All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

Yeah i know... Why why why didnt i ask for a 32GB card for Xmas

 

My mother + Xperia X10 mini =

 

This. This so much.

 

My Atrix now has CM7 goodness on it

 

That's exactly what I was hoping to hear. Thank you! I understand that Apple really wants to promote iTunes, but it's incredibly disappointing to me that iTunes is the ONLY music player on iOS devices that can work in the background while you use another app. Pandora can do stuff that iTunes can't, namely, play me heaploads of music where I don't own the individual mp3s.

 

I was under the impression that iOS5 allowed some multitasking (mainly playing music in the background from third party apps)?

But yeah. Android runs apps until it needs memory, where it'll kill them as it sees fit.

 

It may be more recent or fancier iOS does that, but I can't do it on my iPod Touch. I can run iTunes in the background but not Pandora. But now that you've raised the issue, I'll look back into the iOS option and see if they've added that feature.

I still like the idea of a Tablet S better than an iPad, though, even if for such ridiculous reasons as (1) I think it's prettier, (2) not everyone has one, and (3) I want the universal remote feature.

 

'Pandora Radio' Ready for iOS 4 With Multitasking Support - Mac Rumors

iOS4 and newer, so it depends on which iPod Touch you have, and whether or not you've updated it.

 

Thanks for the information. That answers it:

I think my iPod Touch is second-generation. It's an 8 GB model (it was a free "thank you" for my dad buying a MBP 17 a while back, and he re-gifted it to me), and I think the 3rd generation only came in 32 and 64 gb models.

 

No, I believe the 3rd Gen had an 8GB version also. I bought one for a friend as a gift a while back.

EDIT: The 8GB 3rd Gen model didn't have the same hardware as the higher-end 3rd Gen models, so it may not support multitasking. In the later iOS versions, double tapping the home button will bring up the app switcher and you can do exactly what you're talking about. Apple disabled that functionality on the hardware they felt couldn't competently handle it.

EDIT2: It seems that the 8GB model that was being sold along side the other 3rd Gen models was in fact a 2nd Gen 8GB model. The 2nd Gen used an ARM11 SoC with PowerVR MBX graphics. That SoC can't handle a LOT of iOS's more advanced features.

 

+1 rep for the useful info, HAL.

 

XRON version of CM7 Android for HP Touchpad <3

Lots of progress being made. Cant wait for CM9 and ICS

I actually quite like webOS to tell you the truth though, nothing wrong with it at all, just can be as competitive as Android or iOS due to the larger apps market.

But webOS has a Linux spine and is going open source so it has the ability to grow.

 

AHah, cute video: Happy Holidays - from Android - YouTube

 

I'm in the market for a new Android device and the Ventrilo / Mumble APPs are my main concern, since I could chat globally to friends.

Anyone know how much resources these two apps use (can't find the info)? I don't want to get an Android with not enough juice or one with overkill power (looking to spend <200$ since my nexus s got stolen).

 

I went ahead and ordered the Optimus Slider for my girlfriend. Got a decent price on it ($165 with free 2-day shipping on Amazon, it's $199 everywhere else), and many of the reviews specifically say it's what the Intercept should have been all along.

 

any 750mhz and up android would be more than enough for this (wildfire s, htc desire, Galaxy S, desire z)

not sure though if the prices of those phones have dropped the past few months

 

One more question. Can the Kindle Fire (Android 2.3 Gingerbread) run the Pandora app in the background while displaying a Kindle book? I had an epiphany that if all I want to do is read books in a dark room (i.e., backlit screen) and listen to Pandora, maybe I don't need to spend $600 on a full-featured tablet.

 

One sure fire way is Skype if anything else.

_____________________


Has anybody tried the Google Currents App? Its getting a lot of rave

 

It looks like Woz went in fancy dress when he picked up his Galaxy Nexus.

...has a 600MHz CPU).

 

I consider myself a pretty advanced user, and as long as my 3g stays connected, honestly, I'm pretty happy.

Those speeds are incredible - faster than my U-Verse DSL at home even.

