiday" deals on their phones, when they're not on any more of a sale than a renewal of contract would have them be! Very disappointing indeed!

MegaByte · « **Reply #133 on:** November 18, 2009, 08:25:40 PM »

LOL, here's what was wrong with the Droid camera http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/motorola-droid-camera-autofocus-fixed-in-secrecy/

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #134 on:** November 18, 2009, 09:55:55 PM »

I'm so glad I actually listened to myself and stayed patient. More Android phone surprises to come.

Quote

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/17/thegoogle-phone/

The Google Phone Is Very Real. And It’s Coming Soon

by Michael Arrington on November 17, 2009
The debate over Droid v. iPhone rages on, but lots more Android surprises are on the way. Get ready for the Google Phone. It’s no longer a myth, it’s real.

The next “super” Android device will almost certainly be a HTC phone that’s much thinner than even the Droid or iPhone – The Dragon/Passion. This is the phone the senior Android guys at Google are now carrying around and testing, at least as of a couple of weeks ago. If you’re willing to give up the Droid’s keyboard, the Dragon/Passion is going to be a really cool phone. It should be fully available very soon.

But it isn’t the Google Phone. Everything up until now has just been a warm up to the Google Phone.

Way more interesting are the rumors we’ve been hearing for months about a pure Google-branded phone. Most of our sources have unconfirmed information, which we describe below. But there are a few things we have absolutely confirmed: Google is building their own branded phone that they’ll sell directly and through retailers. They were long planning to have the phone be available by the holidays, but it has now slipped to early 2010. The phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer but will only have Google branding (Microsoft did the same thing with their first Zunes, which were built by Toshiba).

There won’t be any negotiation or compromise over the phone’s design of features – Google is dictating every last piece of it. No splintering of the Android OS that makes some applications unusable. Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google’s pure vision of what a phone should be.

That’s it for confirmed, super-high confidence information, which frankly isn’t a whole lot more than we all heard back in late October. But we also have a few more details as well that we’ve gathered from a number of sources. Everything that follows we still consider to be just well-sourced rumors:

One source told us that HTC, a Taiwanese company, is building the new Google phone, but we think that information is incorrect. We have some fairly good information that suggests Google is working with a Korean phone manufacturer on the Google phone – LG or Samsung (we mentioned this on CrunchGear earlier this week). Samsung has multiple parts in the iPhone and could be pressured by Apple not to work with Google, which says LG is the more likely partner for Google. So rumors like this one may be much more important than they first appear. But either way, the best information we have right now points directly at Korea as the birthplace of the Google Phone.

We’ve also heard from a good source that Google is planning a big advertising push around the device early next year – like January.

That’s all we have for now. We don’t yet know what the device will look like, how big it will be, or even if it has a physical keyboard. But we do know that Google is getting into the phone building business directly, and doesn’t seem too concerned about competing with all the other device manufacturers building Android phones.

I hope it just blows all other phones away and Google eats most of the cost on it by somehow finding a way of subsidizing the cost. My patience may be rewarded if I just wai a little bit longer!!!

MegaByte · « **Reply #135 on:** November 18, 2009, 10:47:25 PM »

Did you see the update? Doesn't sound so great now. http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/18/the-google-phone-may-be-data-only-voip-driven-device/ But who knows.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #136 on:** November 18, 2009, 10:57:03 PM »

I wanted a super charged google phone completely subsidized to the point of almost being free.

I know it was too much to ask, but I was trying to justify myself holding out on the Droid for just a little bit longer.

NWR_insanolord · « **Reply #137 on:** November 18, 2009, 11:08:29 PM »

If they were to get that thing on Verizon it'd be fine by me. I really only wanted the iPhone for the data features; that plus Google Voice is all I need.

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #138 on:** November 18, 2009, 11:16:34 PM »

How is data only a bad thing? You can still use it as a phone, using Google Voice (apparently), which means you could assign your home phone number to it easily, so you'd have your "real" phone no matter where you go.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #139 on:** November 18, 2009, 11:45:58 PM »

never said it was a bad thing.

I'm still waiting to see what it is.

MegaByte · « **Reply #140 on:** November 19, 2009, 01:09:49 AM »

VoiP-only is a bad thing because it means you can only use it if you have access to a wireless access point. And that kind of defeats the purpose of the cell phone part. If you're using it only as a home phone or something, then it might be useful.

NWR_insanolord · « **Reply #141 on:** November 19, 2009, 01:35:10 AM »

Okay, so you don't like the idea under the assumption that VoIP won't be usable anywhere data is. That's a reasonable assumption, but I think it's also a reasonable assumption that Google's not stupid enough to release a phone that only works as a phone in Wi-Fi hotspots.

MegaByte · « **Reply #142 on:** November 19, 2009, 01:44:09 AM »

You're right, but...

I just don't understand why AT&T would be willing to sell data-only to Google when iPhone's data usage is already killing their network. And they already know about Google Voice and are trying to get the FCC on their case about it. The whole net neutrality thing revolves around this very idea, with Google and carriers on opposite sites, so I'm trying to see why any of the carriers would back this.

One argument I could see is if Google is splitting ad revenue. Besides just buying Admob, it seems that Google can entice carriers with ad revenue, meaning more profit for them even if they don't like the type of control Google is exerting.

If this actually goes through, then perhaps there really is a chance for the next Nintendo portable to include 3G.

BTW, the Google Voice quality is discernibly lower than regular voice. I switched it off on my Droid because of it.

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #143 on:** November 19, 2009, 02:24:11 PM »

You don't need a wireless hotspot for VOIP. The phone *IS* the wireless hotspot, since it will have a data connection.

NWR_insanolord · « **Reply #144 on:** November 19, 2009, 03:50:38 PM »

He's assuming that since AT&T doesn't let iPhone users use VoIP apps on the cell network, only on WiFi, they'll have the same policy for the Google phone.

MegaByte · « **Reply #145 on:** November 19, 2009, 07:26:05 PM »

Or maybe it's all bs. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2356075,00.asp Oh, tech journalism...

Plugabugz · « **Reply #146 on:** November 19, 2009, 07:48:42 PM »

I just got the new Bold 9700 today. 4 hours and i'm loving it.

Pale · « **Reply #147 on:** November 27, 2009, 12:43:53 PM »

So apparently PDANet does not have a mac client to connect to an android phone over USB.

However, Bluetooth DUN does work! This post is coming from my MacBook connected to the internet via a wireless bluetooth connection to my Droid. Pretty sweet.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #148 on:** November 27, 2009, 01:11:19 PM »

My girl did one of those surveys where at the end you complete 2 offers and you get a free Moto Droid.
If it works out, that will be my Xmas present, which will let me not use my new every2.

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #149 on:** November 27, 2009, 03:46:08 PM »

Bluetooth is slow as Hell for the internet though, isn't it? On my phone (and almost any WM phone with wifi) I can connect to Verizon's service, then use my phone as a wifi access point for my laptop, etc.

BNM - where the Hell did she get that deal? I want to try it.

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Author Topic: Verizon phones (Read 175248 times)