Related
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/25/htc-thunderbolt-said-to-have-terrible-battery-life-might-explai/
Apparently a few sources that "are familiar with these things" have said the reason for the delays (the reason the release date has been pushed back) is because horrible battery issues and signal problems. Most likely interconnected (much like the Evo at launch). Apparently (it's in the article) people that are using the internet connection at all are draining their batteries from full to dead in only 2-3 hours.
The update says the release date has actually been pushed back 6 times already because of this issue. That means the phone probably would have launched in late December or January if it were working the way it was intended.
Lies, the phone is shipped out already. There is no delay
Just was originally going to be released in march
Sent from my Incredible using XDA Premium App
I've mentioned before that it was a huge battery hog, but it's nothing that was described by those sources "in the know." It went gold in early January.
superchilpil said:
Lies, the phone is shipped out already. There is no delay
Just was originally going to be released in march
Sent from my Incredible using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you sure? I have $20 that your source is just as reliable and workign on conjecture just like everyone else out there right now.
newalker91 said:
The phones are locked in a cage under the counter at my local Best Buy. I watched the manager open the cage to count how many were set aside for preorders so he could tell me how many are up for sale as soon as the ball drops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep.
The local Best Buy manager let me look at a box, although I was not allowed to open it and play wth the phone. He said he has no idea when he can sell them, but he has them. A couple of dozen is what I saw.
I saw them Monday or Tuesday. So they could have gone on sale this week it seems.
That said, Engadget mentioned a new firmware may be coming, as a day 1 patch or what? Would the sales people have to do the update before letting customers walk out with it? Supposedly to fix a radio/battery issue.
Its always "People familiar with the matter" how about those people grow a pair and come out on the record, simple because its easier to spread rumor than go on record without proof.
RaptorMD said:
Its always "People familiar with the matter" how about those people grow a pair and come out on the record, simple because its easier to spread rumor than go on record without proof.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't speak for everyone, but that's not happening when you are under an NDA. The companies actually strategically leak out info themselves, so why the **** am I signing this again? Regardless, I've witnessed people getting into serious trouble with their jobs, just so they could be another internet sensation. This is why I'm amazed when BMX, and other "insiders" are publicly known for it, yet still have their jobs.
popular nobody said:
Can't speak for everyone, but that's not happening when you are under an NDA. The companies actually strategically leak out info themselves, so why the **** am I signing this again? Regardless, I've witnessed people getting into serious trouble with their jobs, just so they could be another internet sensation. This is why I'm amazed when BMX, and other "insiders" are publicly known for it, yet still have their jobs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you haven't heard of astroturfing? Just because they claim to be insiders and "leaks" doesn't mean the company doesn't secretly condone or support it. What better way to get easy publicity than to have an employee claim to be acting on their own releasing rumors or "inside information" instead of a stuffy corporate press release.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
andydumi said:
Yep.
The local Best Buy manager let me look at a box, although I was not allowed to open it and play wth the phone. He said he has no idea when he can sell them, but he has them. A couple of dozen is what I saw.
I saw them Monday or Tuesday. So they could have gone on sale this week it seems.
That said, Engadget mentioned a new firmware may be coming, as a day 1 patch or what? Would the sales people have to do the update before letting customers walk out with it? Supposedly to fix a radio/battery issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, I work at a BB. Neither my store nor any other of the 15 or so stores in our district has these things in stock yet. This isn't the first I've seen of people saying that stores are sitting on them, but knowing for a fact that a good chunk of stores really DON'T have them has me wondering about the legitimacy of people claiming to have seen them...
AMDman18 said:
So, I work at a BB. Neither my store nor any other of the 15 or so stores in our district has these things in stock yet. This isn't the first I've seen of people saying that stores are sitting on them, but knowing for a fact that a good chunk of stores really DON'T have them has me wondering about the legitimacy of people claiming to have seen them...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One fellow employee to another, same thing here. System says 0 for all the districts in my area which includes most of the east coast.
can i have a job at BB? please? i know stuff
newalker91 said:
You don't want to work there. They pay you about $0.25/hour over minimum wage with no commission or bonuses, then expect you to meet metrics similar to a commission sales job with no incentive. There's a reason why only morons work for BB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude my cousin is pretty smart,, works at bb and another job while he goes to school so thats pretty ****ty to say about people
newalker91 said:
He wouldn't have to work two jobs if he didn't pick minimum wage employment. Either way there are always exceptions to everything. There are intelligent people working at Walmart as well, but put that in the spectrum of all the employees. If someone wants a real career in electronics, then they need to seek out a management position or get into an actual company for a rep position.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there isnt alot of well payin jobs where he is at right now ,, so he took up two jobs to make up the difference ,, til he is done
newalker91 said:
You don't want to work there. They pay you about $0.25/hour over minimum wage with no commission or bonuses, then expect you to meet metrics similar to a commission sales job with no incentive. There's a reason why only morons work for BB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ermm, when I worked at Best Buy Mobile I got $11/hour plus bonuses (BBM department gets monthly bonuses). My monthly average worked out to about $12.50-14.00 an hour. Considering all the benefits (discounts from manufacturers and $20/month cell phone plans) it's not a bad racket.
