All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

5.5" Galaxy Note 2 allegedly scheduled for October 2012 - GSMArena.com news

5250 SoC ( or Exynos 5 Dual or whatever it's called now), 1.5GB of RAM, 5.5" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) sAMOLED panel of some type and LTE for all international units - apparently, of course.

 

So with the SIII hitting in 3 weeks for most US carriers... do you experts recommend the Note, the GNex or the SIII?

 

Depends on price and preference.

But all things being equal, I'd say the S3 unless you really want a stylus.

 

Because I can get a certain number of devices from AT&T for a heavily discounted price, so I get them and sell them usually... if I'm not doing dev work on them. As far as kernel audio is concerned, the i777 and i9100 are identical. Just the i777 has a swapped around mic.

And the libs are going to be in /system. The kernel calls certain libs IN /system.

I meant to tell you that Samsung is still using those designations. They just temporarily took down all the documents and such with those model designations and added the new consumer facing names -as well as- the technical model numbers. So we still have 3110, 4210, 4412, 5250, 5450, etc...

But that's awesome news if true! I'd buy that in a second! Plus I REALLY REALLY like that screen resolution.

In the US, the Note is the same thing as the Skyrocket/Nitro HD/T-Mobile GS2/EVO-3D/TMO Blaze 4G/Pantech Burst/umpteen more 1.5GHz Qualcomm S3 phones. It's a decent SoC, but IMHO it's never been enough power for the Note. It needed Exynos.

As far as the SIII, it's coming with S4 and 2GB of RAM. I'd say wait for the SIII if you want to future proof yourself for any period of time.

The Galaxy Note is $249 on a two year contract in the US. HARDLY worth it. The SIII is expected to hit at $199 or less.

 

To be honest, that's worse IMO - using two different names simultaneously instead of just changing them seems a surefire way to lead to confusion.

It does seem pretty neat but in the battle of the rumours I reckon the edge still lies with the full HD/quad-core Krait HTC.

 

I know, but unless you're a hardcore nerd you're not going to know what Exynos is to begin with.

I'm going on record to say the HTC's FHD screen is purely wish. If that phone does materialize I'm 99% sure it'll have that beautiful 720p screen on the OneX.

 

Probably but it's nice to hope.

If the rumoured Note2 is real, it would be extremely tempting especially given my upgrade will be due around then.
But I have the additional headache of the continuing uncertainty over LTE in the UK.

 

What the hell is it with all the Galaxy S III's in the US running on the S4

 

It's so that they're LTE-compatible. Exynos4 doesn't support LTE which is why it was a huge disappointment Samsung went with that instead of Exynos5.

And the S4 SoCs are the only ones on a par with the Exynos4 SoC in the Galaxy S3.
You're not really losing out, in fact with two fewer cores and little-to-no difference in performance, you may even get better battery life.

 

?

Problem with S4? It is the absolute best alternative to Exynos 4412.

Either way, if all the US models are Qualcomm based that means that they'll all have a common SoC. Things like turning a Skyrocket into a T-Mobile GS2 will be possible with the S3. The only thing that I don't know about, and would *cuss* me off to the extreme if it were left out, is if the US models also include Wolfson audio instead of the Qualcomm audio solution. If the US models don't have Wolfson I'll be buying 1 and selling it for the INTL version i9300.

 

Hmm interesting, I knew the S4 was good, but I didnt think it'd be as good as the Exynos Quad. I must be too taken by number of cores

 

CM9 has received a new boot animation with its very own mascot.

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/o05PQRO1UW4?version=3&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/o05PQRO1UW4?version=3&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='560' height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

 

I'm somewhat considering a tablet now... I'm between the Galaxy Tab 7.7 (WiFi, unless I can get a VZW LTE one off contract for close to the price of the WiFi version), Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, and the Transformer Pad 300. I like the price of the 7.0, and I also like how it has ICS and ICS based ROMs. The screen on the 7.7 sounds absolutely amazing, as does the build and the Exynos hardware, but I'm apprehensive of Honeycomb after using a Tab 10.1 at work, and there aren't any ICS builds that are stable or fully working. Since I was looking at the 7.7, the 10.1 is within the same price range, and has the option of having the ever famous ASUS keyboard dock. It also has the bigger 10.1" screen, and Tegra 3 and 32GB...

