SmartPhones

[Patler]

OK, I gave up my shoulder carried, briefcase-size bagphone last weekend and bought a SmartPhone. The phone may be smart, but its owner/operator is pretty dumb.

What are some "have-to-haves" that I should download?

[Deputy Nutz]

I need me one of those, can anyone help me with what brand is quality. I don't want an Iphone

[HowardRoark]

Find something like this.......I find it pretty useful.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/can-i-drive-yet/id336370544?mt=8

[Patler]

Find something like this.......I find it pretty useful.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/can-i-drive-yet/id336370544?mt=8

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Patler]

I need me one of those, can anyone help me with what brand is quality. I don't want an Iphone

I was convinced to buy an HTC Inspire.

It has a 4.3" display that is bright with sharp contrast. I need all three for it to be useful to me.
HTC has been a leading cellphone manufacturer for years, but not under their own brand. They manufactured for others.
People I trust told me that HTC knows what they are doing and are very prompt with fixes.
I have been with AT&T for cell phones since my first one about 20 years ago. The companies have changed, I never have.

The real clincher is that I was due for an upgrade, AT&T wanted my old phone to go out of use and they gave me the HTC free.

[Zool]

Try not to use push apps. You'll be charging twice a day.

[SkinBasket]

Try not to use push apps. You'll be charging twice a day.

What the fuck does that even mean?!

You nerds and your lingo make me want to yell and throw babies.

[Patler]

Try not to use push apps. You'll be charging twice a day.


What the fuck does that even mean?!

You nerds and your lingo make me want to yell and throw babies.


Zool;

I'm not as viscerally affected as SkinBasket is, but you will have to explain it to me too. I have no idea what you meant.

[Zool]

There are apps that are constantly checking for updates. For example you can get chat apps that constantly check for new messages. There are games you can play with other people that are always looking for a play/move by the other person.

[SkinBasket]

GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
http://www.itstrulyrandom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/baby-in-air.jpg

[Patler]

There are apps that are constantly checking for updates. For example you can get chat apps that constantly check for new messages. There are games you can play with other people that are always looking for a play/move by the other person.

...and how can I possibly know if an app I am interested in does that??????

[Zool]

During the install it should ask you something to the effect of "do you want to turn on push notifications?"

[Patler]

During the install it should ask you something to the effect of "do you want to turn on push notifications?"

Oh. Yet another detail to try and remember. :-( :-(

[Scott Campbell]

I need me one of those, can anyone help me with what brand is quality. I don't want an Iphone


I really like the video reviews.

http://www.infosyncworld.com/smartphones/

[Scott Campbell]

What are some "have-to-haves" that I should download?


By far, the single most important program for you to get and master is Google Voice Search. It can transform the non techie user into a power user without them having to learn much at all. Watch the video here, and enjoy!

http://www.google.com/mobile/voice-search/

[Scott Campbell]

People I trust told me that HTC knows what they are doing and are very prompt with fixes.


I like HTC and am using one of their phones, but wouldn't necessarily agree with that. They're not any better or worse than any of the others. The people providing the real fixes and updates are the user community. Like many consumer electronics devices, manufacturers get products close enough to be able to do a release without getting sued. Then the user community finishes them off. Eventually. Hopefully.

Even Partial did the jailbreak to his iPhone.

[Patler]

By far, the single most important program for you to get and master is Google Voice Search. It can transform the non techie user into a power user without them having to learn much at all. Watch the video here, and enjoy!

http://www.google.com/mobile/voice-search/


That...is...AWESOME!!!!
I downloaded "Voice Search" and tried a couple. It was flawless.

Thanks Scott. I very much appreciate it.

[Scott Campbell]

That...is...AWESOME!!!!
I downloaded "Voice Search" and tried a couple. It was flawless.

Thanks Scott. I very much appreciate it.


For people wondering what the big deal is about smartphones, that app usually answers the question pretty definitively. :)

[MJZiggy]

Nutz, I still love my droid.

Patler, getting to know your phone is pretty much a matter of playing and looking for the things you like. As you're quickly finding out, there are apps that do everything. My sweetie's into movies, so we have movie apps on our phones that tell us what's playing where. We have an app that helps us find each other if we get separated. There are apps that can identify music, that can do e-mail and chat, I have one that works as a bubble lever, countdown timer, stopwatch and voice recorder. I have a kindle on my phone, and, of course, I couldn't live without Angry Birds!

[Freak Out]

I'm still using my unlocked Nexus One (HTC) and it still works great. The screen leaves A LOT to be desired in the sun but overall it's been a great phone. The new screens make them much more usable in direct sunlight so I will probably upgrade soon...kind of waiting for the Galaxy S 2. The one accessory you need Patler is the car dock (Well....I need it). Google navigation works fantastic and you will never pay for maps again. There are some limitations with using a smartphone for navigation but you wont encounter them often.

A desktop dock is nice...if the price is right.

[HowardRoark]

That...is...AWESOME!!!!
I downloaded "Voice Search" and tried a couple. It was flawless.

Thanks Scott. I very much appreciate it.

Never use 411 again....and it's a lot easier too; and it listens better those 411 operators.
That among many other things.......

[MJZiggy]

I'm still using my unlocked Nexus One (HTC) and it still works great. The screen leaves A LOT to be desired in the sun but overall it's been a great phone. The new screens make them much more usable in direct sunlight so I will probably upgrade soon...kind of waiting for the Galaxy S 2. The one accessory you need Patler is the car dock (Well....I need it). Google navigation works fantastic and you will never pay for maps again. There are some limitations with using a smartphone for navigation but you wont encounter them often.

A desktop dock is nice...if the price is right.
I drive an older car that has no bluetooth, so I love the FM car dock. It plays my phone through the FM tuner. Just be careful you're paying attention when choosing your navigation destination. There was one time, we were trying to go to Harper's Ferry WV, and learned that there is also a Harper's Ferry in Ohio. Good thing I basically knew where I was going...

[Patler]

Patler, getting to know your phone is pretty much a matter of playing and looking for the things you like. As you're quickly finding out, there are apps that do everything. My sweetie's into movies, so we have movie apps on our phones that tell us what's playing where. We have an app that helps us find each other if we get separated. There are apps that can identify music, that can do e-mail and chat, I have one that works as a bubble lever, countdown timer, stopwatch and voice recorder. I have a kindle on my phone, and, of course, I couldn't live without Angry Birds!

