• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Android Hardware Thread - 2010 Edition

Status
Not open for further replies.
after bitching about rogers re: the captivate on twitter all day I get this in my inbox:
Cosmin Ghiurau (@SamsungCos) is now following your tweets (@DJTOUCHBASS) on Twitter.


Cosmin Ghiurau
@SamsungCos
Richardson, TX
Bio Social Media Manager for Samsung Mobile USA @SamsungMobileUS. Find me @ cosguru.com, socialmediacore.com, augmentpro.com

hopefully they start giving away free phones like they did for people bitching about the iphone a couple months back... you know, when this phone was released... EVERYWHERE ELSE BESIDES CANADISTAN.
 
VanMardigan said:
My wife's phone gets hot too, I think it's normal because the back is metal so it conducts heat. She had a scare where it wouldn't turn on the other day, even after she plugged it in to the wall, but when she brought it home, I took out the battery, put it back in, and voila, good as new. Hasn't happened again.

Oh, and I should mention that, like many other android phones, the Captivate has abysmal battery life when you activate all the cool stuff like sync fb, twitter, set email to check frequently, etc. That's not as big a problem on my N1 since it charges quickly, but boy does the Captivate take forever to charge!

All that said, I would recommend the phone to anyone who's even halfway tech savvy, since my wife's phone hasn't shown any signs of dying or anything. It's a fantastic phone all things considered, the screen is to die for, and everything runs quickly. Once it gets Froyo (and Samsung fixes all the GPS bugs it supposedly has and speeds up its UI) this phone will be even easier to recommend, unless the reports of dying phones continues.

I have a feeling the Captivate and the US version of the Vibrant are not plagued with the issues the CDN/EURO version of the Galaxy S are. You don't see all the posts about dying phones and phones that shut off on thier own on various sites.
 
I like how the "Canadian" version has manufacturing "issues" but the US version is fine..... Really not impressed by all the BS and delays.
 
Verizon's next phone is that HTC Slider. And the LG Optimus One/Vortex.

I wonder what Moto has cooking for Verizon. They said they had a few front cam phones on the way so I hope Verizon will get a 3.0 stock Droid-X like LTE phone soon.

With more gigs for storage.

Lots of gigs for storage.
 
No reason why the Canadian version of the Captivate should have "issues", seeing as though it's the exact same version as At&t's Captivate.

Something's fishy
 
jonnybryce said:
Verizon's next phone is that HTC Slider. And the LG Optimus One/Vortex.

I wonder what Moto has cooking for Verizon. They said they had a few front cam phones on the way so I hope Verizon will get a 3.0 stock Droid-X like LTE phone soon.

With more gigs for storage.

Lots of gigs for storage.

some android blog had a rumor that moto is going to release a new phone this holiday season to coincide with gingerbread. Dual core tegra 2, front facing cam, etc.

When that phone releases, i'm jumping ship to Verizon, buh bye ATT.

Its unfortunate that MS is hitching their wagon to ATT, looks to be a decent phone held back by a substandard carrier
 
zedge said:
I dunno, mine was warm sometimes too. Gets warm now after it was repaired. When it crapped out it was asleep for a while so I don't think heat has anything to do with it. Its a faulty part judging by my repair ticket. "Replaced major component".

The sad thing is when I first got my Galaxy S everyone who saw it was like "wow" the screen is so awesome. A few were considering getting one, one did, we all know what happened to his. The others are no longer going near a Samsung phone. I will not be bragging about my phone to anyone at this point.

I guess it's normal then.

I still like to brag about my phone's screen because it is gorgeous (and that + CPU speed are the only real differentiating factors in a smart phone these days).

But I do feel it's all somewhat redundant since the battery life isn't so great when everything is cranked up to the max. I often find myself demonstrating it to friends and saying "look at how awesome the screen is!", they say "wow holy crap!!", and then when I put it away I secretly engage all the power save settings again.. :(
 
gcubed said:
some android blog had a rumor that moto is going to release a new phone this holiday season to coincide with gingerbread. Dual core tegra 2, front facing cam, etc.

When that phone releases, i'm jumping ship to Verizon, buh bye ATT.

Its unfortunate that MS is hitching their wagon to ATT, looks to be a decent phone held back by a substandard carrier
Heh, I was just reading that blog post earlier.

