Technology Android

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
Yeah, I'm thinking about doing that. I'm just curious what features CM adds to it that I may miss. I don't want to do a clean wipe to stock and then realize that I need to go back to CM because I still miss something.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9505g_galaxy_s4_google_play_edition-review-951.php

The S4 Nexus edition review.

In short: The perfect Nexus experience, but too expensive.


My initial thoughts on it are that Samsung tried something new with the S4 and it seemed to be received very well. It's just that it was a spin off of the original S4. I guess you could say the same about the Nexus S, but that was still in the very early days of the Nexus brand. Samsung was not as big of a player in the game as it is now.

If the S5 has a Nexus spinoff and it is released before or at the same time as the TW S5, I wouldn't mind paying full price for the Dev Phone. You just can't release it after the original has been released. If anything, it should be released before the TW version comes out, perhaps to justify paying full price for a phone and maybe being the first to have it for a month or so before the TW edition comes out.

But like I said, I think Samsung wanted to see how it would be received, and I think they got their answer. People will buy it, just give them more of an incentive than stock Android. Release it before the Samsung TW version comes out, and maybe come down on the price a bit, too. Kinda like the N4. $399, or something, as opposed to the $199 people will pay on contract.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I think that's the answer to people complaining that there's no stock Android on it. They made a version with one. I don't think it's to sell well, it's to shut people who complain about skinned Android THAT much. To make the main argument out of the "cons" list, as there's a Nexus version now.
As a matter of fact it's a normal S4, you can install the same ROM on any i9505.

If it comes to Nexus 7.2 I don't think a jump to Snapdragon 600 and a full HD screen for 199$, and even 299$ is going to suck ass. I don't get it how can a tablet with one of the fastest chipsets around, 2gb of ram, with 32gb of memory and a full hd screen for freaking 199$ be disappointing? Those are Galaxy S4-like specs and it's priced like nothing.

"Sources from the supply chain revealed that the new Nexus 7 features a 7-inch 1980 by 1200 display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, 5-megapixel rear and 1.2-megapixel front cameras and expected price will be around US$199-249 for a model with Wi-Fi support,"DigiTimes says.
Does this REALLY sound disappointing? I can't see what more could anyone expect. You get two to three times higher performance, twice higher pixel density, a new camera, twice the amount of ram and all of that for the same price. I wonder about the display quality and flash memory quality, but I bet they'll improve those as well.

It's not going to make the first gen N7 feel very outdated, but it's a very great update making it the best Tablet again, while keeping the price unbelievably low for what it is. If they managed to make it slimmer and lighter, I'd consider getting it myself, despite having the last year's model.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
I think that's the answer to people complaining that there's no stock Android on it. They made a version with one. I don't think it's to sell well, it's to shut people who complain about skinned Android THAT much. To make the main argument out of the "cons" list, as there's a Nexus version now.
As a matter of fact it's a normal S4, you can install the same ROM on any i9505.

If it comes to Nexus 7.2 I don't think a jump to Snapdragon 600 and a full HD screen for 199$, and even 299$ is going to suck ass. I don't get it how can a tablet with one of the fastest chipsets around, 2gb of ram, with 32gb of memory and a full hd screen for freaking 199$ be disappointing? Those are Galaxy S4-like specs and it's priced like nothing.



Does this REALLY sound disappointing? I can't see what more could anyone expect. You get two to three times higher performance, twice the pixel count, a new camera, twice the amount of ram for the same price. I wonder about the display quality and flash memory quality, but I bet they'll improve those as well.

It's not going to make the first gen N7 feel very outdated, but it's a very great update making it the best Tablet again, while keeping the price unbelievably low for what it is.

Right. Maybe if more people actually had access to the Stock Android UI, they may prefer it to TW or Sense. Otherwise, you can always get an S4, root it, and have the same thing for less. Why would someone want a Dev Phone over the regular phone which they can root and put the ROM on it? If they know what a Dev Phone is, they also probably know how to root their phone too.
 

THEV1LL4N

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know of a way to bypass the SkyGo app security restriction by keeping root access. It says that to watch TV on there the device must not be rooted.

It used to work when you could temp unroot the device using SuperSU. But that no longer works anymore.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Those restrictions are ridiculous. I just give a 1 star comment and uninstall such apps. Never even bothered to check if there's a way to bypass that, but there should be - just I'm not sure if anyone has ever tried it as most apps not working on rooted devices are shit.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
The specs are the same as in all previous reports though, but prices are a tiny bit different.

If the Retina Ipad Mini comes out it'll be more expensive and with Retina the pixel density will be about the same in best case scenario anyway.

I guess if a new N7 comes out with the Snapdragon 600 and a full hd screen that's a pretty much perfect tablet for a longer while. I have that chipset in my S4 and I can't imagine Android being any smoother I guess.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
Yeah, I'm reconsidering now. If I can unload my TouchPad for about $200, at worst, I would definitely spring for the 16GB N7-2 at $250.

