Smartphones

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mlaeux

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #285 on: January 06, 2013, 05:04:57 PM »
I just bought a cheap Lenovo Android phone (idea phone A326). I got it because it was Cinderella blue and I thought it would be easier to send text messages. It's not.   llllllllll

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Stil

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #286 on: January 06, 2013, 06:40:21 PM »
Why would you think the colour of the phone would make it easier to send text messages?  mmmmmmmmmm

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #287 on: January 06, 2013, 07:54:28 PM »
I just bought a cheap Lenovo Android phone (idea phone A326). I got it because it was Cinderella blue and I thought it would be easier to send text messages. It's not.   llllllllll

Is it a keyboard issue? Personally, I find touch screen keyboards formally less useable than the real keyboards on, say, a candybar dumbphone, but there's a few ways to make them easier. For instance, opt for a T9 layout (has 9 keys, like a dialpad), and use predictive text and common error correction. I do that. Even on a big screen, a full keyboard is just too fiddly.

The HTC_IME has a good T9 layout (and works for Android 2.3.7 and lower, but you'll need to know how to install an apk...), and I haven't tried every Android keyboard, but I like, and presently use, the T9 on Smart Keyboard (which might also be found here).


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« Last Edit: January 06, 2013, 08:00:20 PM by Calach Pfeffer »
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mlaeux

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #288 on: January 06, 2013, 10:07:28 PM »
Quote
Why would you think the color of the phone would make it easier to send text messages?  

LOL!  ahahahahah

Quote
The HTC_IME has a good T9 layout (and works for Android 2.3.7 and lower, but you'll need to know how to install an apk...), and I haven't tried every Android keyboard, but I like, and presently use, the T9 on Smart Keyboard (which might also be found here).

I'm looking into that now. Thanks for the heads up.  bfbfbfbfbf

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piglet

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #289 on: January 22, 2013, 06:00:39 AM »
That's it ordered me Samsung galaxy III arriving in a week late self-birthday prezzy  akakakakak bhbhbhbhbh
For people who like peace and quiet - a phoneless cord

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piglet

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #290 on: February 01, 2013, 09:15:50 AM »
Got ma Galaxy S3 and it is bloody BRILLIANT Mr Piglet is cursing cos I have ignored him since it arrived  akakakakak
For people who like peace and quiet - a phoneless cord

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #291 on: March 30, 2013, 02:02:26 AM »
AOKP on my i9300

So normally by now I would have tried out Cyanogenmod at least, but there's a few things been standing in the way. One, I'm not sure if it's all Android 4 versions or what, but I keep seeing people recommending factory data resets (and cache/dalvik cache wipes) before upgrading, which is fine and cool but it means all your settings and apps do NOT carry over into the new install. You have to be ready to start from scratch again. Now that could be fine, but there's two.

Two, installing Android 4.2 does something to your sdcard. The way 4.2 handles disk access is new, or something (and this is actually a good thing because it makes proper file security features available for Android... or something). And as a result, you need the latest clockworkmod and you need to screw around with directories if you end up wanting to back to an earlier 4.x.

But worst of all, there's three.

Three, Samsung is keeping i9300 hardware information of some kind back from outside software developers. Without that information the devs are unable to make i9300 specific mods. This is annoying in particular because, as we all know, there are several versions of Galaxy S3, and it's only the "international", aka the i9300, for which this information is still unreleased. (It's released for the other versions because the other versions are not solely owned by Samsung... or something... and the other owners have let it slip out or given it away.) This means the outside developers are taking a much longer time than usual to produce "stable" i9300 mods, and maybe that even when it is stable, it's not as optimized as it might be for the hardware.

So I've been waiting.

But the Galaxy S4 has been released, and Samsung has said there will be an official Android 4.2 released (eventually) for the S3, and I had some time today so I figured I'd experiment with such mods as there are because when the official 4.2 comes out I'll presumably be wiping everything anyway. (Come to think of it, that may not make sense....)

So, long story short, I tried out AOKP. Specifically, the MR1-build 6. It's kinda not worth it. Which is a damn shame because AOKP is the coming thing for Android modders. It's a lot like Cyanogen but more customizable, they say, and it has unicorns. (No, really, it has.) But compared to Samsung's official Touchwiz Android 4.1.1, the latest AOKP with Android 4.2.2 is immediately slower (which it shouldn't be), uglier (which maybe it shouldn't be) and makes the phone run hotter (which may not be true but it felt like it to me). Things like pinch-to-zoom are less responsive, which is enough of a deal-breaker I really didn't give the rom that much more opportunity. I reinstalled my old setup (which was a small ordeal in itself, and still isn't over yet, but was basically easy enough).

Tomorrow maybe I'll have a crack at Cyanogen 10.1 and see if it's likeable.

Anyone else have any experiences?


/blog
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #292 on: March 31, 2013, 11:23:08 PM »
Cyanogenmod 10.1 on my i9300

Well, the short version is it's way better than AOKP. But there's still the ugly system fonts and the pinch-to-zoom thing. Samsung Touchwiz seems too have an accelerating zoom: if you pinch a little, it zooms a litte; if you pinch more, it zooms more than just the more you pinched. This makes Touchwiz seem relatively more responsive. To, for instance, view this site at some sensible maginification needs one, maybe two--squeegies? What's the opposite of a pinch? Anyway, where one, maybe two, are needed under Touchwiz, two, maybe three, are needed under Cyanogen. Which is a shame because other than that, Cyanogenmod is great. Where Touchwiz is slick (beyond the noteable exception of the supremely ugly phone dialer, why, Samsung, why?!), Cyanogen is useable. It looks good, it works well, it has the apps a real person uses (besides Genie Widget... that's in there because nerds get nostaligic). And with gapps as an easy add-on package, it's a relatively easy way to re-Google your Android phone inside China.

