All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

Oppo Find 5 will now be offered with 32 GB internal storage for $569. This thing's expected to be launched in China this coming month with the rest of the world to follow shortly:

 

So beautiful. It even made me like MIUI. Definitely a choice to consider after the GNote 2. If it just had a bit more features and more popularity among the dev community, it'd be a win. Heck, it's already a win with those specs and design!

 

A very nice-looking phone, both aesthetically and features-wise, although I do wish it had expandable storage. Probably the most concerning aspects of it are battery life, developer support base, and actual fit-and-finish/build.

 

Indeed, when the phone was originally announced, I admittedly put it off as a HTC J Butterfly clone, but as more information comes out for the Find 5, Oppo is doing a good job of capitalizing in areas where HTC dropped the ball on. Engadget's editor Richard Lai stated the phone's build quality is quite good:

Oppo Find 5 hands-on (updated with video)

I'm not sure why Oppo is not gloating about the phone's camera either, because it uses Sony's 13 megapixel Exmor RS and the sample shots look superb:

Oppo Find 5 camera samples and video ad emerge - GSMArena.com news

Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3

 

WOW. That image quality is mindblowing... The detail on the 1st sample is jaw-dropping...

 

When I look to the left of that picture, I see a clear rip on Apple's marketing. They even copied the font, Helvetica Neue.
When I look to the right of that picture, I see a really clean looking Android device with capacitive buttons (which I love).

Either way, specs wise it's beastly. Will it be a dev hit though? Because I can guarantee nobody will like it's software, unless it's stock Android.

 

I'm due an upgrade (have been for a couple of months) but I can't decide what handset to get.

 

What handsets do you have in mind?

 

The two that have caught my eye just now are the Note2 and Nexus4.

On principle I don't want to buy the Note2 because I'm still hoping against hope I get given one for free, which really just leaves the Nexus.
But that's impossible to get ahold of right now.

Beyond that, I'm wondering if I should wait now until CES and MWC but I really want a new phone...

 

Same situation as me haha

Honestly, feature-wise, Note 2 is the way to go, but of course if you KNOW you can get it for free, get the Nexus 4. The "Stock Android" excuse doesn't really stick anymore, since you can get CM10.1 on the GNote 2, so you really have everything from the Nexus 4 in the Note 2.

Now, if you can wait until MWC, Sony supposedly will announce the Xperia Z AKA Yuga C660x, and we all know how hyped that device is.

Or you can do like I me : get a Note 2 now, and wait for the next-gen ARM A57 devices in 2014.

 

I can't get either handset for free.
In fact, because I don't want a locked/branded handset, I'll probably have to buy whichever one I get outright.

As for the firmware, if I got the Note2, I'd want to stick with some sort of TouchWiz-based ROM - it's a waste to lose all the software functionality Samsung have added to the device, especially surrounding the S-Pen.

The only hype I've seen is one person in this thread.
I'm a long way off of giving Sony my money, it would have to be something truly special to get me to change my mind. Not to mention, there seems to be a lot of rumours about Samsung announcing the successor to the S3 at MWC as well, which would probably blow any announcement Sony made out of the water.

There's no point even looking that far ahead.
Look how slow the move to A15 SoCs has been, I would be surprised if the next leap forward was any quicker.

 

Ah, yeah. Well, if you don't get it off Play Store, both will be pretty much the same price.

Hawkish ROM is a stock touchwiz with an AOSP theme on top, it's a nice TW/AOSP hybrid with a TW base. Going to definitely flash it if I get the N7100.

Everyone I've seen is pretty hyped about the Yuga, incluing CM devs.

I agree, if Samsung does what the consumers want like a non-plastic body (which I seriously doubt), less-heavy TW FW and so on, the S4 will be a hit. Plus the 1080p SAMOLED...

Yeah, but I believe that the A57 arch is much more of a technological advance from A15/A9 than what A15 was to A9, so I kind of expect to see a late 2014 deadline, perhaps in the Note 4.

 

I can probably actually get the Nexus4 marginally cheaper than the Play Store by making use of a friend's staff discount at CPW.
Even if I couldn't though, the Nexus4 costs less than £400 SIM-free in the likes of CPW and O2, whereas the Note2 is more from high street stores - I could maybe get it for ~£400 online but that would mean purchasing from a fairly questionable site.

I've seen far too many ridiculous Sony (Ericsson) rumours to give any of them a second thought until a handset is actually announced.
As for the CM Devs, they're just human/as biased or opinionated as the rest of us, just because they're looking forward to something doesn't mean it'll be any good.

In which case I would expect it to take even longer to introduce - bigger advances tend to be more costly to implement.
Like any new technology though, there's no point waiting for it, it just drives you crazy. I've been itching for flexible screens all year and now they might not even reach the market next year either...

 

Does anyone know about the Qi wireless charging pads for the Nexus 4 and other supported brands? I don't see anything for the USDM, just for the EU/UK market.

