Mobile General Mobile Phone Thread

[xi0]

I was sort of confused about them using a brand name treat as the code name, and then saw its cross-promotion, lol

Well, seems like Verizon phones always get the newest version of Android last anyway, oh well. Plus, I haven't really tweaked anything as far as the UI on my phone goes. Samsung does their own thing when it comes to that.

 

[Doraku]

Finally decided to go with Samsung Galaxy S4 Duos. With the exception of its battery life, so far I like what I got. This is my first time with Android as well, might need a little time to adapt to the interface and apps.

 

[Charlie]

Let us know - how you find it, like not like, etc.

 

[Knifeshade]

Apple announces iPhone 5S and 5C today.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/0...es-hands-on-with-the-iphone-5s-and-iphone-5c/

Can't help but not see the Nokia Lumia 620 in the 5C.

5S looks.....boring, actually. The fingerprint sensor is a neat security feature though.

 

[goldb]

5S looks.....boring, actually. The fingerprint sensor is a neat security feature though.

Watching and reading of the reviews online, this is the only feature that appealed to me, the rest is nothing really new or progressive imo. It'll be interesting to see which next brand adapts the fingerprint sensor.

Guess it's on to next year or whenver the 6 comes out. It's good to see Apple releasing an affordable line of mobiles, that was always one of the biggest complaints from people.

 

[Knifeshade]

Yeah, you're not the only one who thinks that. The takeaway feeling is that Apple has stopped innovating. Besides the fingerprint reader, nothing really "popped out". A speedier SoC? Not surprising, it's a given with any new release at this point. M7 co-processor? Nothing we haven't seen, Moto-X gave us a glimpse of what co-processors can help with. A focus on camera? Not something we haven't seen, we saw the HTC One and how they proved that bigger sensors equals less noise and better low-light performance.

iOS 7? Eh, I'm still on the fence with it, I personally haven't tried it yet. But the feeling I had back at the WWDC revealing is that it's more "catch-up" rather than "complete redesign".

And not to bag on Apple, because I feel the same way about Android on the software side too. Google's slowed down with the "big releases" (ala jumping from 2.3 to 4.0), and every new release (from 4.1 to 4.2 to 4.3) has been...minimal really. I wouldn't be surprised if 4.4 Kitkat followed the trend of minor refinements.

It's good to see Apple releasing an affordable line of mobiles, that was always one of the biggest complaints from people.

You've misunderstood. It's not "new" per se. The iPhone 5C shares the same guts as the iPhone 5. Just in a different outfit. So it's not new. Affordable? A lot of people (who are clued up) say otherwise, since it's basically last years phone (in plastic, rather than metal no less), and you can get the 5 for more or the less the same price.

The strategy isn't new either. When Apple releases a new iPhone, they always sell last year's model at a lower price. Just that they've dressed it up this year.

 

[M3J]

A lot of people have made the joke that the new iPhones are basically same ole. I think the fingerprint scanner is somewhat a bad idea unless it's backed by more security like pin.

 

[Doraku]

Let us know - how you find it, like not like, etc.

In general I love it. There are two problems that I feel vexing though, unfortunately. The first is its battery life; I think it's too short for a smartphone. I believe my iPhone could last longer than my Samsung. The second one is I still find some difficulties when I'm typing (I have fat hands).

Just had it rooted yesterday.

 

[Charlie]

Have you considered getting a replacement / spare battery?

There are also battery portable chargers, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/i-Sound-Portable-Power-iPhone-BlackBerry/dp/B00439G3WS

You can search around and find other versions or similar products of it for cheaper as well.

 

[M3J]

If you don't mind your phone being huge, try ZeroLemon. Works beautifully for my S3 (I have the S3 battery).

 

[Knifeshade]

With the battery life:

Download and install this when you've got a fullly charged battery:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.uzumapps.wakelockdetector&hl=en

Check the app at the end of the day and see what the meter reads.

With the typing thing:

Install Google's Keyboard. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin&hl=en

 

[xi0]

I think the Duos is the same as a regular S4, just with Duel-SIM. If that's the case, he should already have Samsung's swiping interface or Swype. I have both, but I use the former, works well enough for me.

Is there any difference between Google's keyboard and those other two?

 

[M3J]

I think Swifkey is the best keyboard app. No matter how off I typed, it still guessed correctly 98% of the time what I was trying to type. That's quite remarkable.

 

[Doraku]

So for Android users, what browsers are you using on your phone? I tried Opera because it seems the consensus of the community, but somehow I feel uncomfortable with the interface. Any recommendation?

 

[M3J]

I use Boat browser along with normal browser. Boat browser because it's mainly easy to back out and close the whole thing.

 

[Charlie]

I have opera, chrome and boat browser.
Opera on mobile works best for me whilst browsing mh.
All the other mobile web browsers seems to have some issues when i used them for mh.

Boat browser allows you to use the mutli task function or dual window mode iirc aswell on the samsung tablet.

 

[Sai]

I stick to Chrome browser for my phone because I like having all my information synced with my various other devices (iPad, Desktop, Laptop, other Android phones etc).

 

[goldb]

I stick to Chrome browser for my phone because I like having all my information synced with my various other devices (iPad, Desktop, Laptop, other Android phones etc).

Same here. It's so convenient being able to sync my browsing history; especially when I have to leave for somewhere in a hurry, I can carry on reading/ watching a link from my phone instead.

 

[kkck]

I use chrome and dolphin.

 

[kkck]

Not sure if this is the right thread but has anyone read on the new tegra 1k chip? I wonder if it really is as gamechanging as they say... 192 cores sounds impressive enough on paper but then again I am not that familiar with technology to know enough about this. Is it really as great as they say? The notion that a phone would be comparable to a console in terms of graphics and whatnot is mind-boggling at this stage... Any thoughts?