Smartphones

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zero

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #75 on: January 12, 2012, 04:55:42 AM »
It looks like a pretty hot phone to me. I'm thinking of getting someone in China to send me one, if they can get their hands on one. I think it would be cool to have something different here in the U.S. However, I suspect all current phones are going to look dated in a few months or whenever the iPhone 5 comes out. It's going to be super-thin. Huawei is also releasing an ultra-thin phone in a few months and it looks like thin is in.

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Stil

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #76 on: January 27, 2012, 12:39:10 PM »
I use Pleco Chinese character recognition,  dictionaries/translator  on my iPhone and it's great software. It is now available for Android.

http://www.penn-olson.com/2012/01/26/pleco-dictionary-android/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PennOlson+%28Penn+Olson+%7C+Techin.asia%29

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #77 on: January 30, 2012, 12:06:59 AM »
I'm wtiting here looking for help, though I may transfer over to a seperate thread should I get enough replies...

Basically I've been given a present of a Samsung Galaxy SII and I'm a bit out of my depth.

The only previous exposure I've had to smart phones etc it through IPOD Touch and Iphones, the android  system is confusing me, especially here in China.

See, it seems like the android (version 2.3.4) that has been installed on here is China-specific, i.e. there are tons of Chinese apps already installed that cannot be uninstalled (weibo etc) and there lots of the android market features seem to be unavailable...

so, what should I do?

is there a way that I can just download a western version of official (does the term offical even work for android?) android software ... or do I need to 'root' it which sounds like something that I would make a terrible mess out of.

basically, I just want a nice simple smart phone on which I can use pleco etc etc..

all help appreciated, and no answer is too simple, please, condescend to me!
两只老外, 两只老外,跑得快,跑得快,
一个是老酒鬼,一个是老色鬼,真奇怪, 真奇怪

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #78 on: January 30, 2012, 02:30:43 AM »
Options from lesser to greater learning curve:

(1) menu > settings > applications > manage applications > [unwanted app such as weibo], then force close + uninstall

(2) and if that doesn't work, then root, and then try (1) again. (For info, consider Rooting for Dummies)

(3) or if still unhappy and now that you've rooted, consider flashing a custom rom (aka replacing the android operating system you have now with a different one downloaded from the internet).

There are many different roms, all with their own quirks and highlights. Do note that if you are using a bought, unaltered Samsung Galaxy S II, then some of the features you see now are NOT Android, but are instead Android + Samsung UI (+ some China specific mods).

ROM options:

back to basics, pure android, no samsung ui, no China mods: flash a stock rom.
back to mostly basics: cyanogen, a popular, mostly stock rom.
back to samsung: flash original firmware (which will also de-root your device.)
or, go wild: available roms

There's probably more links out there too.

As for the market, yeah, as far as I know, access to the Android market is restricted in China. I don't use it much so I don't know. But in regard to that, and assorted other sites of ill-repute, Various Purple Nightdresses work on smartphones.


All of this I learned from screwing around with my HTC Desire (and Google). YMMV.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #79 on: January 30, 2012, 02:41:40 AM »
 bjbjbjbjbj

Calach, thank you, that's exactly what I wanted...

now to try on my slinky little Purple Nightdress. Cheers.
两只老外, 两只老外,跑得快,跑得快,
一个是老酒鬼,一个是老色鬼,真奇怪, 真奇怪

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #80 on: January 30, 2012, 03:43:56 AM »
I have a question about smartphones.  I am back in Canada now.  My cell phone from China is way too old and probably can't take a SIM. 

The cost to get a phone is ludicrous.  They want $70.00/month for 3 years for an IPhone or Android PLUS $160.00 for the phone.   I doubt I spent $70/year on my cell in China.

Only reason I was thinking about getting a cell phone is I live in the country and the only way I can get internet is through a dish (not satellite), however, the damn thing doesn't work when we have an ice storm.  We have had 2 ice storms already this month and I teach online.  No internet no classes and no money.  Also the students are getting pissed off (so am I) cuz they have no idea why I am not online and I have no way to even tell them.  I could get a stick but they don't work very well and I still need a 3 year contract and it is $40/mo.

