All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

Thanks! Weird... ive found a few apps that are "incompatible"

 

Hmm

Given the APQ8060 is just an MSM8X60 with the modem ripped out, that's quite a turnaround...

 

Turnaround because it's not an HTC device.

If HTC had actually used the MSM86xx for what it was capable of, I wouldn't have any problem with them.

It seems Samsung gets all the performance they can out of an SoC. (except for the whole RFS thing)

Snapdragon has some architectural changes from standard A8 fare that would place it on the same, or almost the same, level as most standard A9 chipsets.

 

That's really not what you've been saying before, you've wailed on the Snapdragons pretty hard.
Not on HTC's use of them, on the chips themselves.


Comments like:

And:

Seem to contrast somewhat with describing it as 'a beast'.


Fair enough, in the last post I quoted you go on to speculate that the APQ8060 would see improvements over the MSM8260/8660 but since all three share a single data-sheet on Qualcomm's website, there doesn't seem to be anything to indicate it's anything more than, as I previously described it, a MSM8X60 sans the modem.
In which case, surely all the issues you've highlighted previously still apply?

 

*gets out popcorn*

 

I'm not trying to start an argument and I'm not trying to claim it'll be a bad phone or anything like that, I'm just a bit surprised is all...

 

Most do, yes... but it seems that the only dual-core Qualcomm handsets that have come out have been HTC devices. The APQ8060 is basically the MSM8x60, BUT there are some small changes outside of just lopping off the modem. Those changes mostly have to do with memory and memory bandwidth.

Recently I've changed my perspectives a bit, having hands on time with an actual Qualcomm development unit. It was impressive. And I'm not quite sure where HTC is going wrong with their devices.... maybe core voltages, clocks, kernels compiled with special optimization's, using old toolchains, etc... but something is definitely a LOT different.

Also, while the Scorpion cores are commonly related to A8 cores, they're not really. They're very similar to A8 cores but they made a LOT of changes. Scorpion is partial out-of-order, 13-stage pipeline (like all A8 cores), with 128-bit SIMD registers. Standard A8 is in-order execution only, 13 stage pipeline with a 64-bit SIMD register. One difference in 90% of all implementations of the APQ8060 has been the speed of the memory used on package. It's faster clocked than the MSM part. APQ8060 and Exynos uses 800Mhz dual-channel LP-DDR2, where the MSM series uses 400MHz LP-DDR2. Tegra 2 is only a single channel...

So, I mean, yes... I was unduly harsh on Qualcomm previously. But I have my reasons.

 

Fair enough

That's weird, Qualcomm's data-sheet only mentions speeds of 333MHz and 266MHz, nothing about 400MHz let alone 800...

 

"Implementations". Kind of like Tegra 2. There has been a T-25 available for a LONG time, but everyone keeps on using the T-20.

And yep, you're right about the MSM... it does use 333MHz. Whoops. The APQ in most shipping devices use 800MHz.

 

That's one heck of a bump.

 

Well, APQ is targeted 95% towards tablets... and OEM's like Samsung that like to use the Intel X-Gold basebands... not Qualcomm basebands.

If you're going to be pushing lots of pixels around, you need bandwidth.

 

In which case, it sounds like it's wasted on the Galaxy S2

 

I'd say most of it is... BUT that might say something being as it's the smoothest Android phone on the market.

I think Exynos was originally intended as a one-size-fits-all. So they could up-clock it and stick it in a tablet, or just shove it in a phone. It seems to be working out...

 

Got my hard case... dont mind it too much. But apparently hard cases can scratch the phone

So looking at getting a TPU

Side note: The SGSII's 60fps cap really kills it for benching scores

 

LOL. And it still dominates, even with the cap. I would LOVE to see scores without the cap... as the Mali400, by Anandtech's benches and GL Benchmark 2.1, can almost meet the SGX543 MP2+ in the iPad 2... in some things. Vector heavy ops or triangle fill rate are of course in favor of the iPad 2.

