When it comes to android, you know that you have an outstanding range of hardware. From the low-end Optimus T/S to the titans of the OS such as the Galaxy S2, and everything imaginable in between. These days, you can even find generic china phones running an, often dated, android. Every carrier has it, they come in all price ranges, and they're available on demand. The question I pose to you, "Is android's key selling point the hardware?"
I understand that numerous XDA members and even some outsiders enjoy the limitless customization options made readily available in android and that's awesome. However, the general consumer is happy to end customization at setting their own ringtone. It's not a breaking factor for the majority that you can swap out kernels. Overall, android is a decent enough platform, but for the masses, I see little that it offers, hardware aside, that it's competitors don't.
Here recently, a thread was posted regarding the ASUS Transformer 2, a pentacore processor in a tablet. Now, most people have yet to exhaust the resources on their dual core phones. A penta-core device seems to be pushing the limits. Considering that it is running a mobile OS, by the time those cores could be utilized, wouldn't the tablet be long outdated? However, I know it will sell well because the word "Penta-core" sounds too awesome for the masses to pass up.
Another occurrence I've seen, having worked in retail shops for some time. A lot of customers, when asked about what OS their phone is running, will reply, "HTC" or, "Samsung." A lot of them have no idea what our little green friend is. Another point towards my personal opinion that the hardware is a huge selling factor.
Overall, android is a very complete platform. It is not my daily driver, but I do enjoy it whenever I have time to tinker. I am inquiring about this matter to get your opinions, what sells? Hardware or software?
I think for me its a little bit of both. I like the fact that the hardware is there in my 3d when I need to push the system really hard. Its not often I do, but its good that when I do, it executes the tasks with ease.
On the same hand there are huge software benefits for me. I love the UI and that I can set swype gestures to open particular apps or settings. It makes multi tasking tthat much easier and fluid for me.
Also, at least from what I have seen with iOS5 (my girl has the 4s) is that android seems to be ahead in certain areas of functionality. For example it is not an innovative thing (to me anyways, being an android user) to be able to back up your device without the use of a computer... I have been doing wireless backups and internal backups since I bought my first android phone.
I think one thing you mentioned before... I think it was you, anyways... was pretty much right on when you said that android is capable of meeting so many different needs in the sense that you have a wide range in variety of devices to choose from and at different costs. There are high end phones available such that perform to today's standards in the mobile world, and there are lower end ones available that are more cost effective.
I feel if you yourself are innovative and creative, you are way more capable of taking an android phone and building the UI to what you want/need. I don't sacrifice functionality for speed, ever. In the end it is still just a phone, but I prefer this platform because it caters to that need I have to customize my phone the way I want it to be, not what somebody else feels it should be.
---------- Post added at 02:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:13 AM ----------
And to address your comment about the bajjillion core tab....
Seems the hardware is way ahead of the software in this case... therefore, I am not impressed by it.
I have a Motorola xoom and it has plenty of power to do what I need it to do. I will not be taking it back to simply have two more cores under the hood. And somebody else mentioned the new kal el device only has 1gb of ram? In my opinion that is really disappointing for a device with that kind of processing power.
i buy phones based on hardware specs
the OS is optional
I prefer to load my OS of choice
just like my PCs / Laptops
z33dev33l said:
When it comes to android, you know that you have an outstanding range of hardware. From the low-end Optimus T/S to the titans of the OS such as the Galaxy S2, and everything imaginable in between. These days, you can even find generic china phones running an, often dated, android. Every carrier has it, they come in all price ranges, and they're available on demand. The question I pose to you, "Is android's key selling point the hardware?"
I understand that numerous XDA members and even some outsiders enjoy the limitless customization options made readily available in android and that's awesome. However, the general consumer is happy to end customization at setting their own ringtone. It's not a breaking factor for the majority that you can swap out kernels. Overall, android is a decent enough platform, but for the masses, I see little that it offers, hardware aside, that it's competitors don't.
Here recently, a thread was posted regarding the ASUS Transformer 2, a pentacore processor in a tablet. Now, most people have yet to exhaust the resources on their dual core phones. A penta-core device seems to be pushing the limits. Considering that it is running a mobile OS, by the time those cores could be utilized, wouldn't the tablet be long outdated? However, I know it will sell well because the word "Penta-core" sounds too awesome for the masses to pass up.
