Smartphones and Tablets news.

[Samor]

generic design, and it came too late.

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

not the XE with it's accents

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

[Samor]

because it has red lines and a dr dre logo?

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

because it has red lines, it completely changes the look of the phone imho
More phone makes should differentiate their phones with accents.

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

[runawayprisoner]

I personally like the no frill look better. Accents done wrong could be very detrimental to the overall look of the phone.

That said, though, I don't think it's the hardware that makers should worry about. Rather, I would love to see how they cope with future software updates and the likes.

The software side of Android has been sorely lacking until recently.

[Demigod]

Originally Posted by SCHUMI_4EVER

I'll never get the appeal of white tech.

I'm not a fan of white either. I would love to get my hands on the pebble blue version of the S3. My phones up to now have been grey or black, I'm itching to try something else.

Originally Posted by runawayprisoner

On a side note, at this point, I really do think that HTC has a strong candidate with the HTC One X this time around. If they can work out the rest of the software kinks, I don't doubt that it'd be among the best Android devices (if not the best) on the market.

I think it's significant that the HTC One series appears three times on the mobile charts (#4, #8, #9). I think it's a strong contender, they just they don't have the reputation of Apple or Samsung.

__________________
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Mobo: Intel DX48BT2 Memory: 4096 MB PC10600 DDR3 Videocard: PNY Geforce 9800 GX2 Soundcard: On-board SigmaTel High Definition Audio Hard drive: 120 GB OCZ RevoDrive PCI-E SSD & 1 TB Hitachi Optical drive: LG GGW-H20L (2x BD-R DL) PSU: Nexus 1000 Watt PSU OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)

Proud millionaire folder of the NGEmu folding team

[runawayprisoner]

I think reputation is something to be earned, not something that would give an advantage.

Samsung earned it the first time around by "stealing" Apple's SoC technology, but Apple has to depend on Samsung, so they at least owed Samsung that much.

Imagine how Samsung would have done if Apple went TSMC instead.

Meanwhile, HTC manufactures their own thing, and I think they have a strong case to bring to the table this time around. The HTC One series is some serious contenders here, plus Samsung's SAMOLED tech is already showing its limitations.

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

http://blog.gsmarena.com/new-tactile...of-the-screen/

Yes Please!

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

[runawayprisoner]

If it uses more battery, then it defeats the purpose altogether. Not to mention it won't be on any mobile device for a long time if that's true.

And I find flat screens much easier for touch typing than buttons that I have to seriously exert work to push down.

The only viable application for this type of display IMO would be games and emulators.

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Who cares about viability? It's cool as hell !!!

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

[runawayprisoner]

Originally Posted by SCHUMI_4EVER

Who cares about viability? It's cool as hell !!!

People who make the devices that will use this tech do care, y' know.

And it's not like this is the first time something like this has been attempted. I recall there being another project in 2010 or something...

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

If nothing else this sort of tech is a lot more viable for blind people.

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

[runawayprisoner]

Yeah, but I don't think you can safely say that blind people are tech-savvy enough to use "smartphones".

And arguably, something like Siri, which is voice control, would work a hell of a lot better.

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

True in a smartphone I guess, but imagine the tech in a tablet. People could digitize Braille books and millions more than now would have access.
I guess I'm just excited since I didn't even know this was possible. I honestly don't care about it's application, I just think it's damn cool.
And if it were to reach smartphones I can honestly say I'd strongly consider getting one based purely on that tech.

Also, Siri still has to be activated first somehow

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

[runawayprisoner]

If Apple brings Siri to the iPad, which looks very likely at this point, then that'd settle it.

And Siri has to be activated first but it's via one physical (actual, real) button. Beats having to manually input a bunch of random buttons.

Also to note is that Siri can be activated simply by raising the phone up to your ears.

I'm not particularly excited about this tech because I know it's doomed from the get-go. It's just re-inventing the wheel (physical buttons) that we have abandoned for touchscreens.

The real point is to not use touchscreens to simulate abandoned old tech but rather to create new control methods. If we have to use a touchscreen to simulate some real buttons then we might well just make a phone with real buttons again. I for one would welcome a classic candy bar phone with real keypad that can make calls, send some simple texts, and last forever (or at least until a zombie apocalypse is upon us).

I miss the good ol' days when phones lasted for weeks without needing to be plugged in...

Regardless of how much we have advanced (CPU, RAM, GPU), battery life seems to be the one thing that's degrading progressively.

---

Last edited by runawayprisoner; June 11th, 2012 at 00:51..

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Phones have NEVER lasted for weeks without being plugged in when you actually use them. Standby yeah, old stuff will outlast any smartphone just like the Duracell bunny, but when you actually use them they all have to be charged daily if not even twice a day.

And it's not re-inventing the wheel, it's more like creating an amphibious car that works on land and water.
And the only reason why we have touchscreens is because of the size of the screen, had we not wanted bigger screens we would have stuck with buttons. So essentially this tech would be the true next step, whereas touchscreens were just the only solution to the problem that existed at the time.

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

---

Last edited by SCHUMI_4EVER; June 11th, 2012 at 01:01..

[Samor]

I'm thinking of buying a new phone (starting to get a little fed up with the current situation of cheap tablet + old phone)...

iPhone 4s looks nice but not an option for me... if I want an iOS device it would be the iPad, and nothing else. I don't see Windows Phone making a breakthrough anytime soon either so that rules out that too... in other words, it'll be an Android phone once again.

I've been looking at the HTC One X and the Galaxy S III, and while I can get the HTC device cheaper, I'm more interested in Samsung's offering. It seems to edge out the One X in most area's, and in every test I've read the battery lasts a little longer (I've never found the battery performance in the HTC devices I've owned to be that good). Combined with the other advantages, Samsung's offering simply seems the better choice. I'm both an Nvidia and HTC fan, but the One X seems like the "almost there" device compared to Samsung's "just right".
...or am I missing something here?