One thing is for certain though, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is that the Mali400 can obviously hold it's own VERY well.

Here's another one Iain... I concede the Mali400 dominance over pretty much every other SoC in this generation. (Though I still haven't seen Samsung use OMAP4.)

EDIT: So... all I have now is my Infuse. All other phones = sold.

 

yeah

I'm getting some crazy benchmark fluctuation... i mean i know Quadrant is flawed. but im going back and forth between 2400 and 3800

Damn, thats sucks... at least you kept the nicest screen

 

Haha I know, I just couldn't resist.

 

Eh, what now?

 

I've never really thought much of the Mali400, but it's obviously more than competent as a successor to the SGX540 in the "Exynos" 3110.

 

Hmm.

So what should I be looking for in an ideal phone then?

 

[ROM][CWM][SGS2][2.3.5] DarkyROM2 XXKI3 Base | DarkyROM

Cool! If this doesn't void the warranty, I'm doing it as soon as I find out how to install it

 

Rooting your phone voided the warranty.

 

Motorola DROID RAZR with QHD Super AMOLED display surfaces - GSMArena.com

Two things - firstly, when are Motorola finally going to get over the RAZR name? Secondly, since when did they have sAMOLED tech?


Also, this is good news... I think.

 

Yes I know, but installing a new, fresh ROM/Kernel shouldn't void the warranty? In this ROM, Darky worked with samfirmware.

 

Installing any non-stock ROMs voids your warranty.
Doesn't matter if it's based on Samsung's firmware, it's still not official.

 

You've already voided your warranty by rooting...you don't un-void it by installing any particular firmware, and as Step said, installing it voids your warranty as well.

 

I do un-void by :

- Removing yellow sign on boot and SU/BB
- Installing a stock FW thus "voiding" the root

 

Generally, yes, if you flash back to a completely stock ROM and leave your handset unrooted, your warranty is nominally intact.
Though not being familiar with the Galaxy S2, I can't say that with 100% certainty - I don't know if any of the steps involved in rooting are irreversible.

But the issue is if your handset dies and you're unable to revert to a stock ROM.

So, in summary, if you're at all worried about your warranty, don't root and don't flash non-stock ROMs.

 

With the GS2, you can always flash back to the stock 2.3.3 with ODIN... which resets the kernel counter, installs the older bootloader, and completely wipes the device to an out of box state, practically making it like brand-new again. And nobody is the wiser.

 

Darky's ROMs FTW Ive used them before, theyre pretty good.

Interesting...

As soon as you flash a custom Kernel (or ROM) in ODIN you get the triangle

Ah, this is good

 

I know, that's why there's another mod to remove the triangle

So Darky's have a good rep, right?

 

Yep! Definitely popular around the community and I liked the ROM alot.

 

The Darky ROM's come with a LOT of customization options, that's for sure. I like the AOSP look, so I'm not fond of the stock theme... but they're very stable ROM's.

EDIT: It's like it's in a rulebook somewhere that HTC has to reuse names, only adding "S" to the end. -_- Almost as bad as that new thing from Motorola, nicknamed the RAZR. They seriously need to let that moniker go... like disown it. I would. Technically it should be called the RAZR 14S or something.

 

Hahaha yeah theres some obsession with the letter S in the smartphone market... Theres HTC's S'es, LG Optimus S, Galaxy S, and iPhone 3GS, and maybe 4GS

 

I actually think the RAZR name has a lot of brand equity. Migrating it to the smartphone world with a compelling hook: something like worlds thinnest LTE smartphone or something...I could see that doing well.

In Droid 1 deathwatch, the power button has broken completely..I now have to open the slider to turn on the screen and make sure the phone remains charged so it won't turn off.

Few more weeks, few more weeks....

 

Srsly?! Tht nm nds to die. RAZR almost killed MOTO. (Plus they only rehashed the same crap in 5011 similar looking "RAZR" packages.)

Maybe I'm just soured from having to deal with SO many of them that failed on a daily basis in field testing/support. God I hate those phones. LOL.