See, that's the problem for me. Aimlessly "playing" on it is not my thing.

Much of what you mentioned has come pre-installed on my phone. For texting, the keyboard has a mic feature that allows me to dictate the text message. That's part of Androids standard keyboard, apparently. It had the bubble level, timer, stopwatch and voice recorder.

A couple others sound interesting.

Games? Mine isn't likely to ever have one used by me!

[Scott Campbell]

There are some limitations with using a smartphone for navigation but you wont encounter them often.


The chief one being that if you're out of coverage, you're out of luck. I'd imagine you would encounter that more in AK than the rest of us would.

[Scott Campbell]

See, that's the problem for me. Aimlessly "playing" on it is not my thing.

Much of what you mentioned has come pre-installed on my phone. For texting, the keyboard has a mic feature that allows me to dictate the text message. That's part of Androids standard keyboard, apparently. It had the bubble level, timer, stopwatch and voice recorder.

A couple others sound interesting.

Games? Mine isn't likely to ever have one used by me!


Google Goggles. It does a bunch of other things, but what I like most is that it scans business cards and dumps them into your contacts. Sweet.

[MJZiggy]

Google Goggles. It does a bunch of other things, but what I like most is that it scans business cards and dumps them into your contacts. Sweet.

That I could use right now. I've never really paid attention to Goggles. Oh, and make sure you have a QR scanner.

[Partial]

The chief one being that if you're out of coverage, you're out of luck. I'd imagine you would encounter that more in AK than the rest of us would.

HTC caches maps so this isn't an issue (I don't think). Which is awesome.


I like HTC and am using one of their phones, but wouldn't necessarily agree with that. They're not any better or worse than any of the others. The people providing the real fixes and updates are the user community. Like many consumer electronics devices, manufacturers get products close enough to be able to do a release without getting sued. Then the user community finishes them off. Eventually. Hopefully.

Even Partial did the jailbreak to his iPhone.

Don't have an iPhone. With iOs 5 I don't see a need to jailbreak. HTC makes good stuff. They're about the only brand on phone I would consider beyond Apple because their industrial design is good.


Try not to use push apps. You'll be charging twice a day.

Push should give you the exact opposite effect. Would you rather be polling for new data every 10 seconds or take advantage of the 'always on persistant connection to the server' to push messages as needed?

Nuts, why are you opposed to an iPhone? If you're not going to get an iPhone, get a microsoft phone. I think Metro UI is the best thing to come out of Redmond in a very, very long time. Windows Mobile Mango sounds absolutely awesome. It has navigation, too, which is the only thing that Android beats anyone at.


Eerily similar to the 80's Mac/Windows battle for marketshare.

Android outsells the iPhone. More manufactures for the Android means not only more choices, but also quicker refreshes. We've seen this movie before, and we know how it ends.

I love what Apple is doing, but I don't see them dominating the space. One of them will be 1a, and one will be 1b.

There are Steve Jobs quotes floating about how he was vehemently against going for margin when they should have gone for market share. He says he will not let that mistake happen again.

I would bet my bottom dollar that Apple beats Google in market share for the Sep-Dec quarter this year. I don't see it swinging over again after that.

This link is from today and about how for both Verizon and ATT the iPhone is the best selling phone. You don't think Apple will win back the market share battle if they are the best selling phone on US Cell, ATT, Verizon, Sprint, TMobile, etc? Also, they are making huge grounds in China and investigating the prepaid market. I think they're just getting started and will beat out Android long term for sure.
http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/22/and-the-best-selling-smartphone-at-att-and-verizon-stores-is/

We've already seen how Apple dominates the handheld market when carrier isn't an issue. They have the tablet market by a complete strangler hold and have little chance of being beaten here. I've played with Honeycomb and it's a freaking tron disaster UI wise. No thanks!

This phone is a year old and still outselling the latest and greatest stuff. LTE phones are making too many sacrifices right now. They're all huge because the chips run hot, and the battery life is garbage. Even the normally design conscious HTC's Thunderbolt is hideous!


Interesting, because I know several. All were frustrated with the slow fixes on their iPhones for known problems. They convinced me to go with an HTC Inspire just recently. (Which, by the way, will be the subject for a new thread I am starting!)

I'm sure they're some. The death grip reception issue is a load of crap. The AT&T network issue is a result of AT&T and too many iPhones, not a technical issue with the phone. iPhone is the best selling phone for a reason. It's also the best reviewed smart phone by most major sites/companies.


http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/22/and-the-best-selling-smartphone-at-att-and-verizon-stores-is/

[Freak Out]

The chief one being that if you're out of coverage, you're out of luck. I'd imagine you would encounter that more in AK than the rest of us would.

Most phones use a combination of both but yes.....I have no need of it here really....just not that many roads. :) But down in America.....different story. Last week in San Diego my son used the Garmin that came with his rental and I used my phone. The phone was much easier to use (voice search) and gave better directions. The graphics were better and the turn by turn was just as good if not better.

[Freak Out]

My wife loves here iPhone....but they keep croaking on her. The 3g...now the 3gs is starting to go. She can get an upgrade in July....but I'm telling her to hold on until the 5 in September.

[Scott Campbell]

Nuts, why are you opposed to an iPhone? If you're not going to get an iPhone, get a microsoft phone.


Holy crap. Why not just tell him to go get a Palm while you're at it.

Microsoft tortures me enough on my desktop and my laptop. I'm not giving those bastards the opportunity to torture me with one of their phones.

[Scott Campbell]

This link is from today and about how for both Verizon and ATT the iPhone is the best selling phone. You don't think Apple will win back the market share battle if they are the best selling phone on US Cell, ATT, Verizon, Sprint, TMobile, etc?


Perhaps. But it's just one phone per carrier competing against an entire stable of Android phones. Your phone vs. phone comparison would be more accurate if there was just one phone for each - Apple and Google. But Google has a whole slew of phones on each carrier. The iPhone competes against all of them, not just one of them.