 

The charging 'orb' that a lot of websites show with the Nexus 4 is still not out, the most popular ones that work for it is the Energizer and LG Qi Pads:

Amazon.com: Energizer Qi-Enabled 3 Position Inductive Charger (Black): Cell Phones & Accessories
Amazon.com: LG WCP-700 Portable Power Mat Home and Office Charging Pad: Cell Phones & Accessories

Nokia did something weird with theirs for the Lumia 920 and it doesn't work with the Nexus 4.

 

The combination alarm clock/charger listed here looks like a good idea IMO.

 

I finally got my phablet.... err... Note 2. Best Buy put it on sale for $249 and I had a bunch of gift cards saved up... ended up costing me $100.

Had to wait forever to finally get helped in the Mobile department but it was worth the wait... still trying to get used to the hugeness because my only Android phone experience has been the Moto Xprt (which has an even smaller screen because of the physical keyboard).

LTE is so fast... it's like browsing on WiFi... I had a short time with LTE on the iPhone 5 but returned it to wait for the Note 2... seems faster on the Note 2, but there is some lag on the stock browser... Chrome runs a bit smoother.

 

Yeah, I prefer Chrome over the stock browser. And if you're rooted (a root-injected stock image is probably available), you can get AdAway adblocking for an even zippier internet-browsing experience

 

A57 in any shipping consumer device will be 2015-2016 at the earliest. 2014 is the server closet projection.

I still see absolutely no reason for a flexible display. Battery technology isn't flexible, capacitive touch sensing surfaces aren't flexible and there's just too many components inside the phone/device that just aren't (and won't be) flexible.

Samsung needs to get AMOLED quality control in order before they start with a whole new type of panel. The color temperature/saturation/white point/contrast variations on their AMOLED panels is mind boggling. They just have so much contrast, as a matter of what KIND of panels they are, that some of those glaring issues are slightly hidden.

 

I see every reason for a flexible screen.
The ability to take a tablet-sized device and fold it down so it fits into your pockets being chief amongst them, the fact that such screens should be significantly more difficult to damage being a close second.

March 2007, August 2007, November 2010, March 2011, August 2012 and September 2012.
Those last two articles in particular show functional, flexible batteries.

Well, there's flexible circuitry and flexible memory, twice.
That certainly seems like enough to start making some headway.

Not that any of the rest of the handset needs to be flexible for the screen to be - form factors like this would still offer tangible benefits whilst using mostly non-flexible components.

 

You make good points, but most of that is still in the concept stage. Functional and mass-producible are two wildly different topics.

For me to ever EVER take a foldable display seriously, it would have to have absolutely no creases. That would drive me batty. The touch displays on notebooks already drive me insane because you can see the touch layer over the panel... a nice little grid of touch sensitive wires. Either tablets use different touch controllers or some OEM's got some SERIOUSLY cheap digitizers.

Also, for them to be significantly harder to damage... I don't see that. Fold it wrong or bend it just right and you'll still do damage. IMHO, a LOT more impact resistance can be designed into our current devices. A LOT.

 

I'd say that's a little unfair, a lot of that is beyond the concept stage and into the prototype stage.
I'm not saying it's anywhere near mass production but there's a distinct difference between having functional examples of a technology and just having an idea.

With some clever thinking and the right sort of hinge mechanism, I see no reason why that couldn't be done.
I'm sure it'd be possible to design a device that folded in two that didn't have to fold the screen, just bend it - an easy/obvious solution would be to have it fold so the screen was on the outside, though that would provide it's own problems to overcome.

Well, the most common causes of damage to screens just now are impact and pressure damage, both of which a flexible screen should be more resistant to. I mean, the first step to flexible display panels are UBP panels: unbreakable plane panels - the name seems to suggest that they should be pretty tough.
As for the issues surrounding folding/bending, that would depends on the exact form factor of the device. If it were similar to the demo unit in the last link in my previous post, with a fixed hinge, then I don't think there would be much scope to damage the screen by folding or bending it the wrong way as I don't see how it could be folded the wrong way.

 

flexible <> foldable

I could see bending something into a tube or teardrop shape to make it more portable, but straight out folding it doesn't really require a flex screen.

Something like on the movie Red Planet, where a map is rolled out from a scroll would be a good implementation of a flexible screen. Folding it like a road map, despite the new technology, would require some type of lines showing at the fold points.

If a screen were stored in a phone/tablet like a U or a roll... you should be able to pull it out to make it twice or more times its size.

 

For any US Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2 owners, if you register your phone with Samsung, you can get a free Samsung Flip Case (OEM $40 value; realistically a $25 retail value) and 6 NFC Tectiles. Just follow the instructions here.

My brother and I already entered, and I just got my dad registered with his new Note 2

 

Thanks Midnight... only 3 colors to choose from, Orange, Mint and Pink... I'm assuming Mint is either light blue or light green.

