Android!

[MisterNoisy]

Just bought a Nexus 7, and I'm duly impressed.  Such a nice piece of kit for $250 and it's the device that proves that Jobs was wrong when it came to tablet size.  Anything much larger would be a real pain in the ass to thumb-type on.

[Draegan]

I have an SG3, but the wife gets a new phone next summer.  I might give her the Sg3 and see what the next note iteration is next year.

[Ingmar]

Yeah a co-worker showed me the Note recently and I really, really like the big screen. It's long enough that the end you talk into actually feels like it is vaguely near your mouth, too, which always makes talking on the phone feel better to me.

[rattran]

I think I'm going to order a Nexus 7 3g tomorrow, which typically means a newer/cheaper version will come out Monday.

[rattran]

Nexus 7 is sexy awesome, even the packaging/unboxing was cool. So much smaller than my 4:3 8" tablet, but nearly as much usable screen.

You can go ahead and tell them to start running a special now.

[Bunk]

Just got the HTC OneX+ last week and so far I'm very happy. Stuck with HTC over Samsung just because I was used to the UI and was very happy with the Desire I had previously.

It's surprising the difference going to one of these newer 4.7" phones though. I have small hands and this just barely works for me one handed.

[TripleDES]

I wish Google would communicate more in regards to their Nexus devices and stock Android releases. There's a bunch of bigger issues that aren't even being acknowledged. Like the mediaserver drain issues that came (apparently back) with 4.2.x. If it's not acknowledged, I don't even know if it's going to get fixed in any of the next updates, or if I even have to wait until 4.3/5.0. Sure as hell doesn't make my workplace enjoyable, since I don't even get more than 5 hours of music out of a N4.

[slog]

Yeah a co-worker showed me the Note recently and I really, really like the big screen. It's long enough that the end you talk into actually feels like it is vaguely near your mouth, too, which always makes talking on the phone feel better to me.

I have a Note.  I like it because I have to carry a work blackberry so I use the Note as more of a mini tablet that just happens to have a cell phone built in.

[MrHat]

Has anyone tried using a Qi charger with their Nexus 4?

Google just put out their Orb Charger, but I was wondering if there were cheaper alternatives that someone has already used to good effect.

[eldaec]

Lots of rumours all over the place about a nexus 5 phablet.

A 4g nexus note would be my ideal phone right now so naturally I suspect these rumours are bullshit based on nothing more than 5 being the next number after 4.

 

[MrHat]

Pretty!


HTC One X

[01101010]

Gotta admit...not a fan of HTC, but the ONE (not the phone above) is sharp looking.

[KallDrexx]

This is awesome, but I didn't want to create a new thread for it (but hey, it's google and you can control it from android).

Turn any webpage into a maze

[Salamok]

So my Virgin Mobile Evo V 4G is pissing me off since the last update, it randomly turns on wifi/4g/hotspot and the swipe keyboard has become unusable since it mangles all the words now (it was nearly flawless prior to the update), even typing regularly on the keyboard is a chore since it often wants to change words I type to something else. 

I am considering doing a factory reset and am curious about what I will have to re set up afterwards.  I realize I will have to reset up all of my accounts (gmail, work mail, twitter, facebook, etc...) but am usure if I will I need to reactivate my phone with Virgin Mobile or if I will I lose all my music and pictures, anyone know?

[01101010]

So my Virgin Mobile Evo V 4G is pissing me off since the last update, it randomly turns on wifi/4g/hotspot and the swipe keyboard has become unusable since it mangles all the words now (it was nearly flawless prior to the update), even typing regularly on the keyboard is a chore since it often wants to change words I type to something else. 

I am considering doing a factory reset and am curious about what I will have to re set up afterwards.  I realize I will have to reset up all of my accounts (gmail, work mail, twitter, facebook, etc...) but am usure if I will I need to reactivate my phone with Virgin Mobile or if I will I lose all my music and pictures, anyone know?

As long as that stuff is on an SDcard, a factory reset should not affect that at all...IIRC. And I am pretty positive you will not have to reactivate it on the carrier.

[Quinton]

You should not have to re-register with your carrier -- the IMEI (radio serialno) and/or SIM (which is how the network recognizes your phone) are not affected by a reset.

If your phone does not use removable storage (sdcard, etc) you will almost certainly lose all photos on factory reset (it should warn you about this).  Safest is to back up anything you care about just in case.

For the keyboard, you might try going to Settings / Apps, finding the keyboard/IME (not sure what HTC calls theirs...) in the list under all, and clearing its data and restarting it as a less severe thing than factory reset.  Not sure if there's an easy way to nuke network settings only, but clearing data for "Settings" and "Settings Storage" might be worth a shot (you'll lose other configuration data, but it should be less severe than a factory reset).

[schild]

The last update from Verizon to my note II forced the goddamn keyboard noises on and they won't turn off. Also GPS no longer works in google maps which is only a nightmare.

[luckton]

The last update from Verizon to my note II forced the goddamn keyboard noises on and they won't turn off. Also GPS no longer works in google maps which is only a nightmare.

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/I605_Info

Just do it.  You'll thank me later.