Would Verizon's LTE network be compatible with Euro networks? Is it a chip-based technology like GSM? Frequent overseas travel is the only reason I'm not on Verizon right now.
 
Battersea Power Station said:
Heh, I was just reading that blog post earlier.

Would Verizon's LTE network be compatible with Euro networks? Is it a chip-based technology like GSM? Frequent overseas travel is the only reason I'm not on Verizon right now.

i'm pretty sure LTE is GSM based
 
Battersea Power Station said:
Heh, I was just reading that blog post earlier.

Would Verizon's LTE network be compatible with Euro networks? Is it a chip-based technology like GSM? Frequent overseas travel is the only reason I'm not on Verizon right now.

Since LTE uses the same GSM as European countries, it'd work overseas, but only on data, since they plan to keep CDMA for voice.

So it'd be 1/2 compatible!
 
Battersea Power Station said:
Heh, I was just reading that blog post earlier.

Would Verizon's LTE network be compatible with Euro networks? Is it a chip-based technology like GSM? Frequent overseas travel is the only reason I'm not on Verizon right now.

As others have mentioned, yes it will be compatible (in a LTE network) IF the radio supports the spectrum. LTE will operate in atleast a dozen different spectrums but that doesn't mean that the phone(s) will all support them.
 
Quoting this from the Droid Incredible thread:

ICallItFutile said:
Does anyone experience the following or is it just the result of me dropping my phone a few times:

  • Erases text messages by itself
  • Lag opening programs Ex: the icons will move toward the screen and then freeze for a couple seconds.
  • Lag and freezing when unlocking
  • Touch lag
  • Bar on top won't scroll down 5 seconds after unlocking

These problems still persist after Froyo, even with it improving performance. The frequency irks me so much I'm willing to pay the $50 for a replacement. It was my own fucking fault too. >.>
 
The erasing text messages is a nasty bug that's plagued a lot of Android users (noticeably with the original Droid, although it could be just because so many have it). It's existed since around the time the original Droid was released and Google still hasn't done shit to fix it. It's one of the major problems still existing with Android right now. There's a big thread with people experiencing the bug and Google still has said nothing... http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=5669&colspec=ID Type Status Owner Summary Stars

The rest of the stuff isn't normal. Try doing a factory reset, but back up your texts and apps (or link them with appbrain) before you do.
 
The Interrobanger said:
Another month? Arhg.

There's rumors that it might be next week though.
I'd say if Rogers has come out and said that there will be delays it wont be next week. If they could launch next week they probably would have just kept their mouth's shut and had a surprise launch. on the bright side I used the captivate delay to leverage $20 off my plan. I would buy an iPhone 4 right now but they are still sold out everywhere. how the fuck is that possible 3 months after launch?
 
gcubed said:
i'm pretty sure LTE is GSM based

&

DrFunk said:
Since LTE uses the same GSM as European countries, it'd work overseas, but only on data, since they plan to keep CDMA for voice.

So it'd be 1/2 compatible!
Yes/Yes/Yes/No/Yes----fUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU


Right now it sounds like the version(s) of LTE we'll see in the States is...

Verizon LTE will be CDMA/GSM hybrid @ 4G speeds.

AT&T LTE will be GSM/GSM @ 4G speeds.

I'm still doing some research on it but that's what I've come up with thus far from all the press releases and junk.

Waiting for LTE / the next gen Android phones is going to be a difficult wait.
 
Pctx said:
&


Yes/Yes/Yes/No/Yes----fUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU


Right now it sounds like the version(s) of LTE we'll see in the States is...

Verizon LTE will be CDMA/GSM hybrid @ 4G speeds.

AT&T LTE will be GSM/GSM @ 4G speeds.

I'm still doing some research on it but that's what I've come up with thus far from all the press releases and junk.

Waiting for LTE / the next gen Android phones is going to be a difficult wait.

you're right on the two versions in re to ATT and Verizon. GSM carriers are in a better situation to go to LTE, but are slower to go there, i dont understand it.

And the latest update on the new Droid for Gingerbread is the Droid Venus.... seriously? I want the phone, but seriously? Am i going to shave my legs with it? What a horrible name
 
gcubed said:
you're right on the two versions in re to ATT and Verizon. GSM carriers are in a better situation to go to LTE, but are slower to go there, i dont understand it.