I could get a cell phone as it would work as a 'hot spot' so I could still use my laptop.  I am just not sure how much I would actually use the phone otherwise.  I wonder if I could get a cell in China and then get a SIM for it here.  Would that be a less expensive way to go?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.   akakakakak akakakakak
Be kind to dragons for thou are crunchy when roasted and taste good with brie.

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #81 on: January 30, 2012, 04:21:49 AM »
jebus,

looking at all those links and my head is spinning...

I might postpone surgery for a while, see what I can do with the phone as is... most importantly, it seems, get the VPN working, and get app store up and running....

两只老外, 两只老外,跑得快,跑得快,
一个是老酒鬼,一个是老色鬼,真奇怪, 真奇怪

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #82 on: January 30, 2012, 02:07:45 PM »
I use Pleco Chinese character recognition,  dictionaries/translator  on my iPhone and it's great software. It is now available for Android.

http://www.penn-olson.com/2012/01/26/pleco-dictionary-android/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PennOlson+%28Penn+Olson+%7C+Techin.asia%29


I thoroughly recommend Pleco for Android. As it's Beta testing atm, it's free until about June. What to do after then is beyond me...

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #83 on: January 30, 2012, 07:38:30 PM »
so - how many people here are happily using android in China, and if so, HOW?

it seems like GFW has closed off anything that is remotely google-related, this including app stores, thereby making it all but unusable.

It seems like I'm going to have to do the following, which I am neither suited to nor happy about...

1. root my phone, and install an international version of android, one that isn't full of crap Chinese apps that aren't google-related..

2. get my apps each time via the following ridiculous workaround - turn on airplane mode, turn on wifi, turn on VPN - then go to app market...

the thing is, I can't even register my phone with gmail as it is (this page is blocked off - can't even get to it with VPN - must be the chinese firm ware)

so... what the hell am I to do? I just wish I had an Iphone instead... I'm not fit for all this...
两只老外, 两只老外,跑得快,跑得快,
一个是老酒鬼,一个是老色鬼,真奇怪, 真奇怪

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #84 on: January 31, 2012, 12:50:15 AM »
I'm happily using Android by more or less not using any Google-related apps. I do use the pre-installed news and weather app, genie widget I believe it's called, and I'm moderately certain it accesses Google News to do its thing. But I haven't tried the Market in a long while. And, actually, news seems to be that we won't be seeing it directly for some time to come. But I don't know why a Velvet Pantie Night wouldn't get you there. Maybe ask their support staff?

In the past, before the great Megaupload downheaval and the voluntary whatever-it-is the other filesharing sites did, I'd get my apps in apk form through Mobilism. Itz a cracked software forum. (Given some reasonable utility and cost model--and an accessible service, dammit--, I'd pay like anyone else--try before you buy would be great, never displaying ads would be super--but until then, it's been too easy to get these things for zip--or it was when there were free and anon file upload sites, but now I don't know.) If you are going to download your own apks this or some similar way, you'll need first to find and somehow install a file manager app. Astro is good.

Meanwhile, the Vestigial Princess Nubbin really doesn't work?


(Re the ridiculous work-around, you don't want your data service on all the time anyway... big battery drainer.)
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

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Monkey King

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #85 on: January 31, 2012, 12:58:52 AM »
Ugh, it's new phone time for me and I am sure I will be where Fozz is now very shortly, i.e. lost and yearning for my first Nokia which could only call and send texts.

On a related note is that sexy looking Samsung Google Nexus available in China yet or not?  No sign of it at Xujiahui this weekend as fas as I could tell.  I wont be able to use it but I want it.

Quote from: Fozzwaldus
...or do I need to 'root' it which sounds like something that I would make a terrible mess out of.

...must resist temptation...to make crap joke...I think a 'LOL' response is in order here...

