Android!

[KallDrexx]

I was happy with Verizon service while I had it (except the price) but trying to cancel service with them has me raging. I ported my number to T-Mobile for the sexy new G2x phone, and now verizon can't seem to find my records to cancel me. But they sent out a shiny new bill. Fuckers.

Cancelling Verizon was easy for me.  Of course this is now the 3rd month in a row they have sent me a bill for $-0 

[rattran]

They allegedly have me canceled for reals now (third time). Except that they want to bill me until the end of this billing cycle. Not the last one, the one I canceled during.

[ghost]

I'm not a fan of Verizon.  I'm glad I decided not to join in on the mass exodus from AT&T to Verizon out of the iPhone bunch.

[fuser]

The battery life on the 10.1 is no joke. Take a look at mine with the WiFi running 24/7.

[Quinton]

That tablet is seeing a LOT of use (see the awake graph).

I have a Xoom which has been pretty idle the last week or two (I was travelling and it was on my coffee table) that had over 14 days on battery with wifi on and still some juice left.  These critters have a lot of battery...

[Vaiti]

The time you <re actually using the tablet would be during screen on. Awake is when the tablet is doing other things. Checking mail, weather, news, syncing contacts, checking Facebook. Things like that I believe. You might want to adjust the settings of those kinds of things so that they check every 6 hours or so instead of what is usually a default 1 hour. They add up and overlap like that to basically keep the machine awake doing something all the time if they aren't tamed.

[Mrbloodworth]

Picked up a Samsung Fascinate. Likening it so far.

[Sand]

Not sure if its in another thread already but since we were discussing the "awake" period on the tablet is somewhat related.
You heard about the law suit with AT&T and iPhone users? They were over billing them pretty substantially.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/lawsuit-att-overbilling

An iPhone customer has filed a lawsuit against AT&T, claiming that the telecom company is overcharging him for data services.

Filed by Patrick Hendricks in the Northern District of California, the lawsuit seeks class-action status, alleging that AT&T is committing unlawful and fraudulent business practices by regularly overbilling customers for data transactions.

“AT&T’s billing system for iPhone and iPad data transactions is like a rigged gas pump that charges for a full gallon when it pumps only nine-tenths of a gallon into your car’s tank,” the complaint says (pdf).

On MSNBC yesterday they said to test it, they purchased a new iPhone, no apps, nothing running, and simply let it sit. End of the month surprisingly the bill has all kinds of data charges on it.
I for see AT&T eventually settling on this one.

[TripleDES]

If speculation about it is correct, LG's going to release a phone with their new 4.5" IPS HD panels. That'll give you a smartphone with true 720p. And if further speculation is also true, it'll come with NVidia's Kal-El.

If this phone hits the market in that form near end of the year, I'll kick my WP7 device to the curb. Since Icecream's going to come with hardware accelerated UI, WP7's smoothness argument's worthless.

[MuffinMan]

I think 4" might be my limit for a smartphone.

[Quinton]

Somewhere between 4" and 7" it stops being a big cellphone and starts being a small tablet.  Exactly where probably varies from person to person.

[rattran]

I'd be happy with a ~7" tablet with speaker phone/bluetooth capability.

[Quinton]

I do voice calls rarely enough that "small tablet" may make more sense than "big phone" for me, but I think "pocketable" is a requirement.

[MuffinMan]

I'm in the same boat. My Samsung Epic is pretty much just a tiny tablet at this point, I use my office phone for voice calls. I'd probably save money in the long run for a data-only plan on a 7" Galaxy Tab or something. The only thing keeping me from going that route is admitting I'm completely attached to technology/Internet.

[TripleDES]

I do voice calls rarely enough that "small tablet" may make more sense than "big phone" for me, but I think "pocketable" is a requirement.

You wouldn't believe it, but I actually loathe making calls. A (smart)phone is a pocketable Internet device for me, with which you can do calls if absolutely necessary. A friend of mine has a HD2 and it still looks manageable. I figure another 0.2" won't be a problem as long the bezel is really small. But superhigh DPI would be rad.

[MahrinSkel]

7-inch screen is the maximum size for "pocket sized", about the size of a paper-back book.  I could live with that and a bluetooth headset, but it's more likely I'll keep my 4-inch smartphone and get a 10-inch wifi tablet for websurfing from the couch.  The rare occasions I need both a cellular data connection and a larger screen, I can tether it.  In a couple of years, I'll probably replace the Droid 2 with a dockable phone ala Atrix.

--Dave

[Krakrok]

Someone's smoking crack on the Android Movie rental prices thing. $3.99 for one movie when Netflix is ~$7.99 all you can eat for a month? 

[bhodi]

Yeah, I don't even care that my rooted phone isn't allowed to watch them.

[Ingmar]

Someone's smoking crack on the Android Movie rental prices thing. $3.99 for one movie when Netflix is ~$7.99 all you can eat for a month? 

Believe it is just price matching iTunes essentially.

