Phone, Tablet and Gizmo Thread #0x02

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 26 Feb 2014 21:07

Sammy is like Mickey...a follower.

Pranav was always good at ideas and protos but not at refining them to be product ready

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 26 Feb 2014 21:30

So Pranav and Late Mahdi, if they were to have met up, might have come up with some good stuff.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 28 Feb 2014 02:32

Singha wrote:the S5 is such a letdown. and they to wait until apple put in fingerprint sensor before deciding it was needed? last 6 months nothing really exciting in high end of phones...

this is similar to indics saying things are good only if america approves it.

Let's wait until it hits the street and there are some reviews. Battery life is suppose to be considerably greater and there is less bloat now. It is another iterative development and at least Sammy didn't do some crazy unpacked event with tap dancing kids and drunk women.

The smartphone market is maturing where all of these devices will be a commodity like laptops are. We'll have a good idea of where things are by the end of this calendar year.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 28 Feb 2014 06:08

matrimc wrote:So Pranav and Late Mahdi, if they were to have met up, might have come up with some good stuff.

Naah Pranav is smart but nothing exceptional - he became famous becoz Pattie (his advisor) is great at salesmanship....how many people noticed that she refused to demo Sixth Sense on-stage at TED?

In the past I have recommended Pranav's papers for best paper award so the fella is creative for sure.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 28 Feb 2014 06:12

Mort Walker wrote:
Singha wrote:the S5 is such a letdown. and they to wait until apple put in fingerprint sensor before deciding it was needed? last 6 months nothing really exciting in high end of phones...

this is similar to indics saying things are good only if america approves it.
Let's wait until it hits the street and there are some reviews. Battery life is suppose to be considerably greater and there is less bloat now. It is another iterative development and at least Sammy didn't do some crazy unpacked event with tap dancing kids and drunk women.

Hold on a sec there!

I thought Sammy went to town claiming the GS5 was this revolutionary re-designed re-engineered product, not just a single step improvement over the GS4 (which was a single step improvement over the GS3 and got fanboys going

).

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 28 Feb 2014 10:22

^^^It was the press that claimed GS5 was suppose to be revolutionary. Now if Sammy said it was going to be revolutionary, then you would have seen one helluva "unpacked" event at Radio City Music Hall complete with JK Shin pulling the GS5 out the garter belts of a Rockettes dancer.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Feb 2014 10:26

I guess for lack of any other branded option (other than small players like LG and HTC), Sammy will continue to rule the roost in the branded telco locked usa android market.
all they have to do is keep the telcos happy and lakhs of salesmen and outlets are at their disposal.

lenovo is trying to get out of struggling PC market into low end servers and phones. I see them as potentially a good competitor in android phones down the line, with global scale.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 28 Feb 2014 11:48

Mort Walker wrote:^^^It was the press that claimed GS5 was suppose to be revolutionary. Now if Sammy said it was going to be revolutionary, then you would have seen one helluva "unpacked" event at Radio City Music Hall complete with JK Shin pulling the GS5 out the garter belts of a Rockettes dancer.

er...it was JK Shin who was gassing about it being revolutionary.

---

I agree.....Lenovo is the one to watch out for - they are like the Hyundai of phones.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 01 Mar 2014 02:30

Smartphones are hitting a 'feature complete' phase.

Screen has reached an optimum size. Screen density is already at max. Yes, you can make it thinner, lighter but it is already portable. Camera has hit acceptable quality. Mostly you can play up minor gimmicks that better speaker in the 2014 HTC or (possibly) bezel-less displays in the iPhunwa.

Only two things are battery and sensors. Progress on that is going to be slow and steady. Why all the complaints that S5 is just a wee better than S4 hainji? How much better are 2014 laptops when compared to 2013 ones or for that matter 2012 and 2011 ones? Smartphones have reached that stage.

Meanwhile, Nokia has introduced 3 android with windows mobile-like skin. They seem to be no better than Lumia 520 in any shape or form (price, screen, battery, performance). Pretty strange products. After acquisition is done M$ going to sell android phones?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 01 Mar 2014 02:41

various ideas being tried out to improve cellphone cams beyond MP count

http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/27/smar ... mpetition/

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 01 Mar 2014 03:12

Apparently Mickey blessed the project...otherwise Nokia wouldnt have all those Mickey apps and services ported to AOSP.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 01 Mar 2014 03:52

They arent supposed to coordinate pre-acquisition.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 01 Mar 2014 04:14

I would be interested in seeing what Nokia's sales look like after this 1st quarter. The last quarter (4Q2013) indicated declining sales of WP, whereas it was expected to increase like the 3Q2013. MSFT/Nokia may be hedging their bets with these new forked Android phones.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 01 Mar 2014 05:27

Anujan wrote:They arent supposed to coordinate pre-acquisition.

Why?