Your last sentence makes you seem unnecessarily bitter.
exactly where i knew it was going
best buy (as alluded to above) is good for one thing; going to see the product in person (if they carry the actual matching model, and not an exclusive model) then go to buy it on the internets.
i have held seminars (as a walk-in customer) with their PC and HT departments explaining technologies (the manager just gathers everyone around so he didnt have to be held accountable for not remembering what HDMI stood for, or the contrast between an analog and digital signal, or actually didnt have the sophistication to do so).
yes there are always outliers, but majority reigns @ bb "here is an average boy, see this line just under that, that is your boy, mrs. gump"
if there were no evil in this world, would we want any good?
newalker91 said:
You don't want to work there. They pay you about $0.25/hour over minimum wage with no commission or bonuses, then expect you to meet metrics similar to a commission sales job with no incentive. There's a reason why only morons work for BB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't be any further from the truth.
There's a difference between someone getting paid .25 over minimum and someone who knows how to negotiate pay.
I was hired by Best Buy in September 2007 at a starting pay of $10.25 an hour. That was $2.25 above minimum wage that year in California. Maybe you missed the 2 in your figure? After my 90 day evaluation, I was making $11.00. Basically, I outsold everyone on the sales floor, sold PSP's (they're called Black Tie Protection now), counter service, on-site service, accessories and built relationships with local shoppers. When they offered me a 25 cent raise at my 90 day, I said "I want $11 or I walk..." they didn't want to make up the numbers they'd lose from me.
By the time I quit in February 2009, I was making $12.00 an hour. If I stayed, I would've been promoted to a senior and been above $15-18 an hour at least.
I'm also a UCSD undergraduate studying Chemical Engineering in my sophomore/junior year. I wasn't the highest paying lower level employee I knew either. My friend is a comp sci major working at Best Buy and his starting wage was $2.50 higher per hour than some of the seniors in his department. They don't know about it.
Managers want the ignorant employees to think wages are equal and everyone gets paid garbage. The truth is, NBA isn't the only place some people make more money than their coworkers.
SO let's not jump to conclusions about what type of people work at Best Buy. I agree with people who dislike BB's practices, but let's not insult the employees.
newalker91 said:
You don't want to work there. They pay you about $0.25/hour over minimum wage with no commission or bonuses, then expect you to meet metrics similar to a commission sales job with no incentive. There's a reason why only morons work for BB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This forum would be a much better place if there wasn't people like this that think they are smarter than everyone else and like to put people down for absolutely no reason.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Whoever that guy is saying people at bestbuy make minimum wage is a moron, I work for mobile myself and make in the teens for hourly rate, aswell as being bonus eligible, its not a bad setup for a fulltime college student
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
I worked for best buy ( once upon a very dark time ).... and it is correct that they do lie to their employees about pay... it didn't used to be this way.. back in '05 -'06 best buy was an ok place to work... morals were high... and they had competition ( circuit city, comp usa ).. and they paid their employed well.
For example I was a DCI ( geek squad sup ) making $22hr.
But once circut closed and they had no more major competition ( I wont state frys ele as a competition bcuz they are not national ) they changed their policies... downsized their staff and everyone took a pay cut or got laid off.
So now bby thinks they are untouchable ( which they allmost are ) and can get away with low pay beacuse the economy sucks and people are willing to do anything to get by.
And yes.... not everyone who works for best buy is an idiot... just most of them.
Now.... im an I.T. admin / web developer making 3x what I did at bby...
So the moral of the story is... if you want to get ahead in life... don't work retail.... get a degree and use it!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
I just need to vent. I'm a fairly active developer for the android platform. I've created a number of kernel patches and applications that I have released at no charge to the community for about 10 or so devices.
All this I do in my "spare time", which I have very little of because I am a full time professional student who takes on 32 credit hour semesters.
Recently, since my 1994 geo prizm is literally falling apart and I was hoping to scrounge together a little bit of money to get a new car so I don't end up stranded on my way to class, I decided to release a paid application. Fastcharge / Force AC toggle which allows you to toggle on and off the force AC feature. A feature which I have personally implemented and released source patches for on a number of devices.
Not only in every thread where I released the patch on a device did I write up how to toggle the feature through the command line, but I also stated that I also implemented a toggle into my completely free application that you can also download from the market, IncrediControl.
In good faith and knowing how annoying licensing is, I elected to not include licensing in my application. This is a huge regret.
Within a couple days of releasing the application to the market I googled it to see if anyone was talking about it. One of the first links was to a piracy site where a user was requesting the widget, to which another user obliged and posted the apk to a filesharing site. Doing something I never though I would have to do, I filed a DMCA takedown request, which was answered quickly and the app was taken down. Monitoring the thread, every single time a link gets taken down, another user requests the app and the original user reuploads it, most recently to 11 different sites.
So now, after filing dozens of takedown requests. This user has decided to unzip my apk, change out the artwork, and now is going around releasing it as his own work.
Really, all this to avoid paying $1.50 (only ~$1 of it actually going to me) to an individual whose yearly income is low enough that he doesn't have to file taxes?
This disgusts me.
This is even worse than the 50% "order cancellation rate" that the widget has. I'm not stupid, I know exactly what users are doing, but yet initially I was willing to ignore it. But this has gone too far.
