Android: General Chat

[The_Rev]

Going back to the Nexus S, I think the lack of 720p video is a dealbreaker.

[Genie]

Yeah, I picked up the TFT version, been trying to root it for an hour or so and I'm not really having any luck. Im not overly bothered, I doubt my dad gives a flying **** whether its rooted or not but I thought it might be fun to try before I get a new phone and attempt to root that.

What I really cant stand though is the places on the internet where stuff likes this gets discussed, they all assume a certain level of knowledge (how many people know how to run command prompts from the directories of stuff that you have downloaded?) but if somebody is trying to figure out what all the jargon means and they dare to ask a simple question the hostility they get shown is unbelievable!

I know exactly what you mean. I rooted and installed a custom ROM on my San Francisco and I think its an incredible phone. I'd love to offer you lots of advice on what to do but to be quite honest it was such jargon I've forgotten it all already. I'm assuming you have been over to the Modaco board for advice? the ROM I installed removed all of the Orange bloatware which is nice considering I'm using VF.

Running a command prompt on windows 7 is very easy though, think you just right click on the edge of the window you want to launch it from and select it from the drop down (might be shift + right click).

There is a link from me a few pages back with an online unlock code generator for free, I got mine from eBay for 99p.

[Genie]

Yeah, I picked up the TFT version, been trying to root it for an hour or so and I'm not really having any luck. Im not overly bothered, I doubt my dad gives a flying **** whether its rooted or not but I thought it might be fun to try before I get a new phone and attempt to root that.

What I really cant stand though is the places on the internet where stuff likes this gets discussed, they all assume a certain level of knowledge (how many people know how to run command prompts from the directories of stuff that you have downloaded?) but if somebody is trying to figure out what all the jargon means and they dare to ask a simple question the hostility they get shown is unbelievable!

I know exactly what you mean. I rooted and installed a custom ROM on my San Francisco and I think its an incredible phone. I'd love to offer you lots of advice on what to do but to be quite honest it was such jargon I've forgotten it all already. I'm assuming you have been over to the Modaco board for advice? the ROM I installed removed all of the Orange bloatware which is nice considering I'm using VF.

Running a command prompt on windows 7 is very easy though, think you just right click on the edge of the window you want to launch it from and select it from the drop down (might be shift + right click).

There is a link from me a few pages back with an online unlock code generator for free, I got mine from eBay for 99p.

If your Dad gets a bit worried about battery use initially tell him to stick with it, for some reason mine was mental for the first few charges but then settled down (it would use ~70% battery just on standby overnight). I know a few others on HUKD said the same thing.

[TOTTI-THE-GOD]

Any body recommend a phone thats got Android 2.2 , DivX and HD on it ?

[CVByrne]

Is there a price range you're talking about as most top Android handsets have all three.

Galaxy S has all three. As should the Desire and the Desire HD, though in the review of the Desire HD there was problems playing some video, I assume they've fixed that though.

[The_Rev]

Yeah, I picked up the TFT version, been trying to root it for an hour or so and I'm not really having any luck. Im not overly bothered, I doubt my dad gives a flying **** whether its rooted or not but I thought it might be fun to try before I get a new phone and attempt to root that.

What I really cant stand though is the places on the internet where stuff likes this gets discussed, they all assume a certain level of knowledge (how many people know how to run command prompts from the directories of stuff that you have downloaded?) but if somebody is trying to figure out what all the jargon means and they dare to ask a simple question the hostility they get shown is unbelievable!

I know exactly what you mean. I rooted and installed a custom ROM on my San Francisco and I think its an incredible phone. I'd love to offer you lots of advice on what to do but to be quite honest it was such jargon I've forgotten it all already. I'm assuming you have been over to the Modaco board for advice? the ROM I installed removed all of the Orange bloatware which is nice considering I'm using VF.

Running a command prompt on windows 7 is very easy though, think you just right click on the edge of the window you want to launch it from and select it from the drop down (might be shift + right click).

There is a link from me a few pages back with an online unlock code generator for free, I got mine from eBay for 99p.

So, I've done this but I'm not really sure what the benefit is or what I do next.

The main reason I'd like to root it is so it can be used as a WiFi hotspot. That would be awesome stuff.

[CVByrne]

No 2.2 upgrade? Wifi hotspot is a feature in that.

[The_Rev]

It can still be denied by a carrier though, cant it?

[darrenm]

I don't believe so no. You're effectively just NATing your wifi traffic across your data connection. Even if the wifi hotspot built into Froyo does it in such a way that the carriers could block it, then 3rd party apps such as android-wifi-tether can be installed (have to be root ) to do the same job.

[CVByrne]

It can still be denied by a carrier though, cant it?

Really? I don't think so.

[darrenm]

Any body recommend a phone thats got Android 2.2 , DivX and HD on it ?

Galaxy S, Galaxy S, Galaxy S.

Since the 2.2.1 update they're astoundingly good phones. There is not one area of weakness (OK, the lack of camera flash) now. Nexus S is quicker and looks slightly nicer but the SGS has all the toys and the performance.

[CVByrne]

Oh dirk you left out the media player, that is perfecion, by far the best toy.

Yeah the 2.2.1 is defo got some Google optimisation in there, no way Samsung dev could get it this fast. I mean it's faultless. The drivers for the hummingbird have to be at the core of the optomisation and RFS has to be gone, has to be ext4 now. Samsung pulling it out of the bag big style.

