Database Info

Apple and Google have the power to change the industry

The phone carrier pricing and phone selection in the U.S. is screwed up in my opinion. If you want the iPhone your stuck with ATT for now. If you want an Android, where do you even begin to look, so many options it is overwhelming for the non tech geek newb.
In my perfect world this would be great to see. Follow the plan that Google first announced with Nexus-One, but never happened, release the same identical phone on all 4 major U.S. carriers, only difference being the radios to allow them to work on each carrier. Then us, the consumer wins, we just choose the best carrier for the best price, and network in your town. Then there would be some major competition on monthly plans. None of this insane $100+ per month for a single smart phone unlimited. That is just insane, and Europe and Asia don't pay anywhere near that kind of pricing.
And I would like to see it done this way.
Every Christmas time, Google comes out with their hot new Nexus brand phone, will be the latest and "pure" OS, untouched by carrier bloatware. And release it for all 4 major carriers at the same time, and would be the exact same phone for everyone. Then the consumer chooses who they want to have for their service. Then in the Summer, Apple comes out with their hot new iPhone, with the best hardware for the time. And release that new iPhone across all 4 major carriers too, being the exact same phone, and again the consumer just decides who they want purchase service from.
Seemed like Google was so close to doing that last year with the Nexus-One...they did release it on T-Mobile first, then an ATT 3G version, and Verizon + Sprint were in a holding pattern, and pulled the plug. I bet the carriers did not like this idea, they knew what would happen eventually = major competition for the same phone, would have to lower their plan pricing, and they said NO !!!

Google doesn't set the prices. Plus why have the Nexus One on all carriers?
Verzion got the Incredible.
Sprint got the Evo
AT&T kind of sucks, but has Iphone.
Only way you can get the Nexus One was an online store.
Plus not like it matters too much anways. There are better ways to get the Nexus S, there are different devices out there that are plenty fast.

MONEY
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

[Q] CES 2011; Which Phone is The best.

Which of these listed phones do you think is the best from CES 2011
Motorola Atrix
Motorola Bionic
htc Thunderbolt
T-Mobile G-Slate
Sony Ericsson Xperia arc
Any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.
P.s And which carrier Sprint, Verizion, AT&T, T-Mobile is the best carrier for service and data/Internet.

Phone: HTC Thunderbolt
Servce: Verizon I have LTE in my area
The Bionic and Atrix have better specs but because of Motorola's habit of crippling devices, I cant support them. Maybe they will lock the bootloader maybe they wont, I can only base it off past experience and past experience tells me they will.
also Dual cores are nice but the OS and apps wont take full advantage of it for quite some time.

Hey thanx for replying, I have my htc EVO, but sprint service is just not cutting it.

HTC ThunderBolt. Where I live T-Mobile ain't cuttin' it! I still have my G1 and love it but when my contract is up the Thunderbolt will be hitting shelves and my job gets me 20% discount on Verizon every month.
Agreed about Motorola, I can't support them and happen to love HTC devices allot.

hd2 remains

The Atrix looks really nice, but I daren't think about the battery life on it. I guess it charges when in the dock though so it might not be too bad.
Anyway, I'm in the UK and wouldn't mind Three picking up any of those phones!

The Atrix is clearly the best. Thunderbolt? Not even close.

I just got my Nexus One back so i will be using it until Samsung's new Galaxy S 2 comes out, hopefully with Orion under the hood

Phone: Sony Xperia Arc. I like the look of it (most of the phones bored me) and it has a really good camera apparently.
Service: Verizon has service everywhere (apparently a lot in California where just about every other server lacks), but in my area, it doesn't matter because all the carriers have service here. I use T-Mobile and the service is quite fast here, no dropped calls and I won't probably won't switch carriers. I would check the map and avoid carrier fanboys trying to make you switch(seriously, why is it that US has carrier fanboys?!)

Getting A New Phone

Hi Guy's And Girl's
I have been a regular forum ghost for about 4 years now, I own 3 HTC HD2's all with custom rom's ranging from WP7 to Android. Im currently looking at buying a new phone to play with and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what to get next. Ideally im looking at HTC but i have been looking at the samsung galaxy.
Also I probably wont get n e thing till about april. Are there n e top spec smartphones being released in or around april that might b worth getting?

Galaxy Note or Galaxy S II (any modification, the highest-speced is Skyrocket HD, but release date is unknown).
Also you can wait for MWC (it's on 27feb-1mar). There'll be HTC quad-core phone(s) announced, e.g. HTC Edge.
Oh, and I forgot about Galaxy Nexus. It has ICS on the board which is good.

If you are willing to spend, and willing to import, the Samsung Galaxy SIII will be available sometime around there.

have you considered buying a Sensation? it is just as strong as the Galaxy II but after the release of the XL and XE versions it is dirtcheap.