You can do it! Just gotta hold out a little bit longer!

 

Is it sad that I understood the disemvowling?

That is true, I have a Motorola W something or other that's very razr-esque...its a nice phone but I get where the derivative looks go.

I hope I'll do alright with the OG Droid, I just remembered the HTC Vigor....that looks awesome and another device for me to consider

 

Anyone here use the Interactive CPU governer?

It's supposed to be better, yet it gives me lower benchmark scores (i know they dont mean everything, but its still strange.) Any opinions?

 

IDK? I usually use smarta**. It keeps it at 1.2GHz usually, and spikes to 1.6GHz.

 

I've been holding out on upgrading for the HTC Vigor, hopefully it'll live up to my expectations so I can finally get rid of my old, beat up droid. I'm just so hesitant to give up my physical keyboard.

 

Same here man, I'm hoping that those rumors about Nexus Prime having one hold up but I doubt it.

The stratosphere will have a keyboard, but no one want's another carrier's leftovers/ "last year's phone", as it's a Epic 4G pretty much.

If HTC came up with a "Merge HD" keeping the same overall design of the HTC Merge with a 4.3 - 4.5 inch screen, 1 GB of ram and a dual core processor...I'd do whatever it took to upgrade haha.

If the Vigor had one....I'd do the same thing.

 

Galaxy SII LTE HD sounds like the Nexus Prime without a TI OMAP or ICS.

 

Has anyone noticed that Adreno is actually an anagram of Radeon?

 

I think it was intentional. Adreno was originally called Imageon and was created by ATI, then sold to Qualcomm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imageon#Renaming_to_Adreno

 

Ok, since my kids have pretty much commandeered my netbook "firefly" in my sig, I thought I would look for another netbook. I was considering the HP DM1z. Looks pretty powerful, thin, light, and runs Windows 7.

However, I am considering an Android tablet instead. I am an advocate for Windows only because I have a huge library of apps and games that would port over. But I thought Android would be better suited to a tablet, and am NOT interested in anything Apple, thanks.

That being said, I'm looking between the Acer Iconia Tab A500 and Asus Eee Pad Transformer both 16GB. Anything highly recommended or against either one of these? Or anything else < $400 to consider? I'm also looking into the Iconia Tab W500, but not sure how well W7 will port over as a tablet machine.

 

Both the Acer and the Asus are good tablets. Both have basically the exact same internals, just like all the Honeycomb tablets out ATM... so basically you're picking whichever one has the best warranty/display/battery life/looks.

The Galaxy Tabs are worth their prices over the others, but if I were to pick between the Transformer or the Iconia.... it would have to be the Transformer. More accessories, and that AWESOME keyboard dock.

 

Was just looking at the Galaxy Tabs. Seems like a nice device. Started looking at the 7-inch Galaxy tabs because smaller would be better I think for me, but no Honeycomb yet, although on the way apparently (breaking news as of today from a google search).

Yeah that keyboard dock does look appetizing though on the Transformer.

And what about the Motorola Xoom?

 

Xoom's not bad at all. Great build, same internals as nearly all of the 10.1 inch Android tablets. The only downer about the Xoom is the weight, it's a bit heavier than the others. Try it in person in a store to get a feel for the weight.

It's also stock Honeycomb if that's important to you, although all of the manufacturer enhancements like TouchWiz on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 have been very tastefully done so far and actually enhance the Honeycomb experience.

 

I'd really like to keep it below $400 if I can help it, but 32GB would be nice to have. Although looking like it's going to be the Transformer. But not sure if ready for a Tablet yet or not.

Although I am leaning towards the Iconia Tab A100 only because I like the 7 inch form factor, but seems battery life suffers, only like 5-7 hours.

 

Ok, so far I'm really not digging the Amaze 4G's design. Looks like someone got the design schematics to the MyTouch 4G and went happy in Photoshop.

I'm still waiting on the good looking aluminum unibody HTC phone. The Sensation was definitely close... and I know HTC can do it.