[Freak Out]

I don't hate the iPhone...I hate the fact that your tethered to iTunes and of course Apple. Did I tell you my iPad 2 story? So I buy my wife an ipad 2 for her birthday. She travels all the time so she can pack this slim baby around to do email and her facebook crap, movies...what ever. So it shows up and of course you have to sync the fucker with itunes...so we plug it into the MACBOOK she has and.....but wait! itunes must be upgraded before the sync can continue. So we try and update itunes but oh no! OSx needs to be upgraded to Snow Kitty before itunes can be updated! Ya....fuck you Apple. Luckily I had a copy of Snow Leopard laying around I had bought to make a hackintosh with.

[Scott Campbell]

I still don't get tablets (iPad and others). You can surf the web on them pretty well, but as soon as you want to email or do anything else that requires input, people put them down and go grab their laptops.

It's definitely cool. But is it really useful?

[Freak Out]

I use mine every day for work. I have all the spreadsheets and docs on it that I need for field QA work...input can take a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it you're golden. I was always a big pen and paper/checklist guy but no longer....I can finish an audit or inspection and email the results to a customer in multiple formats with one swipe. It's a pretty nice tool if you use it right.

[HowardRoark]

I've got a snow conitoon app and it says Snowbird still has 4 chairs running.......is that true?

Edit, that was suppose to be directed at Scott.

[Partial]

I don't hate the iPhone...I hate the fact that your tethered to iTunes and of course Apple. Did I tell you my iPad 2 story? So I buy my wife an ipad 2 for her birthday. She travels all the time so she can pack this slim baby around to do email and her facebook crap, movies...what ever. So it shows up and of course you have to sync the fucker with itunes...so we plug it into the MACBOOK she has and.....but wait! itunes must be upgraded before the sync can continue. So we try and update itunes but oh no! OSx needs to be upgraded to Snow Kitty before itunes can be updated! Ya....fuck you Apple. Luckily I had a copy of Snow Leopard laying around I had bought to make a hackintosh with.

Yep. This has taken far too long to be addressed. With iCloud and iOs 5, this is no longer an issue, and thank god. iTunes is so big and bloated now. I cannot stand it.

iCloud is ridiculously awesome. I've been playing around with the beta on my work iPod touch and iPad2.

When I get the iPhone 5, it will be great to be able to shoot photos on the go, and have them seamlessly synched with my other computers. I almost never sync photos right now because it's a huge pain to manage. Photo stream will take care of that.

Here is a quick rundown of iCloud for those interested. Hate the name, love the idea. This far exceeds Android's web capabilities for those wondering. It gets rid of the pain of multiple devices. This is great. It basically turns a computer into a thin client. It will be awesome to be able to login to any mac, and have it have my preferences pre-populated, my documents accessible, etc. Now if only US broadband speeds can get up to speed with the rest of the world...

http://www.apple.com/icloud/what-is.html

I cannot wait to have seamless synching between all of my devices. My work documents can now seamlessly be transferred to my personal computer, iPad, etc. This is like dropbox without having to use any effort or fighting to get it to work with media organizers (iTunes, iPhoto, etc).


Holy crap. Why not just tell him to go get a Palm while you're at it.

Microsoft tortures me enough on my desktop and my laptop. I'm not giving those bastards the opportunity to torture me with one of their phones.

Dude Windows Phone is actually really cool. The tablet interface for Windows 8 also looks really compelling. It's a completely different way to look at things, and surprisingly it actually works pretty darn well. I like it almost as much as iOs.

[Kiwon]

I was going to start a similar thread because I'll be changing phones in about six weeks and I have no idea what I want. :roll:

I'm not a Google or Apple fan. I don't use Facebook or Twitter but I do use Skype. I won't be watching movies but I will be watching some baseball. I will be doing a ton of texting and a decent camera would be nice (no, I am not related to Anthony Weiner). :p

So smart phone or tablet? Any suggestions?

[retailguy]

I don't hate the iPhone...I hate the fact that your tethered to iTunes and of course Apple. Did I tell you my iPad 2 story? So I buy my wife an ipad 2 for her birthday. She travels all the time so she can pack this slim baby around to do email and her facebook crap, movies...what ever. So it shows up and of course you have to sync the fucker with itunes...so we plug it into the MACBOOK she has and.....but wait! itunes must be upgraded before the sync can continue. So we try and update itunes but oh no! OSx needs to be upgraded to Snow Kitty before itunes can be updated! Ya....fuck you Apple. Luckily I had a copy of Snow Leopard laying around I had bought to make a hackintosh with.

This is why I don't own anything Apple.

I am, however, considering an Ipad. Really cool apps for pilot navigation that I may find useful. I will never use itunes.

My last Windows mobile phone got pitched into the river. (seriously) NEVER AGAIN. NEVER.

[HowardRoark]

This is why I don't own anything Apple.

I am, however, considering an Ipad. Really cool apps for pilot navigation that I may find useful. I will never use itunes.

My last Windows mobile phone got pitched into the river. (seriously) NEVER AGAIN. NEVER.

What do you mean by pilot navigation? Which ones?

[Scott Campbell]

I was going to start a similar thread because I'll be changing phones in about six weeks and I have no idea what I want. :roll:

I'm not a Google or Apple fan. I don't use Facebook or Twitter but I do use Skype. I won't be watching movies but I will be watching some baseball. I will be doing a ton of texting and a decent camera would be nice (no, I am not related to Anthony Weiner). :p

So smart phone or tablet? Any suggestions?


I think Apple has a better camera than pretty much everybody else.

[Scott Campbell]

I've got a snow conitoon app and it says Snowbird still has 4 chairs running.......is that true?

Edit, that was suppose to be directed at Scott.


Check out their YTD snowfall - damn near 800 inches.

They often open up on July 4th, but it's novelty skiing. The snow sucks.

[Freak Out]

Yep. This has taken far too long to be addressed. With iCloud and iOs 5, this is no longer an issue, and thank god. iTunes is so big and bloated now. I cannot stand it.

iCloud is ridiculously awesome. I've been playing around with the beta on my work iPod touch and iPad2.

When I get the iPhone 5, it will be great to be able to shoot photos on the go, and have them seamlessly synched with my other computers. I almost never sync photos right now because it's a huge pain to manage. Photo stream will take care of that.