Hey all, Thank you for your speedy reply's.
I was looking at the new htc sensation but the galaxy s2 has always come out on top on side by side reviews with the sensation. Plus I really like the display on the galaxy s2 nice and clear even in direct sunlight. god theres so many choices and not enough money lol. Im gonna take a look at the other phones suggested. i might even hold of 4 a bit till sumthing extra special is released.
Edit :- The spec for the new galaxy s3 and htc edge sound amazing. i do like ics on my hd2 so its gotta be even better on new devices. iv got the wants now lol

I too was considering getting the Samsung GS2, but I'm currently at an unpleasant decision point about giving up my "smartphone exclusion" and "data opt-out" features tied to my WM6.1 LG Incite. The on-screen buttons are really small and resistive screen is so insensitive that it's barely usable. I'm ready to move on, but getting stuck for a worthless 200MB data plan or a grossly overcharged 2GB plan doesn't do it for me.
I was considering getting an international i9100 version and flashing its IMEI to my current IMEI, but there's some potential contractual problems there. Does anyone have a more legitimate way to maintain my current pricing plan or if it must increase to get something of value (e.g. data and texts for the same price)?
Thank you for your patience with
<--this n00b.

Well if ur UK based most networks offer free addons to pay monthly customers, for example, T-Mobile offer smartphone users a free unlimited data plan with the exception of a fair use policy. And iv never had a slapped wrist from them and my data's never been turned off. O2 have a similar plan but I'm not too sure about vodafone or orange. Hope this helps.
Sent from my NexusHD2 using xda premium

I'm on AT&T in the US and they're pretty finicky when it comes to their smartphones. They claim all of these hard rules, but I had an agent the other night looking for justification so she could put the exclusion and opt-out back on the line as the previous two agents suggested that I could do after getting the GS2. They *can* do it, but it seems like they're either not supposed to or only under special circumstances. I asked if I could pick out an unlocked phone and maintain my contract that way and they said that doing so was unnecessary and that I could just get a subsidized phone and maintain my contract through premier customer care. After getting the 2nd rep's email address and then emailing her...a week later she still hasn't called me. I'm beginning to think that she might have been full of hot air. I'm concerned that I'm going to have to keep on having this crappy phone with it's poor reception because I'm a student, my parents are on a fixed income, and we can't afford to make the monthly bill go up $25/mo.

samurai-holt said:
Well if ur UK based most networks offer free addons to pay monthly customers, for example, T-Mobile offer smartphone users a free unlimited data plan with the exception of a fair use policy. And iv never had a slapped wrist from them and my data's never been turned off. O2 have a similar plan but I'm not too sure about vodafone or orange. Hope this helps.
Sent from my NexusHD2 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O2 data is not available free its a £6 add on and you only get 500 megabytes. Never known anyone get free bolt on off them and been with them years so not all carriers give bolt ons away. But giffgaff offer true unlimited data though I'm on contract with o2 so can't use them.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

Need advice on a new device!

So I currently have a Motorola Droid X2... I use cyanogenmod 7.2rc1 beta2 as a custom ROM. Besides that for stable ROMs it's really only eclipse 2.2, liberty, molten or stock 2.3.5 rooted. cm9/miui4 are both in alpha stages of development and have no working camera/data usage yet and mms is shotty as well as other glitches & bugs. having the locked bootloader and all. Plus we don't get official ICS :banghead::thumbdown:
I had a few questions... First off, my 2 year contract with Verizon Wireless USA is over in December however I am eligible for an upgrade in August. I think I remember reading somewhere after all these VZW/MOTO shenanigans you can get a free 3g upgrade, if eligible, but need to renew contract for a 4g device. I'm obviously very confused by these changes and need clarification.. Basically what I'm asking is, would I be able to cop a new phone in August without having to re-up my contract? Use the upgrade for the remaining months and then sell it along with my X2? Not sure how that works and honestly I don't want to call Verizon about it until I'm due for my upgrade.
Moving on to my next problem. I am going to need a new carrier/phone. I figure since sprint still has unlimited data and their service in my area isn't that bad compared to Verizon, I'll probably sign with them. As far as actual devices are concerned, I will only buy a phone with an unlocked bootloader. Since Motorola failed to live up to their promise of unlocking their bootloaders by the end of 2011, and their overall customer support, I am not interested in purchasing any Moto phones.
Which brings me back to Sprint, lol. I know several people who have been on Sprint for a long time and tell me they're okay as long as you don't break your phone. I've heard countless horror stories of friends/family having to jump through countless hoops just to get their defective phone replaced. I've already left AT&T and will never go back to them so my options are pretty limited. I can deal with less than perfect customer support from time to time as long as I have reliable service and a reliable phone I can hack.
I've been looking at the Dinc2, since my friend has one. I know that's unlocked already. I've heard a lot of fuss over its pentile screen, but that honestly doesn't bother me much. So that can be taken into consideration as well.
I appreciate any opinions you can personally offer as to an awesome, unlocked phone, decent carriers as well as new phone releases you are looking forward to. I'd love to hear what unlocked devices you guys have as well as your favorite custom ROMs for them.
Thanks!
Cyanogenmod all day

