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Yeap this is an appreciation thread for the venerable Samsung SGH-i780.
My only lament is that I didn't buy myself one earlier. I have used a few HTC devices before and this is the first time I can declare 100% satisfaction in my PDA purchase.
For the price VS feature, the i780 is A STEAL! it's almost unbelievable.
What I liked about i780:
- FAST! no joke (after upgrading the Rom to DXHE1)
- Stable - you can push it to the max and still it runs
- FAST HSDPA (I am on 3G/HSDPA day in day out for Exchange Push Mail & Internet Sharing)
- Oh yes that slim profile
- 2 Batteries! when was it the last time you purchase a phone and get two batteries
- Satisfactory battery consumption (even with Bluetooth & 3G always on the drain rate is quite conservative)
I will nitpick a bit, Dopod 838 Pro (Hermes) was the longest running PDA Phone I used. At that time it gave all the features I want and I gave it away for a Tytn II (Kaiser). Sad to say Kaiser was a dissapointment no matter how I cook the rom. Then I moved briefly to O2 XDA Flame, God I love the huge VGA display.....but then it was dissapointing O2/MWG decided to disown "older" models and refrain from giving any further support. So no WM6.0 and no update on the Nvidia Graphics driver. On top of that there's that dismal performance when running in normal mode (if you switch to performance mode it kicks but the battery drain is way overkill). Then I moved ahead and got myself a veteran - the almighty HTC Universal (Dopod 900). It's quite apparent that to this very day, HTC Universal still reign supreme as the fastest HTC device (specially with properly cooked roms). But alas the bulky size and lack of HSDPA prompted me to move yet again.
Enter the i780, it was a love/hate affair at first.....I hate the smallish keypad, but in just two weeks my fingers has grown onto them, I hate the square QVGA 320X320 but eventually found a way to adapt....the rest is history. Total satisfaction is what I can say about this device now. Perfectly functional features and usable too. The GPS worked like a charm, the Video Call does what's it supposed to do...etc...
So, I may still want to waste my $ on the Touch Pro when it comes out, but I am not so sure right now - hearing stories that the younger sibling Diamond is having hard time coping up with the demands (vs expectation)
sorry to waste your time. Normally I will be quite reserved not to say anything unless warranted....but I just have to scream out how much I LOVE i780!!!
so, do you like the i780? it isnt clear
i'm with you!
i also moved from Kaiser to I780. kaiser is really dispointting me,slow,big,heavy,and the damn drift screen!!
the speed of i780 is just satisfiable, screen is wird but ok. the most good thing is the touch experience, very precisely. when i was useing Kaiser i even think that there is problem with my eyes because of the frequently wrong reactions...
oh, the finger mouse is a highlight too.
320x320 .... thats a no go!
i couldn't possibly that 320x320 is a no go, since vga sometimes overkill for small formfactor. yet i would really want to know whether apps having issues with this resolutions or not? how is your experience with the apps, EFN? any compatibility issues with the 'unstandard' screen size?
I agree with you on the price /bang for your buck. This thing is unbelievably cutthroat in its pricing for what you get. I spent 18,000php on it, HTC phones usually go for about 40,000php. The phone actually retails for like 20,000-24,000php but I got mine "second hand" from a guy who used it for a week so I got a little discount and basically got it dirt cheap, on top of an already dirt cheap phone.
I mean come on it has 128MB RAM, 256MB ROM, HSDPA, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, WiFi b/g, a QWERTY, a 320x320 Touchscreen, not one but two batteries, the Marvell processor, this thing is freaking loaded.
I mean the HTC Touch (the original one) is still going for about 29,000php and it has a piddly OMAP processor, no 3G, etc. The Diamond is like 40k in php. This is half the price, with a very comparable feature set.
Let's not even get into how slim and light it is! It's kind of wide and tall but despite that it is very pocketable. It's about the same size as the iPhone, except thinner and a lot lighter to boot.
I do have a few issues with it but for what I paid how can I *not* be happy? The problems are pretty minor niggles:
- Samsung proprietary USB ports * ugh I hate 'em
- aesthetics -- many people like the business look and the phone is very handsome but the designs HTC has been churning out for the past year are a lot more attractive IMO.
- Touchscreen needs a lot of pressure and is not very precise or responsive. Could be a lot better.
- telescopic stylus sucks
- QWERTY keyboard is not as good as other QWERTYs in this class like the godly Moto Q keyboards or even its predecessor the Samsung Blackjack, which I found to have a better keyboard.
- 320x320 screen is such an odd choice and causes me some problems like with spb Mobile Shell
- finger mouse is a rather stupid feature I mean you have a touchscreen! You do not need a mouse! Give me a normal 5-way d-pad please
- Bluetooth Headset issue that I always get with Samsung WiMo phones, doesn't reconnect properly after I turn the headset off
Out of those, the only real problem is the BT headset problem. Everything else is a minor niggle and more just a preference nitpick or can be worked around.
Other than that though what's not to like? It is a great device.
Is the HTC Universal really the fastest HTC device? I thought the old Magician was a lot faster. My love affair with PocketPCs looked like this:
iPaq 6365 -> O2 Mini (Magician) -> O2 Atom Exec -> Samsung Blackjack -> Jasjar (Universal) -> i780
I used the Atom Exec for the longest time it was a great phone but for various reasons I "upgraded" to a Blackjack but it was not an all happy affair. Now I have the i780 and it is the fastest PPC I have had, faster than even the Atom Exec and way faster than all the other "clunky" PPCs I've used.
schizo said:
i couldn't possibly that 320x320 is a no go, since vga sometimes overkill for small formfactor. yet i would really want to know whether apps having issues with this resolutions or not? how is your experience with the apps, EFN? any compatibility issues with the 'unstandard' screen size?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not EFN but there are lots of compatibility issues with the non-standard screen size. Most games will have issues, like my favorite Worms World Party. Not that you could play Worms properly without a decent d-pad anyway. spb Mobile Shell also does not work properly. Basically apps that require a certain kind of layout have issues.
Everything else that does not need to conform to a specific screen layout will work to the resolution and work fine, and that includes most productivity apps so this is not so big an issue that you should worry about it.
Mochan said:
I'm not EFN but there are lots of compatibility issues with the non-standard screen size. Most games will have issues, like my favorite Worms World Party. Not that you could play Worms properly without a decent d-pad anyway. spb Mobile Shell also does not work properly. Basically apps that require a certain kind of layout have issues.
Everything else that does not need to conform to a specific screen layout will work to the resolution and work fine, and that includes most productivity apps so this is not so big an issue that you should worry about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the 240x240 "emulation" that seems to mess things up. I have SPB Shell working perfectly at native res in RealVGA. Then again, it's a (superbe) productivity device, so I don't expect to play video games on it.
You know, I still haven't managed to get spb shell to run properly on it. I always get an "out of memory" error whenever I try to go to the Now screen. I even tried it on RealVGA but I couldn't seem to get it to work, but no biggie. Mobile Shell is more an aesthetic layer than an actual productivity boost and actually I find the Today screen with selected plugins is more effecient all things considered.
But anyway yeah I don't play games on it either (I mean that is what a PSP is for!) and the phone does what I need it to do, and aside from my bluetooth problem I am very happy with it.
Weird how everyone seems to be struggling to get software to work on I780. I have had minor problems, mostly blue tooth which i eventualy got working.
I use SPB mobile shell, Samsung today plugin, opera, google maps, garmin, a bunch of astraware games, adobe reader, flashplayer, pocket rar, skype, WKTaskL, monocube safemode 2, threaded sms, etc ...
And they all run perfectly, i dont even use Realvga...
