All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

Where is the "Galaxy" button on that new Samsung?

 

in andromeda? definitely not the milky way

 

That's so bad, I think it gave me cancer. Or at least optic neuritis.

 

I guess it's the Z1 Compact for me then. I'm just hoping against hope that Nokia-MS releases something similar with WP8.1.

 

looks decent, i dont know what you want, the size or the oh crap i dropped the cellphone in the crapper resistance.

because certainly it aint from the select great naming scheme of the features, I think we should restart Auschwitz and throw those marketing guys in there

 

does anyone know an app that records the phone calls?

 

Oh Touchwiz! What have they done to you!?!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=polis.app.callrecorder&hl=en

 

radji you are a life saver!

 

I know, I know...

 

Anyone familiar with the little stick-PC-thingys running Android?

 

You wanna rephrase that?

 

I think the eloquence of my previous post speaks for itself.

 

little stick-PC-thingys is not in my vocabulary...

only thing close to that is a stylus.

 

If it's not Samsung, he doesn't know the name of it.

 

Enlighten me please. I am at a loss for what he's jabberin' about.

 

It's those USB sticks that run android that are essentially mini computers of sorts.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Well, I'll be darned. I had no idea they had Nandroid sticks.

What Is An Android Stick Computer, And How Can You Use It?

 

Problem is of course you need some kind of HID. Add a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and then the all-up package isn't much smaller (if at all) than a small tablet which can output an mini HDMI signal. A solution in search of an answer if there ever was one.

 

check out this guys channel. He reviews a lot of those sticks:

SomeCoolTech - YouTube

 

Those seem like a good idea if you got a spare monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse lying around. I would worry about heat in such a small device.

 

LOL. The Chromecast, which is just a low-end Marvell SoC, has an -eighth of an inch thick x two inch long- solid aluminum heatsink.

 

Well the reviewers said if you leave it on, that it feels pretty warm to the touch.

 

The Chromecast does get pretty warm. I used to have it hooked up directly to AC then found out that the service USB on my TV provided enough power and is only on when the TV is on.

 

It's warm to the touch, because it's designed to passively dissipate heat. After hours of streaming 1080p Youtube and Hulu Plus videos, the Chromecast never got anywhere close to a worrisome temperature. I have it plugged into the TV's USB port as well.

On a side note, I do wish there was better support for offline content for the Chromecast. The apps I've seen so far seem to be quite buggy and unstable.

 

Have you installed the Chrome plug-in? You can cast local content using Chrome.

 

I have. It doesn't work beautifully, and kind of falls into my "buggy and unstable" category, with frame drops and buffering issues. It's a new developing platform, though, so I have high hopes for better solutions in the future.

 

There's about as much a chance of Chromecast working beautifully as Roku has of supporting DLNA.

 

It works very well with the officially-supported content, ie YouTube, Hulu Plus, and Netflix, which is not bad, especially considering that you can get it for as cheap as $25 new.

 

Finally running 4.4.2 on my Note 2! The Temasek Unofficial CM11 build.. I never really used the S Pen functionality before, but I kind of miss it now that I don't have it. I'll try this one out for a while and if I don't like it I'll switch to Ditto Note 3 to get expanded S Pen features. Also multiwindow..

You still liking Ditto? How's battery life?

 

That's because when you tap the little button in your app to sling content to the Chromecast... it's just sending the Chromecast a message of what content to pull from where. Nothing is local. Ever.

The functionality is there, just the apps aren't. I used alternatives, like Bamboo's app and some other "Made for Note" apps.

 

Fair enough.. Not all the features work though like hover, etc. Battery life is much much improved though! I'm super pleased about that!

Only problem I'm having at the moment is that when clicking links in my slick deals app, Chrome opens but the page won't load. The links are supposed to open and go through a redirect link that opens the correct page, but the page fails to load before it redirects. Didn't have this issue before, and it works just fine on my laptop and the MeMO Pad..

 

And that's good, I can still control my shows on Netflix but it doesn't use my phone's resources.
I really enjoyed streaming shows from my desktop to my TV wirelessly, but I agree that once the source code go public, that's when the applications are gonna get interesting.