Since fast touch response and pretty visuals are pretty much the reasons to want to screw around updating to Android 4.2, I personally will hold off committing to Cyanogen for the mo'. If it weren't for the i9300 version being less stable than pretty much any other version, I'd probably be using it now. For shame Samsung, for shame!
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #293 on: April 14, 2013, 05:08:50 PM »
Got myself an iPhone 5 yesterday, giving the Lenovo to my husband.

Basically, after using my kids' iPad, I realized that I really wanted a phone that could have all of  *that*. I'm relatively comfortable with tecchie stuff, but I am not a patient person and could not handle the rooting etc. stuff for the Android. With the Android I was basically confined to what I could find on the Chinese app store, which was ok. I could watch TV shows, play Angry Birds, look up maps, etc. But I wanted more out of my phone.

Also, the Lenovo was great for about the first 3 months or so. Then, the OS started having problems. Freezing up, certain apps unresponsive, etc. It is still totally usable, and the problems would only appear every so often, certainly not daily or even weekly, but irritating nonetheless. However, I do think Lenovo makes a great little phone for the price. My mom has a similarly priced TCL smartphone and the Lenovo blows it out of the water. The TCL is very sluggish compared to the Lenovo. My dad has a low-end Samsung Galaxy and I'd say my Lenovo is just about as fast as that, although neither are as quick as the iPhone, obviously.

The one thing about the iPhone is that the paranoid side of me is wary of putting all of my ill-gotten music, videos, and books on iTunes. Am I being all tinfoil hat about this or is that a legit concern?

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Stil

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #294 on: April 15, 2013, 02:21:59 AM »

The one thing about the iPhone is that the paranoid side of me is wary of putting all of my ill-gotten music, videos, and books on iTunes. Am I being all tinfoil hat about this or is that a legit concern?


Don't worry about that. If you wanted, you could sign up for iTunes match and all your music would be matched and kept in some cloud somewhere. It's even up-sampled if your version is low quality. No questions asked. If there isn't a match, your file can be uploaded. It's something like $25 a year but you could do it once then quit and all your music would be 'legal'.

Or you could do what I do and ignore it all. There's no way that anyone can do anything to you for having unlocked music. It's the actual torrenting/downloading that the companies sue about and you are not going to be ratted out by your ISP in China to the States.

I use iTunes Canada/US/China with no issues.

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #295 on: April 15, 2013, 02:54:52 AM »
Oh that's good. I torrent the hell out of everything but you're right, I'm in China and it isn't like Gehua Cable is going to send a list of torrenters to the States. I'll synch up my iTunes then and not worry about it. bfbfbfbfbf

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piglet

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #296 on: April 15, 2013, 04:48:00 AM »
The itunes garbage is the reason I went for the Galaxy over the iPhone. It's just plug in drag and drop I Lurve it.
For people who like peace and quiet - a phoneless cord

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old34

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #297 on: April 15, 2013, 05:43:01 AM »
Stuff (music, video, books) you download or rip from wherever get transferred to your iPhone or iPad seamlessly through iTunes on your computer and the USB connector. Without jailbreaking or any other tricks. No DRM checks or any of that. Apple never messes with what you have on your computer iTunes.

As Stil mentioned, if you CHOOSE to, you can pay Apple $25 a year for iTunes Match and they WILL upload your entire library to their service, legitimize it, and then re-download up-sampled OFFICIAL versions of your songs to you at no extra cost. But if you ignore the iTunes Match option, nothing will happen to your library of songs, videos and books.

I've never bought a song from Apple iTunes...and never lost one of the 1275+ songs I have in iTunes.

You can even drag and drop that stuff through iTunes (but you need to know what you're doing to do that-iTunes isn't the most intuitive UI for that). Spend a half-hour reading the FAQ.  :RTFM:

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.

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NATO

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Re: Smartphones
« Reply #298 on: April 15, 2013, 06:20:29 PM »
Girlfriend's phone just broke, she wants a new one. She wants a big screen 4.7" upwards I guess and a major brand running Android. She's had 2 xiaomi's and is sick of them and won't trust the unknown brands. 3000 big ones is the budget, any suggestions?

I was thinking Galaxy S3 or HTC Butterfly, but both of these are a bit too far north of 3000 still.

Re: Smartphones
« Reply #299 on: April 15, 2013, 06:58:37 PM »
There are various S3 models available in China. Some of them are still 3500+, and some 16GB i9300's and i747's are less than 3000. Dunno what the differences are. But I am expecting that sometime in the next two months Samsung will update the i9300 (and other Samsung devices) to Android 4.2.2, and that's about as Android as you can get at the moment

Then also Key Lime Pie (Android 5.0) will come out, supposedly in May, and I read that some of the S3 models will eventually (like 6 to 12 months later) be updated to that too (but I don't know which ones, although the i9300 seems a good bet).

I still like my i9300. I haven't dropped it as much as I thought I would. Presumably the new phone slickness goes away or I just got used to it. It is still a smidge too large to comfortably carry in jeans pocket (unless you never sit down), but it's easy and comfortable to use as an actual phone and I can stream Youku videos in the bathroom with this thing and that just does change what you expect from a phone.

Never seen, heard of, or touched a HTC Butterfly, so I don't know how they'd compare.


A propos of nothing, I wondered today if Android would make it very far beyond Android 6. I get the impression they might be getting near their conceptual limit. (I have no basis for claiming this.) We'll see what 5.0 brings anyway.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0