Here is a quick rundown of iCloud for those interested. Hate the name, love the idea. This far exceeds Android's web capabilities for those wondering. It gets rid of the pain of multiple devices. This is great. It basically turns a computer into a thin client. It will be awesome to be able to login to any mac, and have it have my preferences pre-populated, my documents accessible, etc. Now if only US broadband speeds can get up to speed with the rest of the world...

http://www.apple.com/icloud/what-is.html

I cannot wait to have seamless synching between all of my devices. My work documents can now seamlessly be transferred to my personal computer, iPad, etc. This is like dropbox without having to use any effort or fighting to get it to work with media organizers (iTunes, iPhoto, etc).



Dude Windows Phone is actually really cool. The tablet interface for Windows 8 also looks really compelling. It's a completely different way to look at things, and surprisingly it actually works pretty darn well. I like it almost as much as iOs.

First impressions of icloud are positive.....and pricing seems reasonable to boot. The Windows phone I saw was pretty cool and mango or whatever the hell the beta build is should just make it better. The hardware is lacking somewhat but we'll see what Nokia can do along with some others.

[Zool]

I was going to start a similar thread because I'll be changing phones in about six weeks and I have no idea what I want. :roll:

I'm not a Google or Apple fan. I don't use Facebook or Twitter but I do use Skype. I won't be watching movies but I will be watching some baseball. I will be doing a ton of texting and a decent camera would be nice (no, I am not related to Anthony Weiner). :p

So smart phone or tablet? Any suggestions?

The battery life from an iPhone to anything else is night and day. I like the android phones but everyone I know who has one is charging minimum nightly and most of them charge while at work as well.

Apple's hardware is more sturdy and I prefer the UI to the driods but they both have their merits. If you you iPhone, go Verizon. AT&T's 3g is quite terrible, at least where I live.

[Scott Campbell]

The battery life from an iPhone to anything else is night and day.

I believe most of that is due to screen size. There's no getting around the power consumption issues with these massive screens they're putting out on Android right now. Not only is the power consumption a problem, the form factor of the phone suffers too. I even think the iPhone is a little too big.

I have a 3.2 screen on my Hero right now, and I really don't want to go any bigger.

[Freak Out]

Maybe on an iPhone 4.....my wife has had nothing but problems with battery life on her 3G and 3GS.

[Partial]

I was going to start a similar thread because I'll be changing phones in about six weeks and I have no idea what I want. :roll:

I'm not a Google or Apple fan. I don't use Facebook or Twitter but I do use Skype. I won't be watching movies but I will be watching some baseball. I will be doing a ton of texting and a decent camera would be nice (no, I am not related to Anthony Weiner). :p

So smart phone or tablet? Any suggestions?

I would wait the 10 weeks or so and get an iPhone 5. It'll have a much better camera than anything else out if they continue with tradition.

[Scott Campbell]

I would wait the 10 weeks or so and get an iPhone 5. It'll have a much better camera than anything else out if they continue with tradition.


I think that is true for the most part. I think HTC has built a couple of phones with decent cameras, but for the most phones they lag behind Apple. Either way there are plenty of image samples out there from any of the released phones to see for yourself before purchasing.

[retailguy]

What do you mean by pilot navigation? Which ones?

Sorry, I just saw this. I've been traveling this week.

I'm very impressed with foreflight - http://www.foreflight.com/ipad



Preflight Intelligence™

ForeFlight Mobile HD is the latest evolution of our critically acclaimed app for pilots, now optimized for the iPhone and the iPad. The app provides access to high quality weather, airport intelligence, A/FD, service providers, flight planning, and much more. ForeFlight customers are part of a passionate community of aviators that enjoy the benefits of real-time support, quick fixes, frequent updates, and personable service.


Map it all out

ForeFlight Mobile HD includes our new Slip Maps™ technology, capable of displaying your route on a huge selection of geo-referenced maps: radar, satellite, IFR enroute (high or low), VFR sectional, fuel prices, flight rules, winds, temperatures, dew point spreads, ceilings, sky coverage, lightning, and more.

Our ultra-clear, no-noise High-Definition NEXRAD Radar and Satellite slip maps display lightning, hail, mesocyclone activity in portrait and full-screen landscape mode.

Our touch planning feature, available on iPhone and iPad, let's you tap your way to build your flight plan - drag your route line around weather and quickly build up your trip!


Plates and Procedures

Need terminal procedures or plates for your flight? Download procedure volumes by state, by airport, or one at a time. ForeFlight Mobile HD provides download methods that suit your needs. Away from a fast WiFi connection? Just download a couple airports or one state's worth. Connected to a big pipe? Slurp down the whole U.S.

Create binders of your favorite plates for each trip you fly. Then access them with a single tap when it's time to brief the procedure!

Want to bring along your own custom procedures? Just use our new "Bring your own procedures" (BYOP) feature! Learn more here.

Want to see your aircraft on the plates? We offer that as an optional add-on. Learn more here. Geo-referencing information is provided through our license to Seattle Avionics' ChartData technology.


Also, if this gets off the ground, wow, it'd be almost priceless!

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/reviews/the-auto-pilot-ipad-app


Finally, you can read about a bunch of other stuff here:

http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/products/pilot-supplies/20-new-ipad-apps.html



There is one more app, that includes all charts and airport info, it's about $25 bucks a year, but I can't find it right now.


It opens up impressive possibilities for a GA private pilot, and I'll probably buy one soon only for this reason. I'd wait for the android tablets, but why? I'll just NEVER put any music on it.

[Brando19]

I'm so sick of my Blackberry. I went to US Cellular yesterday and I really like the HTC Desire. The reviews are good on this phone and I think I'm gonna get it this week. The camera is 5 mp.

[SkinBasket]

I always want to check out new phones, but all those black guys skulking around in durags in the cell phone stores make me uncomfortable. I mean, how am I supposed to focus on all those features if I'm just worried about who's got a gun and who doesn't?

[swede]

I'm concerned that Patler will get too smart of a phone. If the phone synchs with Patler's brain waves it could lead to the rise of the machines foretold by The Matrix, Terminator, I Robot, and Space Odyssey 2001.