Another occurrence I've seen, having worked in retail shops for some time. A lot of customers, when asked about what OS their phone is running, will reply, "HTC" or, "Samsung." A lot of them have no idea what our little green friend is. Another point towards my personal opinion that the hardware is a huge selling factor.
Overall, android is a very complete platform. It is not my daily driver, but I do enjoy it whenever I have time to tinker. I am inquiring about this matter to get your opinions, what sells? Hardware or software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First time I have to agree with you pal.BUT:
i)Those guys/gals whose customisation needs end with setting the ringtone are the ones who won't care or even won't realize if the OS is different between an iPhone and an Android device.
ii)Android offers most(if not all) of the things other OSes offer,plus the infinite customisation capabilities no other OS has.Now this is what matters for those of us who can do more than changing the ringtone.
Other than these two things,I generally agree.In the end,though,it's user preference that matters.And people's idiocy in fact.Hell,many people buy their phones depending on how many megapixels their camera can do!
AllGamer said:
I prefer to load my OS of choice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd prefer that too, but mobile hardware is pretty much completely closed, so this is not really possible in practice, except maybe on very very few models.
To answer the title question: I don't know about others, but for me it's definitely the OS. Android is the closest to Linux as I'll probably get on a phone, people are free to cook up their own ROMs (not completely free in many cases, there's closed components in every ROM, but oh well), vast customization capabilities, for getting software you're not limited to one store with draconian rules and sometimes arbitrary decisions.
Certainly a combination of software + hardware with a little bit of company preference.
But considering the range of manufacturers for android based phones, I find it hard to lag behind hardware wise.
1) I look for a device that I think will last me the three years of my contract or at least the majority of it
2) I look here on XDA and see what the dev community is like
3) I buy the phone
I would guess that for 80%+ of phone buyers the main factor is price. Sure they know about the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy devices, but for most those phohnes are out of their price bracket. So they find the device which has the same sort of idea but in a cheap package, which has helped Android no end since there are low end Android devices, and Apple have little interest in that.
For myself as a more techie person, I use Android becuase of the freedom to do what i want with my hardware. At least that's why i got into Android. Now I will continue to buy Android devices, but the major reason is I've invested in the app market, I have tens of pounds worth of apps for Android. To jump to anotehr platform now would mean having to start over with that. That's the power of these stores and markets, once you are invested changing platform is a lot more of a jump that just deciding which you like the most at the time.
countstex said:
I would guess that for 80%+ of phone buyers the main factor is price. Sure they know about the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy devices, but for most those phohnes are out of their price bracket. So they find the device which has the same sort of idea but in a cheap package, which has helped Android no end since there are low end Android devices, and Apple have little interest in that.
For myself as a more techie person, I use Android becuase of the freedom to do what i want with my hardware. At least that's why i got into Android. Now I will continue to buy Android devices, but the major reason is I've invested in the app market, I have tens of pounds worth of apps for Android. To jump to anotehr platform now would mean having to start over with that. That's the power of these stores and markets, once you are invested changing platform is a lot more of a jump that just deciding which you like the most at the time.
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Click to collapse
I've seen the price comment being made multiple times but aren't these devices pretty close to each other in terms of price after a 2 yr contract? In fact if you shop around, you can find some of these highend units for nearly nothing from online stores such as amazon
As for me, overall package is what sold me to galaxy s2. Form factor, hardware specs, overall implementation of the OS (gpu acceleration various places), etc. Version number really doesn't really bother me (2.3.3 vs 2.3.4/5/6/7) as long as there aren't any key features missing in the current revision that exists in the newer revisions.
Gusar321 said:
I'd prefer that too, but mobile hardware is pretty much completely closed, so this is not really possible in practice, except maybe on very very few models.
To answer the title question: I don't know about others, but for me it's definitely the OS. Android is the closest to Linux as I'll probably get on a phone, people are free to cook up their own ROMs (not completely free in many cases, there's closed components in every ROM, but oh well), vast customization capabilities, for getting software you're not limited to one store with draconian rules and sometimes arbitrary decisions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HD2 was a great example
then there are many other HTC devices that did the same
and a few Samsung devices as well
and there's the HP Touchpad
and...
For most people it's both.
They're attracted for the first time by the look and find the OS easy to use.