They were partners even before acquisition.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 02 Mar 2014 22:51

Google's 'Projected Mode' in-car system possibly leaked by Mercedes-Benz

Chacha rips off MirrorLink/Terminal Mode and calls it 'Projected Mode'

partha · Post by **partha** » 03 Mar 2014 07:57

BOSS.

no, no I am not referring to a South Indian movie or Salman Khan remake of the same. BOSS is "Bharat Operating System Solutions" onlee developed by our own Bharat sarkar.

http://bosslinux.in/

Thank God they didn't develop the OS from 'scratch' to make it 100% 'indigenous'.

archan · Post by **archan** » 03 Mar 2014 15:45

Marten wrote:Got 102 hours on the G2 on one charge, with 3% remaining. Just phenomenal. Usage was low to moderate but still out of this world.

Where did you buy, how much for? danke..

archan · Post by **archan** » 03 Mar 2014 15:47

partha wrote:BOSS.

no, no I am not referring to a South Indian movie or Salman Khan remake of the same. BOSS is "Bharat Operating System Solutions" onlee developed by our own Bharat sarkar.

http://bosslinux.in/

Thank God they didn't develop the OS from 'scratch' to make it 100% 'indigenous'.

Download ishtarted. Iet me try it out in a virtual machine..
If all good, then might switch from Ubuntu... to support desi.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 03 Mar 2014 18:28

^^^Although the Sprint and VZW versions will support 3G GSM unlocked, I don't think it has the all of the radios for LTE at 900, 1700, and 1900 MHz.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 03 Mar 2014 18:57

I think Sammy hit a home run last night at the Oscars. Ellen DeGeneres used her Samsung through the awards and posted selfies showcasing her Samsung. It appealed to a lot of lay persons. SHQ saw that part as we were cleaning up after dinner and she said that maybe Ellen's Sammy is better than her Nexus 5.

niran · Post by **niran** » 04 Mar 2014 08:44

UK, US spies 'stored millions of Yahoo webcam images'
now, now, say, what a job it must be, going over pictures from web cam, utterly tiring, no?

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 04 Mar 2014 09:26

Mort Walker wrote:I think Sammy hit a home run last night at the Oscars. Ellen DeGeneres used her Samsung through the awards and posted selfies showcasing her Samsung. It appealed to a lot of lay persons. SHQ saw that part as we were cleaning up after dinner and she said that maybe Ellen's Sammy is better than her Nexus 5.

Yes and when she was backstage, she was using her iPhone

.
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/ellen-degener ... 1534933693

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 04 Mar 2014 09:39

couple of months more, and my iphone-4 contract ends. i can start looking for a new device that is available for $0 offer or near that value.

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 04 Mar 2014 09:42

SaiK wrote:couple of months more, and my iphone-4 contract ends. i can start looking for a new device that is available for $0 offer or near that value.

Mine ended a while back, and SHQ and I got new iPhone 5s yesterday

chandrasekhar.m · Post by **chandrasekhar.m** » 04 Mar 2014 12:19

SaiK wrote:couple of months more, and my iphone-4 contract ends. i can start looking for a new device that is available for $0 offer or near that value.

I am ditching the mobile completely and going for landline onlee. After 10 years of having one, I realise I am better off without it.

archan · Post by **archan** » 04 Mar 2014 12:35

Perhaps it would be better to wait for a certified TD-LTE phunwa for India. Hope mine holds up till then.

Anand K · Post by **Anand K** » 04 Mar 2014 13:47

Ah a fellow LG G2 owner!
Got my piece couple of days ago and I'm loving it. In my part of the world I got a 32GB version, original cover, MicroSD adapter and a cool Bluetooth Headset free all for USD 525 equivalent. Now this was AFTER a cash-back of 10% since I paid full cash.

I saw all those reviews of LG's UI being "bloated" - but the speed and battery are so good that one hardly notices! The fact that there's no region locking, the new arrangement of volume and power buttons, spartan look, software front buttons and umpteen other features make it a great product IMO. I used a Galaxy Note for over 2 years and I will miss the stylus and huge screen but the Note 3 is way too big and way ill-upgraded for the steep price. Daylight robbery.

Could have waited 4 months to get an S5 but my much-abused 2.5 year old Note is too close to Samadhi - and this deal on the G2 was sweeeeeet.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 04 Mar 2014 20:36

ArmenT wrote:
Mort Walker wrote:I think Sammy hit a home run last night at the Oscars. Ellen DeGeneres used her Samsung through the awards and posted selfies showcasing her Samsung. It appealed to a lot of lay persons. SHQ saw that part as we were cleaning up after dinner and she said that maybe Ellen's Sammy is better than her Nexus 5.
Yes and when she was backstage, she was using her iPhone .
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/ellen-degener ... 1534933693

What did anybody expect? That she would use some ugly plasticky phone in chi chi Hollywood?!