I imagine that with the sharp focus on LTE and the massive build out that is occurring, we can pretty much count on having those speeds at all times.

We still don't have flying cars, but this is a step in the right direction for the future.

 

You can't compare CPU's based on frequency alone. My old Samsung Intercept had an 800MHz CPU, but it was a piece of crap. It could barely handle running Pandora alone without force closing every other song, while the LG Optimus V had a 600MHz processor, yet it blew the Intercept out of the water at pretty much everything.

 

Yup, architecture usually matters more.

 

That I can't give you a definitive answer on. The Kindle Fire is running a very heavily customized version of Android, but I'm thinking it should be ok.

Indeed. Qualcomm's MSM7627 is a much better SoC, just for the reason it has 32KB of on die CPU cache. Plus, the Adreno 200 performs pretty nicely for 320x480. It's on the higher resolutions where Adreno 200 has problems.

 

Gotcha, thanks anyway. I looked up video reviews of the Fire and the Tablet S, and I see what you mean about the OSes not looking even remotely related, even though some of the architecture is the same.

 

For your described usage, I'd take a hard look at the Kindle Fire before plunking down $500+ for anything else.

I use mine for a bevy of things, but reading really does top the charts. Whether it be through RSS feeds or actual books with the kindle app, I'm really enjoying my Fire thus far. Glad I didn't succumb to the iPad desires I've had since it came out.

I still want a Transformer Prime though. Nomnom.

 

Yeah, the more I think about the Kindle Fire, the more it makes sense, particularly at 1/3 the price of a 32 GB Tablet S or iPad 2. And I found a friend who owns a Fire, and she confirmed I can listen to Pandora while reading.

 

@Mitlov:

Yes... a relative owns a Fire... you can background Pandora (just like a Nook Color and Nook Tablet).

Have you considered a Playbook? Better specs at the same price as a Fire and I think also has Pandora... and able to run Android apps.

EDIT: Actually... not sure if there is an Pandora app for the Playbook.

 

The Playbook originally cost $500. It's selling for $200 because the company has declared it a failure and appears to be throwing in the towel. I have serious concerns whether it'd have proper support from Blackberry in the future (think HP's TouchPad debacle). I'd rather get into the Android market than a dying-at-birth competitor like WebOS or Blackberry OS. I tend to prefer well-established systems, which in this case means either iOS or Android.

 

Blackberry will fail before they let the Playbook fail, it seems. Plus they haven't declared anything other than they're currently losing money on the platform.

Blackberry has stood by their entire product line with minimal change through a LOT of bad press and device performance pitfalls and OS flaws. The Playbook is the most advanced device they have, and it's a front runner for their QNX software.

A lot of people need to realize that software development factors into the cost of the device. Apple does this with their iOS line of devices. Blackberry is doing this with their Playbook and upcoming smartphones, and HP/Palm did this with their WebOS line of devices. HP/Palm failed because they weren't ready to weather the long haul. Apple succeeded. RIM is finding out what it takes to develop and maintain their own advanced OS, and they seem to be doing a decent job by looking at the Playbook. The Playbook's QNX OS is generally a well received, well thought out, very consistent platform... especially being essentially at OS version 1.

Android doesn't require this kind of thinking, if the company doesn't want to add anything to the base OS. The kernel has to be adapted to whatever hardware is at hand and you must have a team of software engineers to handle device specific update adaptation, but other than that it's a very minimal cost to the OEM. OEM's like Samsung or Motorola have a lot invested in the skins that lie on top of Android and the underlying device kernels, but Android is provided free, as are all non-device-specific software updates to the OS.

 

Anybody catch this little ditty today?

Samsung: no ICS upgrade for Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab because of TouchWiz | The Verge

Funny. I have 3 Hummingbird based Galaxy S devices and all of them are running ICS. If Samsung can't fit TouchWiz into the RAM requirements they could certainly back off that frickin giant 64MB Dalvik VM Heap Size they have implemented. Most devices with 1GB of RAM only have 48MB heap sizes. The Galaxy S in it's first iteration only has about 340MB of RAM... 64MB is too much.

