All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

Agreed, you invested time and effort into something that needs to be rightfully credited if someone is using it. It's even more disturbing there are so-called 'developers' that just 'kang other's work and ask for donations.

 

Remember guys, you're wayyyy outside the "target demo" for this device. These are the people Facebook want to court:





These people don't know what "stock" Android is, and couldn't care less about a bootloader (and don't know what it is). They just want a phone that does Facebook really well and is cheap.

That's what the First does. From the other side of the coin, I could see why Facebook or HTC or AT&T (or all the above) wanted the phone to behave that way, given the intended audience for the device. The fewer "Why is this not working anymore?" support issues, the better.

I'm just waiting for Verizon to burn in a faint image of their logo into the screen. Or subliminally whisper the word "verizon" through a connected headset in the background of whatever you're listening to.

 

I've noticed that the finish is starting to rub off on the corner of my note 2.. Very disappointing.. Never been dropped and in a case for around a third of the time that I've had it.

Any other Note 2 owners experiencing this?

 

I guarantee that there really is no market for this device. If it sees any kind of significant sales I will be shocked. I understand who the target is, I just don't believe that they exist.

 

You don't believe there are FB addicts who aren't tech-heads???

As someone as a 30-something professional with young kids who doesn't know the difference between a locked and unlocked bootloader and who spends 1-2 hours on FB each day, I'm the target market. Yes, we do exist. In fact, I put FB Home on my phone on day one. I ultimately took it off not because of any of the reasons you list, but simply because it wasn't as useful for browsing FB as the traditional app is, and because I missed my weather and New York Times widgets.

 

But the issue here is that the regular user doesn't care, will never ever ever use the feature... and yet it's still locked down. There is absolutely no reason for HTC to have pulled that mess. But, seeing as how this is HTC we're talking about, it doesn't shock me in the least. It's almost like they enjoy finding new ways to lock their devices down, and try to tell the person that OWNS the device what they can and can't modify.

Also, I don't see how the intended audience would influence a bootloader lock or a /system checksum. The only thing I can think of is that this is a new security feature of the next android version that HTC has already implemented at the bootloader level. The next version of android is going to carry some hefty security.

 

But from their perspective, if someone does begin to tinker (say a friend's like "Zomg this totally makes your phone faster/better*") and screw up their phone...it'll be HTC's fault. Or AT&T's. Or Facebook's. Yes we all know one should read a device modding forum thread once, twice, thrice even, but not everyone else does.

I'm not agreeing with it, I'm just trying to think of it from an "everyday" person perspective.

* I was sooo tempted to make a Daft Punk reference there...so tempted.


As for the intended audience thing, the point is, they wouldn't worry about something like that so it would make sense why HTC wouldn't have thought of power users when they did this. Besides, does anyone know if this is strictly a HTC decision for this specific handset? I could easily see it being Facebook and/or AT&T's decision, esp. since HTC is nothing more than a ODM for this device.

 

I'm not saying that, I'm saying that I don't believe there are enough people that will buy this phone to make a difference. I also think FB home will be a colossal flop.

 

http://www.androidcentral.com/sprint-dish-network-plan-merge-255-billion-deal

Holy crap. I knew they were talking but figured Softbank would get it considering how far down the road they were. Point yet again that "money talks."

Edit: it's not a done deal like AC says (why they're insinuating it is done is anyone's guess), Sprint has to decide which offer to go with.

Watching this all unfold will be interesting for sure.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

 

I agree, this device is definitely not targeted for your average Android enthusiast. The problem is, the sole selling point for the First is Facebook Home, which also happens to be available on other popular Android phones. With that said, it takes away the First's edge and leaves it with nothing that distinguishes itself among its competitors. For $99 or even less on contract, it is going up against the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X, Sony Xperia TL, Pantech Discover, and the Optimus G, all of which is more than capable of running Facebook/Facebook Home and offers much more functionality in terms of software and hardware.

IMO, Facebook should have made the Home framework exclusive to the First and keep the standard Facebook app available for other devices. Ironically enough, the phone's camera is borderline awful; I am quite lenient on phone cameras because I don't expect them to offer the image quality of a dedicated point n' shoot, but for a phone being targeted to users that are expected to utilize social networking for sharing their pictures, the 5 MP sensor is not up to the task. Rumors speculate the international version of this phone will receive a 4 MP Ultrapixel camera (Along with Sense UI unfortunately), which would have been much more appropriate.

On a side note, I have yet to meet someone that admit they are looking for a Facebook exclusive phone. The average person who are not well versed with smart phone but want features beyond what a flip phone usually does one of the following:

1. Ask the salesman for advice.
2. Ask their more tech savvy friend/family member/co-worker for advice or go with what they have.
3. Research online and read reviews.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good device if it meets your needs, but given the price point and the fact that Facebook Home is available for other devices, I feel inclined to advise someone to go with the Galaxy S III or the One X and install Facebook Home than recommending the First to them. Just for kicks, I installed Home on the Note II just to compare it to the First, and there are no noticeable distinctions between the two in terms of features, but the Note II rendered and transited through the menus/screens much smoother.

