What's your smartphone ?

[yester64]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but how are windows phones (the WP8)? I hear good things about and i really thinking about to test drive one if i can. I understand there are not many apps so far but the overall experience supposed to be good. I base that on Ars blogs really.
What do you sacrifice if you use a WP8 phone over Nexus?

[davkol]

privacy

[noisyturtle]

Verizon is a bit dubious as of late, guess that's why they gotta lock you into long-term contracts.

[daerid]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but how are windows phones (the WP8)? I hear good things about and i really thinking about to test drive one if i can. I understand there are not many apps so far but the overall experience supposed to be good. I base that on Ars blogs really.
What do you sacrifice if you use a WP8 phone over Nexus?

I can't comment in regards to the Nexus, as I've never owned one. I did have an HD7 (WP7) when I was on T-Mobile, and I absolutely loved it. The experience was smooth and fluid, I never felt like the phone was stuttering or struggling. The main problem with it was 3rd party app support, and the Zune software at the time was nowhere near as good as iTunes (and that's saying something).

[HaaTa]

HTC Magic (Japanese version) -> Nexus 4 (dropped, killed the screen) -> Xperia Z (DoCoMo)

I would have just gotten another nexus 4 (no tools or time to fix the old one), but they aren't available in Japan from Google...

[nappi11]

Nokia 5730 Xpressmusic (the phone in the pic is not mine)


I won't change to new one before I can get one with QWERTY. This is 3,5 yrs old now, and the screen is cracked, OS is lagging like hell and the phone likes to make calls alone.
My face when someone tolds me to buy a new smartphone:




I've been thinking about Jolla and its "second half" stuff, because they say that there will be full qwerty "other half" for those.

[y0fate]

I've only had two smartphones, wasn't really into them when I had my old brick of a phone, but now that I have one I can't live without it. My first smartphone was a Samsung Fascinate (of the original Galaxy S when AMOLED was the newest, biggest thing), but once it was starting to die I picked up an iPhone 4 for $33 after all taxes and fees, and I'm continuing to use it until something catches my eye. I've had my eye on Ubantu, but I'm going to wait and see if they make their own phone.

[heissler]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but how are windows phones (the WP8)? I hear good things about and i really thinking about to test drive one if i can. I understand there are not many apps so far but the overall experience supposed to be good. I base that on Ars blogs really.
What do you sacrifice if you use a WP8 phone over Nexus?

I have recently switched from my beloved HTC Desire Z to a Nokia Lumia 920 about 4 months ago, and am part happy, part unsatisfied.
The camera was a big selling factor for me, this thing blows every other cam on the market out of the water. I can get from spotting something interesting into getting out my phone into taking a VERY good picture (if you have decent settings preconfigured, I don't really like auto-mode) in just 2-3 seconds. The sound with headphones is great. 32 GB of storage is enough for me. The system is very very fluid and has never ever stuttered or lagged for me once. Since I am travelling a lot for my job and seeing a lot of unknown citys, I have fallen in love with the city compass (also a big - wooow - gimmick for non-WP/Lumia users). App availability is okay, you can get the tools to get most jobs done. Enterprise integration is meh, but I have my Blackberry for that.

The few things that kinda annoy me are the horrible mail app (why the heck can't I append any files except pictures to my mails...) and the missing file explorer. Using the same volume setting/slider for ringtones and media volume is silly, not being able to close suspended apps back-to-back from the task manager is annoying, you have to pop into every app and close them manually.

In retrospective, I would currenty (pre-Windows Blue) NOT do the switch again if I had the chance. Don't get me wrong, I do not regret the switch at all, WP8 is worlds apart from WP7 in terms of stability and performance, I would say it's the leader of all mobile OS in this regard at the moment. You can get the right tools to get things done, but there are a few VERY mandatory things missing  at the moment, which will hopefully get fixed with the release of Windows Blue.

[y0fate]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but how are windows phones (the WP8)? I hear good things about and i really thinking about to test drive one if i can. I understand there are not many apps so far but the overall experience supposed to be good. I base that on Ars blogs really.
What do you sacrifice if you use a WP8 phone over Nexus?

Here's a short little series that goes over the changes from iOS to the HTC 8X, it covers pretty much everything about the phone/OS.

[daerid]

^^^^ "here's a short little series..." did you forget a link?

[y0fate]

^^^^ "here's a short little series..." did you forget a link?

Must have forgot it... anyways, here it is

list=PL8mG-RkN2uTxUnhxDssV3ryeiBxpGyVYG

[Jack Karneval]

Galaxy Note 2 here, I hate it and love it as much as I hated and loved my two iPhones before it. That being said, I don't think I could go back to iOS mainly because there's certain features Android affords me that are just far too inconvenient.

Also, one of the things that has always baffled me about iPods, iPhones and the ilk, is the lack of a customizable equalizer... I'm sorry, it's just inexcusable to me....