Open the Pod Bay door, Patler.

[Partial]

I'm so sick of my Blackberry. I went to US Cellular yesterday and I really like the HTC Desire. The reviews are good on this phone and I think I'm gonna get it this week. The camera is 5 mp.

It's kind of outdated. I would wait. It's essentially a Nexus One, which came out last Januaryish, so it's 17 months old already.

[Scott Campbell]

I'm going to keep my Hero as long as I can. It's almost 2 years old, but works great thanks to the user community and custom ROM development. Sprint now charges $10 extra per line ($50 per month for all 5 of mine) for their new smartphones, so it'll take something pretty good to get me to update. Here's what I'm looking for:

1) Decent camera. It doesn't have to be a point and shoot replacement, just good enough for shots you can keep. Most of the cameras out there now are junk - except for the iPhone.
2) 720P or better video. And it needs to look decent, not just meet the technical spec.
3) 2nd front facing camera for Skype like functionality.
4) Latest generation processor for lightning quick response.
5) Figure out the battery issues.
6) Screen sizes need to shrink back down to the size of my Hero. These things are supposed to be portable.

I'm content to just keep waiting.

[retailguy]

So, my contract is up with Sprint at the end of the summer (Sept, I believe).

We have been with Sprint since 2002, and never planned to leave until this last deal. When we moved, we got phones for the girls. It necessitated a plan change. Suffice it to say, it got all screwed up, took 45 days to know it was all screwed up, and Sprint basically told me to either pay more to get what I was promised, or shut up and endure the contract. This was with customer retention, who had always been good to me.

I honestly can't wait until this is up, as I will not sign another contract. I'm done with them (contracts).

Any suggestions as to what I can do? We've got 4 phones on a plan called "anytime messaging". We were promised one smart phone (for my wife), I have one through work, and three basic lines with unlimited messaging, and 1500 minutes shared. It was supposed to be the new sprint any mobile deal, but yeah, they misrepresented that too.

I have a 25% discount through them and pay a little less than 100 including taxes.

What would you do if you were me? The bill is nice, as is the discount, but secondary to the service. My wife needs the smartphone that we got elsewhere for the last year, and going without it isn't an option. I have a BB through work, so it isn't really important for me. I don't want the girls to even have internet access so their phones can be simple. Unlimited texts of course, but they only use a couple hundred minutes each.

Any advice appreciated.

[Scott Campbell]

Typical Sprint customer service. It's a test of endurance getting anything done with them. I think it's by design. Nobody can be that incompetent making a real effort. I think many people give up and end up paying more than they agreed to originally.

I'd like to say there are better carriers out there, but it's pretty bad everywhere. And you can lump the cable internet and satellite TV companies in there too. I think it's now the nature of that business model.

[Freak Out]

tmobile has some good no contract plans....but they are being bought by who..? ATT I think......that's fucked up.

BTW SC....there are great non apple smartphones out there with some pretty nice cameras. Depends on the carrier of course but they do exist.

[retailguy]

Typical Sprint customer service. It's a test of endurance getting anything done with them. I think it's by design. Nobody can be that incompetent making a real effort. I think many people give up and end up paying more than they agreed to originally.

I'd like to say there are better carriers out there, but it's pretty bad everywhere. And you can lump the cable internet and satellite TV companies in there too. I think it's now the nature of that business model.

I agree. I DID NOT pay more. I endured with what I had. I'm willing to listen to the sales pitch when I call to terminate service, but I will set one condition and that will be that I won't extend the contract. I'll shut it off first.

I agree, the options are pretty crummy. I found a pre-paid option at virgin mobile that might work well for the kids. It's $25 a month. Maybe I'll just let my wife get that damn iphone she wants.... and i'll stick with my work phone.

[Scott Campbell]

tmobile has some good no contract plans....but they are being bought by who..? ATT I think......that's fucked up.

BTW SC....there are great non apple smartphones out there with some pretty nice cameras. Depends on the carrier of course but they do exist.


Which ones? HTC has built a couple, but then they go right back to building crappy ones.

[MJZiggy]

I agree. I DID NOT pay more. I endured with what I had. I'm willing to listen to the sales pitch when I call to terminate service, but I will set one condition and that will be that I won't extend the contract. I'll shut it off first.

I agree, the options are pretty crummy. I found a pre-paid option at virgin mobile that might work well for the kids. It's $25 a month. Maybe I'll just let my wife get that damn iphone she wants.... and i'll stick with my work phone.
Have you looked into Cricket? I haven't so I'm just curious about it.

[Freak Out]

Both the HTC Sensation and the Samsung Galaxy S2 have good camera/video options. Sony has an Xperia model that had a nice camera with a Zeiss lens. You can get some cool photo apps that make all the cameras better as well.

[Scott Campbell]

Both the HTC Sensation and the Samsung Galaxy S2 have good camera/video options. Sony has an Xperia model that had a nice camera with a Zeiss lens. You can get some cool photo apps that make all the cameras better as well.


Good stuff Freak. It looks like Samsung may have the camera thing figured out - at least on par with Apple. The Sensation review wasn't very flattering towards their camera.

[Freak Out]

I saw some shots from a sensation and they looked pretty good....granted they were on the phone itself and not a website....there is a EVO phone that has a new camera...supposedly 3D capable that is supposed to be nice....haven't seen that one though.

[Scott Campbell]

I saw some shots from a sensation and they looked pretty good....granted they were on the phone itself and not a website....there is a EVO phone that has a new camera...supposedly 3D capable that is supposed to be nice....haven't seen that one though.


Yeah, I saw the a detailed video review on that one too. The 3D is a gimmick, and the camera is pretty poor.

Good news on the Sammys though. That'll put pressure on the rest of these guys to quit skimping on the cameras.

[Brando19]

It's kind of outdated. I would wait. It's essentially a Nexus One, which came out last Januaryish, so it's 17 months old already.

Thanks for the info, Partial. I didn't know it had been out that long.

[Partial]

tmobile has some good no contract plans....but they are being bought by who..? ATT I think......that's fucked up.

BTW SC....there are great non apple smartphones out there with some pretty nice cameras. Depends on the carrier of course but they do exist.

TMo does reverse subsidization, but I think that is going away or maybe already has.