I am very happy with this phone so far, it is very fast, has plenty of ram, even the 2mp camera takes descent shots. Hsdpa is brilliant and GPS is awsome, connects within seconds. I would recommend this phone to anyone.
Everyday more and more software are supporting 320x320 devices, even the spb team is soon going to fully support the I780, i read it on their website. I also read somewhere that more and more phones will be coming out with 320x320 display so i dont see why people are so against it. jealousy i guess, cant think of another reason.
EFN said:
Then I moved briefly to O2 XDA Flame, God I love the huge VGA display.....but then it was dissapointing O2/MWG decided to disown "older" models and refrain from giving any further support. So no WM6.0 and no update on the Nvidia Graphics driver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't you run into the same problem you have with the Flame? As in no OS upgrade or features unlock (p3600 GPS, qual-band Diamond). I've also tried other brands but once the manufacture announce the end of life of a product (usually within a year). You can't get any more support from them. Once I realize the short coming, I stop buying any brand except HTC. Now I know I can count on XDA Developers for OS upgrade. It's like an extented warranty for your product. Unless other brands have a forum similar to xda with super cookers, there is no way for me to go with any other brands again.
atleast its cheaper than the touch pro!
Mochan said:
I agree with you on the price /bang for your buck. This thing is unbelievably cutthroat in its pricing for what you get. I spent 18,000php on it, HTC phones usually go for about 40,000php. The phone actually retails for like 20,000-24,000php but I got mine "second hand" from a guy who used it for a week so I got a little discount and basically got it dirt cheap, on top of an already dirt cheap phone.
I mean come on it has 128MB RAM, 256MB ROM, HSDPA, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, WiFi b/g, a QWERTY, a 320x320 Touchscreen, not one but two batteries, the Marvell processor, this thing is freaking loaded.
I mean the HTC Touch (the original one) is still going for about 29,000php and it has a piddly OMAP processor, no 3G, etc. The Diamond is like 40k in php. This is half the price, with a very comparable feature set.
Let's not even get into how slim and light it is! It's kind of wide and tall but despite that it is very pocketable. It's about the same size as the iPhone, except thinner and a lot lighter to boot.
I do have a few issues with it but for what I paid how can I *not* be happy? The problems are pretty minor niggles:
- Samsung proprietary USB ports * ugh I hate 'em
- aesthetics -- many people like the business look and the phone is very handsome but the designs HTC has been churning out for the past year are a lot more attractive IMO.
- Touchscreen needs a lot of pressure and is not very precise or responsive. Could be a lot better.
- telescopic stylus sucks
- QWERTY keyboard is not as good as other QWERTYs in this class like the godly Moto Q keyboards or even its predecessor the Samsung Blackjack, which I found to have a better keyboard.
- 320x320 screen is such an odd choice and causes me some problems like with spb Mobile Shell
- finger mouse is a rather stupid feature I mean you have a touchscreen! You do not need a mouse! Give me a normal 5-way d-pad please
- Bluetooth Headset issue that I always get with Samsung WiMo phones, doesn't reconnect properly after I turn the headset off
Out of those, the only real problem is the BT headset problem. Everything else is a minor niggle and more just a preference nitpick or can be worked around.
Other than that though what's not to like? It is a great device.
Is the HTC Universal really the fastest HTC device? I thought the old Magician was a lot faster. My love affair with PocketPCs looked like this:
iPaq 6365 -> O2 Mini (Magician) -> O2 Atom Exec -> Samsung Blackjack -> Jasjar (Universal) -> i780
I used the Atom Exec for the longest time it was a great phone but for various reasons I "upgraded" to a Blackjack but it was not an all happy affair. Now I have the i780 and it is the fastest PPC I have had, faster than even the Atom Exec and way faster than all the other "clunky" PPCs I've used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you care to explain to me what are PHP hours?
Best compromise phone to date
Here are my insights to the i780 after using it for a month..
First ,this is the most tolerable phone have ever used..Even its flaws are very ok to me..
I use it for business,internet browsing, news reading, gps navigation.
I use it with vodafone Egypt 3G network.
The stock rom E2 i one of the most stable WM roms i have ever used...
My other 2 phones are a nokia e61 and a JasJar (universal)
1. 320x320 is an inconvenience at only 5% of the time..(real vga fixes all issues with application ,but games are no no..specially games that run in full screen...forget it if you plan on gaming..screen is small for games any ways.)
2. the optical touch mouse is a great feature..one handed operation is very easy.
3.Camera is OK..but not as a good as any nokia N series.
4.It rarely crashes, you can run 10 applications on it with no effect on the beast..
5.Battery life is great..i use the phone for a lot of calls...2 hours daily on average + full push email ..the battery would run the whole business day but not a full 24 hours...week ends it run for 30 hours ..
6. Voice quality in phones is terrific.
7. does not support simultaneous voice and data..so when calls are on ,data connections are off..my old e61 support this.
8. I confirm the touch screen needs some pressure above average compared to other pdas..
9. It is a very fast phone...way faster than my JasJar.
10. SPB mobile shell works without any problem for me ..perhaps the rom i have is compatible with it..
11. Key board is a bit small and awkward to use but this is the compromise for the very small form factor..
12. non standard usb charger port sucks..but the compromise is that you have 2 batteries. if you want standard go for a nokia..every place you go to you can find a compatible charger with someone around..
13. When using it to supply internet connectivity to m laptop via connection sharing ,the signal lock was weak compared to the nokia e61 ,but was very good compared to the jasjar.. signal was not lost but was lower than the nokia. Although in voice call it is superior to the nokia..
14. data connection on it is 90% stable, i get sometimes disconnected from my exchange push email server/
Generally i was not gonna buy a new WM phone but this one restored my faith in the platform..
The platform is very powerful but not as stable as the symbian (IMHO), but this one proved to me that this is microsoft's mistake leaving ROMs to be released as pleased by OEM with no proper supervision while symbain is not as open a WM hence controlled..Samsung is one exception in releasing good ROMs(so are ETEN to by the way)
This is first PPC phone with stock Rom i ever used that is 100% working and stable..
Extremely recommended if you like the form factor
320x320 not dat bad iv always wanted a device thats got equal wxh 2.5" i780 vs HP iPAQ 910c what wins
It'd be great if someone with an i780 would post some screenshots of some different applications and games in landscape and portrait so that those of us skeptical about the 320 x 320 screen can see how apps created for a 4:3 or 3:4 aspect ratio translate to the square screen!
Thanks in advance!
Icefeldt said:
320x320 .... thats a no go!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
open your mind! that's all I have to say
ksameh said:
Generally i was not gonna buy a new WM phone but this one restored my faith in the platform..
The platform is very powerful but not as stable as the symbian (IMHO), but this one proved to me that this is microsoft's mistake leaving ROMs to be released as pleased by OEM with no proper supervision while symbain is not as open a WM hence controlled..Samsung is one exception in releasing good ROMs(so are ETEN to by the way)
This is first PPC phone with stock Rom i ever used that is 100% working and stable..
Extremely recommended if you like the form factor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
overall, I agree with what you have said, especially your parting comments.
MS biggest mistake is to leave to OEM to finalise the image, and it doesn't help when all OEM just take the image as it is and released to the market.
Motorola, Samsung are the only two I have seen where they did more to the ROM, then just pack them into the box with the hardware and sell it off as a WM phones.
since this is an appreciation thread for i780, I would share my own writeup of the phone, which in my opinon, is one of the better, if not best, WM phones I have come acrossed so far.
Take note that I don't really have good impression of Samsung products, as my wife's previous two Samsung phones (non WM phones) always ended up with some reception problem.