And the latest update on the new Droid for Gingerbread is the Droid Venus.... seriously? I want the phone, but seriously? Am i going to shave my legs with it? What a horrible name
I'm your Venus.... I'm your Fire.... :lol
 
god damn, rogers is really shitting the bed all over the place. nice to see that they're getting raked over the coals for it though.

http://redboard.rogers.com/2010/samsung-galaxy-tab-coming-to-canada-in-coming-months/

I think I'm over the captivate, it seems like a really bad time to buy an android phone on a 3 yr contract, especially one about a quarter of the way through its life-cycle. I thought the galaxy tab might be a good buy if I could use it with a voice plan and it was aiming for a timely release in canada. one problem: in Canada, no voice :-////////. what the fuck, I just want a fuckin phone. you amuricns get all the fun. I'd come down there and buy a phone but $500 is too much.
 
Okay, i'm concerned about my Galaxy S. My battery life is going down by literally 1% every minute. I have all syncing turned off, all unnecessary settings disabled, and the brightness is set as low as it can go (yet it still takes up 75% of the battery..). Using the internet really seems to kill it. Does this sound wrong?
 
I NEED SCISSORS said:
Okay, i'm concerned about my Galaxy S. My battery life is going down by literally 1% every minute. I have all syncing turned off, all unnecessary settings disabled, and the brightness is set as low as it can go (yet it still takes up 75% of the battery..). Using the internet really seems to kill it. Does this sound wrong?
it does sound wrong. hard reset and if that doesn't work, delete and re-install apps.
 
Soo, I got my Galaxy 3 last week and after this week I have to say that I am completely satisfied with it and Android. It is really fast ( at least for me, last cell phone was a Nokia 5800) and the apps are really nice. The only con is the display resolution which is not that high but I am completely ok with it. Are there any alternative music players for android or other must have apps? Got launcher pro installed so far which was recommended to me by another Gaffer. And I need a good weather widget :) Oh, and supposedly it will even get froyo next week according to Samsung :D
 
Battersea Power Station said:
BGR has pics of a nice HTC handset with QWERTY keyboard, headed to verizon.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010...rty-device-destined-for-verizon-breaks-cover/

Haven't been keeping up with the codenames so don't know which one this is. It's almost perfect for me, except for the lack of front-facing camera. I want one, dammit.

It's called the Lexicon I think and the specs seem weaker than the Dinc. Other then the slightly larger screen and the keyboard, it doesn't seem to have much over the Dinc.
 
Dazzla said:
Just picked up an Orange San Francisco as a play thing:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/orange-san-francisco-android-2-1-wv/763425

£99 is a bargain. Unlock is available for $3 as well so I'll give my iPhone 4 a little break and play with this.
I've been following the thread over at modaco and I am really impressed with the value for money it offers. Gonna see if the girlfriend fancies trading in her hero for it, it will give me something to play with!
 
Battersea Power Station said:
BGR has pics of a nice HTC handset with QWERTY keyboard, headed to verizon.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010...rty-device-destined-for-verizon-breaks-cover/

Haven't been keeping up with the codenames so don't know which one this is. It's almost perfect for me, except for the lack of front-facing camera. I want one, dammit.

I've been using phones with Qwerty keyboards for the past 10 years. Picked up a Fascinate a few weeks ago and I can honestly say that between SWYPE and Speech to Text I don't see the need for a keyboard at all. I much prefer the thinner form factor a keyboard-less phone affords me.
 
Hey everyone I have a quick question. A friend of mine wants to buy my tmobile mytouch 3G from me so I'm fairly certain I'll be selling it.

Now that leaves me with the question of what phone to get. I was looking at the Samsung Vibrant and that looks amazing to me, but I also know that the G2 google phone is coming out super soon.

Which one do I get?! I can wait the week so that's not too bad. I grand fathered in my tmobile plan so there is no way I'm leaving them (unlimited data, texting, 600 min with free nights/weekends - $60 even a month) so which way should I side with?
 
wenis said:
Hey everyone I have a quick question. A friend of mine wants to buy my tmobile mytouch 3G from me so I'm fairly certain I'll be selling it.