I'm all for the pre-paid model without companies subsidizing my phone. America has the most F'd up business models for cell phones.

I would say there are adequate smart phones out there with okay camera's that aren't made by Apple. The iPhone 4's camera dominated everything in the previous gen, and I have little doubt the latest gen will once again be the de facto standard for the following 9-10 months until the competition catches up.

[Brando19]

I just got the new HTC Merge, but the mobile internet SUCKED in my area. I returned it and got the Samsung Mesmerize and I have to say, I LOVE IT. The camera is outstanding on this phone. The internet is super fast and videos are clear. I'm glad I'm not using my Blackberry anymore.

[retailguy]

I just got the new HTC Merge, but the mobile internet SUCKED in my area. I returned it and got the Samsung Mesmerize and I have to say, I LOVE IT. The camera is outstanding on this phone. The internet is super fast and videos are clear. I'm glad I'm not using my Blackberry anymore.

I don't even know how to use the camera on my phone.

[Brando19]

I don't even know how to use the camera on my phone.

lol....if you have facebook...it's worth knowing. It's so convenient to snap a picture and with the push of a button, it's on facebook.

[MadtownPacker]

I cant believe this thread has gone 4 pages and no one has answered the only thing Patler really wants to know. How to send a cockshot #4 style and delete the proof. I am positive Freakout or Bretsky or Partial can help him out.

[Patler]

I cant believe this thread has gone 4 pages and no one has answered the only thing Patler really wants to know. How to send a cockshot #4 style and delete the proof. I am positive Freakout or Bretsky or Partial can help him out.

Not likely to happen. If I were to take the photo myself, I would need a wide-angle lens, and the camera lenses on smartphones are not interchangeable, are they???

[MadtownPacker]

Not likely to happen. If I were to take the photo myself, I would need a wide-angle lens, and the camera lenses on smartphones are not interchangeable, are they???
Well played. :lol:

Maybe you can use the new 3D phone?

http://www.htc.com/www/product/evo3d/overview.html

[Freak Out]

Not likely to happen. If I were to take the photo myself, I would need a wide-angle lens, and the camera lenses on smartphones are not interchangeable, are they???

Wait....you want an electron microscope camera on a phone now? That's a generation or two down the iPhone line.

[Partial]

I'm going to keep my Hero as long as I can. It's almost 2 years old, but works great thanks to the user community and custom ROM development. Sprint now charges $10 extra per line ($50 per month for all 5 of mine) for their new smartphones, so it'll take something pretty good to get me to update. Here's what I'm looking for:

1) Decent camera. It doesn't have to be a point and shoot replacement, just good enough for shots you can keep. Most of the cameras out there now are junk - except for the iPhone.
2) 720P or better video. And it needs to look decent, not just meet the technical spec.
3) 2nd front facing camera for Skype like functionality.
4) Latest generation processor for lightning quick response.
5) Figure out the battery issues.
6) Screen sizes need to shrink back down to the size of my Hero. These things are supposed to be portable.

I'm content to just keep waiting.

You're still rocking a hero? That's worse than my Palm Pre. Good lord man, that hero was outdated when it came out by virtue of horrible specs.

You running CM7?

[Partial]

Maybe I'll just let my wife get that damn iphone she wants....

http://rlv.zcache.com/shes_so_lucky_white_tshirt-p235036220444887914qw9y_400.jpg

[retailguy]

http://rlv.zcache.com/shes_so_lucky_white_tshirt-p235036220444887914qw9y_400.jpg

Yeah. When she found out it was $105 a month, she looked and me and said "Not just NO, but HELL NO".

The search continues.

[MJZiggy]

Yeah. When she found out it was $105 a month, she looked and me and said "Not just NO, but HELL NO".

The search continues.

He he he. Do you have Cricket out there yet? They're starting to make an impact in the market here because they're a lot cheaper with no contract. I have no idea what their network is like, though. That said, Verizon (who has a fantastic network) is just announcing plans to start charging for data usage. They had data usage plans before, but I think they may be doing away with unlimited data. That could change the way people use their phones. It also means that if you're in the market for a phone, get it now before they dump the unlimited plans.

[retailguy]

He he he. Do you have Cricket out there yet? They're starting to make an impact in the market here because they're a lot cheaper with no contract. I have no idea what their network is like, though. That said, Verizon (who has a fantastic network) is just announcing plans to start charging for data usage. They had data usage plans before, but I think they may be doing away with unlimited data. That could change the way people use their phones. It also means that if you're in the market for a phone, get it now before they dump the unlimited plans.

We had Verizon 10 years ago, and the bill was always a different amount. That's why we are now with Sprint. I came home one day after 15+ hours of doing taxes, wondering why my phone didn't work. When I got there, she handed me a new phone and said "We're with Sprint now because I'm tired of arguing with Verizon".

Problem is, we are running out of companies now. Truthfully, they all suck.

I think I'll switch the girls to Virgin Mobile, on their low end plan. All they do is text. They probably only call us, because we don't really text all that much. I have no idea what we will do with my wife, but I'll figure something out. Her blackberry works, but she hates it. I guess I need to look at Android phones.

[retailguy]

Anybody got a used iphone 3gs they want to sell?


Yes, Cricket is out here, but they've changed their plans recently. No more family plans. Virgin is cheaper I think.

the problem I'm running into is that you can't get "regular" phones and "smart phones" on the same plan. Hell will freeze over before I get the girls internet capable phones. I'm just not that kind of Dad. It ain't happening. Therein lies the problem. The world has moved past me, and no longer offers simple stuff.

The girls can text and call, and that's it. Internet is blocked on their phones. They have no facebook page. They must ask before they use you tube. My father bought them Ipads for Christmas and I almost shot him.

[Zool]

Problem is, we are running out of companies now. Truthfully, they all suck.

I'm not sure that could be said with any more accuracy. They all suck. You are now in the depths of a decision I like to call "the least smelly turd". I'm with AT&T because I wanted an iPhone. If Sprint gets the i5, I'll be jumping ship.

Probably the best thing you can do is check with people in your area to find out about signal strength and stick with that company. Service and pricing is going to suck with all of them, but if you get good iNet speeds and very low dropped calls thats sort of a win....right?