What is even the point of pissing off a developer so much that he is considering saying screw the platform all together? It doesn't even make sense. We, the developers improve your devices, generally at little or no cost, and this is how we're repaid. With ~50% of current users of the application having pirated it. To avoid paying just over $1.
Now before someone even counters with the "my area doesn't support paid applications" argument I've actually gladly GIVEN the widget away to a number of users who casually mentioned in the release threads that they couldn't download it for this reason. Not to mention, everyone knows there are apps that unlock the market in these areas to be able to purchase apps.
How much more generous can a developer be than to provide source code patches for a feature, provide information on how to toggle the feature, provide a COMPLETELY FREE way to toggle the feature, and then charge a measly $1.50 for a secondary, slightly more convenient way to toggle.
Yet he's repaid like this .
Of course, this must suck for a developer like you. Unfortunately, it seems to happen more and more often, and all I can really say is:
I would gladly pay a few bucks for an application like IC or BootManager. That BootManager seemed really interesting, but we can't buy apps from the Play Store without CC (and as a 16-year old, I don't have one). I asked the developer if he accepted Paypal, but he didn't.
Don't get me wrong, and this is not an attack to you personally: developers, if you made something really nice, and people will like it, 70% of the people will gladly pay for it, just make sure you allow them to.
Chaosz-X said:
70% of the people will gladly pay for it, just make sure you allow them to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly thought this was the case. It's really not. The problem is much worse than that. If 70% of users in the root community paid for apps it would be astonishing. Its made pretty clear by the number of users who download the app, back it up and then cancel the order.
If a 16 year old kid had made me that offer, the e-mail reply I sent would have the apk attached.
Well, that is a real flaw of Android: tweakability is really impressing, but these things make it really difficult to earn some money as a developer.
We have been thinking about anti-piracy measures as well, with stuff such as authentication with a server, and locking down the code and verifying integrity of APKs and stuff to make sure it's really hard to mess with the code, but it's just sad that there's a need for these measures..
The trouble is everything has piracy right from movies to game consoles through to mobiles and music.
I mean the iPhones appstore would be a hell of a lot bigger if there was no jailbreaking and installous.
Every platform has been cracked so you'll get it regardless of what you develop for.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA
I think you know you just needed to vent but can I change your picture.
There are some people in this world who just don't buy the idea of an idea as property. That's not compatible with this business model. That's the first problem.
The next problem is that
there's a million and one apps out there and which one are we going to choose? Where does it start, where does it end? We all have our limits. What's yours?
For me, the app has to be something very unique and possible generate me cash. For example something I use every day at work. If it's something that the phone should do anyway I tend to skip it and save the $1 for the next phone that does it out of the box. Your app is a great thing, but there's many utility apps out there. It just doesn't fall into the kind of thing I'd cave my strict budgeting for. There are people here with a 1000 apps installed and you expect them to pay $1000 in this sense.
Another way would be having utility in the cloud and then the app is free. Another one of course, advertising.
The difference with both of these is we don't need to risk a credit card with the market. That's the main reason I personally haven't bought many apps and I'd imagine it's a problem for minors too.
The very community that allowed us to create the app fails to pay for it's products is like life itself.
I'd say make something for the iphone instead because there's more profit there but that would never have been possible, see what I'm saying? That's the 3rd problem.
So you've got 3 problems there all converging into one big push towards piracy. But remember, can your app assure security that the pirated version cannot for example? This is how one has to think.
In short,
you can't do something and hope to make a bit from it on the side. You got to go out from the start and get the money aspect central from the start. I mean, that's business and of course that's exactly what the android community works hard to free us from.
Still, summarising those 3 points for suggestion:
- offer something free things can't (i.e. security, brand etc) For example, I never run pirated stuff for fear of insecurity on my data whereas I'll try out software that way on an old PC
- can always put a service in the cloud aka the javascript trap
- iphone is there if you want...
- needs to "the one app" a certain person would pay for, not something everyone likes
Also just to make that point again, if one does not believe in property then inconveniently there is no moral crime here. I suggest learn to live with this and go with the flow
I hope google sells PlayStore cards (like itunes cards) that allows user to buy apps, music, movies, books without a credit card. I really want to buy some amazing apps but i dont have a credit card so i just use free apps. I think that if u cant buy an app that cant be a reason to piracy or sidedownload that app.
jago25_98 said:
For me, the app has to be something very unique and possible generate me cash. For example something I use every day at work. If it's something that the phone should do anyway I tend to skip it and save the $1 for the next phone that does it out of the box. Your app is a great thing, but there's many utility apps out there. It just doesn't fall into the kind of thing I'd cave my strict budgeting for. There are people here with a 1000 apps installed and you expect them to pay $1000 in this sense.
Another way would be having utility in the cloud and then the app is free. Another one of course, advertising.
The difference with both of these is we don't need to risk a credit card with the market. That's the main reason I personally haven't bought many apps and I'd imagine it's a problem for minors too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The feature is 100% unique and so is the widget. Not to mention, if you didn't want to pay the $1, I provided a free way to toggle the feature in the utility app. The point is, that there is nothing forcing people to pay for the widget to use the feature. But instead of using the free option provided, they not only pirate the paid app, but edit the artwork and release it for free as their own. It defies logic.