Well, if you upgrade your phone, you're more than likely going to have to re-up your contract for an additional 2 years. As of right now, for Verizon, I would probably look at the HTC Rezound, or Incredible 4G. If you go to Sprint, I would look at the Evo 4G LTE (HTC One for Sprint), or the Evo Design 4G, but by December, you'll also have the Galaxy S3 to consider. I'm biased towards HTC phones personally, but those are the options I would look at.

I forgot to mention I'm on a family plan with unlimited data...
Sent from my MB870 using XDA

I can't really suggest a phone but I read that you mentioned people having problems with Sprint with getting phones replaced after they get broke.
My sister is good at messing phones up and with the $8 a month insurance you basically can hardball any phone at a wall and they will replace it for $100. I think the one thing is you just never say that you did anything wrong and most sprint stores don't care. They have gotten much better. Whatever you do don't break your phone without insurance because they wont touch the phone in fear you might swear they broke it. Get the phone insured from day one if you are accident prone. That is about all the advice I can give. They have good phones and have good service (not verizon service but still good.)

Yeah, I treat these phones like royalty. Basically it's just a computer in the palm of my hand... Accidents do happen though and I always protect all devices with insurance.
I was in Sprint once with a friend of mine. Keep in mind he wasn't a smartphone owner, but this wasn't too long ago. He had a flip phone and he wanted it replaced. It was his 4th device experiencing the same hardware problems. When we got in there Sprint did pretty much everything in their power to make sure he did not leave with a brand new replacement. They went as far as to literally take the phone apart - right in front of us - and replace internal hardware. They'd put it back together and he'd show them it still wasn't working and they would try replacing something else.
Two and a half hours later of playing with the display evo and listening to "No I don't want you to fix it I want a new phone" and "Here, maybe this will fix it, let's give it a try..." we were finally out of there. They did not give a replacement that day. Just "fixed" it. Until we got back to his house. The very next day I was there when he called customer support. They gave him the business over the phone and were 0 help. We went back to the sprint store and finally got his replacement. I think the only reason they even actually helped him with a new device is because he was mad enough to break every display case and cell phone in the place - and they knew it. It wasn't like a "here let me help you get this resolved so you can enjoy your phone and service!!" Kinda deal it was more like "get him a new phone from the back so he doesn't make a scene and gets the hell out of my store" thing .... As we were leaving, the female rep not only told us we were lucky we even got a replacement in the first place- she did it in a snobby, attitude riddled tone of voice.
For reference this is when I was thinking of terminating vzw early and jumping to sprint. My friend told me sprint is full of people who either don't give two damns or are just plain stupid. He took me along to give me an idea of what I was in for. Needless to say I didn't switch.....
Sent from my MB870 using XDA

Old guy buying technology needs help finding phone.

I know this is will more than likely be wide open to opinion but I am gonna give it a try. I have rooted and messed around with several phones in the past so I am kinda hip on things but it has been a long time and seems as though now I am light years behind the times so here I am seeking opinions on my possible next phone.
What I was "rocking" a Motarola M XT907 fully rooted w/custom rom. Seems like I had my old friend since I was a lad but now it has given up the ghost and put to pasture. So now I have a temp XT907 NON rooted, fully updated, all stock and has a cracked camera lens. I searched and found it might still be able to be rooted but may involve spending money (not sure on all this). So if I am going to spend any $$ on a phone I thought I would go for a different one unless I can get this thing to my needs. So here are my needs 1.) Must be usable with Verizon, 2) able to have free (non subscription) wireless tethering capabilities.
That's pretty much it for necessities. If this one can still be made to do that great, if not or not feasible to do so what would be the best phone to get to be able to do this. Also I don't want a HUGE phone but a little bigger would be fine. Also buying outright so not to give up any data plan so cheapest way to go would be a huge +.
Thanks all and remember to be kind

