Phone, Tablet and Gizmo Thread #0x02

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 23 May 2013 10:28

Mort Walker wrote:This one is for RB, take note of it: HP $399 touchscreen laptop breaks price barrier

Hope the touchscreen is not a turd at that price point. Anyhow in case you were wondering it doesn't affect the Surface TAM.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 23 May 2013 10:29

Prasad wrote:Whats this with ATT connectivity? I got decent coverage pretty much everywhere across the US including the racetrack in Austin. Looks like only SF suffers from terrible connectivity perhaps.

After using VZW I have never gone back. For a good 3 years I used VZW and ATT in parallel - ATT sucked like Mushy on Amritraj.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 23 May 2013 10:38

Mort Walker wrote:I'm an old guy who still wears a wrist watch 24/7 and has a couple of radios.

oh we know why you wear a watch 247

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 23 May 2013 20:41

Zuck is learning that all is not milk and honey and he doesn't have the Mahdi's magical touch

Facebook won't bring HTC First smartphone to the UK after all (update: due to bad feedback in the US)

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 24 May 2013 01:36

Raja Bose wrote:
Mort Walker wrote:This one is for RB, take note of it: HP $399 touchscreen laptop breaks price barrier
Hope the touchscreen is not a turd at that price point. Anyhow in case you were wondering it doesn't affect the Surface TAM.

Doesn't matter, it will affect sales of the Surface. The Surface in a way competes with the MBA, but with the MBA there is no other place you can go to get the same UX. With MSFT you have choice, which is a good thing, since there are so many Windows related turds.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 May 2013 01:47

People who buy ultrabooks would have affected Surface sales 1st than this thing - different addressable markets.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 24 May 2013 02:33

Ultrabooks are just as expensive if not more than the Surface and most don't have touch. So I wouldn't expect Ultrabooks and Surface to compete. The HP Sleekbooks and range of touch screen laptops between $400-$700 will affect sales of the Surface. The next version (not this one) of the Lenovo Yoga Ideapad will have Haswell just like the HPs and will be available this fall.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 May 2013 02:53

^^They don't compete on touch - its portability (same vs MBA).

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 24 May 2013 07:18

All of the devices mentioned are portable including the MBA, but touch is what many don't have as of now. Touch is coming from HP and the others.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 24 May 2013 07:20

RB,

Do you know if any of the Nokia Asha series phones will be available in the US unlocked?
I think I would prefer these over a low-end Android or an old version of the iPhone as a starter phone for kids.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 May 2013 07:30

Newegg sells them. Just ask Chacha - there are plenty of other options too. I would actually suggest going for a low-end iPhone for kids in massa.

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Looks like Motor Oil can't catch a break....http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/23/micr ... -motorola/ Chacha better use them to go vertical coz their patent portfolio sucks (as this abdul had mentioned when the purchase was announced and every anal-e-cyst went AoA!).

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 May 2013 12:51

AoA! Finally switched full-time exclusively to a smartphone and combined my personal and professional phone into 1 (for last coupla years I used to carry both a smart phone and dumb phone). Let's see how the transition goes and hope it doesn't send me scurrying back to having a dumb phone as 24/7 back up. To anoint the sacred occasion, I watched the entire movie Khoobsurat on the phone. The WP8 YouTube app surprisingly seems to have much nicer UX than the Android app on my Nexus 7 though definitely needs some performance consistency tweaks.

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Someone expressed this wish here and it may be coming true...

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/23/43608 ... nent-rumor

If HTC could regularly churn out handsets with stock Android backed by good marketing, it would be a kick on Sammy's turd producing mush.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 24 May 2013 20:41

^^^Saw that last night.
We'll have to wait and see, the radio in the Sammy is more universal than HTC. Both will be GSM phones with AOSP and I strongly suspect the battery life on the Sammy will be better, but again we have to wait. I know that I will be getting the Sammy GS4 GE.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 24 May 2013 20:45

Why is MSFT comparing an Asus tablet to the iPad instead of promoting its own Surface? It makes no sense, unless they know that the Surface is suppose to be a technology demonstrator that will soon fade away.
Microsoft recruits Siri to bad-mouth the iPad in new Windows 8 tablet ad

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 May 2013 20:59

First Tizen device, Samsung RedWood GT-I8800 images showed.

Major critical features of Tizen are driven from Sammy's slave farm in San Jose - 1st time I think they are allowing that to be done from outside Korea. If this has real political push inside Sammy (unlike Bada), I would predict Sammy introducing more differentiating apps and services in Android thru its Samsung app store (as opposed to Google Play) and ensuring the same apps & services are available on Tizen. Then it will proceed to reduce the dependency on core Chacha apps (essentially gmail and maps) by making, begging, borrowing, stealing or partnering. Then either it will use that leverage to get Chacha to cough up more revenue share from mobile or it will jump ship from Android - former if Tizen takes off but slowly, latter if it takes off fast.

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Mortullah, 2 things I noticed about latest OOB experience for the VZW Lumia 928 - compared to ATT phones, bloat is limited to 1 VZW Navigator app, all GB Maps and Navigation related apps are pre-loaded (unlike ATT) and I was pleasantly surprised to find that VZW pre-loads the entire US map data onto the phone without the user having to do it manually. So offline turn-by-turn navigation is now available OOB.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 24 May 2013 21:52

When you start Nav, as I've noticed on the GS3, Note2, and Nex4, it loads the turn-by-turn in memory, now I don't think all US maps are loaded in memory. If that is the case using WP Navigator app, then it must be using abridged maps or a lot of memory. How is the battery life? For any smart phone you want 10+ hours with moderate use. This covers the time you leave the house in the morning, commute, work and commute home.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 May 2013 22:26

^^^I don't think Google Maps has offline turn-by-turn except it caches some tiles from the immediate neighborhood. Actually entire detailed map/road data of massa fits in like 2gb - no need for abridgment. Anyhow why would the whole US map need to be loaded in ram for doing turn by turn offline

Battery life is decent enough to go for 18-36 hrs- definitely miles better than my old previous smartphone (GSIII) though till it goes up to one charge every 7 days I cannot say it is great.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 24 May 2013 22:33

Talk is gaining ground that Steve Ballmer needs to be fired.

Hard to say he shouldn't.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 May 2013 22:42

They can lure him out like this....

Who are they gonna replace him with anyways? The guy acts like a buffoon but that's all it is - an act. He's a pretty shrewd businessman and has ensured sustained growth plus new products/revenue streams after billu dada left. I would rather they fire bawarchi otherwise FruitCo will go under.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 25 May 2013 00:01

Raja Bose wrote: I would rather they fire bawarchi otherwise FruitCo will go under.

No it won't. All they have to do is release iPhunwa 5S with one extra row/column of icons and fingerprint sensor on Home button everyone will be talking about how revolutionary it is and dumping their obsolete iPhunwa5 for the 5S.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 25 May 2013 02:17

^^^Naah....doing that requires someone of the Mahdi's caliber to convince the faithfool that its wonderphool and revolutionary. Look at the damp squib Bawarchi pulled off for the iPhone5 unveiling. Ive is no salesman either. Maybe Phil Schiller? What FruitCo needs it an unveiling of its next big thing to convince the faithfool that Mahdi spirit is well and alive under Bawarchi otherwise FruitCo is going to fade away. FruitCo is no ordinary injineering company like Chacha/Mickey/Netz/Chipz - it is very much a personality driven company right from day 0 so same rules don't apply for them whether in success or failure. They are very interesting as a study of their work culture and the role leadership plays in the end product. Takla Co is the closest to that (their Lab126 unit) but it still way far from similar.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 25 May 2013 02:19

KJoishy wrote:Talk is gaining ground that Steve Ballmer needs to be fired.
Hard to say he shouldn't.

That talk had been going on for almost close to a decade now. As long he has Mr. Gates' support, he is good.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 25 May 2013 04:30

Another revolutionary feature coming to iOS7 - Mickey's Metro UI.

Apple Rumored to Go Black, White and Flat for iOS 7

I bet colours will come in iOS8.

sanjeevs · Post by **sanjeevs** » 25 May 2013 04:34

Raja Bose wrote:Another revolutionary feature coming to iOS7 - Mickey's Metro UI.

Apple Rumored to Go Black, White and Flat for iOS 7

I bet colours will come in iOS8.

Yeah, they did this with Mt Lion too, the finder is color challenged now

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 25 May 2013 05:33

Raja Bose wrote:Another revolutionary feature coming to iOS7 - Mickey's Metro UI.

Apple Rumored to Go Black, White and Flat for iOS 7

I bet colours will come in iOS8.

This has nothing to do with the Metro UI. It's more about Ivy's influence, as the iOS UI is cumbersome and unimaginative, and to get rid of Scott Forstall's style of design called skeuomorphism.
It will be a welcome change.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 25 May 2013 05:50

^^^Sir Ive is famous for taking 'inspiration' so I guess he came to the same conclusion as the WP design guys did few years back.

Scott Forstall hardly invented skeumorphism - it is a commonly used design cue even in Android (or any other mobile OS in the past 5-6 years).

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 25 May 2013 10:56

I didn't say he invented it, but was Forstall's style.

http://9to5mac.com/2013/05/24/jony-ives ... t-all-over

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 25 May 2013 11:27

It is just the prevalent visual design - that's all. Hardly anybody specific's signature. Anyways looks like another rumour is floating about that now iPhones will come in multiple colours too - revolutionary!

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 25 May 2013 22:43

^^^Don't forget that Ive also designed the grey boxes and fat black slabs under Amelio before Mahdi retook the reins.

Ive before Mahdi re-joined (pre-1997)

Ive after Mahdi re-joined (post-1997)

It takes much more to build a brilliant consumer electronics product than just throwing together a bunch of brilliant engineers and designers.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 25 May 2013 22:45

You mean "during Mahdi" for the second picture?

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 26 May 2013 06:33

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 26 May 2013 09:30

No more reason why one should stick with AT&T crap just so that they can use their phone on GSM networks outside US:

Report: Nokia Lumia 928 comes GSM unlocked

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 26 May 2013 09:50

Saw a Micromax Canvas HD few days ago. Looked very good: pretty responsive, good screen etc. Has anyone used it longer? Seems great VFM at 14.5K.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 27 May 2013 09:20

Folks, got a new Samsung Galaxy S Duos after phasing the old Nokia C-3. Getting used to the controls. It has pretty much all the applications installed. Now I need to get some more information related to Maps. The set has Maps and the Navigation softwares installed. Maps seems to be from Google.
1. Is there any way to download a whole bunch of maps? (say. South India territory only). AFAIK the maps are now downloaded on a "need to" basis.
2. Is there a tool which can record the route I have taken, and approximate distance travelled and the time taken? More than driving a car, I need this to measure my morning walk

.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 27 May 2013 10:43

Sachin wrote:Folks, got a new Samsung Galaxy S Duos after phasing the old Nokia C-3. Getting used to the controls. It has pretty much all the applications installed. Now I need to get some more information related to Maps. The set has Maps and the Navigation softwares installed. Maps seems to be from Google.
1. Is there any way to download a whole bunch of maps? (say. South India territory only). AFAIK the maps are now downloaded on a "need to" basis.

Nope. Google Maps allows caching of a certain set of neighboring tiles but doesn't allow offline maps like a PND. For that you will need to use Nokia Maps.

Sachin wrote: 2. Is there a tool which can record the route I have taken, and approximate distance travelled and the time taken? More than driving a car, I need this to measure my morning walk .

Endomondo Sports Tracker is a pretty good free app for that on Android.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 27 May 2013 20:43

Raja Bose wrote:Endomondo Sports Tracker is a pretty good free app for that on Android.

Thank you!! Installed the tool and did a pilot run. Works wonders

. Though the app does not connect well with Facebook, which is not a real problem. Any idea if we can set the distance to be shown in KMs? Currently it shows the distance in Miles.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 27 May 2013 22:46

^^Real men use miles - deal with it!

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 28 May 2013 04:23

pandyan wrote:wasnt there some investigative journalist who found that Sir Ive took a lot of inspiration from Braun products. Lets see how his products are shaping up without Jobs input and without challenges/alternative view points from Forstall. Sir Ive might be treated like maino now at apple...and nobody would be challenging him.

Didn't need an investigative journalist. Sir Ive himself openly acknowledges that Dieter Rams (designer for a number of Braun products) is a huge influence.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 28 May 2013 04:55

Raja Bose wrote:^^Real men use miles - deal with it!

you sell out!!!

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 28 May 2013 07:34

^^^I am 500% MUTU onlee joo filthy turd world FOB immigrant

I am following Vic Gundotra indoctrination program onlee