All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

The display on iPhone 4S is one of "budget" LED panels from LG, with 800:1 contrast ratio. It will result in the same, if not worse, oddities and aberrations at low brightness just like LED panels on laptops. Super AMOLED HD on Galaxy Nexus has similar pixel density to iPhone 4S, but has higher contrast ratio (100,000:1) and higher resolution. The quote above just shows how the writer desperately wanted something to pick up on the device that was never mentioned on iPhone 4S to deduct one silly little point.

 

They have to obey Engadget's gold rule;
Nothing gets over 9/10 but Apple products.

 

A 640x960 3.5" IPS LCD panel is budget? Since when? And if that's budget, what's in an HTC?

I still believe S-AMOLED is a superior technology, but the iPhone's display isn't a budget one (or a bad one) by any stretch. While you're comparing, factor in the 720p 4.3" HTC Rezound LCD panel with RGB subpixel configuration.

 

SAMOLED is certainly nice but it needs more development before I would consider it better than anything.

Don't know about the Galaxy Nexus, but the Razr screen is frankly a disappointment. I'd rather have the 4s's screen. Maybe my memory is poor, but I don't remember the iPhone's screen having any aberrations or striations in low brightness. Certainly not on the level of the Razr /huff

 

There are certain aspects of it that are still being learned. Case in point: Gamma levels at low brightness points.

Still, after having S-AMOLED+ I don't think I could use anything else. The Atrix screen panel looks like garbage in comparison... and the iPhone looks washed out. Also, before people start harping on the realistic color representation aspects of it, AMOLED has the ability to reproduce much more color gamut than any LCD is capable of. Samsung milks that a bit by bumping up the saturation and luminance, but properly color calibrated an AMOLED panel whips an IPS panel.

About the RAZR, I could have told you that to begin with. LOL. This is Motorola's first AMOLED device. They have no idea how to properly calibrate it. Not to mention it's still somewhat low resolution and Pentile.

 

Milks it a bit?

I agree about the Atrix screen and to an extent the iPhone screen. My old iPhone 4 that is laying around my room now does look a bit washed out to me, at least for a little while. I didn't notice the same when looking at my coworkers iPhone 4s though.

 

Yea, ok. A lot, but still... most people think it looks good. Reds are so saturated they look 3D.

The iPhone 4S uses the same panel as the 4, so if anything Apple is bumping up the saturation levels on the 4S if it's more vibrant.

 

I think my 4 had a defective panel, because it also has some back light bleed issues.

 

SAMOLED may be less "accurate" but it looks better, which is more important to me.

Same thing for subwoofers, I'll choose an SPL subwoofer (which focuses on output amount) over an SQ sub (Focuses on accuracy).

Same goes for subwoofers as screens I guess, some people focus on accuracy, some focus on output (in a screen's case, the output of color and brightness )
But most people are most impressed by the former. Output (heavy bass for subs, brilliant colors/brightness on screens) is what impresses most people from the start.

 

Mmhm.

Does having a third party launcher reduce battery life, by the way? I had to cover up that awful launcher that comes with the moto ui, but I suspect it is helping to munch on my battery.

Also, why does my Razr only show battery % in 5-10% increments?

 

Not really. Most actually improve battery life. It's only a marginal improvement, but an improvement. Blur has a really heavy launcher though, so I could see something like LauncherPro making a small difference. Also, the Blur widgets are what drains the battery with all the background updating and such.

IDK why they do that. All the Moto Android phones do that. 5% increments even show up in the power usage chart... like steps. I guess they just have a crude battery management system?

 

I figured the devs did that because it would be a waste of time to have it show up in increments of 1%.

I'm using Zeam right now, which seems pretty light. I was concerned that the default launcher would still be running in the background or something.

 

Hahah

Well, the point of subwoofers is bass. You can install subs in any car, doesnt depend on its condition or age. I'm gonna have two 12" subwoofers in the back of my 1996 Ford Explorer. (In good condition though, not beat up )

Yeah, thats my point

I think a custom ROM could probably put it in 1% increments.

I've used many differnet launchers and cant say ive noticed a battery difference. I use Go Launcher, it has tons of effects. Now in that case though, itll use alot of CPU/GPU to produce the effects, so you could say that may hurt the battery life

 

Amazon is having a big sale on a 32GB MicroSD. $29! I think it's got, like, an hour left on the offer.

Amazon.com: Transcend microSDHC Flash Memory Card: Electronics

 

Anyone in to buy me one? Ill cover the shipping!

