All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

I know most of you are not fans of Engadget, here's a good review of the Razr.
Motorola Droid RAZR review -- Engadget

The benchmarks scores are lower than I expected.

 

Like I said, they took a great handset and crapified it with Blur. Pure ICS in that package would be a must buy for me.

 

I agree, plus if Motorola does ship those devices with locked bootloaders, they will never see the joy of stock Android.
Gizmodo's review is the most generous, giving the phone a 4 stars score.
I was hoping better performances and screen. I will certainly not get this phone now.. Plus the battery is not removable..

 

I don't think they're as bad as some people make them out to be, you just shouldn't put too much stead in their opinions - but that holds true of any review you read.

Generally better than a Qualcomm chip clocked 25% faster, hit and miss versus the Exynos, that's about what you'd expect.

 

I played with the Bionic. To be honest, MAP on that wasn't bad at all IMO. I could tolerate it. The widgets were a tad bland though.

EDIT: I wonder if I could get the Feeds and Updates widget/Social Hub working on the Stratosphere. Its one of the biggest reasons why I like TouchWiz (ditto FriendStream on HTC Sense) as Facebook itself is just awful on Android.

 

Hey HAL, I'm having an issue with my GSII. When I record 1080p video, my sound recording, the sound is EXTREMELY weak. I have no idea why. Before, I had good sound recording, but now it's just terrible.

Any ideas what's wrong or how to fix it?

 

Yes! Those widgets, if they're not already on the Stratosphere, will work fine. The TouchWiz framework is already there. Seriously though... Verizon left those off?

FriendStream isn't possible. It requires Sense frameworks... Facebook's app is getting better though, I have to admit.

What firmware version are you on? And are you holding your hand over the mic port when videoing?

MiUi really is the cleanest UI ever. LOVE how customizable it is.

 

Using XXKH3, the one you gave me, stock.

Nope, not covering both the upper and the lower mic... I'm confus

 

Do you get the same low volume from the Voice Recorder app? If so, very interesting.

To Everyone with a Galaxy S series device or a Motorola Defy: Get ICS infused MiUi here...

Galnet A Modified MIUI Experience! ICS BUILDS

 

Yep, same low voice in the Voice Recorder app...

 

Awesome! I figured FriendStream wouldn't work but I'm glad to find out that the social networking widget/app in touchwiz will.

And yes, Verizon reduced the amount of widgets dramatically on the Stratosphere. Every Samsung specific widget is a variation of a clock pretty much, save for the weather widget.

 

I won cinema tickets courtesy of Samsung.
It's nice and all but I want them to give me a damned Note already!

 

Could you try a different kernel? Mic volume level presets are in the kernel drivers for the Yamaha DAC.

You'll have to root your device to drop them in the /system/app folder. I can post the widgets for you though... if you need them.

In other news, if you have a T-Mobile Galaxy S II (or any GS2 with Snapdragon), you may want to have a look at this:

[HOWTO] Reproduce screen issue (updated 3x results of detailed testing) some phones - xda-developers

It's not possible to have the same kind of calibration with Snapdragon as you can have with Exynos or Hummingbird. Also, Snapdragon's camera ISP is pathetic... obviously.

 

Since I've been out of work so long, I've decided I might as well start on a new path for employment. What would it take to get started to learn to program Android apps? I've got old school HTML and CSS knowledge along with some JavaScript if I rub enough brain cells together. Any good reading material to get started?

 

This thread on droidforums seems to have some starting points.


Want to learn how to write an application.

Hope this helps.

 

Adobe to cease developing mobile flash plugin for Android and PlayBook | The Verge

Interesting.

 

Alright, I'll install CM7 later.

I'll report back when I install it. Still gotta root my phone.

 

Sounds like Apple's decision to pretty much drag the web kicking and screaming into adopting html5 for mobile struck them hard. TBF they are trying to focus on core products but one would think that flash would be a core product. Guess not.

TBH, Flash is no big loss, I had it set to on demand or off on my OG Droid anyway and I simply won't install it at all from this point on.

 

You don't have to flash a whole new ROM, just a kernel...

Yep. It was Microsoft that killed it though. When Metro on Windows 8 doesn't support it in any fashion, that was pretty much the death knell.

 

Okay then, I'll flash Ninphetamine. Same procedure as rooting right?

 

It may be one of their more longer-standing/(in)famous products but how do they make money from it?

Seriously, this isn't a rhetorical question, if anyone knows I am genuinely curious...

 

Worth mentioning:

 

They probably make/made money off of selling the Flash development software. But one could probably see that becoming less and less profitable as more and more sites determine that Flash isn't essential to their website needs. I could see some companies even just skipping Flash development software upgrades...after all..if the current program works just fine..why bother?

 

Well, that'll be why they're scaling back support then.