Also, ad based apps don't work with the rooted community. I learned that early on. Myfree utility app is ad supported. With over 40,000 installs you would think it would make even a dollar a day. Nope, makes nearly nothing. That's when I realized that the same niche I was marketing to are the same people who block ads. Even if someone didn't want to block ads, they can't install a single ROM that doesn't include an ad blocking hosts file out of the box.
chad0989 said:
[...] How much more generous can a developer be than to provide source code patches for a feature, provide information on how to toggle the feature, provide a COMPLETELY FREE way to toggle the feature, and then charge a measly $1.50 for a secondary, slightly more convenient way to toggle.
Yet he's repaid like this .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be sure you're looking at all sides. Yes, you're in a losing war with guys intent on pirating your app. You can't stop them, and well, you goofed on the licensing, so someone will no doubt release the clone.
First of all, don't do the Big Media thing and assume that everybody that pirates your app would have paid for it if it hadn't been available. A lot of folks collect, or just try something once. You'll only work yourself into a funk thinking about all that money you "would" have if only they hadn't been able to pirate it. They wouldn't have. At least not all of them.
More importantly, be aware that placing something out there with value does reach folks that otherwise would have no idea of you or your plight. More than once, I've purchased an app that I don't really need, but found clever and cheap enough I can buy it without thinking about the investment. I've spent more on Android software at $1-15 over the last year than I did over the last 25+ at $30-100 a pop. I've only refunded an app once, by accident.
Finally, be up front about your situation. A guy trying to make do does influence my impulse buying. So does his reputation. If you're doing a lot, be sure that's clear on your app page, and let us know clearly you're the guy that also brought us whatever.
I am curious, though: How much did you actually bring in?
Chad- thanks for telling your story, I agree that you have every right to be disappointed. Especially the buying and refunding, that to me send almost worse because you can't stop dedicated pirating, but I would have hoped the rest would have bought the app.
It's easy to forget the human side of development, so thanks for sharing your side.
Jesus christ Chad. This is f$%&*#@ ridiculous. Probably the best and most generous kernel dev I have ever come into contact with, and people are cheating you out of 1.50. Please don't abandon Android. I need kernels when I get my rezound! but in all seriousness, warez needs to stop.
Sent from my ADR6400L
Yep. Sucks. After getting serious about android , which wasn't too far in, joining with a nexus one and seeing all the free HARD work we get, I definitely try buying stuff I use. If I can't pay sometimes I will see if dev does something else I can donate to. Its an issue I've thought about and part of it really boils down to how sorry people are in general. They want free and cheap. $1 is laughable even when it can be easily had for free. You really should market yourself a bit even though you don't want to. And people should really put a complimentary $5 or so budget a month or more and try to support devs. Maybe if you have something he gave free but has an app you won't use for a buck, buy the dollar app and uninstall after the 15 minute period. Or throw him a 5 through PayPal or something. Its simple really. If these devs don't have to resort to ramen and water they keep dev'ing especially for the community supporting him or her. And if they're eating vegetables and have plenty of red bull money it gives them wings. Otoh, the devs that make us pay to reinstall an app after we bought it on another or lost our phone suck. Balls. Won't buys theirs anymore.
teach a man to fish, you feed him for life. teach a man to fastboot, and you create competency. and less threads on xda.
Maybe you should implement a system like some developers do where you download the app for free with a time limited trail, then they would go to another website to pay for the app to unlock it, and the unlock codes would be unique for every user which would minimize piracy.
Sent from my GT-N7000 Samsung Galaxy Note "Go big or go home" using XDA app
rafa6571 said:
I hope google sells PlayStore cards (like itunes cards) that allows user to buy apps, music, movies, books without a credit card. I really want to buy some amazing apps but i dont have a credit card so i just use free apps. I think that if u cant buy an app that cant be a reason to piracy or sidedownload that app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the Netherlands we have prepaid Visa card.
Works well.
Maybe you google something similar in your own country.
(3V prepaid Visa cards)
That does suck but if someone wants to pirate an app even licencing doesn't stop them as there is an app that apparently patches licence checks.
It is so easy for even a non root and new user to find cracked apps, I have seen links on here and even on peoples facebook sites, it's got to the point where people can just browse a webpage and click a link to get the cracked version of an app.
Unfortunately if someone wants to crack it they can. Unless you could implement your own security check somehow, something obfuscated in the code, licencing is the only alternative as it would stop people using backed up cancelled versions at least.
Unfortunately it seems a lot of people just don't want to pay for apps.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk
also have to look at both sides. some people just refuse to pay for **** whatever it is, or get it as cheaply as they can. being android apps, the free route is how they're going to go. but the other side, you hsould be grateful for all the people that do pay. they're the ones helping keeping google, open source, android and everything in between chugging along. open source is the future and you can tell every corporation i said that. and thanks for you your work even though i've never used it.
jago25_98 said:
...
Also just to make that point again, if one does not believe in property then inconveniently there is no moral crime here. I suggest learn to live with this and go with the flow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is plenty to disagree with in your post as it all seems like an attempt at rationalizing ways to get around the system. This last statement is a ridiculous attempt at summarizing why stealing is OK. Your morals don't define the crime, the law does. Stealing property, physical or intellectual, is not legal and not right regardless of your morals or lack of.