[caladein]

Redbox averages out to $2, Zediva's $2, and Vudu starts at $4.  No per-movie service looks particularly good compared to Netflix as long as they still have the movie you want.

[MahrinSkel]

Redbox averages out to $2, Zediva's $2, and Vudu starts at $4.  No per-movie service looks particularly good compared to Netflix as long as they still have the movie you want.

WTF?  Redbox charges twice as much to stream a movie as it would cost to get it from them via their machine for a day?  How the fuck does that make sense?

--Dave

[SnakeCharmer]

Redbox averages out to $2, Zediva's $2, and Vudu starts at $4.  No per-movie service looks particularly good compared to Netflix as long as they still have the movie you want.

WTF?  Redbox charges twice as much to stream a movie as it would cost to get it from them via their machine for a day?  How the fuck does that make sense?

--Dave

You pay a dollar extra for the convenience of not burning 5 bucks (or more) in gas to go to the Redbox in the first place and an additional 5 bucks in gas to take it back.  Not to mention the time it takes you to go to the Redbox and back.  Twice. 

Makes perfect sense to me.

[caladein]

Redbox doesn't do streaming (I think?) but they averaged $2 a movie (well, transaction) a year and a half ago (source).

And yeah, on top of that is gas money and time (at least for the return if you're picking them up during a normal shopping trip).

[MahrinSkel]

I can buy a $2 average, my own visits to Redbox were generally an action movie for me and the boys, and a romantic comedy for the wife and daughter.  The alternative was PPV through the cable company for $2.99/4.99 each, which is ridiculous.  Netflix streaming is nice.

Video rental stores are dead in their tracks, it's just taken them a while to catch up.  But paying more to view something on my Android device than it would cost to rent the DVD at Redbox is a non-starter.  Even allowing for gas, there's 3 different Redbox kiosks within 4 miles of where I sit, one of them within walking distance.

--Dave

[SnakeCharmer]

Not even allowing for gas, what is your time worth to you?  Can't be much if you're queefing over 1 dollar.

[Sand]

Snake,

How many movies do you watch a year? Wife and I watch more movies than regular TV. That $1 would easily add up to an extra $100+ a year.

We use Netflix, however I am not enamored with them. I hate getting Blueray's that refuse to work because they are all scratched up, or waiting longer with them for new releases than through other outlets.

[SnakeCharmer]

Again, I go back to the secondary costs of going to get the movie from the Redbox.  If you're going to the Redbox 100 times a year (or a movie rental every 3.65 days), you're spending at minimum 5 bucks gas round trip, possibly more.  How many times did you say 'Eh, it's only a dollar more, I'll return it tomorrow'?  Then add in the 'what is your time worth to you?' part of the equation.  Even at minimum wage, you're 'spending' 3 bucks a trip.  So, 100 trips (not including late fees), cost you 100 bucks in rental fees, 500 bucks in gas, and 300 bucks in 'personal time'.   900 bucks vs 200 bucks in a years time.  Granted that's a worse case scenario of only going to get a movie and not consolidating your trip with other errands, but the point remains the same.

But nevertheless, the extra dollar is a convenience factor.  Don't want to get out of your underwear and drive to the nearest Redbox?  Here you go.  Spend 1 extra dollar and you don't have to.  Or, don't use it if you don't like it.  It's not like you HAVE to.

[MuffinMan]

$5 in gas minimum to get to a Redbox?  Also, applying an hourly rate to your free time is just plain retarded.

[sigil]

Well for Snake that could easily be valid, as  snake is a man of some means, if he lives in certain areas where they reside around here there's not exactly a redbox across the street.

edit:
Snake would bill a customer for time on the toilet if he had an insightful work related thought. Doesn't surprise me at all he breaks it down that way.

[MahrinSkel]

He must be a real joy at parties:

"Why didn't you get me anything for my birthday?"

"I've given you $150 worth of my time and counting, what more do you want?"

"Daddy, you're an asshole."

--Dave

[sigil]

I don't begrudge him, I used to do IT work with some of the firms around here. Snake comes of as decent compared to some nameless lawyers I could mention.

[HaemishM]

I don't begrudge him, I used to do IT work with some of the firms around here. Snake comes of as decent compared to some nameless lawyers I could mention.

There's something in that statement that's way too easy to ding, so I'll just repeat it and leave it at that.

[KallDrexx]

Wasn't sure which thread to put this in (this one or the Minecraft thread) but I'll just put it here:

Minecraft an Xperia Play timed exclusive

[Yegolev]

I guess I'll have to change my Minecraft password soon.

[sigil]

I don't begrudge him, I used to do IT work with some of the firms around here. Snake comes of as decent compared to some nameless lawyers I could mention.

There's something in that statement that's way too easy to ding, so I'll just repeat it and leave it at that.

I meant locally.  And the more I see that of rather than off, the more I want to gouge my own eyes out of my sockets with a popsicle stick.