So far, the pricing seems to be:
Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 ~250
Galaxy Tab 7.7 ~ 450
Transformer 300 ~ 400

 

With ICS out buying a honeycomb tablet doesnt make much sense and should be avoided IMHO. Sure if they promise ICS updates thats OK, but I have been at the bad end of promised updates many times so at this point I would only look at ICS tablets.

 

Yeah but I was thinking that the dev community would get ICS to be stable on the 7.7.

 

I think the new 10.1 Tab 2.0 is around $389.

I like the 7.7 because of the form factor and the screen rez (the 7.0 2 is only 1024x600).

I would wait for Google's 7" Nexus Tab... it will probably be less than $250 (or even $200), have higher rez than the 7.0 2, and since it will be Nexus... will run stock ICS.

I'm going to return my 7.0 Tab 2 once specs, pricing solidify on the Google Nexus Tab... although... the Galaxy Note's form factor seems to be calling me (just waiting to see how ICS runs on it).

 

Except that choosing the Tab2 7.0 over the 7.7 would give you inferior hardware.

The 7.7 is the mostly widely praised of any of Samsung's tablets, I doubt they would shoot themselves in the foot by not releasing ICS for it.

 

The thing is, most of the Tab 7.7's I've seen are Verizon tabs. And those are few and far between since Verizon is selling them at almost the price of gold /oz. The Tab 7.7 WiFi would have had a bright future if VZW hadn't squelched it by bringing exclusivity in an overpriced WWAN version.

If you can bring yourself to pay the $450 for the 7.7, I believe you'll like it more than the other options you listed.

^That.

The Tab 7.7 is a flagship device, even with the Galaxy Note 10.1 considered. So it WILL get ICS... it's just a matter of when Samsung will push it out.

 

I don't see a reason to get the Tab 2 10.1 when I could get the Transformer TF300 for essentially the same price. If there's anything Asus knows how to do its making a solid tablet at a tempting price.

 

Well of its one thing I hated about Samsung its their slow updates.

Yeah they make awesome tablets. I can definitely attest to that.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Wait a second... which models of the 7.7 have the IR emitter? I'm reading definitely the VZW LTE version, but not the WiFi or HSPA+ versions?

 

It wasn't Samsung, it was US carriers. Samsung actually tends to update their devices quicker than other manufacturers

 

But it is Samsung in the case of their tablets, delaying ICS for the Note or messing around unlocked/unbranded Galaxy S2 owners in the UK.

 

Dont forget not updating the original Galaxy S (and most variants) to ICS. I don't believe the excuses samsung gives when the Nexus S can run it, albeit stock

 

Well in this case, Samsung is not any worse than the other manufacturers. You don't see HTC or moto updating devices that came out at the same time as the Galaxy S to ICS. Hell, motorola wont even update the droid 3

 

That is also true.

Like any manufacturer, Samsung have their pros and cons - they're at the better end of the scale IMO but could still do better.

 

I completely agree. None of the major Android hardware partners are doing a perfect, or even near perfect job.

 

Definitely agreed. While there are several things I wish Samsung did to improve their phones, IMO they have an edge on htc and Motorola. At least, in the states.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

Thinking about jumping on that S3 for Verizon. Is it easy to get rid of Touchwiz though? I just want stock ICS.

 

Much easier to get away from TouchWiz than Sense.

 

How would I go about doing that if I'm not Android proficient?

 

Does anyone know what this mode is called? My Galaxy Nexus is stuck in it. I tried Odin, with no luck.

 

That's a kernel issue.

 

I'm pretty sure I've been through that before. Make sure you flash a ROM using ODIN which contains DBDATA and flash with a .pit file. That should fix the phone...

 

You can download a "launcher" from the Android Market/Play Store. This will replace the application drawer and pending on which one you get, may offer more customization in terms of form and function. GoLauncher and ADW Launcher are such examples.

 

I've been at this for hours HAL, do you know what I can do?

Hmm, ok. It's recognized by Odin, but I can't find a pit. file for it, but I'll start looking for a rom with DBDATA.

Thanks guys

 

I think I would rate HTC a tad higher then Samsung, but both are leagues ahead of Motorola.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Not in terms of development IMO. Samsung has far surpassed HTC. Don't even get me started with all the bootloader/s-on crap.

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

 

...Has there been any HTC devices that received fully working AOSP ROMs since the Nexus One?