 

I just picked up a Galaxy S 4G for $50. Back in the day, I paid $450 for one of these.

 

Still a great phone. Plus the 4G model from T-Mobile uses the same SoC as the Infuse, which uses LP-DDR2 instead of the regular LP-DDR in the OG Galaxy S... = faster GPU and a generally more snappy device.

 

That's the phone Dexter should have bought.

 

Hey, we tried. When someone decides they want a 4 year old Blackberry there's just no reasoning with them.

 

Isn't that WiMax? With LTE ramping up here in the US... is WiMax going to go away?

 

Galaxy S isn't exactly fresh either, but it's still better. Plus I bet there are tons of great ROMs for it.

 

No, it's running on HSPA+. This phone came out when AT&T and T-Mobile were slapping the 4G label on everything capable of HSPA+, no LTE just yet.

 

Absolutely. I just wish it supported AT&T 3G like the S2.

My friend wants me to find a phone for him. It'll be his first smartphone and he wants to use it on T-Mobile's $30 5GB prepaid plan. His budget is no more than $300. I know I can get a used Nexus 4 for less than that. Are there any other good T-Mobile compatible devices?

Edit: and if anyone is wondering, I still have a Nexus 4. I had to change the build prop to install Facebook Home.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

The OG Galaxy S is light years ahead of that Blackberry, and I would have recommended him a Captivate or something, but I didn't know they were going for that cheap. And yea, since it's basically a TouchWiz'd Nexus S, there are a TON of ROM's and kernels. The development forums for those devices are still quite active, and it's a 3 year old phone.

 

It'll be pretty difficult to go up against the Nexus 4 in the $300 realm for T-Mobile. The One S and if not for 3D gaming, the Amaze 4G.

 

You can say anything you want about Samsung phones, but their dev base is unmatched. Galaxy S, S2, S3, Note 1/2... All HUGE fan/dev bases with a lot of ROMs, AOSP and TW alike. It's one of the winning points when purchasing a Samsung device, development is surely only going to stop when it's literally impossible to cook/port.

 

So you're the target market, you who a) already has another phone and b) rejected their software.
If you're indicative of the average potential customer for the HTC First, it sounds like it's doomed.

 

I was responding to the argument that the locked bootloader would hurt its sales. I don't think a locked or unlocked bootloader matters one iota with this sort of device.

The poor layout of FB Home and the poor camera are deal-breakers with the target market for this device. The locked bootloader isn't.

 

If the camera had been better, I might have bought one. I love the form factor/design.

 

It won't help.
It may be intended for a particular section of the market but that doesn't mean that people outwith the intended customer base won't be curious about it too and things like this only serve to reduce the chance that any of those people will look twice at it.

It's the whole HTC problem all over again, each little thing may not be make-or-break for every customer but if you're on the wrong side of enough little things, suddenly you find you don't have many customers.

To you.
But like memory card slots or removable batteries, it will still matter to some people who may have gone for it had the bootloader been unlocked.

As I said above, they're all potentially deal-breakers just probably not for the same people.
Having the locked bootloader cannot be an advantage.

 

I didn't know that the Note 8.0 was selling for $399. With the mini selling at $329... not sure how well it will sell against it.

 

It was inevitable. I forgot I had it on my lap when I jumped out of my Jeep. I'm going to slap a case on there and call it a day. No need to replace it until the Nexus 5 comes around.

 

Oh, I bet you were cursing yourself when it happened! that sucks.

 

That is terrible, man. That is a bad habit that I have. Leaving my phone in my lap when I drive. I can't tell you how many times I have thrown it out of my SUV. I once did it in my friends truck that had a lift kit. Threw it on the concrete. Happy birthday to the ground! It was fine though. Note II is pretty durable. I love the look of the nexus 4 back, though.

 

Dug a bit deeper in XDA and apparently this is why the First is reverting changes to the /system partition.

So it's either wait for HTC to release the kernel source code or make an init.d script to add a custom .ko module every time the phone boots. It's a good thing the developers already worked around this issue with the One.

 

Good news for "stock" Android fans:

Motorola Plans Stock Android Phones, Sized 'Just Right' | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

If the new handsets don't have encrypted bootloaders, being able to say that all their handsets run "stock" will be a boon for Motorola and I could easily see them returning to enthusiast favor like the OG Droid was. It'll also allow them to fill a "enthusiasts first" niche that HTC has left in an attempt to chase the mainstream.

I will say I like the changes they've made to JB/ICS versions (that circles widget is nifty) but I can understand Google's desire to just say no.

 

Going with smaller form factors and vanilla Android is a good way to differentiate themselves from the brand leaders (most notably Samsung, but also LG and HTC) and make Motorola relevant again. Good thinking.