 

On my Defy, short of flashing CM7 the only fix was using third-party apps to display the battery percentage - you couldn't get the battery indicator in the notification bar to do anything other than 5% increments, ditto for the battery status in the settings.

Shows as $38 for me.

I think my next microSD card will be 64GB.

 

Can anyone else see this?

 

Stupid 10 char limit...

 

You won?

42char

 

Not yet sadly, that's work's demo unit.
The temptation to 'borrow' it was difficult to resist...

The prize draw is at noon on Sunday.
Not too sure about how good my chances are because my mate has also entered in a big way.

 

I saw it at 29.99 earlier but now it's up to $37.99!

Quite a big box, for a big phone!

 

For a massive phone!
It's huge.

The battery isn't that big but I'd say from my first impressions it's about as heavy as the rest of the phone!

 

^I'm still rooting for you to win!

Meanwhile:

Adobe Flash Player Absent On Galaxy Nexus – Can’t Be Found In The Android Market Either

 

Thanks
Still, if I do lose, I'd rather it was to John than someone else.

Also, on top of the prize draw, there's a chance that a Samsung mystery shopper will come into our store and if I recommend the Note to them I could win a note (as in money) or a Note (the phone).

But I think I have better odds in the prize draw.

 

One thing I love about this phone is the battery.I've used it all day non-stop and I've still got 45% left on it. Granted nothing much intensive, but some browsing, and in general just messing with it. I'm loving it so far. A lot easier to put in my pocket than I'd imagine.

 

Secret Shopper!? I just saw this Fanboy and Chum Chum today, lol

Fanboy & Chum Chum: Secret Shopper Episode Clip | Nick Videos

 

The note is a mini tablet disguised as a phone. It's huge.
But how is battery life?


Sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk

 

See here.
I know that's the article about the Galaxy S2, not the Note but that's the most recent test so it has the most devices listed for comparison and the articles don't really say anything interesting beyond the graphs IMO.

 

So just something interesting I thought I would post here with this whole screen debate.

Size and color saturation really does count for something for the general public. My Uncle who is a huge apple fan and has an iPhone 4 was recently visiting and he saw my Omnia 7-- he asked what type of phone it was and if he could see it. He commented that the screen was amazing, and he wished his iPhone screen was as nice.

So all these tech enthusiasts/ blogs/ kaelang may argue that pixel density and accuracy is most important-- but from first hand experience it seems like color saturation and size are pretty important to the general public when judging the usefulness of a screen.

 

So, annoyingly, my chances of winning a Galaxy Note are far less than they were yesterday - Samsung have refunded me the points I gambled explaining that it was a technical glitch that allowed me to put them on in the first place and the system they are using for the draw for the Note would not have taken my points into account, meaning I'd've gained nothing from having spent them and would basically just have lost them.

Not a happy bunny but not unhappy either.

 

I like how I got lumped in with blogs and tech enthusiasts.

-Getting rid of all the other crap since I'm tired of arguments-

Suffice it to say, we all have our preferences. I doubt that all the people with iPhones are lusting for a GSII or Omina 7. I certainly am not. The iPhone is still dominating the market as the most sold smartphone in the US for a reason. Saturation and size don't sell as well as apple juice.

On another note, am I the only one that didn't have the good sense enough to not buy the Razr?
Anyone?

 

There's plenty who decided to go with the Razr, maybe not here but elsewhere they do exist.

I'm not saying it's a bad phone, cause it's not, but I think so many people are holding out for the Galaxy Nexus that it's put a damper on any phone release that happened after the announcement, no matter how high end the device is.

If you dislike it so much, you do know you have 14 days to return it and hold onto your old handset until the phone you really want shows up right? It's something to consider if you just can't stand the phone as living with it for 2 years would probably be torture.

 

There wouldn't be arguments if you didn't insist on trolling every time someone brings up S-AMOLED displays - comments like this are utterly without merit:

 

Pot calling the kettle black... Kidding aside, It's really hard to not do.

Boohoo, I am getting a replacement phone soon, thanks though.

 

Anyone would welcome a constructive criticism in a polite manner, but outright bashing is senseless and wouldn't get you any friend. The reason why articles by most tech blogs are critically read is because their writings are often baseless or heavily opinionated, which is a kind that shows no respect and gets thrown out of a conference or a forum by people who have studied in the subject for decades (What is even worse is that these so-called authors don't even take the responsibility of their growing fan-base by using the right notations and writing styles that journalists have agreed upon).

This doesn't mean that you can't express your opinion: It's the matter of how well you embed it in your speech with the right manner and the abundant knowledge: Otherwise, you are nothing more than a baby, kicking and screaming only for attention.

