got my fascinate today... vzw rep told me interesting things...

Chrisvklein

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i just brought home the fascinate today... nice phone.. nice and light...

but this the gist of what the VZW rep told me:
"the Fascinate is actually a 4g phone... and with a software update will be 4g compatible when VZW goes 4g..."

can this actually be?

and he also installed Advanced Task Killer for me... annoyed that Fascinate has soo much bloatware and then he adds more...
 

joebob2000

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ATK is a handy little gadget, it's good for closing up the browser and other apps that hog memory while they aren't being used (and there is no real way to close them). As for the 4G, don't believe everything a VZ rep says. Actually, don't believe ANYTHING a vz rep says unless it's in writing.
 
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Cory Streater

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i just brought home the fascinate today... nice phone.. nice and light...

but this the gist of what the VZW rep told me:
"the Fascinate is actually a 4g phone... and with a software update will be 4g compatible when VZW goes 4g..."

can this actually be?

and he also installed Advanced Task Killer for me... annoyed that Fascinate has soo much bloatware and then he adds more...

I am very much against task managers. Try NOT using one before you use one. If you really want to end tasks, use the task manager that came with the phone vs. ATK. Unless configured properly, ATK will start killing stuff that will cause lag - not stop it, and will cause programs to stop running properly. At least the built in task manager only displays of list of apps that won't screw everything up if you end them. If you choose to use one, and start having weird issues, look to ATK as the prime suspect, and uninstall it when troubleshooting. Seriously you don't need it though. Take this from someone who's been in these forums reading task killer horror stories for over a year now. FWIW - there's a sticky dedicated to this topic.

As far as there being a 4G radio in the Fascinate, that's total nonsense.
 

coltsbr

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The Verizon reps seem to be installing ATK on most of the droid devices that get sold. Not sure why they are doing that. They keep doing it on mine also then have to delete them.
 

coltsbr

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i just brought home the fascinate today... nice phone.. nice and light...

but this the gist of what the VZW rep told me:
"the Fascinate is actually a 4g phone... and with a software update will be 4g compatible when VZW goes 4g..."

can this actually be?

and he also installed Advanced Task Killer for me... annoyed that Fascinate has soo much bloatware and then he adds more...

The fascinate device has a "Task Manager" (Long press the home button) built into the phone. You can use that to stop any unwanted apps you don't want running. Thats what I use. :)
 

Cory Streater

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The Verizon reps seem to be installing ATK on most of the droid devices that get sold. Not sure why they are doing that. They keep doing it on mine also then have to delete them.

We keep hearing reports of this and it makes me furious. Verizon reps should not be touching your phone unless you explicitly instruct them to. If Verizon corporate really thinks ATK should be on there, it should be tested and baked into the ROM before the phone ever reaches the store. There should be a corporate policy against employees doing this at the store. The last thing you want is a company that thinks Bing should be standard on an Android phone, is for them to decide other 3rd party apps are best for you.
 
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coltsbr

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We keep hearing reports of this and it makes me furious. Verizon reps should not be touching your phone unless you explicitly instruct them to. If Verizon corporate really thinks ATK should be on there, it should be tested and baked into the ROM before the phone ever reaches the store. There should be a corporate policy against employees doing this at the store. The last thing you want is a company that thinks Bing should be standard on an Android phone, is for them to decide other 3rd party apps are best for you.

Very good point, I sent my wife up to get a Fascinate and a droid x and they both came back with ATK installed on them by the rep. Makes me wonder how much training they actually get for these devices.
 

NickA

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The installation of ATK by Verizon reps (or any other software) has to stop. Since it seems to be widespread, I can only think it's coming from Corporate that they should be installing this crap.
 

joebob2000

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The installation of ATK by Verizon reps (or any other software) has to stop. Since it seems to be widespread, I can only think it's coming from Corporate that they should be installing this crap.

It's probably just from their playing around with the instore phones (or their personal phones) and they get annoyed by the number of apps that pile up and don't close. I know if I worked in a store and the customers launched every single damn app on the thing i wouldnt want to go through the process manager and close every single one. There are a ton of apps that don't show up on the normal task manager, and that there are basically no "right" way to close.

I don't think its good practice to use the autokiller (especially if you dont know what you are doing) and the reps should be asking the customers if they want/understand ATK before installing it. On the other hand, if every single customer looked at you and said "what the **** are all these icons for???" and you had no way to clean them up don't you think you would use a talk-off like "oh let me install this tiny app to clean up the phone"?
 

NickA

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On the other hand, if every single customer looked at you and said "what the **** are all these icons for???" and you had no way to clean them up don't you think you would use a talk-off like "oh let me install this tiny app to clean up the phone"?

That's a good point, but they should try to educate the customer and teach them things like backing out of apps. But in the reps have to make a living and do whatever it takes I guess.

This is what kills Android though. In another post I said something about people thinking Android is for hackers or geeks and that they just don't understand it. Top that with every manufacture puts a different UI on their devices, and you end up with confusion by the average consumer.
 

DroidDev

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The guy installed ATK on my Fascinate in the store when I bought it. I looked at my phone before I walked out and noticed it was there so I asked him if he installed it.

He said, "Yeah its great you can ev..." I interupted him and said "...uninstall it please, I can do it but you put it on you take it off. I dont install **** on your phone do I?"

I recently took my fascinate back and got the Droid X. The rep this time tried to do it. I saw him looking for it in the Market and told him to stop right there and dont even think about installing that.

They recommend it and try to force it on you like its a godsend or something.
 

TreyDaPrince

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The installation of ATK by Verizon reps (or any other software) has to stop. Since it seems to be widespread, I can only think it's coming from Corporate that they should be installing this crap.

I too think its coming from corporate. Because this is widespread. It's not just happening in one area or to select people. I referred a friend to a Droid and when he bought it first thing they did was install ATK. They said its because Android will continue to run apps in the background and drain battery. No, what drains battery is that live wallpaper you decided to put on there as well.
 

Cory Streater

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Same thing here. A friend of mine called me and told me his email wouldn't sync anymore and couldn't figure out why. Uninstalled task manager, rebooted, and bang it worked.
 

jackmei2

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unfortunately, it's not just vzw doing it. a friend of mine just got a vibrant from tmo and the rep installed it onto her phone too and said that it will help her save battery life...
 

NickA

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I referred a friend to a Droid and when he bought it first thing they did was install ATK. They said its because Android will continue to run apps in the background and drain battery. No, what drains battery is that live wallpaper you decided to put on there as well.

I looked at my girlfriend's Droid X last week and saw she had ATK running. I asked who the person was that put it on there for her. She said some people at work recommended it because it's an Android phone. I took it off for her right away. She was having e-mail issues as well.
 

prakash99

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And what do we have here, but yet another example that was just posted today.

Right on! I started that post because the auto killer was wreaking havoc on my device... For a few hours my phone was crippled until I uninstalled the little bugger. ATK is more of a nuisance than useful. And what's up with verizon? why are the reps pushing atk on customers' phones?
 

TripSixes

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No wonder Apple wants to control the user experience... how great would it be for AT&T stores to auto install "iAppKiller" for every iPhone sold..