Agreed 100%. Samsung devices are so much easier to get custom ROMs flashed on. ODIN is much easier to contend with and you can go forward or backwards with firmwares as you please.

 

Now, I don't have a Galaxy Nexus but this should be what you're looking for...

[ODIN] IMM76D 4.0.4 yakju/maguro [REPACKS] - xda-developers

Usually when you have that symbol it's easiest and best to just restore to stock.

As far as development goes... you, sir, are absolutely correct. There's nothing out there like a Samsung device for ease of development. Going backwards and forwards bootloader versions, flashing ICS to Froyo, Froyo to ICS, modems... it's just wonderfully simple compared to any other OEM out there.

 

What's so difficult about it? Took me less than 30 mins from a brand new HTC One S to a custom rom. Sure the bootloader might not be unlocked unlike Samsung, but that's not exactly complex.

 

Thanks guys When I try to flash any roms with Odin, I always get a write error. I tried using the Toolkit v7, and it won't go past writing the bootloader.

I tried different cables and USB Ports.

I used the Toolkit to boot up in CWM, and when I tried to wipe and recover, it was unable to mount most of the files?


Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

 

It's not that its "hard" to do, just that HTC has gotten much more locked down than Samsung. For instance, I have an HTC Vivid. We had no official bootloader unlock for about 3 months. That means no root, no custom roms, no nothing. Once we begged and got it, we still had to deal with s-on. That means every friggin time you want to flash a rom you need to hook it up to a computer and manually flash the kernel before you flash the rom. The One X AT&T version doesn't have official bootloader unlock. And they will continue to further lock down their phones and make it harder to crack them. Meanwhile rooting and flashing a rom on a Samsung is effortless. Samsung owners don't even know what s-on is.

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

 

It endlessly pisses me off when people talk about how HTC 'listened to their customers' and started offering the option to unlock bootloaders.
What a load of BS.

If HTC cared for a second about the end users they'd never have started locking the bootloaders in the first place.

 

Well there is your problem.

How have they gotten "so much more locked down"? Yes, it's not as easy to mod as a Samsung device, that's a fact. But they have gotten more locked down? Do elaborate.

 

Did you have a winmo phone? Back in the day, HTC was the sh** with anyone who wanted to mess with any kind of development. They didn't care at all what you did with your phone. Then once they got the attention of the general public, they essentially shunned the dev community that helped them get to where they were. They pull a fast one on one/some of their phones by locking its bootloader with no way to unlock. Then after the outcry from the dev community, they promise no more locked bootloaders. After that, they still lock the EVO 3D, Rezound, Vivid and others with no way to unlock for months and months. Along with that, they delay months to release their code which they are supposed to do immediately. They are also making harder and harder to unofficially unlock the bootloader. So... Yea, they have gotten much more locked down than they used to be...

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

 

Im not denying that the hack and mod community of samsung is king, but for those who use the phone in a factory setting (what Im more and more likely of doing these days due to time and such) HTC is much better. Now if I was still into hacking/modding android phones Id have stayed with my gnexus for sure. But since IM not the overall experience from HTC is better IMHO.

But like all things this is situational and opinions DEFINITELY differ. So to each their own.

 

Exactly. I believe it has something to do with the carriers as well. There must be a reason that the international One X gets unlock but the AT&T version does not. But then we must ask why Samsung isn't told by the carriers to be more locked down. Do they really have that much more leverage over HTC? Or maybe HTC is just trying to save some money on warranty claims. Either way, they lied.

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

 

They do or rather, HTC have lost their leverage after a year of releasing the same devices over and over again. But let's not start on carriers/manufacturers lying shall we?

 

Well this is interesting...Virgin Mobile is going to start offering the iPhone 4S at the end of the month with their prepaid plans, and actually dropping all plan prices by $5 if you pay automatically via credit, debit or PayPal. I have no interest in the iPhone, but it'll be nice to go back down to $30 a month. Considering it used to be $25 per month when I first subscribed...

Also, they've finally gotten some new Android phones, namely the HTC EVO V 4G...I didn't even know VM had 4G. Also, the LG Optimus Elite, and the Venture 3G.

The EVO V looks interesting, maybe finally something better than my Triumph. I have no idea what's good or not, though, anyone have any insight?

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans.jsp