Chad,
I am sorry to hear of your products' abuse. I used your kernels all the time on my Incredible devices and bought IncrediControl to support development. I have purchased many applications just to support development and believe that is the way to get high quality applications.
Piracy is just so damn easy on Android. I know ppl that are doing it who I wouldn't even expect to be doing such a thing. This guy I know love android only because he can get everything free by just googling the apk.
awww thats sad i feel really bad for you!
I've used pre paid visa debit cards to buy apps. You can find them in Any money shop like Cheque cashing places for example. You can even just stick a dicky diver (£5) on them. Perfect for situations like this
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Hi there.
I work for the NHS as a community nurse but found that this is no longer what i wanted. Ever since my real passion is tech & gadgets in particular PCs, tablets & smartphones. I like selling them and giving advice to people before they buy them. I'm currently a seller on Amazon and Ebay but i only have a few items in there and would be very impractical as a source of income for my monthly things. Besides me and my wife have many plans and living in London ain't cheap.
If i have a regular job in-stores or act as an online or telephone adviser that might be more better and more practical. I know its not totally what i have finished in college but at least its something of a passion and what i really want doing. Don't get me wrong. Visiting patients and talking to them and doing what you are supposed to do is nice. I work from 0830 till 1630pm. But i'm in my late 30's and i need to be somehwere where i am "relaxed" and comfy on what i do. And i fell "at home" with tech & gadgets.
I also have this idea of creating apps for Android (or iOS) but with a very stiff competition it has to be niche and caters to very specific demographics, etc.
Any advice on how or where to start please?
Hi guys,
I've been a member of XDA for a while now. I'm not as active as I hoped to be when I joined but I live such a busy life it's impossible to stay on and continuously remain active.
Anyway, to my point and reason for starting this thread. There are certain individuals with the knowledge on this site (and others) whom are fully capable of flashing LTE capable devices. The ones that can be flashed anyway. I'm not talking about illegal flashing, donor phones or anything like that. I'm talking about simple, legal flashing to another wireless carrier such as taking a VZW Galaxy S3 and flashing it to Page+.
I've offered to pay one individual to show/teach me how it's done. I can flash 3G devices without issue. But asking someone to teach you, show you or otherwise provide you with tips on how to flash LTE phones is a lost cause. They use this ability to make money charging $35 a pop to flash phones. And that's fair I guess. If you can do something others cannot then you charge for it right?
But what gets me is that we are Android enthusiast's. An open-source mobile development project that went beyond the expectations of it's original dev's at Google I would imagine. Now, it's arguably the most popular mobile OS in the world. To me it's the most popular anyway, to h3ll with iOS.
Anyway, for us to be all about the open source scene and what not but to refuse to share knowledge about flashing LTE devices because of pure greed is beyond me. We live out lives based on free, open source software but when it comes to something such as flashing LTE devices there is no way anyone will help you learn how to do it or especially show you how to do it.
That's why I'm starting this thread. I want/need to learn how to flash LTE phones to Page Plus. That's it... I run a smartphone shop and often have client's come in wanting options or directly asking me if I can flash a phone to Page+ for them. Well sure! But only if it's a 3G device. :-/
The only other way is for me to use a certain individual who charges $35 to flash the phones remotely. If I try to double it up to $70 then my client's are turned off as there is a shop further away from mine who has a T-Mobile employee there who flashes phones for $35. So I want to be able to offer this service to my clients for the same. I cannot charge them $35, jump online and wait on the person who's name I will not mention to get to me when they can. I make no money, in fact, the time I would have to spend doing this would cost me money because in my field time truly is money.
I need an open source enthusiast whom isn't p0ser. One whom is willing to teach me how to flash LTE phones so that I can offer this service to my customer's. I do not care about the money, I simply want people to know that I can do anything for them at my shop. Telling them I cannot flash LTE phones is just bad for my business in general.
So, with all of that said I would really be impressed if a true enthusiast came out of the wood work to help me with this little problem. Me and the thousands of other individuals who need to know how to flash LTE devices. I mean wow, the things we use this site for... Yet no one will reveal the secrets of LTE flashing. It boggles my mind.
And yes, I've read thread after thread on forum after forum trying to decipher the methods used to flash these phones. I know it's simple, it's as simple as flashing a 3G device to Page+. That's what makes me even more discouraged about it all. It's so easy to do. That means it's easy to teach. I have all of the necessary software do flash nearly any device. But the exact steps to follow are what I am missing.
So, someone, anyone who cares about the open source movement and the ability we have to share knowledge please step forward and show not only me, but everyone here that open source development is not used for profit but for expanding our knowledge. It seems that some of us of gotten off of track over the years. Greed is one of the things that makes Apple a horrible company, it's also what makes people turn into individuals they never meant/hoped to be.
So c'mon guys, let's forget all of the bs and let's get back to our roots here. Who's willing to help me learn how to flash LTE devices? I can offer compensation if I must but again, that would go against the idea behind open source. I simply need to learn how to do this, period. And I'll do whatever I need to do in order to learn.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this and hopefully it will do some good.