[schild]

There doesn't even seem to be a release candidate.

[luckton]

There doesn't even seem to be a release candidate.

They just started doing nightly builds for the Note 2.  Still, that's better than what Verizon will ever do.

[schild]

Probably. I'll look into it later when it gets, you know, better than totally-bleeding-can't-stop-the-flow edge.

[eldaec]

I gather Samsung are putting out a variant Galaxy 4 in stock android form.... I thought I was waiting for the nexus 5, but this is interesting....

[01101010]

I gather Samsung are putting out a variant Galaxy 4 in stock android form.... I thought I was waiting for the nexus 5, but this is interesting....

Rumors are the HTC One is also going down this route as well. 

[Quinton]

I gather Samsung are putting out a variant Galaxy 4 in stock android form.... I thought I was waiting for the nexus 5, but this is interesting....

They call this the "Google Edition."  The bummer with this program is that these devices are completely unsubsidized and the pricing reflects it.  Should be available from play.google.com on June 26 for $649. I think it's a cool idea, but I'm not sure how much uptake it's likely to get (especially in the US where customers are super sensitive to cost-at-purchase and seem to prefer the subsidized with contract model).

[01101010]

They call this the "Google Edition."  The bummer with this program is that these devices are completely unsubsidized and the pricing reflects it.  Should be available from play.google.com on June 26 for $649. I think it's a cool idea, but I'm not sure how much uptake it's likely to get (especially in the US where customers are super sensitive to cost-at-purchase and seem to prefer the subsidized with contract model).

Yeah... The $650 price point is actually more than my current gaming desktop. Makes me even more happy with my $350 N4. However, a buddy grabbed an S4 recently and it is a very nice piece of mobile equipment. The removable storage and battery I am quite jealous of; however, it doesn't compare in overall feel with that plastic backing. I like the weight and feel of glass and/or metal on a device. That said, my buddy still can't believe I have not cracked the back glass on my phone yet. I told him the trick is not to drop the fucking thing in the first place.

[luckton]

They call this the "Google Edition."  The bummer with this program is that these devices are completely unsubsidized and the pricing reflects it.  Should be available from play.google.com on June 26 for $649. I think it's a cool idea, but I'm not sure how much uptake it's likely to get (especially in the US where customers are super sensitive to cost-at-purchase and seem to prefer the subsidized with contract model).

Yeah... The $650 price point is actually more than my current gaming desktop. Makes me even more happy with my $350 N4. However, a buddy grabbed an S4 recently and it is a very nice piece of mobile equipment. The removable storage and battery I am quite jealous of; however, it doesn't compare in overall feel with that plastic backing. I like the weight and feel of glass and/or metal on a device. That said, my buddy still can't believe I have not cracked the back glass on my phone yet. I told him the trick is not to drop the fucking thing in the first place.

Or get a fucking Otterbox.  Sans all that...hang on...

/shameless marketing ploy on

Best Buy's insurance on phones is the best, bar none.  A few bucks a month and if ANYTHING damaging happens to the phone, they'll fix or replace without any more money out of pocket.  Never had to use it for my phone (because Otterbox, bitches), but my wife's Incredible was sent out at three times for the two years she had it ("The Otter box makes the phone too bulky!" - The Wife), so it already paid for itself twice over.

/shameless marketing ploy off

[rattran]

Fuck Best Buy. Get regular insurance on your phone, or if you're so inept/clueless that you kill them so often, get an Otterbox.

[eldaec]

Stop insuring things you can afford to replace without material impact on your life.

Logic and maths should tell you why.

[luckton]

New Nexus 7

New "Chromecast" device

 

[JWIV]

Yeah, I'm curious to see what I can do with the Chromecast and Playon - should be fun.

[schild]

Piece of shit note ii shattered. Trying to convince myself a nexus is worth it this late in its life cycle. Someone convince me.

[Quinton]

The new Nexus 7 is pretty slick (1920x1200, faster cpu+gpu, 16GB wifi SKU is $230).  And just started shipping this week.
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_16gb_2013

[schild]

I uh, need a cell phone. Not a tablet. Heh.

[MahrinSkel]

Which is why I don't see the point in the 7" form factor.  Too large to stick in a pocket or double as a phone, too small to comfortably web-surf with.  But obviously it has something going for it, since it's the most popular size.  I'm much happier with a lower-resolution 10" (480x1024) than I would be with any of the 7-inch models.

--Dave

[Quinton]

Doh, sorry I thought the Note was a small tablet of some sort.

There's obviously a lot of variation in form factor preference.

Personally, I don't find 10" tablets to be at all useful -- they're bulky enough that I might as well bring my laptop which is massively more powerful and doesn't need a stand, external keyboard, etc, for more intensive (non-media consumption) usage.  A 7" device is light enough to hold for reading or gaming comfortably for quite a while, but big enough that there's actually enough screen to see what's going on compared to a phone (unless you are into really enormous phones).

The higher density display on the 2013 N7 definitely makes web/document reading more doable, provided you've got the eyesight for it (I can actually read f13 reasonably on it in portrait orientation, though I do kick the default fontsize up a notch).