Despite people stating that the iphone is for people who just want to use a smartphone for the first time etc and Android is for techies and geeks to customise, if that were actually true then that would mean that there are a hell of a lot of geeks out there, which obviously isn't the case.
I would guess the majority of Android users' extent of customisation is changing the picture of their wallpaper, and that's the thing, with Android you can do that, it's easy to use, with the extra buttons it can seem more logical to new users compared with the single button on the iphone for instance.
It has the "apps and the wifis" that average users want, it looks good and you can make it look pretty much how you like.
Being able to just plug it into another computer and transfer files is a huge boon too, something a colleague was very disappointed with the iphone4 because of it's lack of ability.
There is 500+ android devices on the market globally, its the brand name and hardware specs that sell. Not the os.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I'd rather say that that none of those sell the other: it's actually the price selling both, plus the "status symbol" factor thatbhas to do with Apple things. Androids are generally cheaper then both the iPhone and WP7 phones. This, plus the fact that most people don't seem to like WP7 tiled ui, basically because it doesn't "look like an iPhone" enough. That might sound harsh, like saying that most people are dumb, but it's not (only) that actually: people got used to icons since the day they got their first pc, no wonder they go for something that looks more familiar to them when they wanna buy a smartphone. Maybe Win8 will totally change the name of the game, but that's it for the moment (sadly enough I dare say).
I think we have to remember that 'most' people don't include the tiny fraction of the consumer market that are active on XDA. We make choices on a range of factors as we are better informed about both hardware and software. When we walk into a phone shop we want to assess the phone on build quality, size, Android version, display type, etc.
When the average punter walks into the same shop their buying choice usually boils down to no more than, 'Oh look, a shiny thing. I want that one'.
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Thread moved to Android. Would advise you to read forum rules and post in correct section.
Failure to comply with forum rules will result in an infraction and/or ban depending on severity of rule break.
Do you review the content of my threads before moving them or do you see my name and play pin the tail on the donkey with the final location of the thread?
Why does it seem as though only high end Android devices get any attention on this forum? Everything Android is virtually identical, save for the select readers sold by large retailers. There's the Android SDK to back that up; the differences being internally (memory, processors, etc.). I'm looking to try and enroll in Android App Dev in school next semester, and if someone needs to fill in that gap, I'll try since I have taken a peek and wrote a few small programs as well.
(And yes, I am almost expecting to get bruised for this question...this forum is severely misrepresented by, I'd say, 75% a-holes who think they are awesome because they have over ten posts and can root a phone with software rather than by hand or flash their rom with a rom manager! Do keep it easy, and do NOT take my honesty for granted. To assume will make an ass of you before me.)
The low end android devices suck !
Its the simple fact that the high end device users are more likely to be enthusiasts who want to tinker with their phones, whereas those who buy a lower end device are probably less likely to be rooting and ROMing (unless they're buying low end devices as secondary "tinker" phones for fun).
So that alone leads to a smaller user base of the low end phones. Not to mention that for an individual device, the low end phones don't push the number of sales as the superphones. You're not seeing a $49 on contract Android device selling 20 million units like the SGSII.
Also keep in mind that not all high end devices are well supported on XDA. There are a lot of phones that just don't get big developer uptake on them. Whether its because of the niche carrier its on, or a locked bootloader, or whatever -- just because its "high end" doesn't guarantee a big development base.
Hope that can put some perspective on it.
That may be true, that low end devices suck. But history has taught us that low end devices will prove something useful in the future or that something will come along and breathe new life into the "suck" devices. There is such thing as too powerful for a particular task.
Even if it is just to show someone the workings of an Android device is beneficial to someone who hasn't used an Android device.
Anything else, other than "Because they suck"?
martonikaj thanks for the reply, i had to have been writing my reply as you typed yours, lol.
It seems logical that someone would want to buy a small cheap device to test on a get a feel for. This way if something breaks, it's not a huge loss, as opposed to buying an expensive device and running the risk on bricking it. Should it happen to be bricked, most companies won't replace it once they find out it's been tampered with.
trym1234 said:
martonikaj thanks for the reply, i had to have been writing my reply as you typed yours, lol.