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #86 on: January 31, 2012, 01:13:20 AM »
I was going to say that someone should find a Chinese cracker site for their android apps, but it's China that's producing such android viruses as there are. But what do the Chinese do, I wonder? Biggest uptake of smartphones in the world, and no market? Students almost always have their wifi turned on, it seems to me. They all use the internet service provided by their phone company. Betcha there's some kind of pseudo market somewhere, working like Baidu, offering pirated software. And probably all in Chinese.

I will say this about romming your phone: it's rather like losing the phone's virginity. Whatever you put on there in place of the original software is always something less than was there before. I mean, the companies that make the user interfaces are putting effort into producing a likeable commercial product, while the rommers are, at best, hackers that will eventually be hired by those companies (Cyanogen went to Samsung), but more often they're amateur cooks mixing up some batch of something that's interesting to them. Romming is the high school prom of phone love.

The moral: back up everything before you rom. Your phone can be born again.

Rooting, by contrast, is high-minded and elevating.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #87 on: January 31, 2012, 01:52:44 AM »
@MK - my advice, get an Iphone. Get an older model that's less expensive, it will give you eveything you need with nowhere near as much heartache. Some people enjoy this, I don't.

@Calach - VPN works, the workaround with VPN takes me to US android market... however, there's something about my phone, most likely the firmware on my phone, that won't allow me to register it with google, (this seems to be the first step for most android users) and this diallows me from actually downloading anything from the market.

I just want fecking pleco and a couple of other bloody everyday apps!

What I think I'll do is (if I persist and still can't get this sorted out) is give her a quick root, then install the international Samsung software on it, thereby restoring her maidenhood, and pretend that nothing ever happened (look, there's blood on the sheet! let the people of the town rejoice! )

Now, as far as I've been able to ascertain in my 2 days of frustrated googling, there are tons of app stores out there in Chinese inter-land, but they are riddled with all sorts of malicious things that you wouldn't want to put your root anywhere near.

One more question Calach - you posted a link above to

'back to samsung: flash original firmware', this link takes me to a list of things that I don't understand. Which one would you suggest that I choose? They all look location specific, if I chose an Irish one would it let me use it back in Ireland over the summer?

I obviously have no clue what I'm talking about. 
两只老外, 两只老外,跑得快,跑得快,
一个是老酒鬼,一个是老色鬼,真奇怪, 真奇怪

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #88 on: January 31, 2012, 03:28:32 AM »
Oh, it gets worse... there's actually a lot more firmwares available.

In that link it's a bit more obvious that the firmware you choose depends on what model Galaxy S II you have. It is an i9000, right? But which one? (Or if it's not an i9000, which one anyway?) Look in:

Menu > Settings > About phone

I *THINK* the info you need is whatever your phone reports for:

PDA:
Phone:
CSC:

Then go looking online for some firmware which is the same except doesn't include ZC (China, Hong Kong), ZH (Hong Kong), ZS (China, Hong Kong), or ZT (Taiwan), and in particular doesn't have any of those Z bits in the CSC... but as to exactly which one...

Reading suggests the only thing you in particular want to change is the CSC. I *THINK* what you're looking for is some firmware in which PDA, Phone, and CSC have at least the same LAST three letters and numbers as your current PDA, Phone and CSC variously do, but which have no ZC, ZH, ZS, nor ZT anywhere. If you find such a thing, you'll get the same phone you have now with some other localisation, not Chinese.

If you want to also update the android version, then PDA and Phone can change too. ("Phone" isn't the phone itself, it's part of the phone operating system and can be updated, but to what.... I don't know which is best, I don't know Samsungs.)


*crosses fingers*
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

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old34

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #89 on: January 31, 2012, 03:56:08 AM »
How will Google's recently announced NEW [anti] Privacy Policy, from which there is reportedly no opt-out, affect Android phone users? Will all your devices-computer, laptop, phone-with which you use signed-in Google services (Google Mail, Google Search, Google+, Youtube, Picassa, Android Apps, etc.) be aggregated to a profile of everything you do and what devices you do it from?

Just asking.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.