Sincerely and Respectfully,
PAinguIN
The info I found here is completely baffling to me. Half the phones listed say they're a 4G device and will work with voice/text/data/ The other half say they won't work because they're 4G phones. So as for the "why" you might be able to flash a particular phone, I don't know. Seems dependent on a phone-by-phone basis.
Does Page Plus even offer LTE service? Does it even offer 4G of any sort (like HSPA+)? The coverage map on their website only lists EV-DO for data. Plans list amounts of data, but make no mention of 4G or LTE.
Or are you merely trying to get LTE capable Verizon phones to work with Page Plus service, regardless of what actual speed of data they can get?
There's many aspects of this that I don't understand. Are you the operator of a corporate-owned store? Are you a franchise? Do you operate as an authorized representative of Page Plus, as well as other MVNOs? I really don't know how these type of shops work, although I see them everywhere.
Offering to flash for free might be breaking some sort of contract or something. I agree that it's greedy to charge so much for so quick/simple a task, but I'm not surprised they charge so much either, since bringing a phone and paying the money to flash it is way cheaper than buying a new phone (and the phone selection on their website is craptacular - just plain awful), so they get the money where they can.
The software to flash phones in this way, I'm betting, took a lot of development, time, and money. The fact that this service isn't available to you, and must be done through a separate, paid service, means to me that they're keeping this to themselves for reasons that should be obvious.
XDA is a community devoted to developing and "hacking" (primarily) the Android system. What you're looking for has far less to do with Android. and more to do with the carriers themselves. Some phones can be flashed, some can't. Or rather, ones that "can't" perhaps can, but would require a bunch of R&D to get done, and isn't worth it to find out. What I mean to say is that what you're asking for probably won't be done. Not without forking over a ton of money, because what you'd expect/hope to do is impossible, and the people who could do it have already done so, and they are the very people who offer this service at $55 a pop because it took a lot of time and money to figure out how to do it.
And no personal offense intended, but Page Plus looks like a horrible choice to go with for anyone who expects to use a smartphone. The phone selection sucks beyond comprehension. Seriously, the only thing it has going for it besides its cheap rates is that it has Verizon's coverage. But who needs that kind of coverage? Probably people that can afford Verizon's actual plans and can enjoy its LTE network and/or travel across the country a lot, and wouldn't bother with this joke of a company in the first place. Bring your own 4G phone? Why? Go with a Verzion pre-paid plan. Or tell Big Red to stick it and go with a company that doesn't anally rape their customers, like T-Mobile. It just seems to me that there's better options, including Verizon-powered MVNOs than Page Plus. When it comes to smartphones, anyway. Basic voice/text plans are probably OK.
Whatever. I don't know why I spent so much time responding to your post. I sincerely wish you success in your business. The world certainly needs people like you that want to give their customers what they need for as little money as possible, and with as little nickel-and-diming (ass-raping) as necessary. But the software/hardware/firmware limitations on so many phones made for the US market make what you're hoping for a physical and/or logistical/financial impossibility (or, simply, more than it's worth) to realize.
Planterz said:
The info I found here is completely baffling to me. Half the phones listed say they're a 4G device and will work with voice/text/data/ The other half say they won't work because they're 4G phones. So as for the "why" you might be able to flash a particular phone, I don't know. Seems dependent on a phone-by-phone basis.
Does Page Plus even offer LTE service? Does it even offer 4G of any sort (like HSPA+)? The coverage map on their website only lists EV-DO for data. Plans list amounts of data, but make no mention of 4G or LTE.
Or are you merely trying to get LTE capable Verizon phones to work with Page Plus service, regardless of what actual speed of data they can get?
There's many aspects of this that I don't understand. Are you the operator of a corporate-owned store? Are you a franchise? Do you operate as an authorized representative of Page Plus, as well as other MVNOs? I really don't know how these type of shops work, although I see them everywhere.
Offering to flash for free might be breaking some sort of contract or something. I agree that it's greedy to charge so much for so quick/simple a task, but I'm not surprised they charge so much either, since bringing a phone and paying the money to flash it is way cheaper than buying a new phone (and the phone selection on their website is craptacular - just plain awful), so they get the money where they can.
The software to flash phones in this way, I'm betting, took a lot of development, time, and money. The fact that this service isn't available to you, and must be done through a separate, paid service, means to me that they're keeping this to themselves for reasons that should be obvious.
XDA is a community devoted to developing and "hacking" (primarily) the Android system. What you're looking for has far less to do with Android. and more to do with the carriers themselves. Some phones can be flashed, some can't. Or rather, ones that "can't" perhaps can, but would require a bunch of R&D to get done, and isn't worth it to find out. What I mean to say is that what you're asking for probably won't be done. Not without forking over a ton of money, because what you'd expect/hope to do is impossible, and the people who could do it have already done so, and they are the very people who offer this service at $55 a pop because it took a lot of time and money to figure out how to do it.