PS: If you know the Chinese name for Samsung, literally it means "3 Star", and i780, definitely worth more than "3 Star"
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Samsung launched its flagship qwerty product, Samsung SGH-i78,0 a couple of months ago and it has been the talking point in the “geek” town. Having tried its previous qwerty models, I had my reservation. The impressive technical specification and corresponding internet reviews, however led me to take a huge step. I finally sold my trusty Motorola Q9h and got myself a Samsung i780. So is this ultra slim Microsoft Windows Mobile-based smart phone liveing up to its reputation? After using it for a few days, here’s my take;
http://www.zenyee.com/2008/06/23/a-three-stargadget-that-is-rated-higher-than-three-star/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i780 is awesome- if get to know it
Yes - this phone can be your dream phone
use realvga to increase the resolution
use ae buttonplus to custom map your keys
and upgrade to the wm6.1 build from samsung
It is hard to argue that phones have not plateaued in terms of functionality. The iPhone 4S is simply an incremental upgrade to the iPhone 4. The next generation of Android phones are pushing pocket-able screen sizes to the limit. There is only so much you can do with a certain form factor, and this upcoming generation of phones is it. Applications run entirely smoothly, batteries are lasting entire days of moderate to heavy use, everything from a TV to a Vacuum Cleaner can interact with your phone through it's plethora of radios. And screens are so crisp that the human eye cannot even detect the pixels, perfect for watching full length, high definition movies on-the-go.
Two-year contracts sound like an eternity since the rapidly improving operating systems of Apple, Android, and Windows. However, there is an exponential decline of innovation between iterations of firmware. Donut to Eclair. HUGE. Eclair to Froyo. Big. Froyo to Gingerbread. Bug fixes and optimizations. Gingerbread to ICS. Superficial. What could possibly be next for a phone? Two years will surprisingly be too short for all but the nerdiest and niche interest groups. It's already been more than a year and a half with my Samsung Vibrant and other than tech-lust, there is no genuine reason for me to upgrade.
The next step for phones really isn't about phones at all. The next step is to systematically destroy every other gadget you currently own. The first to go? Laptops. The Atrix began this process, but it was for the most part a broken and overpriced experience. That will change as phones are becoming exponentially more powerful. One could argue that gaming laptops will still exist. Sure, for a couple more years. Kal-El, Wayne, Logan, Stark, Nvidia's superhero line-up of gpu/cpu chips. Stark being 100x more powerful than Tegra 2! One Hundred. These are theoretical, but the potential is staggering. Compounded with cloud-assisted browsing from Amazon Silk or Opera Mobile? Laptops are dead. Long Live Laptop Docks.
Next to go are dedicated tablets. Operating systems such as Android's Ice Cream Sandwich will unify the tablet and phone experience. ASUS wants to capitalize on this with their Padfone. Why buy a full price phone and tablet when you can buy just a phone and the tablet as an accessory for half the price? For myself, I would come home and plop my phone into the tablet. When I go out, I remove it. No more syncing. It's all consolidated. Not to mention when my tablet husk is home, it'll be charging all day. I won't even have to charge my phone or change my battery before I couch surf. Ah, laziness.
Last to go are game consoles. In fact, casual gaming is already on the horizon of being completely overrun by mobile devices. Portable gaming devices such as the Vita and 3DS are probably near the last of their kind. Nvidia's Stark will most certainly be able to support Full Stereoscopic HD output, if a processor before it cannot. This is my most speculative moment, but I can picture a future where your phone gets plugged into an HDMI/HDD Dock connected to your TV and you download most of the data for rented video games and stream the more volatile aspects such as sound effects, textures, and geometry. Discs will still exist due to their practicality, ownership, and offline use. Services like On-live will also become more prevalent as bandwidth costs decline. Okay, maybe consoles will be around for quite some time still, but their days are numbered.
In the meantime, phones will even make the phone part obsolete. Minute plans will be optional since not only is VoIP much cheaper, it's so much more clear and crisp. T-Mobile and Walmart are already headed down this direction. GPSs? Already dead. External webcams? Gone. Digital Cameras? Nope. External Hard drives? Cloud and SDXC will cover the masses.
Unless you are an IT or Content Creation professional, this next generation of phone will literally handle anything that you will ever need or want in a stand-alone phone device. For most of you, this is it. If you want a social networking, casual gaming, high quality photo-taking, VoIP/Webcam chatting, Global positioning, Netflix streaming, Hulu watching, cloud storing/syncing Super-phone, the wait is finally over. This is your year. This is not to say that phones will continue improving in performance and incremental updates, but there is literally NO more room for groundbreaking innovation within this particular form factor, only the hybridization and replacing of every other gadget that you own.
Oh, except for one feature I want. Built in noise-canceling support for headphones, like the Sony X-Series.
While this might be true, never forget that the platforms you use and love evolve. And that might get users to upgrade after all!
Take facebook for example. Right now, video calling is only available via Desktop operating systems. But I'm pretty sure that over the next few years this will come to mobile, meaning that your handset must be strong enough to handle it smoothly.
I don't think that even the average consumers will last with their 2011/12 handsets "forever".
This was a very good editorial.
I must say, that before every generation of new phones, people think "this is it, this will replace my pc/psp/etc...". While I do believe, that huge things are coming, I don't think this is THE generation yet.
We're getting more power, more apps, better screens, but we still lack (in my opinion) a solid OS that could replace Windows in every day use, and - perhaps more importantly - the average consumer lacks the mentality, that everything he wants done, can be done on his smartphone.
Also, to your list of killed devices, I would add "MP3 players"
good post and interesting read.
But isn't the next upgrade in generation of phones always been about replacing some other technology?
cameras, mp3 player, pda, operating system (android, ios) etc..
And all the while replacing these other things, the cell phone gets more efficient at it.
@smirny stuff like facebook specific video calling i would consider as incremental and non-essential. with upcoming generation, google talk is a viable option for video chat, plus there are many services such a Qik and Fring. I doubt (hope) that people aren't holding out on their phone purchase for facebook video. I couldn't imagine video chatting with an acquaintance from high school. All of your closest (video worthy) friends probably have another way of contacting you than facebook. I know that was just an example, but with quad-core devices on the horizon, video chat is covered.
@darktori i think that any OS that could replace Windows entirely would have to be on a different form factor than a phone. there will never be a way for a smartphone to do a better job creating a document than a laptop. that's where the hybridization comes in. my article discusses this is the end of the stand-alone smartphone road in terms of innovation. anything meant to replace windows in everyday use will break the phone form factor, whether it is tablet hybrids or laptop docks. those who want a smartphone, this is the year, because the only reason in the future to upgrade is to get this extra functionality. and yes, i did forget mp3 players
@dpmace yes it is. however, the phone has reached it's limit in its own form factor. everything from here on out will need a different form factor. to replace laptops, they need a dock, to replace game consoles, they need a controller built in (xperia play), to replace tablets, they need to become one. Phones themselves are maxxed out in terms what the can do as stand-alone devices. So this upcoming generation, the generation right before the mass hybridization of devices is the best time to buy a stand-alone smartphone for a long period of time. the upgrades afterwards will be superflous to those who don't need a laptop or tablet. their phones are already fast and capable of handling everything they need them to. they have an 8MP camera, why do they need a 16? they have a good phone GPS, why do they need a phone with a better one? they have a good GPU, why do they need a stronger one if they don't plan on outputting it to a TV? etc
Very nice and well thought out editorial piece. I'd have to disagree though, there's no way this is the best we're getting.