Now that leaves me with the question of what phone to get. I was looking at the Samsung Vibrant and that looks amazing to me, but I also know that the G2 google phone is coming out super soon.

Which one do I get?! I can wait the week so that's not too bad. I grand fathered in my tmobile plan so there is no way I'm leaving them (unlimited data, texting, 600 min with free nights/weekends - $60 even a month) so which way should I side with?
Depends on what you want. Do you want a bigger screen or a hardware keyboard? Super AMOLED or HSPA+ ?
 
DrFunk said:
Depends on what you want. Do you want a bigger screen or a hardware keyboard? Super AMOLED or HSPA+ ?

I like bigger screens, but I'm not too keen on a keyboard I have physically press with buttons and all that (gone through my fair share of "flip" phones). not sure what AMOLED or HSPA+ is. I'm super ignorant when it comes to phones and the tech side of things.

also is there a huge difference between performance/up-grading the OS between the two?
 
wenis said:
I like bigger screens, but I'm not too keen on a keyboard I have physically press with buttons and all that (gone through my fair share of "flip" phones). not sure what AMOLED or HSPA+ is. I'm super ignorant when it comes to phones and the tech side of things.
AMOLED is the screen technology made by Samsung. It produces vibrant, purty colors on their screens, and really is a neat technology.

HSPA+ is T-Mobile's super fast 3G tech, which is slowly rolling out across the US. It increases upload and download speeds. Not many devices support it currently, the G2 will though.

It seems to me that you would prefer the Vibrant, since it has a bigger screen. And Avatar! But you should go to a store and play around with the devices to see which ones tickle your fancy. You really can't go wrong with either.
 
Hmmm yeah, is the G2 available to be shown at the stores yet? I know I can pre-order right now, but it would be nice to get some hands on time with it just in case it manages to pique my interest.
 
Okay GAF, help me out. I am about to grab a HTC Legend. I love mainly the size and form of the thing, I haven't seen too many smaller (3.2inch-ish) phones coming out soon. I know the legend has been out for a little bit, am I likely to see some new shithot phone in the same form in a month or 2?
 
Dead Man said:
Okay GAF, help me out. I am about to grab a HTC Legend. I love mainly the size and form of the thing, I haven't seen too many smaller (3.2inch-ish) phones coming out soon. I know the legend has been out for a little bit, am I likely to see some new shithot phone in the same form in a month or 2?

the legend is an awesome phone (have one) and highly underrated...its got an amazing build quality and i actually prefer the smaller profile to the new super android phones coming out...

i have not heard of any similar phones that will get released in the next few months...
 
wenis said:
Hey everyone I have a quick question. A friend of mine wants to buy my tmobile mytouch 3G from me so I'm fairly certain I'll be selling it.

Now that leaves me with the question of what phone to get. I was looking at the Samsung Vibrant and that looks amazing to me, but I also know that the G2 google phone is coming out super soon.

Which one do I get?! I can wait the week so that's not too bad. I grand fathered in my tmobile plan so there is no way I'm leaving them (unlimited data, texting, 600 min with free nights/weekends - $60 even a month) so which way should I side with?

Tuga?
 
nolookjones said:
the legend is an awesome phone (have one) and highly underrated...its got an amazing build quality and i actually prefer the smaller profile to the new super android phones coming out...

i have not heard of any similar phones that will get released in the next few months...
Thanks. Yeah, my sister has one, I love it, I have just been burned by crap before. :D I really like the smaller size, it seems pretty uncommon for an android phone.
 
Most useless Android peripheral ever created?

TrGdG.jpg


Sony Ericsson has announced a small Bluetooth peripheral, called LiveView, designed to act as an interactive remote control for Android 2.x devices: a PDA for your smartphone, if you will. Featuring a 1.3-inch, 128 x 128 OLED display, LiveView behaves very much like those Bluetooth watches that have become all the rage (many of which also happen to be sold by Sony Ericsson), in that it allows you to read incoming texts and caller ID, control various music functionality over AVRCP, and view an endless stream of notifications, from missed calls to appointment reminders to Facebook and Twitter updates.
http://pocketnow.com/android/sony-ericsson-liveview-a-bluetooth-pda-for-android-phones


But maybe if you had a tablet with phone capabilities...
 