 

aka: they want you to buy the new one

Hey HAL, do you know if its possible to repartition the SGSII? I have over 1GB free on the apps partition and I could really use some of it on the regular SD Storage.

 

In other words, customers come second.

 

Technically it is possible, but it has to be accomplished on a bootloader level. Samsung uses something called OneNAND and the partition scheme is set in the bootloader.

Indeed. Always.

 

Figures it's not simple. lol

 

Keep an eye on "the unbrickable mod". On the OG Galaxy S devices we have the ability to do just what you're asking... but it requires a bit of hardware modification.

 

Well...
As pissed off as I am about the way the SE scheme has finished this year, I've really come to appreciate what a good job they've done with their phones and especially the commitment they've made to their customers regarding ICS - it makes other manufacturers look lazy and un-caring in comparison.

 

Modern Combat 3 is AMAZING! It's pure fun, and the graphics are dazzling!

It does lags a bit in very intense scenes...

And the MP is very good aswell...

 

Yep, just what I would guess. The Mali400 isn't any better than the SGX540 in heavy 3D scenes.

 

True, but still, in normal-textured scenes with no special effects like smoke and fire, it's constant 60 FPS.

Bah, I've met 4 cheaters in 2 matches... ._.

 

Here is a link to a version of Swype that works on the Galaxy Nexus if anybody is trying to get it. It works great so far.

 

The Optimus Slider was delivered today and I gave it to my girlfriend...she loves it, and I'm honestly pretty impressed as well. The UI is every bit as smooth as my Triumph's; going back and forth between menus is instantaneous, none of the multiple-second delays that the Intercept had every time I would hit the back button.

The display is not as large or as high resolution as mine, but it's still significantly better than the Intercept's. The physical keyboard is similar in quality and layout, although she's not too crazy about the addition of the 4 standard Android buttons on the left side of the keyboard; she keeps accidentally bumping the back button. She's also somewhat thrown off by the home and menu buttons being swapped.

 

Nice! Yea, that particular MSM platform is just made for HVGA. Power users won't be using those devices, and normal users won't find anything to complain about really, speed wise.

But that is something that I haven't ever understood... why change the order of the hardware buttons?! I mean seriously. That should have been one of the staples of getting Google certified, was that a particular button order should have been maintained. Then again, I LOATHE the button order on the Nexus S. Absolutely HATE it. Samsung's makes the most sense, and Motorola also uses this button layout. **Menu-Home-Back-Search**

 

Yep, my Moto Triumph and the old Samsung Intercept both used Menu/Home/Back/Search. The LG Optimus has Home/Menu/Back/Search. What does the Nexus S use?

 

Back-Menu-Search-Home

 

I guess I didn't realize other phones used different orders for their buttons. I've only had the Optimus S and the Evo - both of which use Home-Menu-Back-Search.

 

My OG Droid had back as the first button. I liked it because it made for quick navigation with the keyboard open. Luckily my current phone has android controls on the edges of the keyboard.

As far as OG Galaxy S upgrades go, that is indeed a burn on Samsung's part. Granted no one really knows about the status of US carrier branded Galaxy S based devices getting upgraded but there's still plenty of people who bought T-Mobile Galaxy S 4G's and the like just yesterday I'm sure.

Not to mention people who bought phones that, while marketed as separate models, belong to the Galaxy S family for the most part. (Droid Charge, Infuse 4G, Stratosphere-although it does have Galaxy S branding on both the boot screen and on the physical box) Hell, Verizon's STILL offering the Galaxy S Continuum...talk about being left behind on updates...

It's frustrating to see a company that fought back so hard from the perceived issues with the Gingerbread upgrade on the US line of Galaxy S phones with how smooth TouchWiz 4 was on the Galaxy S II, community involvement with CM, etc. basically kill it with a single blog post.

While personally I couldn't care less about ICS at the moment, since TouchWiz 4 would cover it up (something I'm totally cool with-UI standardization between upgrades is important and all that) there are plenty of people who want it but can't or don't want to install a custom ROM.