Regarding the iPhone 4S: Apple have always used incremental updates to get the most money possible from their users, and have mostly gotten away with it until now, because the earlier iPhones were missing really basic features. The iPhone 3G was big because it had 3G (what phone didn't even then?). The 3GS mostly upgraded the camera and I think the processor? The 4 was the only one that fundamentally changed anything in my honest opinion.
Software I'll mostly agree on, but I think ICS serves a great purpose of making android look better to the masses, standing out, and doing a much better job with multi-tasking.
Hardware is the big one. They still have a long way to go, in many ways.
Cameras are never likely to replace a dedicated camera, for the simple fact of space. A camera only gets so much space within the phone, and for every advance made in cameras that gets used on a phone, that same advance could be used on dedicated cameras, as well as extra ones that require more space.
Batteries are a big one, it's the reason you'll see so many posts on every phone's section of these forums, asking about battery life, and with kernels and mods aimed at giving extra battery life. It's why "battery extenders"can be downloaded so much in the market. If a phone came out next year, or the year after, where they concentrated their efforts on a great battery, and gave significantly more battery life, I'd definitely buy it.
I'll admit that the phones are reaching limits on what they've been concentrating on for now (screen size and processor/RAM) but they'll just expand in other ways. There's no way the phone manufacturers are just going to pump out similar phones and hope the customer prefers theirs to the one next to it on the shelf because of brand. There's still plenty of new ideas coming out every day, and they can add to the phone's functionality, not just superficially (like 3D). There's NFC, flexible screens (which on its own could bring about a lot of new ideas), added durability, and I'm sure a lot of things we haven't heard of.
Did you ever hear the quote that says "Technology has advanced more in the past thirty years than in the previous two thousand..."? That is 100% true and there is no sign of slowing down. Things that you can't imagine today can be possible within years. So I just can't agree to the fact that you are basically stating that besides a few tweaks and improvements, technology has come to a complete halt.
Excellent editorial. Love all your points except with gaming consoles becoming extinct. I find this to be untrue and impossible in the sense that phones, computers, Hard drives, or whatever, the concept of them storing your games, e.g. PS3 games which are at most 50gb (note gaming data size will grow too since it is proportional to graphics), is impractical. In the sense that you can only "hold so much", and our "so much" capacity isn't nearly close to our desire capacity. So gaming consoles will stay.
Unless you are suggesting we develop a different evolutionary storage medium or sort of micro usb which stores the game and the phone simply reads off the device and plays. Now that is plausible. The only problem there is will the phones withstand the heat exerted? As we all know in proportional to the graphic intensity of the game so will the amount of power demanded by the GPU or porcessor, which in turn will be expended as heat. So considering it will take a lot of power, it will give a "lot" of heat. Story short, our phones will not withstand the heat and melt.
Kailkti said:
Excellent editorial. Love all your points except with gaming consoles becoming extinct. I find this to be untrue and impossible in the sense that phones, computers, Hard drives, or whatever, the concept of them storing your games, e.g. PS3 games which are at most 50gb (note gaming data size will grow too since it is proportional to graphics), is impractical. In the sense that you can only "hold so much", and our "so much" capacity isn't nearly close to our desire capacity. So gaming consoles will stay.
Unless you are suggesting we develop a different evolutionary storage medium or sort of micro usb which stores the game and the phone simply reads off the device and plays. Now that is plausible. The only problem there is will the phones withstand the heat exerted? As we all know in proportional to the graphic intensity of the game so will the amount of power demanded by the GPU or porcessor, which in turn will be expended as heat. So considering it will take a lot of power, it will give a "lot" of heat. Story short, our phones will not withstand the heat and melt.
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Click to collapse
The future of gaming lies with Onlive. Your device will just be a thin client, awaiting video from the Onlive servers that will do the heavy lifting for you. I envision a gaming world where you use a bluetooth controller to play a game that's streamed to your TV in HD resolution via your smartphone.
We have the technology to do this already, it's just not the kind of gaming experience hardcore gamers will accept, but give the technology a couple more years to develop.
Oh right. Forgot about OnLive, prolly cuz i haven't heard about it since the release. But you are right it is a promising feature. the only problem is it requires a steady data connection, which sadly, we know not everyone is blessed with. But soon enough the entire world will modernize to have data being able to flow to every where so that won't be a problem, the problem will be in the case of system failure, both data provider and server, which I am sure happens a lot.
Have you not seen Iron Man 2? I want a phone that is just a sheet of glass and is fully integrate-able with everything around it on the fly. When that comes out, I think the innovation has ceased.
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If any of you guys play Shadowrun 4th edition, you'll know that the ultimate is a display in your glasses, goggles, contact lenses, or even cybernetic implants in your eyes.
Pocketability be gone!
vadyr56 said:
Have you not seen Iron Man 2? I want a phone that is just a sheet of glass and is fully integrate-able with everything around it on the fly. When that comes out, I think the innovation has ceased.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or remember when he was designing the suit, everything was virtual and he could touch it.
One day we shall have that!! Then maybe screen sizes will be obsolete.
vadyr56 said:
Have you not seen Iron Man 2? I want a phone that is just a sheet of glass and is fully integrate-able with everything around it on the fly. When that comes out, I think the innovation has ceased.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Un What about graphene tech? Samsungs going to be releasing foldable and bendable phones. The first one using this tech is apparently due next year.
hungry81 said:
Un What about graphene tech? Samsungs going to be releasing foldable and bendable phones. The first one using this tech is apparently due next year.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be cool too, how about a phone that can be used in a "normal" size mode (say around 4.5") and then can unfold into a 20" tablet!
Good first try. Not everyone willing to put down their thoughts in a form of long article.
However there are some fundamental flaw:
bdroc said:
The next step for phones really isn't about phones at all. The next step is to systematically destroy every other gadget you currently own. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure you understand the word "systematically" and "destroy". I simply don't see phones "destroying" EVERY other gadget, especially the following few you mentioned.
bdroc said:
The first to go? Laptops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, at least for a good decade. People been saying this to desktops when laptops became very popular. Now? Desktops are still being made and sold. Nowhere near "been destroyed".
And this paragraph gets ridiculous when you say cellphone SoC can replace dedicated GPU. You are saying essentially play Crysis (PC Game, 2008) on a cellphone, which is NEVER going to happen.
Once you understand how powerful a dedicated GPU is, you will realize how stupid it is to make such claim.
bdroc said:
Next to go are dedicated tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is purely based on user habits. My cousins have both iphones and ipads. I have a G2x and a laptop. Unless you can make sure a 4 inch phone screen does not exhaust your eyes with extended use, then you can never make such claim.
bdroc said:
Last to go are game consoles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is getting more ridiculous. Also mentioned above the "power of a dedicated GPU", cellphones are NEVER to replace game consoles.
I personally still prefer those gadgets you mentioned as separate gadgets and I am not a minority.
So let's calm down with the Android fanboyish hardware craze, and face the reality.
I don't think it's safe to say that phones have reached feature-completeness, although i agree that developers are going to have to start thinking in dimensions other than "what can we do without having to make any serious changes to the system".
When i look at the Android platform, especially, i see huge amounts of possibility. For example, your phone could basically obsolete a huge amount of what we encounter in our daily lives. Bus/train pass? Nope, NFC with a phone app. (These will still exist, of course, but for those with phones there won't be any interaction with them.) Credit cards, likewise, will be gone. Ultimately we'll be going to all-data, eliminating the phone/text/etc nonsense. Or at least, someone will. Probably not the US. That will become more useful in the long term, though.
But i think there's going to be more than just replacing other things with a more unified device.