[retailguy]

I'm not sure that could be said with any more accuracy. They all suck. You are now in the depths of a decision I like to call "the least smelly turd". I'm with AT&T because I wanted an iPhone. If Sprint gets the i5, I'll be jumping ship.

Probably the best thing you can do is check with people in your area to find out about signal strength and stick with that company. Service and pricing is going to suck with all of them, but if you get good iNet speeds and very low dropped calls thats sort of a win....right?

Yeah, I'm lucky that way. My company relocated me 18 months ago. We bought a brand new house in a new subdivision in the suburbs of a major city. All the carriers have service. Almost no dropped calls with sprint. Neighbors have ATT and the same. My boss has Verizon, he has no service complaints, but he has billing woes so nothing really changes, you know?

If I was willing to pay $200 plus per month, they'd give me anything I want. The problem is, I'm not. So, I guess the problem is with me.

[Partial]

Dude, there is no way a one line plan for an iPhone is 105 dollars. That's just ridiculous.

All cell phone companies are hosing you. I would look into TMo with the reverse subsidization and go contract free.

This will be a market with a lot of disruption if/when Apple comes out with a 300 $ iPhone and people can pop in the sim and go pre-paid.

iPhone 450 min: 40
Data: 15
Texting: 20

75 bucks is the cheapest iPhone plan. That's pretty high, I will give you that, but your math is clearly fuzzy.

At any rate, just wait, the iPhone 5 is right around the corner and it is expected to be on all 4 big carriers.

This family plan on Sprint is almost as good as the old SERO plan that I'm on. http://delivery.sprint.com/m/p/nxt/epc/epclanding.asp Sprint Everything Data. There is a Sprint VP that gave out his info on the internet to let anyone use it awhile back. I'll see if I can find it. I think his name was russ something.

edit:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/846333/

Email: russ.s.mcguire@sprint.com
Last 3 digits of employee ID: 383


Now, wait and get the damn iPhone for you and the wife. I have *A lot* of AAPL so I need as many phone sales as possible.

[Partial]

The girls can text and call, and that's it. Internet is blocked on their phones. They have no facebook page. They must ask before they use you tube. My father bought them Ipads for Christmas and I almost shot him.

Focus on teaching right from wrong and you won't need to block anything as children will make smart choices.

[MadtownPacker]

Focus on teaching right from wrong and you won't need to block anything as children will make smart choices.
You're fucking solid evidence of that. :lol:

[retailguy]

Dude, there is no way a one line plan for an iPhone is 105 dollars. That's just ridiculous.

All cell phone companies are hosing you. I would look into TMo with the reverse subsidization and go contract free.

This will be a market with a lot of disruption if/when Apple comes out with a 300 $ iPhone and people can pop in the sim and go pre-paid.

iPhone 450 min: 40
Data: 15
Texting: 20

75 bucks is the cheapest iPhone plan. That's pretty high, I will give you that, but your math is clearly fuzzy.

At any rate, just wait, the iPhone 5 is right around the corner and it is expected to be on all 4 big carriers.

This family plan on Sprint is almost as good as the old SERO plan that I'm on. http://delivery.sprint.com/m/p/nxt/epc/epclanding.asp Sprint Everything Data. There is a Sprint VP that gave out his info on the internet to let anyone use it awhile back. I'll see if I can find it. I think his name was russ something.

edit:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/846333/

Email: russ.s.mcguire@sprint.com
Last 3 digits of employee ID: 383


Now, wait and get the damn iPhone for you and the wife. I have *A lot* of AAPL so I need as many phone sales as possible.

Partial, she's an Attorney. She can't do "450" minutes. When you put in a reasonable calling plan, and taxes, you get to 105 a month. I think the base plan was over $90. Add in taxes and there you are.

Nothing fuzzy about my math. It IS that expensive.

I'll look at the SERO thing, but I think that's about what we have paid on the anything messaging plan.

[retailguy]

Focus on teaching right from wrong and you won't need to block anything as children will make smart choices.

We do that. I'm not worried about bad choices, I'm worried about unneeded distractions. They have enough of those. That doesn't come with teaching, rather, it comes with experience, of which they have little right now.

[Partial]

Weak article but he's absolutely on point. Apple is going to get rid of the nuisance known as Android in a hurry (Obviously not get rid of, but they will again be the market share leader by a large % imo). Does anyone think that people will buy Android phones for the same price over the life of a contract as an iPhone? I do not.

http://www.bgr.com/2011/07/06/why-apples-iphone-5-will-be-available-on-all-u-s-carriers-this-year/

[Freak Out]

I'm lucky....a customer supplies me with a phone as part of a contract...I take the SIM card a put it in any phone I want and they pay for it. I see the bill and it's $95 and some change (ATT)...unlimited calling, text, data, whatever...it never changes.

[Partial]

I'm lucky....a customer supplies me with a phone as part of a contract...I take the SIM card a put it in any phone I want and they pay for it. I see the bill and it's $95 and some change (ATT)...unlimited calling, text, data, whatever...it never changes.

That is a sweet deal. I'm waiting for everybody to get on LTE and for the US to go prepaid like Europe so we can just pay for a sim and go that route (assuming LTE has sims or some equivalent, I really have no idea but I have to imagine it does).

[MJZiggy]

I'm lucky....a customer supplies me with a phone as part of a contract...I take the SIM card a put it in any phone I want and they pay for it. I see the bill and it's $95 and some change (ATT)...unlimited calling, text, data, whatever...it never changes.
Wait. I have an old international phone with a SIM in it. I could have just put the SIM in the phone I bought from some kid and it would have worked?

p.s. Anyone need an international stupid phone with a SIM card?

[Freak Out]

Wait. I have an old international phone with a SIM in it. I could have just put the SIM in the phone I bought from some kid and it would have worked?

p.s. Anyone need an international stupid phone with a SIM card?

If the account was still active sure....you may not have had data usage and certain features but the phone would probably have worked.

[MJZiggy]

If the account was still active sure....you may not have had data usage and certain features but the phone would probably have worked.

Dammit! I suppose it doesn't matter. By then I had used Mike's phone and wanted the apps.