 

Anyone know of an MHL cable with an OTG out as well?

 

Like this?



Depending on the phone model, you may need an adapter.

 

Well, that's an interesting little cable. Didn't know that existed.

Still don't understand why they can't put a microHDMI port on more phones. So much easier.

 

What, like a type-D? I would imagine cause HDMI doesn't contain a USB channel. But I would imagine the ethernet return channel pin can be repurposed to a USB channel when a type-D HDMI to USB cable is detected. That could give it USB functionality when plugged into a USB while supporting HDMI without having to use MHL.

 

You've never had a phone with microHDMI? Plenty of previous Motorola's have had it, in addition to the microUSB port. The Atrix and Atrix HD, all the RAZR phones, and a BUNCH of other models all had type-D microHDMI ports instead of MHL or SlimPort.

 

Interesting...very interesting.



No, I have never had a phone with a microHDMI. I could definitely see it becoming dominant in smartphones, but OEMs would need to update the type-D to a new revision which contains an transverse channel pin(s) which functions normally when the other end is plugged into a type-A HDMI port, but also as a USB data channel when the other end is plugged into a USB port. And they'd have to increase the current capacity of the +5v channel so the device can be charged at the same time.

It can definitely be done. But the OEMs won't do it. They're making too much money on MHL adapters to have any incentive to develop a hardware revision to the type-D.

 

I don't understand what you're saying. Pin for pin, MicroHDMI is almost exactly the same as Type-A (regular) HDMI. USB functionality over HDMI is, and has never been, necessary. On my Atrix, just use a microHDMI-to-HDMI cable (which came in the box and is readily available on Amazon) to connect the phone straight to the TV/monitor/projector and use the USB port to charge/sync... simultaneously. There were docks for the Atrix that did exactly that. IMHO, it should have become a standard, but it didn't. The OG Atrix, with Tegra 2, was only capable of outputting 720p, but newer handsets with S600/800 and Tegra 4 have the power to output full 1080p60 over HDMI 1.4b.

 

Cool, thanks

 

I think he saying that there should be one port that will output video or can be used as a usb type port. Like revised the microHDMI to be a 'smart' port that can tell what function the pins need to provide. Sorta like the Apple Lightning plugs can reassign pins which is why it doesn't matter which direction you plug it in.

 

But most OEMs will not want to have to support two ports on the bottom of the devices. What I was refering to in my earlier post is while microHDMI is great for video and audio, it will do straight data transfer or charging to the device. BUT...if the OEMs (or someone else) can retool the type-D to a new revision which takes the HDMI ethernet return channel pin and repurposes it to a USB channel, and reinforce the +5V channel pin to support more power so the device can be charged from it, then the microHDMI port could do the audio/video, and data transfer & charging. There would need to be a specialty microHDMI to USB cable to connect to a system or charger. But it is more than possible to just drop the USB port on smartphones and have a microHDMI in it's place.

 

That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read.

 

It's not a terrible concept, I just highly doubt they'd use HDMI for it. One compact port to transmit usb data both ways, power, video, audio..

 

Says the Samsung company man.

 

I have to admit, it's not ridiculous... but it's close. lol.

MicroHDMI is a nice port, but it should most definitely be separated from USB. Two ports on a phone aren't bad... I never minded it on the Moto's.

 

But it does eat up space on the PCB. I still think it's more desirable to have a combo HDMI/USB port

 

Don't alot of phones support HDMI through the USB port anyway?

 

MHL is notoriously buggy. Lots of phones still require special adapters to make it work.

 

I didn't say terrible, just ridiculous.

To make it work, it would require the HDMI standard to be re-engineered by parties unknown and wide-spread adoption by manufacturers who have no incentive to do so. Even if that were to happen, this new theoretical connection would have no additional capabilities compared to microUSB with MHL, whilst simultaneously rendering billions of existing cables, chargers and accessories obsolete as well as completely ignoring EU legislation about the standardisation of mobile phone chargers.
All that to what end?

Already exists and the vast majority of phones on the market are equipped with it.