For example, in the future your phone could ping your home PC and wake it up even if it was sleeping. Then you would be able to "log in" just like a normal user and get your full PC desktop on your phone. This isn't replacing your PC, it's using your phone as an additional way to access it--much like your mouse/keyboard/monitor! You could, for example, do an "OnLive" sort of thing but with your phone. This is actually already possible, but it's a pain to set up and we don't have phones that are strong enough/batteries that last long enough/data connections big enough to truly make it happen.
Or for another possibility, Google Goggles is something that already exists... but in the future it will operate in real time. Hold your phone up and you'll get all the information from Goggles overlaid on top of the image from the camera. You could take it a step further, too, and have a digital "message board" or comment system, where people can write things and attach them to real world objects which will then be displayed for others. (As someone suggested: really you want this sort of tech in your glasses, or something like that, but it will likely go through phones first.)
Heck, you could set that as your phone's wallpaper and not even have to open an app.
The "Tony Stark phone" could be a reality, although not at those precise dimensions. You could have a phone with no "UI" (although Stark's phone has a pretty interesting-looking UI on it if you examine it) but just have the Goggles-enhanced real world overlay on it. To interact with it you could issue voice commands--or touch it to bring up a UI.
Your phone could control your car in a tremendously "what the 1950s thought the future would look like" sort of way: get into the car, pull the phone out, then say "Car, take me to my house". Then sit back and relax, because the car will drive itself there. (Technically you don't even need the phone for that, but hey...)
This is all sort of crazy dreaming, but it's still not even "lateral thinking"--it's just extending things your phone can already do.
I am an Android Fanboy....but the Vivotab Smart for $499 looks really nice and is full Windows 8. Is anybody else thinking about cheating on their Infinity Tabs?
It looks great, and I had the chance to try one a few weeks ago (in-store). It's a nice device, really, but the customer support on ASUS'part scares me off in buying one of their produtcs again.
(My main gripe with the 700 is the docking mechanism, and they seem to have used another type on the VivoTab. Still.. )
I like it too...
We had this discussion going before.
All the Windows tablet threads were shutdown however.
It looks nice, I initially had my hopes and dreams on it, but with ASUS reputation, I rather plonk the additional $300 and get the Surface Pro tablet.
Besides, what I read in reviews, the Intel Atom which I thought was going to be a much more improved generation made for this year, reports are that it struggles to playback Flash and other streaming video compared to the more powerful i5 core Surface Pro.
the_game_master said:
It looks nice, I initially had my hopes and dreams on it, but with ASUS reputation, I rather plonk the additional $300 and get the Surface Pro tablet.
Besides, what I read in reviews, the Intel Atom which I thought was going to be a much more improved generation made for this year, reports are that it struggles to playback Flash and other streaming video compared to the more powerful i5 core Surface Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, the only technical reason I'd see for staying away as to specifications s the Atom processor used. The full Intel mobiles are so much faster! (Reportedly, most Atoms struggle at even the simplest of tasks.)
For the $$ to me the win8 tabs just aren't worth it with the ultrabooks sitting at lower prices now.
Been eyeballing the HP Envy x2 selling today for 749 usd.
I personally stay away from Intel Atom as far as possible. Furthermore, 1080p screen is the main reason I bought the tf700.
With that CPU? Hell no.
MartyHulskemper said:
(Reportedly, most Atoms struggle at even the simplest of tasks.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a science joke just waiting to be made in there somewhere...
i played for a couple of days with the Vivo, and just bought the wife a Pro and have to say everything I hated about RT and the whole setup is gone. I am not getting rid of my Infinity any time soon, but that Surface Pro is a screaming cool piece of kit.
I should have been more specific on the Thread Title. I am talking about the ME400 Smart which is full windows.
I think I might get one and test drive it. I am leaning 60-40% to get it. I am worried about the lack of apps and the speed. But the positive of the Atom processor is the battery life. I need to find somewhere with the White model locally in stock so I can return it easily if it is slow and laggy.
Putting things in perspective in terms of the the tablet you want to purchase.
If you need processing power, go with an ultrabook as several posters mention here. Prices are great, battery life is **pretty good**.
Remember, with ultrabooks, like any notebook, they require active cooling to go along with the power.
If you are looking for a alternative to an Android tablet, the Vivotab Smart is a great choice IMO.
I currently have a Galaxy Note that is running a custom ROM. It does pretty much anything I need an android device to do, even things in tablet mode through the benefit of the ROM I am using.
I was seriously considering the Note 10.1. Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 CPU is just outdated now compared to a quard core Tegra 3.
My main reasons for wanting (not needing :laugh a tablet: Do my web surfing, watch TV shows/Movies, listen to music, dabble a little in Word/Excel (nothing major), social networking and remote manage PC's on my network (Team Viewer/Real VNC).
I can do ALL of this on my Galaxy Note phone NO PROBLEM. However, I wanted a device with a bigger screen to do this, and use my phone as the tether device when necessary, and also save battery life to make that emergency call when I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere...instead of having a dead battery due to watching that extra episode of Battlestar Galactica.
I was thinking about an android tablet, but it was just too much of a direct extension of my phone. So I decided to look at Windows 8 tablets. My first choice was the Microsoft Surface RT. VERY VERY glad I did not go with this device. Fit and finish is spectacular. Hardware is debatable - personal opinions right? However, the functionality of Windows 8 RT is not much more than an Android OS, and the Google platform has MUCH more to offer than the RT platform right now. I have no patience in waiting for apps to be developed.
Surface Pro is a great option, since it is FULL Windows 8...however battery life is crap. 4-6hrs? Might as well go with an ultrabook.
With the usage that I was intending my tablet for, I needed something to last through the day. So I did not need to have a device that is eating away @ the battery life when it is doing nothing, just to power a high horsepower CPU.
That's where the ME400 comes in. Battery life? Spectacular! I listen to at least 2 hrs of music, do about 1hr of web surfing (cumulatively), watch about 1-2hrs of video, and still have AT LEAST 40% battery remaining after being on for 18hrs.
I've installed full Microsoft Office 2010, Real VNC, Team Viewer, Power ISO, some android OS related software to modify various Samsung Galaxy phones, a few gigs of music, 5-6Gbs of video and still have 11GB remaining. (waiting for my 64GB Micro SDXC!)
I can view full flash sites which most android tablets cannot, unless you stick with GB or ICS. (although flash is being phased out to HTML5).
And again, file management, network management is seamless as it is the familiar Microsoft OS interface.
The ME400 to me is a great compromise between processing power, battery life, and most of all price. @ $499 CDN, hard to get that much functionality for that price. I can do everything on my ME400 on my Android devices, and I can do almost everything on my Android devices, on my ME400. My only wish is to get Bluestacks working on the Clover Trail CPU so I can play some of my Android games on my ME400...but I don't think it will have the CPU/Graphics processing power to do it.
There's my 2 cents. :laugh:
I picked one up yesterday. So far the updating is a problem. Asus live update cannot connect to server and Windows update wouldn't download at first but over night it did. I think the tablet won't do a Windows update unless in standby with no other user actions. Probably due to the slower processor Windows update waits till the user isn't playing. But as far as the Asus live update not connecting at all, that may make the device a deal breaker for me.
Yes Asus screwed up the infinity Rom but the community here fixed that. If Asus update won't work out of the box with this I don't want it since we all know how bad Asus customer support is.
wpbear said:
I picked one up yesterday. So far the updating is a problem. Asus live update cannot connect to server and Windows update wouldn't download at first but over night it did. I think the tablet won't do a Windows update unless in standby with no other user actions. Probably due to the slower processor Windows update waits till the user isn't playing. But as far as the Asus live update not connecting at all, that may make the device a deal breaker for me.