/rant

 

Folks, even though it is Off Topic, please keep things civil in here...

As always, if XX post is inappropriate, feel free to report it.

 

The subject of phone security apps came up on another forum I'm on, specifically which ones do remote locate/ring/wipe for free, and it got me thinking again:

Ever since windows mobile 6, you can remotely wipe and locate your Windows Phone through MyPhone. (The backup portion of that was a godsend for chronic rom flashers like myself ): https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/my

Blackberries can remote wipe/locate/ring through Blackberry Protect: BlackBerry - BlackBerry Protect

iOS has Find My iPhone: Apple - iPhone 4S - Locate your missing iPhone with Find My iPhone.

Even webOS has this functionality: http://kb.hpwebos.com/wps/portal/kb2/na/pre/pre2/verizon/solutions/article/44616_en.html

Where does android stand? Well if you have a Motorola phone that uses a Blur login you get this functionality: MOTOBLUR - Motorola Mobility, Inc. USA

Ditto a HTC phone that supports htcsense.com: https://www.htcsense.com/en_US

The thing is, even these options aren't perfect. Motorola's getting away from using blur accounts, and pieces of htcsense.com are routinely blocked by carriers. More importantly, it doesn't take into account that there's a huge number of android devices that aren't made by moto or htc.

The big question is...why doesn't android just "have" this functionality? The pieces are there: they already (somewhat unsuccessfully) backup your apps and select system preferences, each google account has a profile page where the "Manage Your Phone" UI could be displayed...it's seemingly 60% there me thinks.

While there are apps in the Market that do this, one shouldn't have to pay for what is basic functionality on other OS's/other brands of android devices. That, and it leads to a disjointed user experience: "I want to secure my phone..oh no so many choices...which one..."

Android is one of the most cloud connected mobile operating systems in the world, setting this up should have been a priority over changing the font or the launcher apperance in my opinion.

 

Samsung does that as well, but US carriers don't ship it with their handsets. It's a part of Kies. Though I do agree with you. Google needs to implement it as a core functionality and make it to where the OEM's and carriers can't disable it.

 

Hmm interesting, I know about the desktop client, the standalone firmware updater, and the on device app you remote into, but not this. Is there a website component as well?

And yes, this functionality shouldn't be able to be removed, and only google has the power to make that happen.

 

Samsung DIVE

It's only in international/EU devices.

 

Ugh that is so disappointing, a shame because at least on the screenshots I saw from the DIVE site, everything looks very well thought out and there's even the call/remote text functions that htcsense.com offers as well.

 

How about viruses? Over 400% increase in malware apps may translate into those hackers turning their attention to writing bombastic viruses for Android like in Windows 95 era. Ugh, I'd hate to see myself having to install an anti-virus on a phone.

 

In Hamburg, there was a taxi driver who used her Android phone ( didn't see which one, too dark, but it was qHD for sure ) and she had CM7.

I tipped her.

 

Saw this in action at work.

The way T-Mobile UK process their upgrades, the customer selects the tariff they want and from a combination of the tariff and their standing with the network, is assigned an upgrade allowance - this allowance is then put towards a pre-determined upgrade cost for a handset and any remaining difference is paid for by the customer.
It's a really neat system, much more flexible and tends to result in far better deals for upgrading customers.

The upgrade cost for the Lumia on CPW's systems is £500 - the Galaxy Note is £400.
Score one for Android super-phones.

 

The fail is strong with that one, Nokia. Wow.

 

In Nokia's defence, they have no direct control over those prices - they're agreed between CPW and T-Mobile.
We have the Note at £630 SIM-free, with no comparable price for the Lumia, so it's difficult for me to say with any certainty that the upgrade prices are fair or if the one for the Nokia is completely OTT.

Still, whatever the reason, issues like this won't help Nokia's cause.

 

Finally some EU love!

Sidenote, I am thinking of a gift for my dad, and I thought of a phone. What do you guys think ( @Step ) about the Xperia Ray? I know it has a good camera, and it has a good feel ( tried in Germany ), so I think it would be a good choice. Anything else from the HTC side? It needs to be equal or less than 4 inches and have a good camera.

 

Its not very hard to install Antivirus. Theres many antivirus apps in the market, and I suggest to everyone that they install one to be safe. Many/Most are free anyway.

 

Galaxy Nexus or Galaxy Note? Just can't decide

 

Really flippin hard isn't it?! I'm leaning towards the Note, since it's beastly all around. I have a feeling the camera on the Galaxy Nexus is just not going to be my cup of tea.