Not only that but on phones like the Charge and Stratosphere, 4G LTE data won't work on completely custom ROM's until the 4G radio firmware is unlocked somehow. As such, developers have to rely on Samsung (like most current Motorola Droid 2+ owners do) to provide a basic starting point for each OS version to build on top of.

To be honest, those "average people" I mentioned earlier shouldn't have to figure out roming and rooting a phone. They shouldn't have to choose between buying one device that'll get a few software revs or another that's either more affordable or better suits their needs/want's. There's plenty of people who likely don't even know about ICS, but will be disappointed when the inevitable day comes where they'd try to download the next cool app only to get a error message, or if a friend want's to show them a cool feature/trick but their relatively new phone can't do it.

PS: I could sort of understand HTC's argument with the Desire as they gimped it's amount of ROM storage space for some reason (But still got Gingerbread on there I might add, UI intact) but Samsung, you have absolutely NO excuse whatsoever. None. Even the Flyer's getting Honeycomb...it's a 7 inch tablet with a highly customized UI...not pushing that to the OG Galaxy Tab is ridiculous.

The Upgrade Alliance thing has been all talk but no substance. If I were Google management I'd be embarrassed with the lack of progress in this department. Every time something like this comes out, it gives the more controlled competition more and more ammo, alienates potential customers who do research their options, and causes at least a small set of affected customers of the handset line to consider switching teams. Even owners of the LG Quantum got Mango + the entire Mango rollout was near iOS like in terms of consistency and a positive user experience.

That's the thing I think Samsung fails to understand. You can put as much polish as possible into your software, which I still regard as the best suite of Android enhancements out of the ones I've tried. (I really wish I could try SE's latest...it looks great) But the definition of a positive user experience goes beyond the software, it extends to your interactions with customers. One can argue that Verizon or AT&T or Sprint is Samsung's customer, and they'd be right. But when you're actively courting average everyday people who aren't in charge of handset selection on prime time television commercials for your mobile devices, then damnit those everyday people are your customers too and they deserve better than how you've treated them.

If Samsung PR knew a blog post like this would be posted on the Korean language Samsung blog, then they should have gotten a leg up by preparing at least a statement concerning the status of ICS on other markets offering the phone. Even a simple (example-US) "We're conversing with our carrier partners about the viability of a ICS update for the Galaxy S line of handsets in the US. A more detailed plan should come within the next few weeks." would have gone a long way in assuaging customer concern. Instead, they have to rely on blogs who read a machine translated (like we've seen those ever be accurate...) version of the Korean only blog, so if your message somehow turned out to be the exact opposite, guess how many people now think you're abandoning them? A hell of a lot.

If they didn't know a blog post like this would be posted, something's wrong. The writer of something this controversial should have at least given PR in the respective countries a heads up, so plans could be made for statements devoted to region.

While I'm happy with my Stratosphere (no more reboots, I'm keeping it) I'm troubled by this obsolescence approach. Carriers do have the final say here in the states (I expect Stratosphere and Droid Charge to get ICS, these handsets are either too new (stratosphere) or initially aimed at power users who'd VZW/Samsung wouldn't want to make angry (Droid Charge) to not get a ICS upgrade) but I'm not sure I want to vote with my wallet come contract renewal time toward a company who won't even support most versions of their last gen high end handset that came out a year ago.

I'll be patently waiting to see what happens over the next few weeks, but Google's got to get their act together for updates. And kudos to Sony Ericsson (talk about a turnaround huh?!) and Motorola both who not only have set timetables and have upgrade status charts, but also took the time to explain just how long the internal "getting the upgrades ready" process is. It's by no means a small feat.

EDIT: sorry for this wall of text, got carried away!

 

Agreed.

Back-Home-Menu works really well in portrait or landscape IMO.
Also, I think search should just be done away with altogether.

 

I miss the search key on ICS...

 

I actually use search a lot, the button works in more areas of the OS than i'd think.

 

I never use it.
It's just dead space for me - or rather dead space I might accidentally press and cause something to happen that I don't want.

Obviously everyone's needs are different and I suppose that's why Google don't mandate a particular order for the keys but, as I say, I don't personally want or need it and would rather not have it.