On a completely different note, since the introduction of ICS and on-screen buttons in Android, faking up a phone got a heck of a lot easier:

​

HTC Ville detailed: HTC Sense 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, thinner than iPhone - BGR

 

I'm getting this for myself for Christmas:

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime: 10-inch Super IPS+ display, 12-hour battery and quad-core Tegra 3, ships in December for $499 -- Engadget

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime: the first quad-core Tegra 3 tablet arrives in early December for $499 | The Verge

The specs are beastly... I was going to get an ultrabook but I think this will suffice (and cost less money too). Now I just need to Craigslist my original TF and dock.

 

NVIDIA Tegra 3 is a quad-core beast that will make your eyes bleed - In a good way

 

@Step This is way better : HTC Edge: First Quad-Core Phone Revealed (Images)

So much want! The design not only is sexy, it is also very "businessman-ish"...

And the specs... Oh my

 

lol I guess I'm the only one who appreciates that so far.

 

Engadget confirmed this:

Adobe confirms Flash Player is dead for mobile devices -- Engadget

I've always contended that Flash was not optimal for low-power mobile devices and it seems like Adobe is admitting that. We should see better battery life out of Android phones now with ICS and no Flash.

Does anyone know if HTML5 is resource hoggy?

 

Considering the battery life on my HTC Sensation (both stock and CM Alpha), I'm scared to see this one. I know that Tegra 3 features a 5th, 'dumb' CPU core to handle mundane tasks and save on battery life, but optimization will always be key in these phones and that's always the trickiest part. We'll see what Nvidia/HTC make out of this one.

Not to mention, with the eye-popping price of the Razr and Rezound, I wouldn't doubt it if this phone was at $300 or north of it on a 2-yr contract. What has the phone industry come to? I remember when Palm Treo's were $500 on a 2-yr contract (back when Cingular still existed and that was only 5 years ago!), why do we have to go back to those dark days, especially with the way carriers are gouging us in our monthly price? We somehow managed to get to this point without phones being sold for more than $200 on-contract and technology has progressed more rapidly than ever. /Sigh.

 

So, since the Galaxy Nexus will be sold unlocked, does that mean that apps like PDAnet can be installed on it, even though it is not allowed by Verizon, or does the phone still have to be rooted first?

 

Root access and network locking are completely separate - if an app needs root access, then the handset needs to be rooted, whether it's bought locked or unlocked.

 

It's both sim and hardware-unlocked, which is why I am wondering. Verizon ganked their subscribers' access to tethering apps, but I'm not sure if that will be affected by the hardware unlock, or if the app just won't be available in the android market for all Verizon subscribers.

 

What do you mean by hardware-unlocked?

As for it being available in the market, my understanding was that the market shows you all apps that are compatible with your handset, nothing to do with your network.

 

Adobe confirms Flash Player is dead for mobile devices

Adobe confirms Flash Player is dead for mobile devices -- Engadget

 

Hardware-unlocked = unlocked bootloader

I get what you mean about apps-handset compatibility, and I do get that message when trying to install PDAnet on my current phone. However, this is what I get when I expand for further details:


"This app is incompatible with your phone.

This item is not available on your carrier."

Hence, my curiosity.

 

If you can find an apk for the app, you can install it manually no matter what.

 

Ah ok. Didn't think of that. Thanks

 

No problem!

If you get an AOSP ROM I believe there are no more carrier restrictions on the market, btw.

 

Android Smartphone in the 24th century FTW! Complete with a positronic brain and vintage 20th century handset no less.

 

It all depends on your device fingerprint. It's in the build.prop. It identifies your handset and your carrier. The Market will filter apps based on carrier request, according to what's in your fingerprint.

AOSP ROM's and most custom ROM's like CM7 use fingerprints from devices like the Nexus S (Crespo). The Nexus S has no market restrictions... but I can't say the same about the Verizon Galaxy Nexus. Verizon will get their hands into anything they can.

 

That must only apply to factory-locked handsets though?

 

Anything sold from a carrier. EDIT: In the US, at least.

Even unlocked, if the device is sold on a carrier it's app selection can still be filtered if it's using that carrier's service.

Some factory unlocked handsets can get around that though, yes. You have to enable airplane mode with WiFi even then. My International GS2 still had it's app selection filtered, but with the cellular connection off... and that's on AT&T.

 

Which networks sell unlocked handsets?

Hang on, how does that work - if it's factory-unlocked then how does anything network-related end up in the build.prop?

 

Any carrier in the US has to sell you an unlocked version of whatever they carry, if you ask for it. They're not factory unlocked like you're talking about, though.

The Market initializes your data connection to get a network identity, and that's on any Android device... unless you turn off WWAN.

 

Yep. I think T-Mo and AT&T have a policy where you have to be 30 days into your contract before they can give you the unlock code though.

 

Well, if you sign a contract that's true. If you want the unlock code immediately you can get it, but you have to pay for the device outright.

 

Did not know that could be requested from the carrier. Is it due to a law or something of the sort?

Also, in what manner is it unlocked?

 

I got the phone, gotta open the box

 

Wait, so you have to ask specifically? Verizon locks the Razr, if you ask for an unlocked version, will they give it to you?