[@ruantec]

Totally agree there... i wouldn't waste my time considering buying an iphone while having such great offers the likes of the HTC X and the Samsung S3. The enemy needs to act quick else they will lose more ground against awesome companies the likes of Samsung.

__________________

Current development tools:

Visual C++.net, Visual C#.net
Visual VB.net, Visual Webdeveloper.net
Bloodshed Dev C++, Borland C++
Visual Basic 6

[runawayprisoner]

Originally Posted by SCHUMI_4EVER

Phones have NEVER lasted for weeks without being plugged in when you actually use them. Standby yeah, old stuff will outlast any smartphone just like the Duracell bunny, but when you actually use them they all have to be charged daily if not even twice a day.

And it's not re-inventing the wheel, it's more like creating an amphibious car that works on land and water.
And the only reason why we have touchscreens is because of the size of the screen, had we not wanted bigger screens we would have stuck with buttons. So essentially this tech would be the true next step, whereas touchscreens were just the only solution to the problem that existed at the time.

Of course it's weeks in standby. But normal usage of dumb phones greatly outlast standby time of smartphone still. I have had phones (Sony Ericsson W995) that I could use to accomplish most smartphone tasks (web browsing, email, calendar) that would last 2 weeks on battery and over 4-5 days of actual usage (including web surfing and continuous emails).

And it is reinventing the wheel. The reason we went touchscreen was not because we wanted bigger screen but because buttons were getting old. Proof? Android is forsaking the standard Home, Back, Menu, Search button array and opting for either virtual on-screen buttons or touch-sensitive area underneath the display.

And here's another thing: the reason why Android devices are getting bigger screens have nothing to do with people wanting bigger screen.

It's ironic, but the bigger screens are in fact there to counter the huge areas taken up by ads in some apps, and to counter the virtual buttons taking up another huge space underneath. When you measure actual usage screen real estate of some phones, they all come down to be around 3.8" - 4.2" in reality rather than the 4.7" - 5.0" advertised.

About the only thing that benefits from the bigger screen is the home screen. But... guess what? You still only get a 4x4 grid to put stuffs in. No more.

Originally Posted by Samor

I'm thinking of buying a new phone (starting to get a little fed up with the current situation of cheap tablet + old phone)...

iPhone 4s looks nice but not an option for me... if I want an iOS device it would be the iPad, and nothing else. I don't see Windows Phone making a breakthrough anytime soon either so that rules out that too... in other words, it'll be an Android phone once again.

I've been looking at the HTC One X and the Galaxy S III, and while I can get the HTC device cheaper, I'm more interested in Samsung's offering. It seems to edge out the One X in most area's, and in every test I've read the battery lasts a little longer (I've never found the battery performance in the HTC devices I've owned to be that good). Combined with the other advantages, Samsung's offering simply seems the better choice. I'm both an Nvidia and HTC fan, but the One X seems like the "almost there" device compared to Samsung's "just right".
...or am I missing something here?

You're sorely missing something there.

Like I keep mentioning, HTC One X's SLCD2 > S3's SAMOLED display any day. SAMOLED is absolutely horrible at under 50% brightness.

Also Tegra 3 > Exynos 4 because Tegra 3 gets to enjoy more games thanks to nVidia's developer relations. In contrast, you get zip with the Exynos 4 if gaming was a concern.

And if battery was a priority, then One X out of the gates right now has MUCH better developer support than S3. What that means is that there are more tweaks and fixes for all kinds of stuffs, including battery. You can turn off 2 cores of Tegra 3 and throttle clock speed for more battery life if that was more important. But you can't do the same with S3 right now. Imagine S3 running all 4 cores at the same time. It's not that hard to do. Contrary to belief, while no individual app takes advantage of all 4 cores, background apps still have the liberty to keep the other 2 cores awake and wreak havoc on battery life.

About the only thing I can think of about the S3 that edges out the One X is the 2GB of RAM, but ask yourself whether you'll truly use it...

As an aside, you can also choose the iPad 3 + dumb phone route. Less monthly plan fee, huuuugggeee screen to play with, and obviously iPad 3 > both One X or S3 in everything (including battery life) if portability isn't a huge issue.

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Originally Posted by runawayprisoner

Of course it's weeks in standby. But normal usage of dumb phones greatly outlast standby time of smartphone still. I have had phones (Sony Ericsson W995) that I could use to accomplish most smartphone tasks (web browsing, email, calendar) that would last 2 weeks on battery and over 4-5 days of actual usage (including web surfing and continuous emails).

Well my 3330 and 6020 were out of juice after a few hours of playing games just the same as my droid is.

And it is reinventing the wheel. The reason we went touchscreen was not because we wanted bigger screen but because buttons were getting old. Proof? Android is forsaking the standard Home, Back, Menu, Search button array and opting for either virtual on-screen buttons or touch-sensitive area underneath the display.

It's more of the same. Less buttons = more screen estate room, granted not all the time, some of the time it's the same thing, but there are times when you can no have more screen.

And here's another thing: the reason why Android devices are getting bigger screens have nothing to do with people wanting bigger screen.

It's ironic, but the bigger screens are in fact there to counter the huge areas taken up by ads in some apps, and to counter the virtual buttons taking up another huge space underneath. When you measure actual usage screen real estate of some phones, they all come down to be around 3.8" - 4.2" in reality rather than the 4.7" - 5.0" advertised.

I meant the move from beyond ~3" screens like the one on my 6710 Navigator. Not this new trend of making portable devices decidedly unportable.
And those were already slider and flip devices which means cellphone makers had already been looking for ways to offer more screen real-estate.

__________________

Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!