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 05 Mar 2014 00:50

^^^Doesn't matter what Ellen was using backstage. Sammy had the limelight during the show. It worked for them as an advertisement. Onlee it beoples like us who read smartphone technology blogs.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 05 Mar 2014 01:02

Marten wrote:I might be very wrong but can someone with a real understanding of LTE post about this here?
<Edited Later>

I think we need to know which LTE bands are supported by which carrier in India. AFIK, India has allocated the bands at 2300 & 2400 MHz for LTE deployment.
What is the actual allocation of spectrum for LTE and what is the actual or planned deployment? Is it all TDD or also FDD?

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2014 02:26

Mort Walker wrote:^^^Doesn't matter what Ellen was using backstage. Sammy had the limelight during the show. It worked for them as an advertisement. Onlee it beoples like us who read smartphone technology blogs.

It just gives the impression that people have to be paid to use it. Not a good way to advertise one's flagship.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2014 02:27

2014′s battle for dashboard supremacy: Apple’s CarPlay vs. Google’s OAA vs. MirrorLink

Shalav · Post by **Shalav** » 05 Mar 2014 02:43

It just gives the impression that people have to be paid to use it. Not a good way to advertise one's flagship.

Two years from now when talking about the most re-tweeted tweet, no one will remember what device she used backstage. Other than iFanboys of-course. Samsung can forever say at one time the most re-tweeted tweet was taken with their device. For a $20 m spend (total) that's good publicity IMVHO.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 05 Mar 2014 02:47

Raja Bose wrote:
Mort Walker wrote:^^^Doesn't matter what Ellen was using backstage. Sammy had the limelight during the show. It worked for them as an advertisement. Onlee it beoples like us who read smartphone technology blogs.
It just gives the impression that people have to be paid to use it. Not a good way to advertise one's flagship.

Arre yaar, tum ko Sammy neh kujhli kar dia.

On the contrary it was almost entirely positive for Sammy. So far Sammy has done the Grammys, Olympics and now Oscars. Whether someone likes them or not, the end result will be the return on the advertising money spent. My guess is that it will pay off.

The origin of the "selfie" shot was a little different. Ms. DeGeneres, in the days leading up to the broadcast, decided she wanted to take "selfies" during the show and ABC suggested she use a Samsung since it was a sponsor, another person familiar with the matter said.

During rehearsals Samsung executives trained Ms. DeGeneres on how to use the Samsung Galaxy, two people familiar with the matter said.

"It was a great plug for the Samsung brand," said Allen Adamson, managing director at Landor Associates, a branding firm owned by WPP PLC. "Ellen's selfie is going to be more impactful than their commercials. You can't buy that magic of going viral," he added.

The cost of the product placement was included in Samsung's overall package, said one person familiar with the situation.

Helping reinforce the value of the plug was Ms. DeGeneres' tweeting of the selfie. It was retweeted nearly 3 million times as of Monday afternoon. While the tweet didn't mention Samsung, the fact it was taken by a Samsung phone was clear on the TV screen at the time.

At one point Samsung was getting about 900 mentions a minute on social media, according to Kontera, a company that tracks content on social media sites.

Shalav · Post by **Shalav** » 05 Mar 2014 03:07

Anand K wrote:I used a Galaxy Note for over 2 years and I will miss the stylus and huge screen but the Note 3 is way too big and way ill-upgraded for the steep price. Daylight robbery.

The Mrs. just got a Note 3 with a red flip cover, as a replacement for her LG Revolution. I thought she may not like the screen size during calls etc. and was steering her towards the Xperia's or the G2. To my utter surprise she just loves it.

What made the decision for her was the screen size. She loves how it looks and feels like a little notebook in her hand, and the convenience features. She was never into tech. and the old phone was a functional device for making phone calls and browsing email / facebook, but her interest in learning the various features of the Note 3 was eye-opening. Maybe Samsung does have something there, by divorcing the UI from the underlying OS for normal users.

The battery life for her use is 2 days.

I make do with a Lumia 925 after having given up on Android. I'm a former Droid, Droid 2, HTC Thunderbolt, user. All rooted and custom ROMmed.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2014 03:08

Humko kyon khujli hoga baba? Every unit of GS5 (or GS4 or GS3) that Sammy sells means I get some fractions of a cent as royalty. Every unit FruitCo sells, I get nothing. Samjhe babua?

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 05 Mar 2014 03:30

^^^Then why the complaining, hain ji? Sammy paid for your IS250, so be happy.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2014 03:54

Sammy does a $hit job, they will get called out on it, just like any other co whether its Sammy, Mickey, Chacha or FruitCo.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2014 04:05

Apple's CarPlay vs. MirrorLink: Is there a need for both?

The Car app space is heating up...as predicted back in 2009.

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 05 Mar 2014 04:56

I had a brain wave and am sure someone can tell me why this will not work. Apple keeps on saying, one of the reasons that they do not want the phone to be more than 4 inches is because it inhibits one handed operation. But, what keeps them from having a larger display for reading/viewing but still keep all the soft buttons within the 4 inch frame? Win, win no?

I am with Apple on the importance of retaining the one handed operation and one of the reasons do not like to use the iPad, as one has to use two hands.