[yester64]

^^^^ "here's a short little series..." did you forget a link?

Must have forgot it... anyways, here it is

list=PL8mG-RkN2uTxUnhxDssV3ryeiBxpGyVYG

Insightful. Makes me think.
One thing i actually love about Android is of course all the Google apps. Right now i make extensive use of Tracks which is really useful, besides that it drains your battery.
Thanks for sharing the link

[y0fate]

^^^^ "here's a short little series..." did you forget a link?

Must have forgot it... anyways, here it is

list=PL8mG-RkN2uTxUnhxDssV3ryeiBxpGyVYG

Insightful. Makes me think.
One thing i actually love about Android is of course all the Google apps. Right now i make extensive use of Tracks which is really useful, besides that it drains your battery.
Thanks for sharing the link

You're welcome  I found it gave a pretty good overview of all the features Windows Phone has to offer.

[alaricljs]

Shoot, I have a terminal program that can do that... they gonna get sued too?

Also - OnT - caved for the better hardware in the S4... playing with it now.

[tjcaustin]

Shoot, I have a terminal program that can do that... they gonna get sued too?

Also - OnT - caved for the better hardware in the S4... playing with it now.

I'm enjoying mine.  I really dig the gesture and eye movement stuff

[alaricljs]

Damn them for including WHITE accessories with my (mostly) black phone.

[alaricljs]

Time to stock up on a profusion of charging accessories... Anyone w/ an S4 have experience with reasonably priced wall and car chargers?  Preferably separate from a cable (or bundled, as long as it's not attached).

[tjcaustin]

Time to stock up on a profusion of charging accessories... Anyone w/ an S4 have experience with reasonably priced wall and car chargers?  Preferably separate from a cable (or bundled, as long as it's not attached).

Standard micro usb stuff works with mine so far.  I'm assuming you need the socket part, not the cable, though?  If nothing else, I'll let you have mine as I'm not in need of it.  I also have an attached car charger you can have that I don't need either.

[alaricljs]

Color me irritated... I rooted my S4 and yet still can't uninstall the cruft because apparently the location it's on is somehow read only.  Haven't found any info about that yet either.

[rknize]

Color me irritated... I rooted my S4 and yet still can't uninstall the cruft because apparently the location it's on is somehow read only.  Haven't found any info about that yet either.

Just delete the APKs.

[yester64]

Mm.. i come more to the conclusion that i can not part without Google.
For one i like the map app and recently, Google Now. Very convenient. Also My Tracks is quite nice which i use from time to time.

After watching the video, i think WM8 is ok and has improvements some areas, but why would i need to restart the phone after upgrading? Strange. The scares app landscape is another thing that is annoying. Well that is not necessarily MS fault since the platform (at least WM8) is somewhat new. But its a breaker to me. Its hard already that some apps are  only for iPhone only but its perhaps worst with WM8.
But, and thats a big but, i haven't had a chance to get my hands on a WM8 phone i relay of course only on reviews.
So far i most likely stay with my Nexus 4.
If i could get a WM8 phone cheaply (there already not that expensive i think) i might try it.

[alaricljs]

Color me irritated... I rooted my S4 and yet still can't uninstall the cruft because apparently the location it's on is somehow read only.  Haven't found any info about that yet either.

Just delete the APKs.

I get told the filesystem is RO.  Whether it's through the phone or adb shell.

[JaccoW]

Mm.. i come more to the conclusion that i can not part without Google.
For one i like the map app and recently, Google Now. Very convenient. Also My Tracks is quite nice which i use from time to time.

After watching the video, i think WM8 is ok and has improvements some areas, but why would i need to restart the phone after upgrading? Strange. The scares app landscape is another thing that is annoying. Well that is not necessarily MS fault since the platform (at least WM8) is somewhat new. But its a breaker to me. Its hard already that some apps are  only for iPhone only but its perhaps worst with WM8.
But, and thats a big but, i haven't had a chance to get my hands on a WM8 phone i relay of course only on reviews.
So far i most likely stay with my Nexus 4.
If i could get a WM8 phone cheaply (there already not that expensive i think) i might try it.

WP8

I am now the happy owner of a Nokia Lumia 720. 


My previous phone was a Nokia Lumia 800 and I can tell this one has a couple of really nice improvements over the 800, at the very least a much better battery life.
Which wasn't bad per se, but as time went by I started using the phone more and more and ended up running out of battery at the end of the day. Granted, those were days that started at 7 AM and went on till midnight but the last thing you want if you go home late is a phone running out of battery.

[rknize]

Color me irritated... I rooted my S4 and yet still can't uninstall the cruft because apparently the location it's on is somehow read only.  Haven't found any info about that yet either.

Just delete the APKs.

