All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

With the S4, Samsung are introducing a much-improved remote control/channel guide app for the IR blaster.
Might be worth waiting and seeing if it gets cascaded down to other devices with IR blasters. That or see if it gets extracted from the firmware and made available on somewhere like XDA.

 

Hold on a second with the One versus S4 camera issue. There's no doubt that the S4 takes better pictures with OEM camera software than the One does with its OEM camera software. BUT there's also no question that the One has better hardware specs. If we all used OEM software on our Android phones, it'd be case closed, S4 wins. But since a lot of us use third-party camera apps, which oftentimes give better results with certain hardware than even the OEM's own app (my Galaxy S3 and ProCapture is a good example), I don't think it's "case closed" that the S4's camera is better, despite the lower specs, just because you get better pictures with each camera's OEM app.

And I call the S4's camera lower spec because I think sensor size matters a lot more than pixel count with casual point-and-shoots.

 

I'm a bit confused here. Are you referring to the build quality or SoC in terms of hardware specifications?

 

Probably a good idea. I know the Galaxy Tab came with Peel, which was really lacking. Hopefully the S4 is a lot better. I just had my Tab rooted with CM 10.1, and have just switched back to a rooted version of the stock 4.1.1 ROM, just so I can have the IR blaster working.
Thinking I may try and setup a dual boot so I can have both worlds.

 

Well then let's see some tests that support that.

 

I was only referring to the Galaxy S4's camera versus the HTC One's camera, not the rest of the phones. The One's has a larger sensor and a smaller F-number; the Galaxy S4's camera has more pixels. I think the former matters a lot more than the latter when it comes to point-and-shoot photography, once you remove the effects of a bad OEM app from the equation (the OEM app on my GS3 is royally messed up, and the difference in photos after installing ProCapture was night and day).

 

I'm explaining my position on how I'm approaching the review with a wait and see attitude until more tests come in that reinforce or refute GSM's results. Would you go as far as to say, that I have no valid reason to want to wait for more reviews, and that every review that pits these two phones together in low light from this point forward is guaranteed to show the S4 winning in every one?

I suppose, if someone had an inclination towards Samsung, it would be exceptionally easy to accept the review as a set-in-stone final verdict that has no possibility to ever change.

Yes, some reviews have showed it to be generally lacking, and some have showed it to be quite good considering it's resolution. HTC also recently released a firmware update that's improved picture quality. It wouldn't surprise me to see them release another later on.

The way I see it, is if I'm buying a $700 dollar phone that has the best hardware available, I damn well expect it to perform simple tasks like UI navigation and wake, without lag. The fact that HTC can manage to do this (despite your not-so kind words for them) while Samsung has had ongoing problems with this, doesn't exactly bode well to me.

According to GSMArena as well as Phone Arena they don't out-do the HTC One in video quality, and Phone Arena says the HTC One is better regarding call quality.

I'm not so sure, it seems to me that some people were just fed up with the lack of Samsung's support on this, and were planning to drop Exynos regardless.

 

I definitely agree, pixel count isn't everything but at the same time, it is relevant at a certain point. All of these camera apps' post-processing is compressing the picture to a certain extent, and a 4 MP camera that already limits the amount of captured detail would worsen. I think HTC has the right idea, but I would've think 5-6 MP would have been the minimum. As Megacharge mentioned, HTC has released an update that (hopefully) resolves the lost image detail fidelity somewhat.

I'm glad you brought up using an alternative camera app though. The ZL's sensor appears to be very capable of capturing good photos, but I suspect the software is at fault for the inconsistent performance.

 

Depends. I take most of my photos with my SGS3 with ProCamera set to take photos at 3.2 megapixels instead of the hardware's 8mp, and only in the best-lit conditions (say, outside on a sunny day) is sharpness limited by pixel count. In most circumstances, sharpness is limited by lighting. This is with the flash deactivated at all times (I really don't like the effect that a smartphone's flash has on a photo, plus, my autistic son is upset by the flash). For people like me who prefer flashless photography, I think the hardware approach of the One's camera is perfect, and much more preferable than a 13-megapixel camera with a smaller sensor.

 

Facebook Home Android rumor | BGR

So...it could very well be a launcher/home replacement?

I can see that going swimmingly...not.

 

I hope that's an April Fools joke. If not, burn it with fire!

 

Not rumor, it was announced well before April Fools

 

So... isn't it just a widget? I don't get it.

 

I read it as just a bigger emphasis on better-designed, more-comprehensive widgets. Plus the HTC Facebook Phone. But not a launcher replacement for other Android phones.

 

Facebook phone dev-edition APK reveals details about HTC Myst, new Facebook Home features

I can't imagine anyone wanting to do this...and that's coming from an avid Facebook user. Facebook is a useful tool but it's also known for clutter and bugginess...not who I'd want designing an entire launcher for my phone. Even their FB mobile apps tend to be catastrophes, so why would I want them making me an entire launcher?

