Android!

[01101010]

Kind of wish I'd noticed these unlimited plans going away myself, I probably would have switched to Verizon already.  As far as I can tell, Sprint is still offering an unlimited data plan, though I haven't checked the fine print.  Considering switching to them from T-Mobile, since I don't think my current plan will allow 4G if I get a 4G device.

Last I heard Sprint has no fine print.

No, they use micro print to underline stuff though... that is where the goodies are 

[Furiously]

Virgin mobile... 25 bucks a month for unlimited data...

Are their phones any good? We'd been looking at the Incredible, so I guess the Moto Triumph is the VM equivalent?

The battery estimates make me  I'm spoiled by my dumb phones which I charge every couple of weeks.

They work. And yes you are limited to their phones from what I understand.

[naum]

Yeah, that torpedoed my desire for one almost completely. Especially since a prime reason for her was tethering at her house, where she doesn't have wifi. I'll just stick with my tracfone and she can use her goddamned ipod to listen to music.

Still...really wanted a nice smart phone. Dammit.

Virgin mobile... 25 bucks a month for unlimited data...

Site says $35 a month…
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phones/motorola-triumph-phone.jsp

Still, that far cheaper than the iPhone AT&T plans (though I have unlimited data, "grandfathered" in) -- paying almost $200 a month for 2 iPhones (paying $30 extra for unlimited text, which is ridiculous)… …I believe base fee is $75 per phone…

Might have to hop on the Android train…

[Sky]

Quinton have any opinion on the Virgin stuff? Fiancee and I are a bit put off by the initial cost of the phone, but the plan is reasonable and not having a contract really seals it, given fucking politicians controlling our destinies...

[Quinton]

Sadly I don't have any experience with the Triumph -- can't find detailed tech specs on moto's site.  Third party sites seem to think it's MSM8655 based (slightly faster but very similar CPU to the MSM8650 in Nexus One).  Software quality tends to be the deciding factor for me and that's hard to determine without some firsthand experience.

[Furiously]

Wife and I have the Intercept. Before the update they were a bit sluggish. But I'm pretty happy with them. My mom got the Optimus and it's faster, I would imagine the 4.1 inch screen on the Triumph would be a lot nicer. The 3.2 inches on the intercept isnt a lot of area to read or do anything on.  I tend to still surf on my ipod touch if there is wifi available. The wife texts like a maniac.

The one thing that really surprised me about the phones was the GPS. It's cheaper to get a phone with GPS than it is to get a decent Garmin.

[NowhereMan]

Wife and I have the Intercept. Before the update they were a bit sluggish. But I'm pretty happy with them. My mom got the Optimus and it's faster, I would imagine the 4.1 inch screen on the Triumph would be a lot nicer. The 3.2 inches on the intercept isnt a lot of area to read or do anything on.  I tend to still surf on my ipod touch if there is wifi available. The wife texts like a maniac.

The one thing that really surprised me about the phones was the GPS. It's cheaper to get a phone with GPS than it is to get a decent Garmin.

The only thing with phone GPS (aside from battery usage) is stuff like Google navigate requires internet connection to do route planning. Not a problem most of the time and once you've got a route it'll happily let you follow it without any but, especially if you're going to be driving abroad, it's something worth being aware of.

Also I really like the look of the latest update and having the screen blink out like a TV when I turn it off is unwarrantedly cool.

[Tale]

Is Steve Wozniak moving to Android?

https://foursquare.com/stevewoz/checkin/4e2e0d2662e1fbac60fdd49f?s=pXYsRfC7XUhk5oo0jjfuP0VeN8Q&ref=tw

[Yegolev]

Maybe his amnesia cleared up.

[Merusk]

Just announced:

Google to buy Motorolla Mobility and produce their own phones.  

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110815-706430.html

I guess that's one way to try and keep companies from dicking around with your OS. Then again, how many phones not made by Google will continue to use the OS now?

Ed:  Damnit, I need to look and make sure the link I'm pasting is actually there when posting from work.

[Salamok]

Just announced:

Google to buy Motorolla Mobility and produce their own phones. 

S:\24131.000\02SiteConditions\04SitePhotos\Post-Demo

I guess that's one way to try and keep companies from dicking around with your OS. Then again, how many phones not made by Google will continue to use the OS now?

Can you share your S drive out please?