I get told the filesystem is RO.  Whether it's through the phone or adb shell.

adb root
adb remount
adb shell rm /system/app/....apk

[rknize]

The patent war stuff has been split to a new topic.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44876.0

[alaricljs]

Time to stock up on a profusion of charging accessories... Anyone w/ an S4 have experience with reasonably priced wall and car chargers?  Preferably separate from a cable (or bundled, as long as it's not attached).

Standard micro usb stuff works with mine so far.  I'm assuming you need the socket part, not the cable, though?  If nothing else, I'll let you have mine as I'm not in need of it.  I also have an attached car charger you can have that I don't need either.

You go with touchstones or the Sammie equiv?

[iri]

was gifted an ipod touch, now use it for everything besides calling and getting 3g / 4g internet

[tjcaustin]

Time to stock up on a profusion of charging accessories... Anyone w/ an S4 have experience with reasonably priced wall and car chargers?  Preferably separate from a cable (or bundled, as long as it's not attached).

Standard micro usb stuff works with mine so far.  I'm assuming you need the socket part, not the cable, though?  If nothing else, I'll let you have mine as I'm not in need of it.  I also have an attached car charger you can have that I don't need either.

You go with touchstones or the Sammie equiv?

I just have a bunch of microusb cables.

[SeriouSSpotS]

Luma 700 

[ComradeSniper]

Sorry if this has already been asked, but...

I will hopefully be getting a new phone soon, and I want something running Android and also fairly small sized; slightly bigger than an iPhone is fine. I've taken a look at a few phones in stores and the Samsung Galaxy is way too wide for my liking. The iPhone is just about perfect sized but I don't care for iOS. Any recommendations?

[Smeagol_RP]

HTC 8X.

[Rendom]

iPhone 4s. Thinking to change soon.

[Puddsy]

I have an HTC one x. The camera's pretty solid, but everything else is kinda ****. Want an s3 but this was $100 cheaper. I cansee why.

[Lanx]

wife just got a iphone 5 (had the 4 and currently has 4s for work) feels cheap.

[kmacwannabe]

wife just got a iphone 5 (had the 4 and currently has 4s for work) feels cheap.

It's because it's so light. They figured people would rather go without the heft, and I agree to a certain extent. Then again my brother did wash is 5th gen touch the other day because he forgot it was in his pocket.

[Lanx]

i have a galaxy s3 and that is light as well, it doesn't feel as cheap as the iphone5, and the galaxy s3 has this ghetto plastic removable back (that actually feels nice when connected)

[smknjoe]

Pocket PC 6700. Win Mobile rulz!


No, I still use my old Evo though.

[GLaDOS]

Galaxy Nexus on Xylon ROM.

[PadawanGeek]

Very happy and contented owner of a stock Samsung S4 White, upgraded from an S3 actually.

[alaricljs]

My S4 (and my wife's) have been running on Clean ROM 1.6.5 quite happily.  Started in 1.5 somewhere but never ran into issues, just upgraded because that's the way I am.  Really a nice ROM if you just want to clean out the extra junk.  It didn't actually clean out enough for me so I ended up adb'ing in and wiping Talk.apk, AllShare*, Yahoo*, and possibly some other little things I'm forgetting.

[divito]

Blackberry Q10; can't live without the BB keyboard.

[Badwrench]

Went back to a super old LG Shine (aka CU720).  My HTC inspire has flipped out again - the vol. down button is stuck internally.  This was the third Inspire in 2 years.  Waiting the last month of my contract with ATT so that I can cancel and get a different plan and a new phone.  It's amazing how long the battery lasts on my old Shine.  I had not used it in 2 years and it turned on and still had a bar left. 



Any recommendations for a new carrier in the So Cal area?

[xSpartanCx]

Cheapo Virgin Mobile $15 phone --> AT&T LG Xenon --> Verizon galaxy nexus

I must say, I love this phone.

[HighhBrid]

I have a Galaxy Note II with the ROM "JellyBean's" installed. Best phone I've ever owned.

[Ekruceal]

I recently went from a Galaxy SIII to the LG Nexus 4.  Couldn't be happier with it.

[Thimplum]

(Attachment Link)

What are those keys you have on the WASD?

Sweets?

[Badwrench]

(Attachment Link)

What are those keys you have on the WASD?

Sweets?

Some keys I painted when I first joined here.  They were meant to go with the Toxic set, but that is still a way out.  There are a few floating around with some other members, but I stopped making them (I didn't realize that Bunnylake was already doing them). 

[jameslr]

Galaxy S3 on VZW. I like it, but probably won't upgrade to Galaxy S4 anytime soon. I've had this one for going on 2 years so my contract is almost up. May pick up one used in a year or so that way I don't have to re-up.

[id0827502]

I have a Note II. The phone I had before that was the Nexus S and modded the hell out of it. When I got my Note II I was surprised to find that modding had taken a more complicated turn than what I was used to.

Now I have TWO custom recoveries on my phone.

And I don't know what to do.

I want to cry. Somebody hold me.