Right, so as a small group of you may be aware (And those that read my signature too), I have a keen interest in porting google android to mobile devices. Now a particular topic about the Dell X50v recieved a bit of attention, and a small site grew out of it, unfortunately, my dell died and I stopped visiting the site, and the few (25) users gradually drifted away from the project.
Now i've bought a website, set up my own server, and the site is up and running (Check my signature)
Now I obviously want this to take off, and I was going to make a post in General/Hacking + Development on XDA-Devs, as pretty much every device forum has a post "I want android on X device plz!!" here.
I had a look about the Q+A sections and Rules and saw nothing forbidding this, though many forums i've frequented disallow advertising of websites unless in a specific section. I figured this would be a pretty big thing here if it took off, so I wanted people to be aware of it.
So the upshot of this question is: Should I bother creating a thread basically advertising this website?
well first advice i would give is not to crosspost, not that im saying you would, just a precaution
secondly stick to one post and update that one only
thirdly only offer the site address if you think the person needs to have it
Thanks for the help, as you can see, I have a habit of rambling! Would it be acceptable for me to write a draft of the topic here before posting it so you can offer advice?
Ive been out of the phone loop for a bit, due to buying a new computer and researching all the parts for that
So im trying to get back into the phone swing of things. My phone is pretty dated and slow. Last time i was around, i had my eyes on the HTC Sensation, tho it appears the Amaze has out done it alittle bit, however word on the street is that phone is on its way out. So this maybe a really broad question, but whats a good phone to pick with the following
* Can work/Does work on AT&T Network
* qHD disaply
* Multi-Core
* Flash (leds)
* Runs Android
I've been an HTC fan for awhile, but have seen some recent complaints. Im also not overly happy with them releasing the phones i prefer, on only T-mobile. I prefer the more rounded ones like Sensation and Amaze, yet they more square bricks are what gets dumped on AT&T (sorry, i dont like the Evo design)
So can anyone offer up some suggestions, current or future, or should i hold off for a while longer?
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
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Moving to Q&A
lufc said:
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Moving to Q&A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it didnt feel like a "i have a problem, heres my question" thread to me, which is why i didnt post it in the Q&A. I felt it more like a general discussion to gather opinions..
Thanks for scolding me like a child in public tho. I will post every thread that has any kind of question in the Q&A tho from now on. So my apologies.
Hi I am from UK and I've ordered HTC sensation from simplyelectronics.net. I found an amazing offer but later I realised the offer was too good to be true and heard negative comments from the forums. Now I am really scared and I was wondering does anyboy know about them in terms of originlaity of their products. I do know they suck at delivering on time and got lots of 1 star review for that, but that is not an issue here. I heard HTC manufacturer by name SIS from SIngapore-Malaysia is the original one and all the AP sets i.e copy one's are made from HongKong which is chinese duppliate copys sets. Please can sombody help??
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With the general feeling of disappointment (and even hate) around, I thought I'll take this moment out to thoroughly explain what has been done, and why it has been done.
Have a look at the list below:
Singapore Galaxy S4
Australian Galaxy S4 owners thread
Pakistani Galaxy S4 Owners Thread
Brazilian Galaxy S4 Thread
Galaxy S4 Philippines
Bangladesh Galaxy S4
Indian Galaxy S4 Owners Thread
[malaysian i9500/i9505 thread]
Ireland/UK Galaxy S4 Thread
Lebanese Galaxy S4 Thread
Sweden S4 Thread
Now ask yourself these questions:
Do you actually need these many country threads?
There are 190+ countries in the world, and with a global launch for the S4, does each and every country require it's own thread? If you answer "No", then you are biased in thinking that country A needs a thread whereas country B doesn't.
And what's to say that a single thread is sufficient per country? For example, my own state is larger in area and population than many European nations. So why shouldn't I have my own state thread? The state itself is too big, and a city based thread would be more localized. Maybe I, as a user, should create one. Or maybe a locality based one would solve all my woes.
The question here is, at what point do we draw the line? This is no easy question to answer, because try as much as we may, no one solution will please all.
Yes, we understand that when the phone launches (even during pre-launch), there is general excitement and frenzy all over. And at these times, such threads become helpful. They allow people to gather information at the time when there is no clear answer with everybody. The device is relatively new, and people are ignorant of what the best deal may be.
Fast forward to two months after launch. Do you still require region specific threads? Wouldn't it be easier if you just paid a visit to your local market or your online store to find out the current market prices, check the online review stores for the best set of accessories, contact your provider's Customer Service to find out their LTE rollout plans, etc?
XDA is not the answer to everything. Yes, a lot of people rely on researching the forum to see if there are hardware/software issues before they buy a new device. But to say that the sole purpose they joined was to find the best contract they can avail from Three, then I must say, they joined for the wrong reasons.
We aren't a consumer oriented website. We are a developer's website, but we do allow plenty of leeway to non-developers. We realize that everybody starts small, and we really appreciate the people who actually take the efforts to start. But certain things are better considered as "privileges" and not "rights".
"They shouldn't have closed down the threads. They weren't useless."