My wife finally got the OTA for the Samsung Captivate. GPS locks right away now, I didn't notice any other performance improvements.
 
Yeah that Sony Live thing is shiteous. Why do I want to read from/interact with a tiny as hell screen when I could slip out my phone? Having it on your wrist for a running application is one of the few few fewwwwww "useful" functions of it but even still that's not good enough. It's silly.

This is exactly what people mean when they say Sony is lost. Sony thinks by releasing 500 products they'll have hits. Just have a few good ones. This shouldn't exist.
 
jonnybryce said:
Yeah that Sony Live thing is shiteous. Why do I want to read from/interact with a tiny as hell screen when I could slip out my phone? Having it on your wrist for a running application is one of the few few fewwwwww "useful" functions of it but even still that's not good enough. It's silly.

This is exactly what people mean when they say Sony is lost. Sony thinks by releasing 500 products they'll have hits. Just have a few good ones. This shouldn't exist.

I could see a variety of uses if its cost approachable. Use it in your car as a dashboard display for caller ID, calls, music control. Use it when working out. Use it as a remote if you hook up your phone to the TV/stereo to stream music/movies.

If its cheap, it could be a neat toy for some specific peripheral uses.
 
Anyone have any idea how something like this may turn out?

The Motorola Defy.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369070,00.asp

I am looking at something like the Droid Incredible, that is a 3.7 inch screen, and relatively up to date spec wise. So the Defy seems similar spec wise but slightly larger battery and smaller case, which should make it even more portable. Having it fit in a suit pocket is essential.

Or is it worth waiting for LTE to come to Nashville sometime next summer? LTE requires LTE phones right, its not something current phones can just take advantage of.
 
Totakeke said:
That looks horrible to use.
I like the simplistic look, but look at it this way: if my phone is a piece of unusable shit at least I know it's my own fault instead of the manufacture's old ass software from 1999
 
spermatic cord said:
Going from a Palm Centro to an Evo 4G on SERO Premium tomorrow. The wait will be worth it.

I mean from this:
http://imgur.com/4bHVJ.jpg[/IMG

to something similar to this:
[IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_dNgooGQoxYY/TJ8KAttlDwI/AAAAAAAA4gU/gjnxdhbiiiw/s512/CAP201009260353.jpg[/IMG

rip centro[/QUOTE]

Wow, you hung in there that long? Once we realized SERO was going to be screwed out of the good stuff I bounced to an Everything Plus Referral Plan and from there bounced around carriers since the savings weren't much compared to SERO.

Tip of the hat to you.

What exactly is Sero Premium? It'll come out to Sero + $10 for the 4G "tax" or just the regular Sero amount? I miss that plan, life was so simple and cheap :( I don't know how I was ever happy with a Centro but damnit I was.
 
jonnybryce said:
Wow, you hung in there that long? Once we realized SERO was going to be screwed out of the good stuff I bounced to an Everything Plus Referral Plan and from there bounced around carriers since the savings weren't much compared to SERO.

Tip of the hat to you.

What exactly is Sero Premium? It'll come out to Sero + $10 for the 4G "tax" or just the regular Sero amount? I miss that plan, life was so simple and cheap :( I don't know how I was ever happy with a Centro but damnit I was.
It's Sero price +$10 restricted phone, +$10 "iconic" 4G phone. So 20 bucks more than regular Sero but still 20 bucks cheaper than whatever the next plan would be to use the EVO if I didn't have Sero already. Patience pays, my friend.:D
 
Man, I wish Rogers had better Android phones. I'm currently using the Magic and love Android but I just ordered 2 Iphone 4s. Was initially going to get just one for my wife but when I asked whether a 2nd would be available at the same price, they said yes. Now I'm torn.

My wife is getting the one for sure. She needs a new Ipod anyways and she is currently using a Razr2. Yuck. Don't know what to do about the 2nd. I'm thinking sell for an absurd profit or trade it back in for the Galaxy if it comes out in the next 15 days. I think that's my grace period if I don't use the phone.

Any input? I could use the profit from selling an Iphone 4 to put towards something from a different Canadian telecom and have it unlocked. Guess I could try and find a Nexus 1 through Craigslist. What would you guys do?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom