Phone, Tablet and Gizmo Thread #0x02

Patni · Post by **Patni** » 06 Feb 2014 12:44

Mort Walker wrote:
chandrasekaran wrote:Starting tomorrow flipkart will sell Moto G at 12500 INR for the 8GB version and 14000 INR for the 16GB versions. Looks like very good price as flipkart bundles couples of other offers along with (500 INR off on e-books purchased from their site and 1000 INR off for clothes). All in all a decent deal. Fyi
Having seen the Moto X, the Moto G is quite similar and a pure Android experience. I suspect if they can keep up with demand, then it will be a hit in India, the rest of Asia and EU. IMHO, at these prices, it would be better than any WP device.

Just managed to place my order for 16GB version after it ran out of stock within minutes last night at 12:40 AM! It is a very good device at the price point for India where no decent phone with similar specification sales under 17K. The micromax / lave / xolo etc all give ok hardware for price but no software update. Having a solid device with kitkat already out for 14K in India is great pricing. Now hope the lenovo keeps up with updates..

niran · Post by **niran** » 06 Feb 2014 17:07

since moi is in a terrific mood these days, here is another reason for dhoti shibering

Don't panic, but that public Wi-Fi comes from ... inside your house

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Feb 2014 18:52

Motog is claimed as ready for kitkat but not loaded with it.
great specs fr the price except the camera. Mmx is going to take a hit from this.

chandrasekaran · Post by **chandrasekaran** » 06 Feb 2014 18:58

Singha wrote:Motog is claimed as ready for kitkat but not loaded with it.
great specs fr the price except the camera. Mmx is going to take a hit from this.

AFAIK OTA update has already been rolled out. But now that its owned by Lenovo, they update story beyond kitkat is a big question mark. Definitely this device is not going to bring in profits for Lenovo at this price point, so for all you know it could be liquidation of stock as well....

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 06 Feb 2014 21:45

^^^If you're buying the G from Google Play it comes with KitKat. It is a current product and not liquidation. It will be supported for nearly 2 years with updates. Lenovo deal is not complete yet. It has to pass FTC and other approvals.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 06 Feb 2014 21:48

^^Lenovo can make profit from it if Chacha extends subsidies to them like they do for Nexus but since this is a non Nexus device, Sammy will object. Especially given they provided a strong impetus for the sale.

archan · Post by **archan** » 06 Feb 2014 21:57

IS the current Nexus made by Sammy or LG?

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 06 Feb 2014 22:25

Yell-G - thank God for small favours!

Sammy built the turd called GNex.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 06 Feb 2014 22:32

So Sony is selling off the Vaio line. I have fond memories of them - my first laptop in Amir Khan was a Vaio that served me for 5.5 years. Solid machine that may still run today if I swap in the old HDD with an SSD. On the other hand, my next laptop, an Acer, went paki on me and fried its logic board months after it went off warranty. My current 15" MBP has been faithfully doing service for almost 4 years now, with the SSD swap ensuring it hasn't slowed down at all in absolute or relative terms compared to newer machines for regular work.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 06 Feb 2014 22:54

The Mahdi had a fond hope of seeing OS X run on the Sony Vaio....something he would never allow for third party hw.

gandharva · Post by **gandharva** » 06 Feb 2014 23:25

Any phone with any of LTE-Advanced R.10 features in market?

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 07 Feb 2014 00:55

^^^A new Lumia 1020 for $200? Don't walk away from that deal. Run away! A new Lumia 1020 is a minimum $600, so I don't know how you're getting one unless adminji has pilfered one for you. I've been wanting one, but he wouldn't send me his.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 07 Feb 2014 01:21

^^^Why do you need a 1020? Go lug a DSLR everywhere

---

Chacha announces ChromeBox for meetings

In addition to the microphone, camera and remote accessories, each box comes with 24/7 customer support, including a (required) maintenance fee of $250 a year per device.

I thought ChromeBox was maintenance free?

I am wondering what is the USP here - Low cost? Ability to do G+ hangouts? Ease of installation? Part of the strat-e-jee is to break into enterprise.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 07 Feb 2014 02:09

Raja Bose wrote:Its all language onlee. C++ instead of C....Java instead of C++....what plogless?? All lipstick on a pig. By that Lahori argument computing has not fundamentally changed since the 60s-70s when you were a phata abdul.

C++ is the pig (as in as fast as a bloated lumbering pig wallowing in its own poop mixed with mud) and C is the lipstick (ephemeral, light weight, small). C -> C++ is most definitely retrograde. Now if you talk about Lisp -> Scheme -> obectified Lisp (I think one of them is called Loops), or Simula -> Smalltalk, yes most definitely that was progress. So is Algol -> Pascal -> Ada (though a lot of people don't use the last) is also progress.

PERL - line noise anyone? By the time you come to 10th line of your function, you would forget the semantics of the 1st line.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 07 Feb 2014 02:10

Raja Bose wrote:^^^Why do you need a 1020? Go lug a DSLR everywhere

To give to my 10 year old to play with.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 07 Feb 2014 02:18

Chandragupta wrote:Looks like a bubble alright.

Not only I have seen it demonstrated, the Math department has a lab in the basement with several 3D printers open to public on weekends. Several clubs in the area. It is not going to revolutionize anytime soon the current assembly line (either functional or process layout) manufacturing and has no advantages. I have seen what it can do. There are several NCM models that are probably cost 2x with the ability to mill steel/metal parts. 2x is not that outrageous considering the high input costs of 3D printing. Wake me up when one is able to print not some seat backs in an aircraft but wing components or a missile shell.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 07 Feb 2014 02:48

^^^Its none of my business, but shouldn't you and your SHQ have the same phone OS? If she likes WP, then you should suck it up too, or convince her to use Android. Fortunately, my SHQ loves the Nexus line, but she said her first love is the iPhone and will go back to it if and when they have near a 5" version. At that time I'll probably switch as I can't give her grief. She played with the Lumia 925 and thought WP was amusing, but not to her liking as she uses Google services.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 07 Feb 2014 06:02

Marten wrote:
Mort Walker wrote:Also shopped around for a mindstorm and realized that the kid is just too young to figure what to do with it. Best left for 3 years.

How old is kid? Mindstorms is best for years 10 and above. I just recently donated my old NXT kit to older niece.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 07 Feb 2014 06:27

Wozniak says Apple should make an Android phone

The question is what benefit does Apple get from making an Android phone?

Ecosystem - No
UX - No
Services - No

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 07 Feb 2014 06:36

Woz is a tinkerer. Not a strat-e-jee expert. He says things that he thinks would be a good idea.

Meanwhile there is rumor that Nokia is moving its low end Asha line from S40 to Android.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 07 Feb 2014 07:11

That was my question....why does The Woz think its a good idea? Its technically feasible but that doesnt make it a good idea.

GB can fork Android to do S40 level stuff....they had done that as part of Meltemi some years back till Meltemi got killed.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 07 Feb 2014 11:19

Marten wrote:Why same OS, saar? We weren't even connected on Facebook until late last year (after many years of being married and being linked online otherwise). In fact, we met online, so... I think we're better off maintaining our own different fiefdoms. I fiddle about a lot with devices and she actually likes dumb phones and the ipad for company. So there!

Just asking. Most common reason is the expectation that the apps work the same on both of our phones. The 2nd is that she is always checking my phone and I don't want her to be deterred by an unfamiliar UI. Don't all SHQs check their husband's phone?

BhairavP · Post by **BhairavP** » 07 Feb 2014 16:38

That 200$ deal on the 1020 included a locked phone - locked to ATT + a two year contract.
Must say the Sammy GS4 is doing well, with a custom 4.4.2 ROM - I exchanged mine for the i9505 version, as Sammy, in their infinite wisdom STILL haven't released all the drivers for the Exynos i9500! Qualcomm OTOH has released all the drivers for the Snapdragon 600, and full 4.4.2 ROMs are out.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 07 Feb 2014 23:36

Just got to play with a friend's Moto G. Nice solid phone. Battery life at 96% after 6 hours of light use. It was bought from Amazon for $199 and came with 4.3, but as soon as my friend setup the phone, it immediately downloaded Android 4.4.2. Very smooth, and although I didn't run benchmarks, it appeared to be faster than the Nexus 4.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 07 Feb 2014 23:47

Raja Bose wrote:That was my question....why does The Woz think its a good idea? Its technically feasible but that doesnt make it a good idea.

GB can fork Android to do S40 level stuff....they had done that as part of Meltemi some years back till Meltemi got killed.

Perhaps he thinks it is a chanakyaian move? AAPL would lose money for their services, but they could in effect kill the Android OEMs. Even Sammy would hurt and the rest like LG, HTC, Moto (Lenovo) and Sony would drop production as they would bleed red as the premium Android devices market would be owned by AAPL. AAPL could charge an extra $50 for every Android device that would subsidize iOS.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 08 Feb 2014 00:41

Mort Walker wrote:Just got to play with a friend's Moto G. Nice solid phone. Battery life at 96% after 6 hours of light use. It was bought from Amazon for $199 and came with 4.3, but as soon as my friend setup the phone, it immediately downloaded Android 4.4.2. Very smooth, and although I didn't run benchmarks, it appeared to be faster than the Nexus 4.

Moto G announced for $99 contract free on US Cellular. Comes preloaded with KitKat instead of JB.

Mort Walker wrote:
Raja Bose wrote:That was my question....why does The Woz think its a good idea? Its technically feasible but that doesnt make it a good idea.

GB can fork Android to do S40 level stuff....they had done that as part of Meltemi some years back till Meltemi got killed.
Perhaps he thinks it is a chanakyaian move? AAPL would lose money for their services, but they could in effect kill the Android OEMs. Even Sammy would hurt and the rest like LG, HTC, Moto (Lenovo) and Sony would drop production as they would bleed red as the premium Android devices market would be owned by AAPL. AAPL could charge an extra $50 for every Android device that would subsidize iOS.

That would be tactically brilliant, to put it mildly. I think The Woz just made an off-the-cuff remark in a different context to get the media all riled up...he is a known prankster after all.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 08 Feb 2014 01:02

Raja Bose wrote: Moto G announced for $99 contract free on US Cellular. Comes preloaded with KitKat instead of JB.

But you must have US Cellular service or it is $200.
Anyway, US Cellular is CDMA2000 and EVDO, so that is a non-starter as you can't use it outside the US. It may not even be compatible with VZW or Sprint.

I'm talking about buying the Moto G outright for $200 and going anywhere in the world with it. Great phone for the price.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 08 Feb 2014 01:08

Raja Bose wrote:
That would be tactically brilliant, to put it mildly. I think The Woz just made an off-the-cuff remark in a different context to get the media all riled up...he is a known prankster after all.

I know my SHQ would be abuzz if something like that would happen and I guarantee you that I would be ordering ~~one~~two if available ASAP. She would have a big O as soon as I handed her one.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 08 Feb 2014 04:00

Mort Walker wrote:
Raja Bose wrote:
That would be tactically brilliant, to put it mildly. I think The Woz just made an off-the-cuff remark in a different context to get the media all riled up...he is a known prankster after all.
I know my SHQ would be abuzz if something like that would happen and I guarantee you that I would be ordering ~~one~~two if available ASAP. She would have a big O as soon as I handed her one.

Why would anyone as an end-user care whether its iOS or Android or something else under the hood? In this case its certainly not a ecosystem issue like say with WP so why does it matter? I think this whole X OS vs Y OS debate is blown way out of proportion especially given for most people the OS is only what they see on the screen.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 08 Feb 2014 12:25

anyone using a photo printer ???

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 08 Feb 2014 20:18

Marten wrote:
BhairavP wrote:That 200$ deal on the 1020 included a locked phone - locked to ATT + a two year contract.
Must say the Sammy GS4 is doing well, with a custom 4.4.2 ROM - I exchanged mine for the i9505 version, as Sammy, in their infinite wisdom STILL haven't released all the drivers for the Exynos i9500! Qualcomm OTOH has released all the drivers for the Snapdragon 600, and full 4.4.2 ROMs are out.
No Sir. From what I understand AT&T gave folks a $100 gift certificate for adding lines. Some smart folks added new lines, then closed their lines which were more than a year - then sold their new phones for a song. This was around 350 on Ebay, but friends and family of course will take whatever it cost them. I know another chap here who apparently added a lot of lines on his co account (he owns a chota mota contracting firm), and flipped over the phones in India. I was both amused and saddened that they would go to all that pain for a mere $150/200. As in, the same chap could simply add one more person from India and make 20,000 that in profit.

it seems to me 90% of the people in the world spend a lot of time hunting/running these small bargains and scams. its simply not worth it imo, life is short better to spend on the people, causes and things that matter.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 09 Feb 2014 00:12

krishnan wrote:anyone using a photo printer ???

Nope its a waste of money - better to outsource it to a shop.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 09 Feb 2014 01:12

Raja Bose wrote:I think this whole X OS vs Y OS debate is blown way out of proportion especially given for most people the OS is only what they see on the screen.

Exactly the reason why Win8 tiled OS for desktops is a failure. All most business people do is stay in a few in-house applications. Once the IT department Sysadmins set it up using one of the several ghost/clone tools and the apps come up on start, that's it - nobody cares about UU/UX and all that zing-bang.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 09 Feb 2014 01:14

Singha wrote:it seems to me 90% of the people in the world spend a lot of time hunting/running these small bargains and scams. its simply not worth it imo, life is short better to spend on the people, causes and things that matter.

+inf for that.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 09 Feb 2014 02:13

matrimc wrote:
Raja Bose wrote:I think this whole X OS vs Y OS debate is blown way out of proportion especially given for most people the OS is only what they see on the screen.
Exactly the reason why Win8 tiled OS for desktops is a failure. All most business people do is stay in a few in-house applications. Once the IT department Sysadmins set it up using one of the several ghost/clone tools and the apps come up on start, that's it - nobody cares about UU/UX and all that zing-bang.

The fullscreen app/tiled components of the Metro UI is not suitable for desktop - it affects productivity provided by the desktop over a tablet/smartphone.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 09 Feb 2014 04:37

Raja Bose wrote:Why would anyone as an end-user care whether its iOS or Android or something else under the hood? In this case its certainly not a ecosystem issue like say with WP so why does it matter? I think this whole X OS vs Y OS debate is blown way out of proportion especially given for most people the OS is only what they see on the screen.

What you're saying is true in theory, but some apps behave differently on a different OS. The app maker may update their app for one OS and then another one at a later date. For example, Google Now in Android could be setup with reminders and alarms. In iOS this wasn't the case until very recently. Similarly there other examples. It's not a big deal, but if you have an SHQ she will have certain expectations.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 09 Feb 2014 04:56

Raja Bose wrote:
krishnan wrote:anyone using a photo printer ???
Nope its a waste of money - better to outsource it to a shop.

I agree. One - it is not cost effective. Two - if you don't maintain the print heads it, it will not function correctly. Three - the quality is not comparable to a professional print shop.
As a photographer, I use Adorama printing services and download their .icc color profile to my computer. So what I see is what I get. Your money is better spent on getting a color calibrator for your monitor.

To get the right color gamut, you need to have a printer with at least 8 primary colors. The printers people use in department or drug stores to get prints are typically middle grade Epson pigment based printers. I would advise against those as often they are not color calibrated correctly by the chimps that operate them. There are several on-line shops that you can upload a loss-less graphics file, like a .TIFF, that have good prices.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 09 Feb 2014 08:00

anmol wrote:
Anujan wrote:The huge bing dip is due to the massive capex spend they took on. Most possibly for their fleet capacity. Said so much in the investor call. I would assume some of the azure infrastructure costs is being billed to bing.
I guess this may be the the "300,000 xbox live (for multi-player games) servers" and xbox pne's cloud compute.

That figure seems to be a bit of nandi droppings. Physical servers? If so, quad core? if so, exclusive use? Which means like what 1.2 million cores? I would be super surprised if Bing, Maps, Office 365, Skydrive and Outlook.com and every other online consumer service by M$ all put together used that much compute.

300,000 servers ready to run xbox related jobs in a shared instance seems to be more likely.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 09 Feb 2014 09:04

The XBox Live clusters are not shared with other online services.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 09 Feb 2014 09:09

You are telling me that they will be using a third of their fleet for Xbox live?

Assume Bing is using a third of the fleet (which is reasonable considering we are not taking into account their IaaS and PaaS offerings, Office, Skydrive etc), It is bleeding cash in torrents. Mostly due to operational costs.

Sales of Xbox justify dedicating as much of the fleet as Bing?