It seems logical that someone would want to buy a small cheap device to test on a get a feel for. This way if something breaks, it's not a huge loss, as opposed to buying an expensive device and running the risk on bricking it. Should it happen to be bricked, most companies won't replace it once they find out it's been tampered with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say that's probably true, but you don't see it happen that often. Many people are rooting and ROMing their daily driver devices, and don't have 2 phones w/ one being the dedicated "hacking" device.
Truth be told its pretty hard to brick a device if you know what you're doing.
True but let's be honest...how many post have you seen where someone bought that trillion dollar phone only to try and root it, and guess what; they're here asking for help to get it off that boot loop (lol)
trym1234 said:
True but let's be honest...how many post have you seen where someone bought that trillion dollar phone only to try and root it, and guess what; they're here asking for help to get it off that boot loop (lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lots of people for sure. They need to learn how to read before starting their root process lol. But that's just a boot loop, at worst a soft brick. I very rarely see a hard brick of a device.
well, low ends do get some attention in here, i mean im owning a lg p500 , witch in my opinion is pretty low end ... the low ends arent completley without attention, just less atentionn, the reason is as some1 said before, the owners of low end devices dont usually try to root, change roms etc
Hello
Just thinking that i started with a Nokia N95. one of my favourite phones ever, then an iPhone2G (wich sucks), and then, an Xperia X8 (wich I loved)... Now i am on great words (LT15i), an Arc, and thinking of buying an Xperia S when it will be released on my country
If you're an enthusiast you're probably gonna get a high end phone. Also, higher-end phones are more visible in popularity; that is to say there's a higher number of people coming here saying "i own the Samsung Galaxy SII" than "I own some $49 phone no one's ever heard of", which in turn drives devs who are looking for an audience.
Well topic/discussion purposed is Samsung's muddled delivery of ICS part of a larger rumoured back lash from manufacturers whom seem to be upset at Google for three reasons? First is Google’s acquisition of Motorola mobility apparently still doesn’t sit well with OEM's, the discontent has been amplified by reason number two. Some still don’t buy the party line of patent purchase only. This seems ungrateful from an outsiders point of view should this speculation hold true.
See such an article here:
http://www.androidauthority.com/google-motorola-deal-android-manufacturers-73966/
Second is Google trying to execute more control as many in blogs and tech articles have suggested Google should. This has been to address the issues of diversity and “fragmentation” that Google has faced criticism for. To what degree is Google executing control still remains to be seen. On a side note I and others have suggested the OEM’s give a stronger and narrower focus with fewer new devices but more polish and support.
Third is that Google with Android has not shown the preferential treatment the big players would have preferred; allowing smaller brands to gain ground and market share using this open platform. Brands like Archos, ZTE, and Huawei. Also allowed ASUS to gain a foot hold in the mobile market, ASUS who now seems to have a strong relationship with Google.
Samsung’s fudged ICS upgrade alone may mean nothing. But with HTC recent delivery and overhaul of ICS, combined with Sony decision to possibly hold ICS upgrades because it feels they miss the mark of quality could be indications of such unrest with the Manufacturers is more than just rumours. If such unhappiness is present and being actioned or plotted that’s where things turn interesting or concerning.
Many would think this unwise considering the lack of success with Manufacturers own proprietary OS’s. Nokia's Symbian slowly lost out, Bada is nowhere near the success Sammy had hoped for, despite cited as being more popular at the beginning of this year than Windows Phone. Meego didn't see much of a life.
Let me hear what you have to say on this topic
I think regarding the purchase of Motorola, it is definitely seen as simply a patent buyout. There are plenty of rumours of them already trying to sell the hardware side of Motorola.
Gaining 17,000 (or was it 12,000) patents is going to be a very good thing for manufacturers, knowing that they are much less likely to be sued with the added protection from the extra patents. However, if rumours are true and Google is looking to sell to Huwaie (?) then that will be another manufacturer up there all vying for a shot at the big time. The good thing is competition breed competition, so we will see devices continuously being updated and bettered, whereas the iPhone will not see this at such a rate.
I think Google trying to take a bit more control over Android is overall a good thing, even if manufacturers may not like it so much because it means it is harder to put out the cheaper handsets that have been selling so well.
siravarice said:
I think regarding the purchase of Motorola, it is definitely seen as simply a patent buyout. There are plenty of rumours of them already trying to sell the hardware side of Motorola.