And no personal offense intended, but Page Plus looks like a horrible choice to go with for anyone who expects to use a smartphone. The phone selection sucks beyond comprehension. Seriously, the only thing it has going for it besides its cheap rates is that it has Verizon's coverage. But who needs that kind of coverage? Probably people that can afford Verizon's actual plans and can enjoy its LTE network and/or travel across the country a lot, and wouldn't bother with this joke of a company in the first place. Bring your own 4G phone? Why? Go with a Verzion pre-paid plan. Or tell Big Red to stick it and go with a company that doesn't anally rape their customers, like T-Mobile. It just seems to me that there's better options, including Verizon-powered MVNOs than Page Plus. When it comes to smartphones, anyway. Basic voice/text plans are probably OK.
Whatever. I don't know why I spent so much time responding to your post. I sincerely wish you success in your business. The world certainly needs people like you that want to give their customers what they need for as little money as possible, and with as little nickel-and-diming (ass-raping) as necessary. But the software/hardware/firmware limitations on so many phones made for the US market make what you're hoping for a physical and/or logistical/financial impossibility (or, simply, more than it's worth) to realize.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Planterz,
Yes, I'm just trying to get LTE capable VZW (and certain Sprint phones as rare as they are) to work on P+. I know 3G speeds are possible but as you pointed out 4G LTE is not. That's not really important. As long as SMS, MMS, and mobile web is there then my client's will be happy.
And no, I'm not an authorized Page+ provider. The shop I own started from something I did on the side for extra money. I'm an IT guy by trade but about 3 months ago I decided to resign from my day job, focus on phones and now I'm opening my own shop! It has really been amazing!
But anyway, I plan on becoming an authorized P+ provider because from what I read it's very easy to do so. From what i understand it is perfectly legal to flash devices that Page Plus supports (and some that they do not) to their network. It will, however, automatically cancel any contract that was previously associated with the phone. This will result in early termination fees and all of that jazz. Oh, and this is only if you flash it while it's active on an account. If it is not attached to a wireless carrier then there's nothing to worry about.
And, you are right, XDA is primarily devoted to the development of 3rd party, open source Android OS's. The hacking, well, the hacking comes in place when devices will not let you unlock their boot loader. Such as Samsung. You cannot unlock the bootloader on an S4 (not sure about the S5) yet... And Samsung does not help you with this. They do not encourage unlocking the boot loader.. HTC, however, encourages you to and provides you with the means to unlock your boot loader free of charge. This is one of the main reasons's I have used HTC phones for the last 4-5 years. Since the EVO was released and then the HTC One M7.
But still, what is done here on XDA is much more than simply hacking phones and development. There are lots of threads associated with flashing and some of them have very useful info if you're wanting to flash a 3G device. (Which is easy by the way). But, LTE devices... Unfortunately the story is not the same.
I was just hoping someone could point me in the right direction or be so kind as to show me how it's down or send me the process for flashing, say, a Galaxy S3 on VZW (which is an LTE device). It only takes about 5-10 minutes...
And, lol!!! You have the wrong idea about my shop. I started buying and selling smartphones a couple of years ago. I've worked in the IT field for over a decade and have many loyal clients on the side. Slowly, I began to learn how to repair iPhone's and Android devices. I found a guy who did repairs, a local university student, he and I partnered up. We split everythihng 50/50. Things went surprisingly well! He graduated in May and moved back home, reluctantly...
I continued to carry the torch... My shop is not going to be a Page Plus shop. We have places named "Talk Unlimited" around here that serve that purpose. But as I said, I just hate having to tell people it's going to cost them $75 for a $35 job or even have to send them to Talk Unlimited whom charges $75 as well.
So no, we offer a wide array of services for smartphones including buying/selling. In addition, we offer services in the IT field which cover the entire spectrum. From computer repair and virus removal to enterprise level networking and defense contracting.
I gave up a darn good job and have staked everything I have in this business. So it has to be the BEST! It must offer what other's are incapable of offering and do so much cheaper. Which we do... And in the grand scheme of things being able to flash LTE phones really doesn't matter. But it's only good business to be able to provide the service if needed by a client.
I should have been more clear on that when I started the thread. So once again, no, I am not opening up a shop providing only flashing services to Page Plus and their crappie phones. And they are crappy, just as you pointed out. LOL!
With all of that said, do you know anyone I can speak to or any thread I can check out? Vip3r is the one whom I've used in the past. He knows his stuff, but he will not teach me how to do it. Not even if I pay him. And I understand, he has his reasons. I do not hold it against him. But i need to be able to offer this service if the time comes to where another client needs a solution and flashing to P+ is the only one you know?
Thank you for posting. Perhaps your post will help get a conversation started or something with some answers. Lol!
Thanks again Planterz!
PAinguIN
It's only a matter of time...
As my title states, "It's only a matter of time.". Once I discover how to flash LTE devices I will post my findings here. For everyone to see, read and use. To me, this is the only fair way to do things. Keeping open knowledge from others and forcing them to spend hours and hours online (which I don't have) to find all of the little answers needed is simply not an option for me nor is it for most others.
It appears that I'm missing out on only one or two steps in the process. I guess I'm going to have to ruin a few of my LTE devices as I try to learn this on my own. The process is (I would say) 90% similar to flashing a VZW iPhone 4 to Page Plus. But with a couple of missing steps. I need these steps.