[Mrbloodworth]

I JUST switched OFF of Virgin mobile. In my apartment area the reception sucks, BAD, like really bad. I had to switch carriers to get any form of reception. So, be warned, I believe VM gets the bandwidth leavings from sprint.

Somewhat of a shame, i went from paying 20$ every few months ( Grandfathered price + My personal calling frequency and duration), to now about 100$ a month.

[Salamok]

I'm thinking of trying them out, probably will let my phone plans overlap for 30-60 days before cancelling one of them.  Anyone in Austin able to share their v-mobile experience?

[Surlyboi]

Bleh, posted, forgot to hit save, went AFK then came back an voila.

Carry on.

[01101010]

Googs to buy Motorola. Welcome to the jungle baby, you're gonna die. 

Just announced:

Google to buy Motorolla Mobility and produce their own phones. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110815-706430.html

I guess that's one way to try and keep companies from dicking around with your OS. Then again, how many phones not made by Google will continue to use the OS now?

Ed:  Damnit, I need to look and make sure the link I'm pasting is actually there when posting from work.

[MuffinMan]

He's still struggling with this message board concept.

[fuser]

I guess that's one way to try and keep companies from dicking around with your OS. Then again, how many phones not made by Google will continue to use the OS now?

The purchase is more for patents then just a hardware manufacture. Google lost the Nortel buyout last month to the Apple headed consortium. There has been a pick up in Apple has been forcing patent lawsuits against Android manufactures (HTC/Samsung). Google will probably make the patents unencumbered to anyone using Android heading to a huge lawsuit between Google and Apple.

[Surlyboi]

Fuser got it in one.

[KallDrexx]

The purchase is more for patents then just a hardware manufacture. Google lost the Nortel buyout last month to the Apple headed consortium. There has been a pick up in Apple has been forcing patent lawsuits against Android manufactures (HTC/Samsung). Google will probably make the patents unencumbered to anyone using Android heading to a huge lawsuit between Google and Apple.

They keep saying "just for patents, it will be a separate entity, honest!" and that's only true if they are naive and have no idea what they are getting in for (which could very well be the case).  Motorola Wireless isn't a company that is doing well, and it is struggling to keep itself relevant even to the point where they have recently walked away from their "we will never do WP7" stance to a "we will consider WP7 if we get a good deal like Nokia" stance.  This is a HUGE acquisition (money and logistics wise) for Google and at some point if they don't want Motorola to die they will have to take the reigns and a hands-on approach to running the division. 

It will take a lot of work to keep Motorola from having an advantage from other Android 3rd parties, and I can guarantee (especially after looking at the retarded "quotes" by the other handset manufacturers) that android handset makers are preparing backup plans in case Google slips and gives Motorola's Android offerings an advantage over their own. 

[Yegolev]

So, buy new phone now or after the Applecaust?

[Quinton]

It'd be fun to compete based on products and features rather than who can abuse the US patent system and ITC the most, wouldn't it?

[Tebonas]

I never understand why the great companies that are (rightfully) annoyed by those ridulous patent laws haven't bought politicians used lobbying to get those laws changed so that software patents work like they are supposed to. Right now they kill innovation, not protect it.

[KallDrexx]

It'd be fun to compete based on products and features rather than who can abuse the US patent system and ITC the most, wouldn't it?

This move doesn't protect Android or Google.  Microsoft had no problem sueing Motorola before, not sure why this would cause anything different to happen.

[Merusk]

Fuser got it in one.

All the articles and analysts I was reading/ hearing yesterday seemed to think it was both.  
1) That being in control of hardware-software and service means you can compete with Apple on their own terms.  This makes the acquisition good because it lets Google do this.
2) The patents are a shield so MS and Apple don't sue you into a dead state.

It'd be fun to compete based on products and features rather than who can abuse the US patent system and ITC the most, wouldn't it?

This move doesn't protect Android or Google.  Microsoft had no problem sueing Motorola before, not sure why this would cause anything different to happen.

It'd be fun to compete based on products and features rather than who can abuse the US patent system and ITC the most, wouldn't it?

This move doesn't protect Android or Google.  Microsoft had no problem sueing Motorola before, not sure why this would cause anything different to happen.

The difference is the total aggregate of patents now.  Instead of just Motorola or Google being covered by their own, they're now both covered by both.   There's still holes but it's more complete coverage that requires more digging to find those holes.