- I honestly doubt if any moderator has called any of those threads as useless. Even in my closing posts, I have acknowledged the fact that the team considers these threads as useful. It's just that, they have served their time well, and all of them have started pointing towards the more generic topics of discussion, and hence, needed to be retired from duty. [Example: In a bunch of threads, the conversation topic was the latest firmware that dropped in another country thousands of kilometres away.] Essentially, people were talking the same things, but in different groups.
"You call yourself a community. Yet you do not allow communities to exist"
- We at XDA, are a community in ourselves. When people further attempt to create communities in the open fora, they are in fact dividing the existing one. We do not need this type of segregation, when there no longer exists need of one.
How many Malaysian users frequented the Indian thread, or how many Brazilian users helped around in the Philippines thread? (Just examples used to drive the point across). People can still roam around, but do they?
"These threads helped newbie's to start with their device. The people are really helpful, and answer any questions asked."
- Yes, again, Fact Acknowledged and a virtual pat on the back for everyone who helped :good:
But isn't that the purpose with which the "[HELP THREAD] Galaxy S4 | Ask any question | Noob friendly." thread (and the Q&A section at large) was made? Imagine, if people from one community are so helpful, if everyone chimed in and helped people around, you'd actually be increasing your scope from inter-region to international.
You see a question asked, and you have the knowledge and will, you answer it, irrespective of the user being from your country or not, asking in your thread or not. If you see someone genuinely taking efforts to help someone else out, you hit the "thanks" button for them and give them a pinch of motivation
TL;DR, things don't need to be restricted to your subscribed threads. There's a largely unexplored forum out there, waiting for you.
As a matter of fact, the early bunch of pm's I received after the closures were made, were people who thought/assumed that only their own thread was closed. They failed to notice at that moment that a bunch of them were closed at the same time.
People who frequently roam around the General subfora would even acknowledge the fact that the threads had started to clog. The regional threads notice a high turnover and this results in all of them sitting at page one. This barely leaves room for other threads to be noticed.
The S4 had ~13 regional threads, and as per the forecasted trend, the Note 3 would have touched 20 regional threads by this time in its product cycle. The threads are made under the general moniker of "Availabilty and Deals", but a lot of them end up being "me-too" type threads. Country A has it, so country B should do too.
Question again, where do we draw the line?
It is also disappointing to hear the tone in some of the pm's. Much more disappointing is the fact that people call us "fascist" and compare us moderators with controversial historical figures, while all we are doing is trying to manage a forum while having a broader line of sight. Have we really wronged you so much by closing a thread, so as to be deserving of such hate?
No, we do not ban people just because they questioned a moderator's action. We simply request you to be polite and do it via pm, not as public posts. We are tolerant and will accept constructive criticism as feedback.
We haven't taken any action against misue of "official" in thread titles, while we could have very well infracted the erring OP's on misrepresentation and action without authorization. We can and we should have, but have we done so? No, we haven't. And this by itself is a testimony to the fact that we are tolerant to a really large extent.
Then you have posts like "Moderators are stupid, they don't know how to manage", which are no better than the newbie's post in a dev thread which says "My wifi broke. Fix it" without any additional details. Where is the constructive criticism in this? At the very least, work with us to solve the issues. Simply escalating problems isn't good for the community and might even worsen the situation.
Again, we are emphasizing the fact that these threads were useful. But the decision to close down a large number of these was one of the toughest ones that we have ever taken. As mentioned previously, it has been discussed to death. All possibilities, angles, point-of-views, were taken in mind before we came to a conclusion. Decisions aren't just abruptly taken.
In fact, the right decision isn't always the most popular one, as we have experienced here firsthand. We aren't looking around for threads to close in other devices as of yet. But if the need arises, and decision is to be made, then decision shall be made (on case by case basis).
In future devices, these threads aren't "banned" per se. Users are still free to create one when the device is just born/young. But do bear in mind that sometime in the future, they may get closed.
As for the Galaxy S4, this is the end of regional threads (except the ones exempted on hardware differences). Any more threads/retakes will not be allowed in the subfora. Please respect this decision.
"What do we do know?"
- As my teammates have mentioned (and as has been discussed via pm with some of you), the Social Groups feature of XDA is vastly left unutilized. You are free to create your own country, city, toy club groups. And as long as things remain within the forum rules there, they shall be allowed. Talk OT, availability, accessories, whatever you wish. Just abide by the forum rules, and report in case of problems That is all we ask :good:
If you pm me the link of the XDA social group that you have created for your country thread (provided one doesn't exist already), I'll edit the closing post and direct users towards them :good:
"Will you place links to our groups made on popular social networking sites?"
- I'm afraid we can't do that. We restrict ourselves to things concerning XDA.
We hope this clears up a lot of questions that people had in mind.
Thank you for your patience and co-operation
Moderator Team
Samsung International
I just want people opinion on a GSM phone to grab.
I've wanted the Galaxy Nexus for ages, and since ATT went straight to the whole Next Plan only thing, I've been forced to look for phones under the $150 and under price tag that may be older or whatnot.
I want some good recommended phones, or just your suggestion on something under that price tag.
I would like a phone that is still heavily supported, and is active on XDA.
Drops some suggestions below, thanks!
Please review the forum rules and search before posting, there is already a thread for this topic here. Thread closed.
Nathan
Forum Moderator