I'm gonna email techradar to upate their damn review ffs. Every negative they have in the review is a thing of the past. Even the "lack of samsung apps". Kies Air and Snap and Go are awesomeness.

[darrenm]

Anyway, just to really spam the thread. I got the Nexus S today and thought I'd share my impressions.

It's wow-fast. Gingerbread + this hardware + Google fettles make it a very whizzy package indeed. It's noticeably quicker than a lagfixed Froyo SGS and all animations are silky smooth.

The screen off animation is a killer. Everyone is wowed by it and it's the coolest thing I've ever seen on a phone.

It's better looking than an SGS. The curved screen make it quite svelte compared to the squarish SGS, which to me always looked too much like an iPhone 3. I bought the SGS despite it's aesthetics, not due to them.

Now here's the bad parts.

My screen is supposed to be the same super-AMOLED panel as in the SGS. So my screen must be faulty. It's got a yellowy/green tint unless you look dead on at it, text isn't as clear as my SGS and if I turn the brightness up full it changes to a blue tint. Unfortunately it will be going back for a refund and I'll have a play with a few in CPW stores to get the best panel I can find. (my thread on XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=882862 )

The capacitive back button isn't responsive at all. I can sometimes get it to work by getting lots of skin on it but it's obviously not right. This may or may not be linked to the faulty screen thing. Seems to be a common fault and the fix is to get the phone replaced.

So all in all, Samsung did a great job in fcking this up for Google with their crap QC. Although HTC don't seem to be much better these days.

[darrenm]

Oh dirk you left out the media player, that is perfecion, by far the best toy.

Yeah the 2.2.1 is defo got some Google optimisation in there, no way Samsung dev could get it this fast. I mean it's faultless. The drivers for the hummingbird have to be at the core of the optomisation and RFS has to be gone, has to be ext4 now. Samsung pulling it out of the bag big style.

I'm gonna email techradar to upate their damn review ffs. Every negative they have in the review is a thing of the past. Even the "lack of samsung apps". Kies Air and Snap and Go are awesomeness.

Have you noticed the browser no longer works in the 'android' way by trying to draw the whole page while you're pinch-zooming or scrolling and then slowing down? It now does it like an iPhone by blurring text and filling bits it can't draw yet with cross hatches while keeping the UI 100% responsive. Much better way of doing it IMO until the hardware reaches the point where it can render everything while responding to UI events (dual-core I reckon).

[CVByrne]

Rushed out you think in time for Christmas?

[darrenm]

Rushed out you think in time for Christmas?

That's the thing. If they were trying to make Christmas then they needed to aim about 2 months ago. Getting limited stock to CPW 3 days before Christmas is absolutely pointless and they would have known a long time ago they weren't going to make it.

[CVByrne]

Seems a bit shit that the screen is like that, the blue when brightness is up is a thing I noticed on the LCD screen of my X10.

Saw a good youtube demo of the Andreno in the Desire HD vs the SGX in Galaxy S, shows how there are rendering issues in 3D demo's as the Andreno struggles to match the fill rate of the SGX.

Really interested to see the Tegra platform in a head to head with 2.2.1 SGS or the Nexus S.

[Genie]

Yeah, I picked up the TFT version, been trying to root it for an hour or so and I'm not really having any luck. Im not overly bothered, I doubt my dad gives a flying **** whether its rooted or not but I thought it might be fun to try before I get a new phone and attempt to root that.

What I really cant stand though is the places on the internet where stuff likes this gets discussed, they all assume a certain level of knowledge (how many people know how to run command prompts from the directories of stuff that you have downloaded?) but if somebody is trying to figure out what all the jargon means and they dare to ask a simple question the hostility they get shown is unbelievable!

I know exactly what you mean. I rooted and installed a custom ROM on my San Francisco and I think its an incredible phone. I'd love to offer you lots of advice on what to do but to be quite honest it was such jargon I've forgotten it all already. I'm assuming you have been over to the Modaco board for advice? the ROM I installed removed all of the Orange bloatware which is nice considering I'm using VF.

Running a command prompt on windows 7 is very easy though, think you just right click on the edge of the window you want to launch it from and select it from the drop down (might be shift + right click).

There is a link from me a few pages back with an online unlock code generator for free, I got mine from eBay for 99p.

So, I've done this but I'm not really sure what the benefit is or what I do next.

The main reason I'd like to root it is so it can be used as a WiFi hotspot. That would be awesome stuff.

Can't you get '1 touch' root apps from the market now?

[TheDon]

It can still be denied by a carrier though, cant it?

Really? I don't think so.

Yes it can be.

Not only can it be outright denied (by removing the ability to do it fullstop) it can also be charged separately as the hotspot has separate APN settings. Which is how the American networks all have it as a chargable extra on top of a standard data plan.

Ofc you can get round this by rooting and changing the settings to match the default data ones.

[darrenm]

It can still be denied by a carrier though, cant it?

Really? I don't think so.

Yes it can be.

Not only can it be outright denied (by removing the ability to do it fullstop) it can also be charged separately as the hotspot has separate APN settings. Which is how the American networks all have it as a chargable extra on top of a standard data plan.

Ofc you can get round this by rooting and changing the settings to match the default data ones.

I don't think this is right. They can detect different browser UAs coming through the same endpoint but that's about it. If they see something other than the android UA they can (only T-Mobile USA have done this so far) say you're using tethering and you need to add it to your package.

Although - I wouldn't put it past carriers to add it to their ROMs for branded/locked phones. I've only ever used unlocked non-branded Android phones so haven't seen the use of an alternative APN.