Yes Asus screwed up the infinity Rom but the community here fixed that. If Asus update won't work out of the box with this I don't want it since we all know how bad Asus customer support is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Live Update not working is a known issue. Reading old posts, apparently the Live Update did some bios updates that royally messed up the tablet. Perhaps Asus has taken the whole system offline until they get their drivers and updates in order.
My Windows updates were a little slow at first too. But eventually got through them as well.
---------- Post added at 12:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 AM ----------
Here's my conversation with Asus Tech Support Live Chat.
After my response to Dominic's comment about the 24-48hrs, there was no response. I waited 5min I think, typed my thanks anyway message, then ASUS side dropped the connection. Go figure. <sigh>
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I've been playing with it all day and the best thing is the battery life after 8hrs of continuous use it still is at 25 %. But the lack of apps and not Google integration may be the death of it!
wpbear said:
I've been playing with it all day and the best thing is the battery life after 8hrs of continuous use it still is at 25 %. But the lack of apps and not Google integration may be the death of it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What sort of Google integration are you looking for? My emails are synced in with the stock mail app...although it is mediocre. Contacts are all loaded in People...
Google Talk, you can just install the app, albeit doesn't run in the Modern UI screen...I just have it synced with IM+ for that. Again, not the best choice, but will do the job for now.
eugenekim618 said:
What sort of Google integration are you looking for? My emails are synced in with the stock mail app...although it is mediocre. Contacts are all loaded in People...
Google Talk, you can just install the app, albeit doesn't run in the Modern UI screen...I just have it synced with IM+ for that. Again, not the best choice, but will do the job for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No metro apps to keep calendar and contact in sync.
I took it back to best buy, sticking with the Infinity.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD
wpbear said:
I should have been more specific on the Thread Title. I am talking about the ME400 Smart which is full windows.
I think I might get one and test drive it. I am leaning 60-40% to get it. I am worried about the lack of apps and the speed. But the positive of the Atom processor is the battery life. I need to find somewhere with the White model locally in stock so I can return it easily if it is slow and laggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you decide? I've been using a Smart for a month or so now, and haven't had any lag issues. Storage can be a bit limited, I've installed Office 2010 Pro and then upgraded (for free) to 2013 (note: this upgrade process didn't uninstall 2010, so I now have both versions), dumped on 20 or so CDs, half a dozen movies and around a dozen apps and I only have 21gig left to play with.
Issues:
1) the screen is the worst for finger prints I've ever used - other than that viewing is ok
2) the windows button seems really unresponsive (on this particular model) - so I end up swiping in from the right and hitting the button from there
3) installing updated and upgrading Office seemed to take longer than I would have expected
4) finding the keyboard and cover (transleeve) isn't easy, I'm still using a cheap cover off eBay. If you have the option I'd buy with the kb and cover if I could start over again...
5) it doesn't come with the Micro USB to USB converter or the Micro HDMI to 9 pin (the Acer w510 has both in the box) - so a purchase off eBay is needed (and associated wait while shipped from China if you want a cheap one)
other that that, it's been all good. really like this little machine, does all I need it to!
kd
Kiwi_Dave said:
What did you decide? I've been using a Smart for a month or so now, and haven't had any lag issues. Storage can be a bit limited, I've installed Office 2010 Pro and then upgraded (for free) to 2013 (note: this upgrade process didn't uninstall 2010, so I now have both versions), dumped on 20 or so CDs, half a dozen movies and around a dozen apps and I only have 21gig left to play with.
Issues:
1) the screen is the worst for finger prints I've ever used - other than that viewing is ok
2) the windows button seems really unresponsive (on this particular model) - so I end up swiping in from the right and hitting the button from there
3) installing updated and upgrading Office seemed to take longer than I would have expected
4) finding the keyboard and cover (transleeve) isn't easy, I'm still using a cheap cover off eBay. If you have the option I'd buy with the kb and cover if I could start over again...
5) it doesn't come with the Micro USB to USB converter or the Micro HDMI to 9 pin (the Acer w510 has both in the box) - so a purchase off eBay is needed (and associated wait while shipped from China if you want a cheap one)
other that that, it's been all good. really like this little machine, does all I need it to!
kd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, one more observation (which is both a pro and a con). There is only 1 micro USB which is also used for charging. Having the tablet use a micro USB for charging is a plus in that I can use my phone chargers (including existing car chargers etc) interchangibly. However, I didn't charge the tablet last night (plug was off at the wall) and it was dead this morning. I'm working from home, and can't connect my mouse at the same time as charging the device - which is a bit painful. My keyboard is full Bluetooth, so no issues there - but the mouse uses a USB dongle (which is std for most mouse at the moment) - I'll need to invest in a full Bluetooth mouse as well...
not a biggie, but something to consider for those looking to make a purchase (for example the Acer W510 has a separate charging point, so this wouldn't be an issue. but on the other side of the coin the micro usb car chargers etc wouldn't work.....)
Also it charges slower with the the standard micro USB.
The only thing that Win 8/VivoSmart added for me was the ability to use a SmartCard reader to authenticate in a web browser. But there was too many shortfalls in apps as a tablet interface. I would still want/need a tablet. Now If I didn't already have a full size ultra book then I would consider the VivoSmart due to price and portability. The goal of carry one device still eludes......
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD
wpbear said:
Also it charges slower with the the standard micro USB.
The only thing that Win 8/VivoSmart added for me was the ability to use a SmartCard reader to authenticate in a web browser. But there was too many shortfalls in apps as a tablet interface. I would still want/need a tablet. Now If I didn't already have a full size ultra book then I would consider the VivoSmart due to price and portability. The goal of carry one device still eludes......
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey wpbear - not sure I understand your post ? The Smart is a tablet - doesn't come with a docking station - the keyboard (most often purchased seperatly) is more like the Surface, than a ultrabook...
I guess the app thing isn't really an issue for me. As the Smart is running full Windows (rather than RT) I'm not really using many apps at all. I tend to use full Office and Firefox.. Covers most of my needs.
On the eve of getting my Padfone Infinity I thought I would start a thread so that users can chat about their experiences with the device and so forth.
So, who else is getting one?
UPDATE: Have the Padfone now. First impressions VERY favourable.
USB OTG testing notes:
USB drives working, including NTFS (first phone besides the Huawei D1 Quad XL to have that). PS3 AND Xbox controllers working out of the box. USB keyboards and mice working - best implementation yet on an Android phone with options for mouse pointer speed and ability to map the mouse buttons to a few different options. USB audio broken, which for me is incredibly disappointing. There is somewhat of a workaround in that USB audio does work with the app USB Audio Recorder Pro, but it is fairly horrible to use as a music player since its real purpose is to allow recording with a microphone.
Oh, and got a second (small) firmware update today...
NZtechfreak said:
On the eve of getting my Padfone Infinity I thought I would start a thread so that users can chat about their experiences with the device and so forth.
So, who else is getting one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm planning to when the price is lower. Btw, since I saw that you get a lot of thanks here, are you a developer yourself? have you ever port ROM before?
Seeing that previous PF didnt get much activity in the development area, PF2 got better with Paul from Modaco, but I think that's about it, no CM or whatsoever. I would love if some developer had this on their hand and the development starting to progress
Justin^Tan said:
I'm planning to when the price is lower. Btw, since I saw that you get a lot of thanks here, are you a developer yourself? have you ever port ROM before?
Seeing that previous PF didnt get much activity in the development area, PF2 got better with Paul from Modaco, but I think that's about it, no CM or whatsoever. I would love if some developer had this on their hand and the development starting to progress
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, I wish I was a developer. I produce some YouTube videos and try to troubleshoot a lot of peoples problems, and that's where the thanks come from. I do know a very good developer though, and may be able to corral him into taking a look into ROM development.