Your Criteria of Size does tend to reduce the options. But I guess you know that already.
First Criteria, being able to work with VZW. That's pretty easy, especially considering you are going to buy it outright. What you are looking at is a phone that is marketed as for Verizon network. Or is "Unlocked". Just so we get the terms right, a unlocked phone represents a device that was originally meant for a different carrier but can now be under on Any Carrier. Some phones are Factory Unlocked by the Manufacturer. That means the same thing. Phones sold for Verizon Network are "Locked" to that Carrier and will only work with that Carrier's active account. Now Verizon has some attractive offers, you might want to consider those too.
As to your Other criteria of Tether, depending on which phone you are getting, the phone will have Out of Box tether capability. Now, I personally do not have experience on Verizon Network, but with other Carriers, you do get Tether enabled out out box. Only thing is, it costs extra per month. However If you are willing to Root, whatever phone you choose, you can add Tether Capability without monthly charges.
So that brings us to main question, which phone ? Your current Droid Razr is 4.82 x 2.40 x 0.33 in. The phones relatively similar sized and come to mind in no particular order are
Nexus 5 - All time favorite phone with several people, especially since its a Nexus. It comes factory unlocked and is pretty versatile. Released in 2013, its not the latest either but is only slightly bigger.
HTC One M9 - Released in April 2015, this is pretty newish phone. I am not that familiar with it, to say for a fact if it offers Tether. You might want to ask that question here if you wish. It too has people who swear by it.
Samsung Galaxy S4 - Its a 2012 phone, not the very latest but extremely rugged and decent jump from your Razr. The Galaxy s4 or s5 are better options but are larger sized. Also there's potential trouble of not being able to Root later versions of Samsung Phones. So trade carefully. If in doubt ask.
There are several other phones that come to my mind. however, they don't fit into either criteria so Skipping them for now.
You might be able to browse these phones either in BestBuy or elsewhere. All of phones mentioned above can be obtained on ebay or amazon. Should you choose to go with a preowned one, you can consider our sister site swappa.com
As you said, each person has a different opinion and you will get a plethora of opinions. the above is my 2 cents.

Perseus said:
Your Criteria of Size does tend to reduce the options. But I guess you know that already.
First Criteria, being able to work with VZW. That's pretty easy, especially considering you are going to buy it outright. What you are looking at is a phone that is marketed as for Verizon network. Or is "Unlocked". Just so we get the terms right, a unlocked phone represents a device that was originally meant for a different carrier but can now be under on Any Carrier. Some phones are Factory Unlocked by the Manufacturer. That means the same thing. Phones sold for Verizon Network are "Locked" to that Carrier and will only work with that Carrier's active account. Now Verizon has some attractive offers, you might want to consider those too.
As to your Other criteria of Tether, depending on which phone you are getting, the phone will have Out of Box tether capability. Now, I personally do not have experience on Verizon Network, but with other Carriers, you do get Tether enabled out out box. Only thing is, it costs extra per month. However If you are willing to Root, whatever phone you choose, you can add Tether Capability without monthly charges.
So that brings us to main question, which phone ? Your current Droid Razr is 4.82 x 2.40 x 0.33 in. The phones relatively similar sized and come to mind in no particular order are
Nexus 5 - All time favorite phone with several people, especially since its a Nexus. It comes factory unlocked and is pretty versatile. Released in 2013, its not the latest either but is only slightly bigger.
HTC One M9 - Released in April 2015, this is pretty newish phone. I am not that familiar with it, to say for a fact if it offers Tether. You might want to ask that question here if you wish. It too has people who swear by it.
Samsung Galaxy S4 - Its a 2012 phone, not the very latest but extremely rugged and decent jump from your Razr. The Galaxy s4 or s5 are better options but are larger sized. Also there's potential trouble of not being able to Root later versions of Samsung Phones. So trade carefully. If in doubt ask.
There are several other phones that come to my mind. however, they don't fit into either criteria so Skipping them for now.
You might be able to browse these phones either in BestBuy or elsewhere. All of phones mentioned above can be obtained on ebay or amazon. Should you choose to go with a preowned one, you can consider our sister site swappa.com
As you said, each person has a different opinion and you will get a plethora of opinions. the above is my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the reply, Used is not a problem. I'm not afraid to root and I guess that's why I came here some phones have a lot more options, (rom's , tether work arounds) or in general more dev interest than others. About the only two things I do on a phone these days are use it for home internet service (unlimited data with no tethering service plan) and talking to my friend google. Looks like the M9 may be a fit. Thanks again.

malloneem said:
Appreciate the reply, Used is not a problem. I'm not afraid to root and I guess that's why I came here some phones have a lot more options, (rom's , tether work arounds) or in general more dev interest than others. About the only two things I do on a phone these days are use it for home internet service (unlimited data with no tethering service plan) and talking to my friend google. Looks like the M9 may be a fit. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are talking about Developer interest and Rom choices, I think any of the Nexus would be your better bet. As to the M9, there are 8 LP Roms and 6 MM roms that I see over here. Seems like Decent Choice to me. Wish you well.