6-8 weeks for delivery... but free is free!

 

Mint is light green ( see picture here). For the S3, last I checked there was also Light Blue available, total 4 colors to choose from. Wish white, dark blue, or titanium were available, but considering it was free, can't ask for too much!

 

I have someone offering to trade their AT&T Optimus G plus $200 cash on top for the Nexus 4. So tempting.

 

Well, it's a N4 with a 13MP camera shooter...

AND $200...

I would take it

 

I think the AT&T version only has an 8MP camera, while the Sprint and International versions have the un-nerfed 13MP camera. It does have LTE though, so... I'd do it

 

AT&T version also had a locked bootloader.

 

The AT&T Optimus G's bootloader can be unlocked, it just doesn't have a good development following at this time. The two things I like about the Optimus G over the Nexus 4 is the capacitive buttons and a MicroSD card, the later being the most appealing. LTE is nice to have but I just don't use my phone in such ways that it would make much difference to me over HSPA+.

 

I'd do it. You could sell the Optimus for enough to buy another Nexus.

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks for the input guys, I just sent him a text to meet at a Starbucks tomorrow to do the deal. A bit ironic that this vicious trade cycle started with the Optimus G and comes back around to it again.

If I knew the Nexus 4 was in such heavy demand I would've tried snatching a couple when Google had them.

 

Some dumb questions here (I just got my first smart phone early December...s3 on Sprint).

1) Is it possible to download YouTube videos for later viewing (when you don't have a decent connection for streaming)?
2) Same questions for Amazon Instant Video w/Prime membership?
3) Any other suggestions for downloading TV/movies/video to make it across the barren wastelands on I-90 in MN and SD?

 

Nerfed?!? HAHAH.... Hardly. The 8MP AT&T version has better picture quality than the 13MP Sprint version.

 

Haven't seriously researched this phone, but from what I read I thought they each had some minor pros and cons, for about the same performance overall. Not really "nerfed" though; wrong choice of words.

 

And at least with the 8MP one, you don't have that stupid bulge sticking out the back...

 

HAL, long time since I haven't used ODIN, so I have a quick question :

Got XXDLL4 (France, unbranded), unzipped, and it has only one file, N7100XXDLL4_N7100OXADLL4_N7100XXDLK7_HOME.tar.md5. That's supposed to go to PDA with only auto-reboot and f. reset timer ticked, correct?

Also, check this out : [Galaxy Note2 TOOLKIT V3.0.0 GSM] Drivers, Backup, Root, CWM, EFS, Flash Stock Image - xda-developers

If I flash DLL4, which is the next version after DLK7 (both 4.1.2), can I use option 04 (check 1st screenshot) to root and flash the boot and recovery.img?

 

Yep, if it's a firmware it goes to PDA. As for using the one-click program, yes you can still use option 4 to root Jellybean 4.1.2. I used that application to root the N7105 firmware on the AT&T Note II and it works very well.

 

Samsung is releasing a 3000mAh extended battery for the Galaxy S3!

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

Cheers, thanks for the answers!

So for example, if I have stock ALIJ, something that the program doesn't have, and I want to root it, I can use either of 1st 3 options (ALIE, ALJ1/3), as long as the build number is the same, right?

 

I would download the toolkit and look through the menu to see if there are any variations between each firmware listed. I know I had to select an older firmware when DLK7 first leaked and it worked fine for rooting.

 

Already did, and the options are the same as in the screenshots. I believe that my parents got me a Movistar branded (perhaps unlocked, not sure), which is ALIJ, and there's no such option in the toolkit. It's JRO03C and 4.1.1, so pretty much the same as for example ALJ1. Is it safe to use ALJ1 boot/recovery.img for the ALIJ ROM?

 

Can't help you with #2 and #3, but the YouTube app supports Watch Later, you need to enable it under Settings when you're in the app.

That's going to be a question for the more seasoned ROM flashers, I've never crossed recovery/bootlader images between different firmwares. To be honest, I would just use ODIN and flash to DLL4 or DKL7 directly if you're getting the N7100. It might be trickier with the N7105 as the radio images are different, so you will need to follow a guide as to rebuilding the image without the radio or wait for someone to do it.

 

I see now. YouTube does such a great job making their mobile page look and function like an app that I didn't even realize there is a separate app. Thanks!

 

One intriguing difference in behavior between the Nexus 4 and the Optimus G is the OG keeps its custom recovery permanently while the Nexus 4 reverts back to its stock recovery upon reboot. Quite odd.

 

An update, ~2 weeks and Google still have yet to ship my Nexus 4. :|

 

And now I officially have a note 2

As expected, it is Movistar branded, came locked. Payed 15€ for an unlock tool, and it worked flawlessly. Going to flash 4.1.2 XXDLL4 when I drain the battery and then root it

 

Great device, congratulations!