 

Yeah, the official Android Facebook app is pretty horrible. I like Facebook, but I don't need it sinking its hooks into every square inch of my phone.

 

And the Android FB app is about a thousand times better than the Windows Phone facebook app. I'm not sure if I've ever seen an app from a major developer that's worse than FB's WP app. It's basically unusable.

 

Gave up on Android:



Best. Decision. Ever.

 

To each their own. I personally like widgets and large screens and hardware choice.

 

Which launcher/theme is that?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

 

Its no launcher dude...it's really my new iphone 5...

Jk

It's Espier Launcher and Espier Notifications. The latter takes some configuring but once set up is pretty nice.

I also use their lockscreen, but because I have an exchange account, the motorola lockscreen remains.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

 

Trying to iFool people?

 

Guilty as charge. Well that and I wanted a change of pace.

 

Nice find. My girlfriend downloaded that launcher on her GS2, she likes it.

 

Yeah every once in awhile ill give MIUI another try when I want to change it up.

 

Chinese smartphone appears with 5,000mAh battery | T3

 

...seems legit.

 

AT&T’s Samsung Galaxy S4 passes through the FCC as SGH-i337

I can officially get a "upgrade" and buy a subsidized phone. but I want this one. oh the waiting game sucks. especially when using an old phone that doesn't have web.

 

AT&T's HTC One release date is April 19, price starts from $199

 

The Fisher-Price is strong with this one.

 

So you either get an SD slot or LTE?

HTC One 802w for China spotted with removable cover, dual SIM slots and microSD slot

So weird they would do that for certain regions... why not just make it global to cut down on fabrication variations?

 

The next-gen Nexus 7 is rumored to land in July, with Asus as the OEM again @ Reuters.

A higher-resolution screen, Qualcomm processor (primarily to achieve better battery life, apparently), thinner bezels, all at the same price point of $199. Sounds good to me.

I think it's partially due to carrier pressures. AT&T would rather a phone did not come with a microSD slot (so you'll need to stream more content and use a more expensive data plan) and would definitely not want a phone to support dual SIMs.

Samsung, as it grew to be a dominant player, was able to gain more power in resisting carrier changes. So, with the GS2, we saw different variants tailored to each US carrier, whereas with the GS3, we saw a single, largely unchanged design carried over across the world. HTC doesn't have that power, and so more changes will likely have to be made.

 

If this second generation Nexus 7 comes with a 1080p resolution screen, continues to be offered with 16/32GB internal storage and has the Snapdragon 600, it can't be beaten in its price range. I hope ASUS learned its lesson from the current model and we don't see carryover build flaws (Primarily the screen separation and excessive screen light bleed).

I turned in the ZL this morning and went back to the Note 2. Too many shortcomings to make that pretty face worth keeping around.

 

A glitch on HTC's website also revealed what the One's lineup in the U.S. will be. None of the links work though.

 

On the Nexus 7... it really needs the SD card slot (IMO).

Tablets are more consumption devices than phones and without 3G/4G access to cloud storage, it becomes more painful managing media content even with 16GB.

I'm using 13GB on my Tab 2 and I've barely loaded anything on there (using 8GB on an SD card, 5GB main memory).

But being a Nexus... odds are it won't have one. What are the sales numbers of the Nexus 7 vs the Galaxy Tab 2 7"?

 

Nexus devices haven't had SD card storage for awhile..

 

Nexus devices will never have SD card slots again because Google wants people to use Google Drive instead.

 

AT&T to offer 16GB Samsung Galaxy S 4 for $200, 32GB for $250

I knew the $250 was for the 32 GB version.

 

That doesn't explain why the international model lacks an SD slot though.

Didn't all the US S2 variants still have microSD slots though?

 

This may be a stupid question, but how would I go about installing google maps on my phone that is rooted with Carbon Rom? It says my device isn't compatible with maps app. Maybe because I'm running a modded 4.2.2 ROM?

 

Market Helper – Bypassing Android App Incompatibility (Root Only) ← Android Fan Network

 

Thank you! Worked perfectly!

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2

 

What DPi are you using?

 

270.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2

 

I have a numeric-entry lockscreen on my Xperia Z.

Any way to get calendar events to show up in front of it?

 

Are you on the latest Carbon update? If not, I recommend you to flash the update, and before changing the DPI, install GMaps and update all apps and then put it back to 270

 

At least all the flagship GS2 phones did, I believe. But I don't think it really discounts the overall pattern, though.

 

Will do. Thank you.

 

No, one a PIN lockscreen policy is enforced, you cannot override it.

 

All Galaxy S phones have had external mSD storage.

On a sidenote, HTC is done... 1,400 'Samsung Experience' shops in Best Buy locations spell more bad news for HTC | The Verge