[Zetor]

This can easily end up like Symbian* did for Nokia, depending on how the other manufacturers see things.

* How many people do you know that still use a Symbian smartphone? ... exactly. 

[Ingmar]

This can easily end up like Symbian* did for Nokia, depending on how the other manufacturers see things.

* How many people do you know that still use a Symbian smartphone? ... exactly. 

In the US? None. In the EU? That shit will not fucking go away. 

[KallDrexx]

To fan the flames a bit: http://www.snl.com/InteractiveX/article.aspx?CDID=A-13186845-13096&KPLT=2

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. shareholder John Keating sued the company, its CEO Sanjay Jha, nine members of its board and Google Inc. at the state courthouse in Chicago, Bloomberg News reported Aug. 16.

"The offered consideration does not compensate shareholders for the company's intrinsic value and stand-alone alternatives going forward, nor does it compensate shareholders for the company's value as a strategic asset for Google," Keating reportedly said in his complaint.

Keating accused the individual board members of breaching their duty to investors and claims Motorola Mobility and Google aided and abetted that breach.

The suit, which reportedly seeks class-action or group status, also seeks an order barring the completion of the deal.

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded Google to "sell" from "buy," as it believes the deal increases the risk to the company and its shares, The Associated Press reported Aug. 16.

The rating agency said Aug. 16 that although the deal gives the search giant more than 17,000 issued patents, it is not enough to protect the Android software from intellectual property issues.

The agency also believes the deal will hurt the company's growth, margins and balance sheet. The target price on Google's stock was reportedly cut by $200 to $500.

[Salamok]

Doesn't that pretty much happen any time a publicly traded company gets bought out. 

"You are only paying me 2x the street price for my shares!  I bought these shares at the height of the market for 4x the current price, if you don't buy them from me at a profit you are all a bunch of thieves!"

[fuser]

Bought a Samsung 550 Galaxy 5(GT-I5500M) for $58 prepaid at Walmart with $30 in carrier credit and 2GB SD card. $10 to carrier unlock it and flashed it to 2.2 and I have a disposable smart phone.

I'm amazed that for $70 for can get a cheap carrier unlocked/no contract smartphone. Sure its a crap phone (cpu/ram/screen/no gps/battery life will be low) but what a value.

[apocrypha]

If anyone has a Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100) and hasn't done so yet I highly recommend updating the firmware. I've been having all sorts of troubles with mine - randomly rebooting, unresponsive Swype keyboard, no sound at all, dropping wifi etc.

Finally got round to installing Kies yesterday, updated the firmware and since then not had a single problem. I'm sure there'll still be some issues but seems like a vast improvement so far.

[01101010]

In case anyone else has an Incredible 2 on Verizon, they finally released a root for it.

[El Gallo]

Is there some app I can get that will let me reply-to-all to a text message?  Or is there some way to do it with the stock text message system that I'm not seeing?  Google is only turning up other angry people who can't do this and it's extreeeeeeeemely annoying.

DroidX w/ android 2.2.1 btw.

[Draegan]

I need to replace my Droid X soon.  It gets very hot at times and seems to crash a lot these days. 

What are some of the amazingly good phones coming out in the next 6 months for Verizon? 

[01101010]

I need to replace my Droid X soon.  It gets very hot at times and seems to crash a lot these days. 

What are some of the amazingly good phones coming out in the next 6 months for Verizon? 

Bionic... I hear good stuff.

[MahrinSkel]

I'm not getting another phone that doesn't accept a regular size keyboard and drive a decent display.  I don't care if it's an Atrix-style docking station, or just plugging in a keyboard/mouse to USB and a monitor to an HDMI mini-port, but I want to be able to use my phone for *everything* but gaming (the fact is that PC gaming is dead). 

I've had to plug a game-pad into my PC permanently, because all my "PC" games are really console ports that play like shit with keyboard and mouse, and the only reason I don't switch completely to consoles is that on the PC I can hack my way past stupid boss fights.

Anyway, I don't need more horsepower than my phone can provide for anything but gaming, and I'm tired of trying to keep everything synchronized.  I want *one* device that fills all my general purpose computing needs, with no "cloud based" horse-shit that tries (and always miserably fails) to recreate the convenience of carrying all my programs and data around with me, everywhere.

--Dave (I *hate* console-style boss fights)