Let's see what happens.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_x_press_image_and_specifications_leak-news-6423.php

Looks like a fine mid end. It's funny how people expected something ultra great. HOWEVER, rumor is, since the specs are so much below the Nexus 4, which was released last year, this phone may be priced at ~200$ - that's the only thing that would work if they wanted to reclaim a part of their previous market share.
In that case it's really weird that it's not marketed internationally, but locally in the US where prices matter the least as phones are carrier subsidized.
The low price is almost guaranteed though, as they used the almost 2 year old dual core Snapdragon S4, and quad core S4s are super cheap these days - only a few bucks more per unit (because every phone uses the newer Spandragon 600 or 800 now). They wouldn't go the low spec route if it wasn't for ultra low price, otherwise this phone can't even compete with the likes of Xperia SP and Galaxy S4 mini well.

For a short while I was thinking that Google and Motorola are trolling and it's just a mid end from a new line-up and they leaked it on purpose, to keep attention from a flagship that'd be announced with a bang on 1st of August. But if priced low the X phone as we know it would sell well too, if they promote it internationally.
 

Casey

Well-Known Member
Staff member


The Moto X will be marketed on "experience" and not on specifications. Although, I believe the specs are still high enough for a smooth, beautiful experience. Google and Moto know what they are doing with this. And, they probably have a few aces up their sleeve. The always-on voice actions is pretty cool, I would guess there's a lot more of that sort of thing that we'll hear about at the announcement next week.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I guess there's not much beyond "experience" than any Google Experience phone can offer, plus a few gimmicks. The always on voice is a total gimmick to me. I never used that on my S4, and I used some of its other gimmicky features for fun. I'm all for "AI" assistants, but Google Now and such are still waay too basic and imperfect for me to be even remotely useful.
Also, there's no LED light, only the screen is supposed to light up on notifications. To me it's kinda meh, since I rely on LED now and I wouldn't notice the screen turning on for a moment.
The phone's shape is kinda unpractical - it's probably going to rock sideways while lying on flat surfaces. Also it makes it less pocketable and less cool when lying around. The back design looks great, front looks uninspiring because of the upper part looking old. Also the front looks kinda unfinished.

The way I see it though, it's a mid-ranger with a display and camera that appear to be ahead of the mid-range league. The processor is adequate.. for mid range. For now it shouldn't lag and it should be relatively snappy for a while. I'm almost totally sure that they aimed to offer the best value for money phone. It could be the Nexus 7 of phones. If that's what they were after, and manage to keep the price around the 200$ mark, they might have a winner. I see no reason why they couldn't do it - they're selling the N4 for 299$, most of that goes to LG, and it's built around higher tech components despite being a year old.
Also, the Chinese make "global" Snapdragon 600 phones for 150$ now (Basic Bear).
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
Yeah, I couldn't live without LED notifications. The S3 was the first GS line phone to have it, right? I don't think my friend's S2 has it.

Google Now is actually pretty useful. They've gotten it to be like Siri now, where I can just press the voice button and have it wake me up in an hour or something. Reminds, basically.

What more are you looking for? Even the weather and sports and traffic info is big for me, when I'm back in the States.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
What more are you looking for? Even the weather and sports and traffic info is big for me, when I'm back in the States.

Maybe I'm exaggerating because almost nothing works outside of the States, especially in non-English speaking countries. But even in the States I feel like I can only do a few things with it, and it takes more time and feels weird. Also you have to learn all the commands, and it often does things wrong.
I believe that in the future it might be an awesome thing - I always wanted to have that true virtual personal assistant that would be semi-intelligent, but I think there's still a long way to go and Siri and Google Now feel like a first step in that direction, but still they're not good enough to be really useful to me.
 

dilla

Trumpfan17 aka Coonie aka Dilla aka Tennis Dog
My command is literally "wake me up in an hour" and it sets the alarm. Not that difficult of a command. :)

Siri may be better at giving directions, meaning you just ask for them and she pulls up the map, but for conversions, like currency and to the metric system, Now does it pretty well too.

I consider these an amenity and while I know it's not perfect, it still works on a lot of the stuff. You just have to know what it can and can not tell you.
 

THEV1LL4N

Well-Known Member
I think Google Now works pretty well. It's still a work in progress. I'm also hoping that it could be integrated with Android@Home some day - Imagine commands such as "turn the lights on at 7pm" and "Close the curtains" when you're away from home or on holiday.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I just spent the last 40 minutes playing with voice assistants. They're not as bad as I remember meaning they're improving. I like S Voice the most. It's the most humane I guess? Cracks jokes and stuff, and can do more with the phone. Google Now is cooler for the way it presents responses - shows you graphs for mathematical calculations etc.
 

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