If/when I discover how to do this on my own I will post it in this thread for EVERYONE to see. No longer will people have to ask questions about LTE flashing. Because it will ALL be RIGHT HERE! Mark my word, as soon as I discover what I'm doing wrong and perfect the process then it will be posted here in absolute detail.
If anyone has any information to contribute to this thread I, personally, and many, many others would be more grateful than you could possibly imagine.
Thanks,
PAinguIN
I am now an authorized P+ dealer...
And as time goes by I will piece together the puzzle of flashing non-VZW phones to P+ with MMS/SMS and at least 3G.
If anyone has any insight or tips into this please share.
Thanks!
So, a bit of a backstory. I'm part of a parenting group who does work with the local school system. They help lower income families and such, and during the remote learning part of COVID they were responsible for giving out tablets and hot spots to allow children without the means to remotely learn. Well now that remote learning is over they had surplus tablets and hotspots and because my fiancée and I are in a parenting group/education class we were entered in a raffle sponsored by them. We won tablets. Tab A 10.1 Wi-Fi tabs. Nice as hell. They came loaded with a Knox configuration for a company for early education called HATCH. Inc. It uses an app called IGNITE!. The security profile locks the wallpaper, and a few other things that are obviously centered around the school stuff. Well, a lot is unlocked also, but I'm concerned about my privacy and inability to upgrade and/or install apps of my discretion. I reached out to the head company several times for them to unlock it. I opened the developers options and was able to enable USB debugging as well as OEM unlock to unlock the bootloader. It had the option readily available. Since then, I have tried EVERYTHING to uninstall this security profile by flashing custom ROMs and everything. I've googled several dozen hours and have installed drivers, .tar recovery files, apps, Odin, flashers, rooters, romers, holy relics, mantras, novels, movies, self-help magazines, you freaking name it I've done it. I also have yet to find a clear, DEFINED set of instructions for my SPECIFIC model of tablet, and the firmware downloads are questionable. Please, PLEASE freaking God above, PLEASE, one of you android gurus help me! I can't get up with the company to remove it because they don't return calls or emails, and I can't find any real help online. This is so freaking aggravating. I OWN THIS TABLET. IT IS MY PROPERTY. Someone, help me disable this Knox crap, so I can use my tablet at my discretion. Please.
That's quit a story...
Indeed. Quite the story and quite the debacle. Most definitely one of the most annoying things that I've dealt with in a long while.
nundril said:
Indeed. Quite the story and quite the debacle. Most definitely one of the most annoying things that I've dealt with in a long while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to stick to just the pertinent facts especially with issues like this. The axion the longer the story the bigger the lie applies to my former statement. You didn't snap on me so I'll give you the benefit of doubt.
You won't like the answer but the easiest way is to get the IT department to delete the work profile. Not much of a prize if they don't. Some face to face encounters might motivate them better. Rub it it in if you have to, and don't take no for an answer. May take multiple people, trips, letters, whatever, climb the ladder to the top of that administrative chain if needed.
Consider it a lesson in assertiveness, you can never get too much of this type of training and it's free.
Otherwise the solutions you see in the Google searches are what's available.
Understandable. As of now I've just stuck to emails and phone calls. The head office is located about an hour and a half from my location so a ride to them for me and my fiancee tablets to work might be worth it. Appreciate the response and the honesty, I just figured I would explain the situation because I've seen so many times where a situation could've been handled had it been explained in greater detail. Just trying to convey the whole situation to an audience with zero knowledge of me or the situation as to hopefully reach someone with the knowledge to help, that's all.
Knox is a true pain. I avoid using it as much as possible because of the trouble it can cause.
XDA gets at times 1 request a day to bypass FRP lockouts. Some of those are stolen devices.
My dead mother's, friend's, etc. , I forgot it, it was like this when I bought it, my professor assigned us to hack it; the list is endless. Most are first post new members.
Of course some are innocent victims that got caught up in the machine as it were. Best advice is to return to vendor/do a charge back or get the unlock code from the last owner.
Rock simple stupid works the best.
If you're in the right the satisfaction of getting it resolved outweighs the time spent. I'm one of the few people who has gotten a refund check from Sony... it took dozens of calls. It was worth it in satisfaction alone
Do you think that calling Samsung customer support would make something shake? I mean considering we are legitimate owners, of which the instructors of our parenting class (who are employees of the early education place who distributed the tablets) are happy to attest to. I talked to them and they said to email or call and they would verify ownership and the details of the raffle etc etc to whomever reached out to them. If Hatch. Inc won't answer my calls perhaps Samsung might be able to help? Just trying to gather info at this point.
nundril said:
Do you think that calling Samsung customer support would make something shake? I mean considering we are legitimate owners, of which the instructors of our parenting class (who are employees of the early education place who distributed the tablets) are happy to attest to. I talked to them and they said to email or call and they would verify ownership and the details of the raffle etc etc to whomever reached out to them. If Hatch. Inc won't answer my calls perhaps Samsung might be able to help? Just trying to gather info at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try, Samsung customer support is notoriously horrible. Replacing the mobo would fix it. There maybe less drastic ways to resolve it.
The source of your dilemma are your benefactors not ensuring the gifts were properly decommissioned. They should see their mistake is rectified if they are sincere. Actions have consequences... even if by omission.