 

Moto getting out from under VZW will also help... so what is the right size? 4.5" screen?

 

Gorramn Google. Now how am I supposed to block all's them's ads on my SGS3?

5 smartphone apps banned by... Google

 

Sideload?

..

 

I personally like 5" screens, but there's a real demand for premium phones in the 4.0"-4.3" range that Android OEMs are largely ignoring. Apple, Blackberry, and Windows Phone all have flagship devices in that range (iPhone 5, Z10, and 8X ), but Android focuses on the 4.8-and up segment.

 

Well, of course I can side load (most of my apps are side-loaded). It's the principle of the matter.

 

Verizon did bring a substantial amount of revenue with the Droid RAZR series and I can't see that going away, but it would be beneficial for Motorola to follow Samsung and HTC's path by releasing a single device for all carrier iterations while keeping the differences down to software and radio firmware. I would like to see them also use the Edge-to-Edge display design on future phones as well, as it really made the RAZR M/i stand out by offering a 4.3" screen in a form factor that is nearly the same size as the iPhone 4.

I finally returned the First and went to arguably the largest AT&T retail store in the Dallas/Forth Worth area. This store managed to sell well over twenty Lumina 920 on launch day and tend to have the largest amount of phones on hand, but I found out they have only sold three Firsts since Friday, and one already was returned prior to mine because of poor cell reception complaint.

They also had three 32 GB version of the HTC One for demo, and after tinkering with it for ten minutes, I am extremely impressed with the hardware and how well polished the new Sense UI is. I would still prefer plain Jane Android UI, but this version of Sense feels more developed and consistent than HTC's previous attempts. The screen looks fantastic and those front facing stereo speakers are clearly a step above all other smartphone speakers in loudness and fidelity. The camera may not take D-SLR level photos, but macro shots and quick snaps with the default settings yield pretty good pictures that I would have to say is somewhere between the Atrix 2 and Galaxy S III in terms of quality, more so on the higher side of those two. Whoever developed Zoe really needs to be commended, because the software really works well and does a great job of processing an otherwise mundane video into something more interesting to watch. My pre-ordered Developer's Edition should be here Friday and I'm really looking forward to spending more time toying with it.

If you guys have an AT&T store in the vicinity and a bit of free time, go check it out, I'm curious to see what you think of it.

 

Heh, interesting stuff. BBC News - Samsung probed in Taiwan over 'fake web reviews'

 

I'm pretty sure every other tech giant does that as well

 

You sir, need a sturdier phone.

Cat® Phones | Homepage

 

Maybe Fishon should get an S4, it's only $150 on TMobile and Spring (and coming out late April):

Samsung Galaxy S 4 priced at $150 on Sprint and T-Mobile, hits both carriers in late April

Hmm... if TMo had better LTE coverage where I'm at... I would be tempted to switch.

 

Of course they do, I would imagine Apple is the king of this. They aren't getting probed over it though.

 

I've got the S3 until the 29th of this month to decide if I want to keep it. I would have to give it back at that time and use my Thunderbolt for a month, until Verizon's S4 release date of April 29th or 30th. Rep told me it should be $200 with them, so another $100 for me. Convenience tells me just to keep the S3, good enough really. But the $100 and the wait is not really an issue either, so why not. Round and round goes the brain but at the end of the day either way will be fine.

 

The performance delta between dual-core S4 and Snapdragon 600 is extremely large. Massive improvement in GPU power, and they've improved the CPU cores. 2 cores vs 4 cores. Also, razor sharp 1080p AMOLED HD vs 720p AMOLED HD. There's also the touch recognition features, like if you're wearing gloves... and there's 802.11 AC support.

Overall, the S4 is a very solid improvement on just about everything in the US based S3 models.

 

@Fishon:

Ahh... you're locked on VZW... my condolences.

I'm kidding... but I understand your predicament... I thought the price was a barrier but since it's not, I would definitely recommend waiting out for the S4. How do you like your S3? If the size is okay and you are happy with it, since the S4 is slightly smaller, you may enjoy it more (and you get 1 less year of obsolescence... which really means nothing with gadgets).

 

^ The S 4's battery life is better as well.

 

I assume you guys know the Verizon still has not updated to 4.2. From what I understand through reading, this is the biggest complaint about Verizon is their slow updates. Okay, I understand being the biggest provider you'd wait a bit for any bugs to be fixed but this is ridiculous. If I get the S4 my upgrade period will switch from 20 to 24 months as that is changing on April 1st. Service, as far as lack of dropped or non connecting calls is great, so I'm not sure why others dislike Verizon except for the issue I've stated, and maybe price. Changing from a 4.3 inch to a 5.3 is different, but it does fit in my pocket and my hand is big enough not to have issues. I like the fact the S4 is slightly smaller. Still, I'm a light user and not the type the requires the latest greatest, just good functionality, but I'm pretty sure I'll upgrade.

 

Good. I like it when my "life companion" has all-day endurance.

...what were we talking about again?