Gaining 17,000 (or was it 12,000) patents is going to be a very good thing for manufacturers, knowing that they are much less likely to be sued with the added protection from the extra patents. However, if rumours are true and Google is looking to sell to Huwaie (?) then that will be another manufacturer up there all vying for a shot at the big time. The good thing is competition breed competition, so we will see devices continuously being updated and bettered, whereas the iPhone will not see this at such a rate.
I think Google trying to take a bit more control over Android is overall a good thing, even if manufacturers may not like it so much because it means it is harder to put out the cheaper handsets that have been selling so well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far Google hasn't appeared to have had much influence on Motorola, many because it hasn't been fully approved/finalized. Oddly enough the hold up is China. The strength of the rumour Google selling the Hardware division to Hauwei is the ability to capitalise on the lucrative Chinese market where Android already is dominating.
Time will tell about the patent side, although no evidence is apparent that supports its more than a patent purchase. We'll have to see who gets the next Nexus smartphone and tablet.
hey guys, I'm in the market for a quality android TV device and have never really looked into them before. seemingly/surprisingly no one has asked this before in this forum so I humbly ask, which ones make the cut and also are there any to avoid?
I plan on getting one for someone as a gift for Christmas so for me this is kind of urgent. I have found similar articles that can answer this on Google but I fully intend on rooting so while I may compromise on the ease of or availability of rooting, I'd prefer not to get one that is a locked up Kremlin and will still weigh in all options.
I am most impressed with GeekBox so far which appears to be brand new on the market and as such, lacks meritable reviews. there is one a couple clicks away from this thread but it is oriented on specs and I am gravely concerned about it's ability to keep cool -- it's small size and internals suggest there is no active cooling system which leads to me believe it'll manage heat by throttling. I am no expert on android TV devices but it is abundantly clear fans are the market standard and totally necessary (especially with 4k)
I value no opinions greater than those of us here on XDA, the rooting authority.
Hi,
Your question is so extensive, there are too many boxes on the market, that can be acceptable for your conditions(4k, heatsinking)
So you should find more addtional settings for box: form-factor, OS, brand named or OEM, price and etc.
There is a bit of a problem brewing in my home country of Canada: A couple years ago the Canadian government passed a bill BANNING all Hauwei devices from all Canadian wireless networks. This ban will be going into FULL effect by the end of this year, (the time the government gave all Canadian tech companies to ban & remove all hauwei devices from their install bases.) People here in Canada still use Hauwei devices today, and by the end of the year a lot of Canadians will be stuck with glorified overpriced mp3 players. (The ban only applies to networking, not local functionality.) This is going to be a LOT of e-waste.
My personal perspective is this: I agree with the ban, screw Hauwei and their stupid spyware. However, in my personal use situation, I buy cheap chinese, (currently using a cheap walmart onn), tablets. I want a big screen but no expensive horsepower. I just want to read comics on the thing, not play steam games. I own nearly 30 game systems and a capable gaming PC. I don't need a tablet to game lol There IS a use for these cheap devices.
The problem with these Hauwei devices is not that complicated, but it's one that the average end user isn't going to be able to solve themselves: spyware. I have thought about this, we just need to gut these devices of this crap and they would be perfectly fine to use, but the end user wouldn't know how do that--forcing our government to implement this ban.
This is why I come to these forums, to prevent this massive pile of e-waste. First and foremost we must deal with the root problem and purge these things of the spyware. My thinking is:
1. Wipe every byte of firmware/data from these devices and install custom roms/firmware. (You could probably just kill the soft spyware without going this far, but we may as well make these divices suck a little less in the process right?)
2. Disable any sketchy hauwei chips on the boards that we can do without.
Techs like myself have been disabling security chips and putting custom firmware on game systems for over 20 years, and hauwei devices are generally not very sophisticated in comparison.
I have looked at several hauwei devices (phones) personally, but did not have the time to do a deep dive and properly assess the boards/chipsets. I will try to get my hands on a hauwei phone and do just this, (these things are usually dirt cheap anyway.)
Took me a while to get to the point, but I'm sure there are people on these forums that already know full well the security and the location of nasty bits of spyware that we need to purge, yes? I would appreciate any insight any of you could provide on exactly what we are dealing with here.
I know these devices are largely garbage that we probably shouldn't care that much, but at a minimum we can cut down on the e-waste right?