[MadtownPacker]

Man fuck Retail he can afford that shit. I guess that is why he is a smart White guy. But he can afford it. Some day I will be cash money pimping like him.

[Freak Out]

...another thing that bothers me about Apple is that their answer to competition is to file an endless barrage of lawsuits.

[Scott Campbell]

...another thing that bothers me about Apple is that their answer to competition is to file an endless barrage of lawsuits.

Hell, they all do that.

[Scott Campbell]

You're still rocking a hero? That's worse than my Palm Pre. Good lord man, that hero was outdated when it came out by virtue of horrible specs.

You running CM7?


It would be if I wasn't running custom ROMs. AOSP 2.3.4 / CM7+ (Gingerbread).

[Scott Campbell]

Weak article but he's absolutely on point. Apple is going to get rid of the nuisance known as Android in a hurry (Obviously not get rid of, but they will again be the market share leader by a large % imo). Does anyone think that people will buy Android phones for the same price over the life of a contract as an iPhone? I do not.

http://www.bgr.com/2011/07/06/why-apples-iphone-5-will-be-available-on-all-u-s-carriers-this-year/


From that same website from July 5:

According to a new report from comScore, 1 in 3 Americans now own a smartphone. Google’s Android OS is ahead of the pack with a 38.1% share of the market during the 3-month period ending in May — up 5.1% from the last report in February. Apple’s iOS operating system jumped 1.4 percentage points to a 26.6% share, and RIM’s BlackBerry OS fell 4.3% to a 24.7% share of the market. Microsoft also dropped from a 7.7% share to a 4.8% share, and HP’s webOS fell from a 2.8% share to a 2.4% share in May. Manufacturer mobile subscriber market share remained relatively flat: Samsung still has a 24.8% share of the market according to comScore, followed by LG (21.1%, down 0.2 percentage points), Motorola (16.1%, down 1 percentage point), Apple (8.6%, up 1.2 percentage points), and RIM (8.1%, down 0.5 percentage points). Read on for the full release from comScore.

[Patler]

Will probably return my Smartphone this week, before the 30 day trial is up.
Just don't need it. Besides, everyone says I sound lousy on it, and I can't hear well on it either.

I guess I will go back to my bag phone!

[Freak Out]

Probably not a bad idea if all you are doing is calling.

[Partial]

Potential sighting in the wild??

http://www-bgr-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/iphone5-image-probably-not110728200541.jpg

[Kiwon]

The Apple I-Phone 4 is assembled with 27% Samsung products. Now the two companies are locked into an interesting global legal struggle over revenue and licensing fees.

Global Battle Between Apple and Samsung Intensifies

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/global-battle-between-apple-and-samsung-intensifies/

[mraynrand]

Potential sighting in the wild??

http://www-bgr-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/iphone5-image-probably-not110728200541.jpg

exciting!

http://www.silvamethodclass.com/Man_Jump_for_Joy.jpg

[Kiwon]

http://betanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Samsung-Galaxy-S-II-LTE-e1317044162787.jpg

One of these will probably be my new phone (girl not included).

[Partial]

Apple makes 2/3 of all mobile phone profit. Despite having a 5% market share in the entire cell phone space. That's pretty amazing.

[SkinBasket]

Advances in genetic selection make today's pullets quite different from those of only a few years ago. Pullet body weight is less. Age at housing and at 5 percent production are earlier. Total egg numbers are increasing, egg mass is greater, and feed conversion has improved.

Poultry producers who raise their own replacement pullets have better control of their pullet's growth, condition and development. When producers purchase their replacement pullets from commercial pullet growers they are putting their fate in the hands of someone else.

The major cost of producing a pullet is feed. Thus, feed reduction in order to reduce production costs is an obvious possibility when pullets are bought from outside suppliers. The profits made by a commercial pullet grower through feed reduction in the critical first 12 weeks of age may result in losses in the layer house.

When an egg producer purchases pullets that are underweight, it is important to know whether the birds were underfed in protein or energy while in the growing house. The poultry producer should always know the body weight, flock uniformity, vaccination schedule, feeding program, lighting, environmental conditions during grow-out, and the general management of his pullets. Without the basic knowledge of the flock grow-out, it is virtually impossible to understand and possibly solve problems which may later occur during the laying period. It must be kept in mind that once egg production begins, it is too late to solve problems resulting from poor grow-out nutrition or management.

The two most important criteria of pullet quality are uniformity within the flock and proper body weight at a specific age. Almost anything that adversely affects a pullet will usually be reflected in lower body weights and poorer flock uniformity. The goal for flock uniformity is to have 80 percent of the pullets within plus or minus 10 percent of the average flock body weight.

[mraynrand]

Advances in genetic selection make today's pullets quite different from those of only a few years ago. Pullet body weight is less. Age at housing and at 5 percent production are earlier. Total egg numbers are increasing, egg mass is greater, and feed conversion has improved.

Poultry producers who raise their own replacement pullets have better control of their pullet's growth, condition and development. When producers purchase their replacement pullets from commercial pullet growers they are putting their fate in the hands of someone else.

The major cost of producing a pullet is feed. Thus, feed reduction in order to reduce production costs is an obvious possibility when pullets are bought from outside suppliers. The profits made by a commercial pullet grower through feed reduction in the critical first 12 weeks of age may result in losses in the layer house.

When an egg producer purchases pullets that are underweight, it is important to know whether the birds were underfed in protein or energy while in the growing house. The poultry producer should always know the body weight, flock uniformity, vaccination schedule, feeding program, lighting, environmental conditions during grow-out, and the general management of his pullets. Without the basic knowledge of the flock grow-out, it is virtually impossible to understand and possibly solve problems which may later occur during the laying period. It must be kept in mind that once egg production begins, it is too late to solve problems resulting from poor grow-out nutrition or management.

The two most important criteria of pullet quality are uniformity within the flock and proper body weight at a specific age. Almost anything that adversely affects a pullet will usually be reflected in lower body weights and poorer flock uniformity. The goal for flock uniformity is to have 80 percent of the pullets within plus or minus 10 percent of the average flock body weight.

http://mondofeed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/yawning1.jpg

[retailguy]

you quoted the wrong post, Rand.

[SkinBasket]

He obviously just doesn't understand pullet.