Nice, It's monday now in my time zone, I believe NZ is not that different from Indonesia waiting for your unit to come and for your review of course
Justin^Tan said:
Nice, It's monday now in my time zone, I believe NZ is not that different from Indonesia waiting for your unit to come and for your review of course
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, its here waiting for me at the Fedex depot. Hoping to collect it during my lunch hour, but if not able to then will definitely be straight after work. So looking forward to it!
UPDATE: Picked it up lunch time, just now really getting to play with it. First impressions favourable. More to come (Twitter is the best way to see what I'm up to with it, my stream of consciousness tweets about new phones always go there first).
NZtechfreak said:
UPDATE: Picked it up lunch time, just now really getting to play with it. First impressions favourable. More to come (Twitter is the best way to see what I'm up to with it, my stream of consciousness tweets about new phones always go there first).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are the sides and the buttons aluminum too ?
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DynamicRam said:
Are the sides and the buttons aluminum too ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep.
Currently testing USB OTG and such like, more to follow.
any differences in signal? since I dont have PF2. but PF1 suffer from a loss of signal when you dock it and close, I figured since this was open, it would not interfere with the signal much. any noticable lag when you use tha tablet? can you benchmark using geekbench or whatsoever to test the gpu using the tablet full HD resolution. Sorry if I'm asking too much
Justin^Tan said:
any differences in signal? since I dont have PF2. but PF1 suffer from a loss of signal when you dock it and close, I figured since this was open, it would not interfere with the signal much. any noticable lag when you use tha tablet? can you benchmark using geekbench or whatsoever to test the gpu using the tablet full HD resolution. Sorry if I'm asking too much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not asking too much at all, will get back to you on all of those questions.
Updated first post with results of USB OTG testing.
NZtechfreak said:
On the eve of getting my Padfone Infinity I thought I would start a thread so that users can chat about their experiences with the device and so forth.
So, who else is getting one?
UPDATE: Have the Padfone now. First impressions VERY favourable.
USB OTG testing notes:
USB drives working, including NTFS (first phone besides the Huawei D1 Quad XL to have that). PS3 AND Xbox controllers working out of the box. USB keyboards and mice working - best implementation yet on an Android phone with options for mouse pointer speed and ability to map the mouse buttons to a few different options. USB audio broken, which for me is incredibly disappointing. There is somewhat of a workaround in that USB audio does work with the app USB Audio Recorder Pro, but it is fairly horrible to use as a music player since its real purpose is to allow recording with a microphone.
Oh, and got a second (small) firmware update today...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you compare it with Galaxy S4 or HTC One?
Can you make a review? Because there isn't a good one on the internet.
EIessar said:
Can you compare it with Galaxy S4 or HTC One?
Can you make a review? Because there isn't a good one on the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely will be comparing it to those, I get my One Friday and my S4 Saturday
well, have you received your One and S4? any comparison?
I got mine 2 days ago. I am very impressed of the look and the speed. It is a little too big for me but will get used to it. No problems till now. I am waiting for the official boot loader from asus so I can move gps maps to SD card.
Justin^Tan said:
well, have you received your One and S4? any comparison?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the S4, One *should* be with me later today (it is at the Fedex centre a few minutes from my home).
Vs the S4 it is a much larger and heavier slab, but obviously the fit and finish and materials scream quality in comparison.
S4 WiFi reception better than the Infinity, which I'm guessing suffers a little attenuation due to the materials in use.
NZtechfreak said:
Got the S4, One *should* be with me later today (it is at the Fedex centre a few minutes from my home).
Vs the S4 it is a much larger and heavier slab, but obviously the fit and finish and materials scream quality in comparison.
S4 WiFi reception better than the Infinity, which I'm guessing suffers a little attenuation due to the materials in use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For GPS installed IGO Primo. A lot better than Garmin.
Really? much larger and heavier? spec wise the dimension is not that different IMO, but yeah, holding it and calculating it from the spec can sometimes be different. lots of wifi reception issues with older padfone also, how bout the gsm/3g signal fare with s4?
Justin^Tan said:
Really? much larger and heavier? spec wise the dimension is not that different IMO, but yeah, holding it and calculating it from the spec can sometimes be different. lots of wifi reception issues with older padfone also, how bout the gsm/3g signal fare with s4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Network reception for the S4 seems fine, or at least is equivalent to basically every other handset I've had in the past year or so in the same locations. Ditto the Infinity when not in the pad, reception seems fine, only the WiFi seems to be a bit attenuated by the aluminium body.
...and yes, much larger and heavier. As you say, the impression one has with the device in hand can sometimes bely the measured dimensions. In this case it is very noticeable, but not really in a bad way for the Infinity, it just feels rock solid. Got my One yesterday also. I would say by analogy the One is like a European sports car, and the Infinity a European business car - both attractive and well built with the latter featuring squarer lines and a more understated elegance.
Personally which one is your favorite
and when you said that the reception of infinity when not in the pad seems fine, is that mean there's a reception suffer when in the pad? since it was held tight inside the pad, even iphone 4 suffer from the death grip. just curious ^^
Justin^Tan said:
Personally which one is your favorite
and when you said that the reception of infinity when not in the pad seems fine, is that mean there's a reception suffer when in the pad? since it was held tight inside the pad, even iphone 4 suffer from the death grip. just curious ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly no idea which is my favourite at this point, from the point of view of internals they are all essentially identical, and that aside they all have pros and cons that balance relatively closely.
In relation to reception and the Infinity:
Cellular network connectivity is fine in the phone, reported signal strength is basically the same as other phones in the same locations. When it is docked in the pad there is a bit of signal attenuation, enough so that in marginal 4G coverage for example it will drop back to 3G when docked (but not when not docked).
WiFi signal strength is not as good as other phones I have at present, however WiFi reception seems unchanged by whether the phone is docked or not.
Hello guys,
Has anyone found a phone worthy as a successor to the Photon Q? At this point I'm willing to give up SD card, removable batteries and camera button just to get something that has a keyboard, root and can run the basic apps like firefox, messenger, gmail, play store, calendar, adobe reader and youtube without random freezes/pauses in the UI.
Already spent 3 years using a nexus 4 and 5 and I've pretty much "disappeared" from people's lives because I couldn't bear to use any form of touch screen keyboards.
Are people like me condemned to go extinct from the world of mobile computing?
My next phone will be Blackberry Priv. Faster enough, better screen, qwerty, Android. It has all I need (for now at least).
Yeah I'm not too much of a fan of the Priv for a couple of reasons:
- No root and locked bootloader spells a short life for this very expensive machine, no custom roms, no remove bloatware, no adaway etc... Root and bootloader unlock are pretty much what keeps android customizable and open source for the end user...
- Vertical slide out keyboard vs horizontal, only 4 rows, abuses the alt and sym keys to hit numbers and special characters, dpad is 100% analog. Never mind trying to do emojis or working in an ssh terminal, might as well use hacker's keyboard.
- Bugged screen drivers, doesn't use Amoled principles to turn off pixels, results in battery drain, although this might have been fixed in the latest update.
With that said, I'd be willing to try one out if BB unlocks the bootloader and the price falls under 400$CAD for a used unit.
I didn't know it's root-locked. You're right that it may render the device unusable in quite a short time. But if not Priv, then what?
This is such a sad question.
The Moto Z's interchangeable back-panels look pretty promising. I find it hard to believe that there's a bigger market for a projector than for a physical keyboard...
https://www.motorola.com/us/moto-mods
Even just using the breadboard dev kit with a 3D-printed back and a donor keyboard from an older phone could work for a one-off.
http://developer.motorola.com/products/mdk
Apparently there are clip-on bluetooth slider keyboards for iPhone (https://www.amazon.com/iNNEXT-Ultra-Thin-Slide-Out-Bluetooth-Backlight/dp/B01DZJUI18). I've been trying to find something similar for a current-gen android phone but haven't been having much luck.
There's the keyboard + case, but one of the nice things about the slider is being able to hold it while typing and not needing a surface to keep it stable...
If anybody's found something I've missed, I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling the pains of obsolescence...
The z looks promising - especially as it is modular, as most manufacturers it would seem want to just simplify their manufacturing process, it would mean making a generic touchscreen phone, and then batches of accessories to suit demand. Very smart idea.
Repairs/upgrades would be a hell of a lot easier also, just replacing the component that fails, or swapping the accessory for a different task.
Sent from my XT897 using XDA Free mobile app
The main issue of Photon Q for me is the lack of support for the European LTE bands (the most important for me is the 800Mhz band).
In my country, the 3G coverage by HSPA is quite poor and no mobile network operator is expanding its 3G at all any more, the only new coverage efforts happen in LTE.
The Moto Z (Force) looks quite promising. To be honest, I'm simply waiting for a MotoMod qwerty keyboard to appear, and I'm declaring my xt897 dead. Though the Z's camera bump seems to complicate the eventual hw keyboard mod execution.
Let's see what the future will bring us.
Thanks kabaldan for noticing the Moto Z.
I already gave up for another hardwarekeyboard-smartphone and have nearly decided for a OnePlus 3 (6GB RAM edition).
But I think it is better to buy a phone which *might* get an "acceptable" keyboard than none at all. So I guess I will wait a bit longer for the Moto Z.
I'm seriously considering buying a slider bluetooth keyboard for a different phone and then adapting it to fit a current-gen phone. It's not quite as ideal, but most of the slider jobbies for the iPhone are pretty cheap and simple; they have a case part that attaches to the phone, and then the keyboard slides along rails on the case. So I could replace the case portion with a 3D-printed case sized to fit a current-gen phone and the rails for the keyboard. The downsides would be not necessarily having the right android keys (though those have been largely missing since I stopped using my Epic 4g) and it probably wouldn't autodetect when the slider was deployed. It'll probably taking rooting and some keyboard driver hacking to get it all working right, but maybe it'll be a good enough fix when I'm done in like six months...
DIY qwerty phone
GDorn said:
I'm seriously considering buying a slider bluetooth keyboard for a different phone and then adapting it to fit a current-gen phone...
It's not quite as ideal, but most of the slider jobbies for the iPhone are pretty cheap and simple; they have a case part that attaches to the phone, and then the keyboard slides along rails on the case. So I could replace the case portion with a 3D-printed case sized to fit a current-gen phone and the rails for the keyboard. The downsides would be not necessarily having the right android keys (though those have been largely missing since I stopped using my Epic 4g) and it probably wouldn't autodetect when the slider was deployed. It'll probably taking rooting and some keyboard driver hacking to get it all working right, but maybe it'll be a good enough fix when I'm done in like six months...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that with Xiaomi Mi4C and iPhone 6 keyboard case. If you like smaller phone then you might want to consider Z5C/X Compact and iPhone 5/5S/SE keyboard case.
I know this is an old thread but I just saw this from a Network World article "How Moto Mods went from concept to product." Paul Fordham, lead mechanical architect on the Moto Mods design team says: "We built a battery module that had a full QWERTY keyboard inside. I could show it to you; it's almost like a slider type concept for people who like the tactile feel of a real keyboard. We had all these different ideas that we hadn't even partly developed."
So, it looks like they've at least looked at the idea. I've posted in the Lenovo forums too. Maybe some of us somehow can wake them up to make this a reality. I am grateful for all of the work done on the Photon Q, it still does a good job with all of the tweaks, but I think all of us Q owners could use a newer phone.
bmccrary said:
I know this is an old thread but I just saw this from a Network World article "How Moto Mods went from concept to product." Paul Fordham, lead mechanical architect on the Moto Mods design team says: "We built a battery module that had a full QWERTY keyboard inside. I could show it to you; it's almost like a slider type concept for people who like the tactile feel of a real keyboard. We had all these different ideas that we hadn't even partly developed."
So, it looks like they've at least looked at the idea. I've posted in the Lenovo forums too. Maybe some of us somehow can wake them up to make this a reality. I am grateful for all of the work done on the Photon Q, it still does a good job with all of the tweaks, but I think all of us Q owners could use a newer phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been watching the Z also, and have read that thread.
This would be the single best Mod they could release, & I'm currently debating whether to buy a Priv & sacrifice the 5 row keyboard side-slider, or take a chance on the Z in the hope that they (or others) will release a slider keyboard.
Snapping off a keyboard, & replacing it with the speaker mod, or camera or something else - eg, going out & not needing the bulk of the keyboard, so slap on a styled back, or extended battery.
Maybe later you need to write a work email, so slap on the keyboard & type like a demon again. I'd probably purchase an extra keyboard just to have a spare at a convenient location - eg car glovebox.
I'd also buy a Z for the missus, then all the Mods would get a decent use. Extended batteries, camera, speakers, covers, style backs, prob even get the projector, just to have a full set!
All this..... just waiting for the keyboard Mod.
Sent from my XT897 using XDA Free mobile app
Sadly, there's still no sign of a keyboard attachment for the Moto Z. You'd think that with Motorola being the last manufacturer to produce a hardward keyboard (both the Photon Q LTE and the Droid 4), they'd have made one for this dev device.
Flash-A-Holic said:
I did that with Xiaomi Mi4C and iPhone 6 keyboard case. If you like smaller phone then you might want to consider Z5C/X Compact and iPhone 5/5S/SE keyboard case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good afternoon. As far as I understand, it can be done with any of the Xiaomi Mi4. The main thing is that the dimensions of the housing and the location of the cameras have been the same. Please make a photo of how you do mount the keyboard to the phone cover?
I do not expect anything new from the keyboard of the Motorola (
Plus one for a newer keyboard phone. Running CM13, I've had unsolvable problems with my (old, 2006) BT car interface staying connect while I simultaneously use AD2P via a separate BT receiver via the stero AUX in. The other aggravation is that with CM13, I cannot flash nandroid backups when I break my XT897's screen (which happens 2x-3x per year), so I have to reconfigure from scratch.
For those two reasons, I keep being tempted to switch back to stock (BT stack that tolerates multiples connections better w/ my setup), and easy NANdroid backups and sprint activation codes, etc/
BUT, then I try stock and wait 10-15 full seconds for an app to open. Much gratitude to the CM guys and whoever picks up ball from them and runs with it.
My latest problem w/ CM13 is I can't take advantage of the free international roaming in Mexico-- can't get global data to work (either problem with the CM13 settings menu, or with sprints OTA activsation of the the (sprint internal) SIM.
Let us know if anyone finds a qwerty android (I tried the priv, and too big, too hot running stock), and thanks for everyone's contributions to this great community.
schmandroid said:
The z looks promising
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does.
https://www.neowin.net/news/behold-...-slider-moto-mod-that-may-stir-some-nostalgia
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The Solutor said:
Yes it does.
https://www.neowin.net/news/behold-...-slider-moto-mod-that-may-stir-some-nostalgia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh thanks God! It would be great if it becomes true!
Here is the link to the indiegogo compaign. I hope a lot of us Q users will sign up!
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/physical-keyboard-slider-mod-for-moto-z/coming_soon