Memo to all Android OEM's (and US carriers)

[bloodycape77]

But the average user on vzw got screwed because of the apple deal. We lost alot



Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk

Not sure how we lost a lot when we still get pretty nice devices like the Galaxy Nexus and one of HTC's only phones currently out with a 720p display, and Beats marketing too boot. Can't say it's all that bad.

 

[bakerbert]

• At this point, NFC is mostly useless. It may become more useful in the future, but what's the point in including it right now when the uses are so limited.

NFC is limited because there is not enough devices that can utilize this technology, the more devices with this the more it will be used, just wait till the Iphone gets NFC and it will be all over the place.
Just because it is not that popular right now, does not mean that it will not become more of a standard during your two year contract. Phone tec is moving fast.

Its amazing how the whole "unlocked bootloader" thing has taken off. How many people actually know how to check for themselves if a bootloader is locked or not? How many would know what to do with an unlocked bootloader if they didn't have someone else giving them step by step instructions. Even with so few who actually know what to do with a bootloader, so many people seem to be clamoring for them I guess its because someone told them they should care(sounds a little sheeplike to me)

Basically if you want to root and ROM with all available options you will want your boot-loader unlocked. The fact that people do not know how to do it means nothing, if you want to utilize the great devs out there, you need to learn and to learn you will need a step by step guide/video/instructor. Just like anything else, learn from some one who knows more about it then you.
What is awesome is to have the choice and not be forced to have a locked downed boot-loader. best of both worlds. This is why i do not own a moto, I like to tinker with my phone to much.

 

[tdizzel]

NFC is limited because there is not enough devices that can utilize this technology, the more devices with this the more it will be used, just wait till the Iphone gets NFC and it will be all over the place.
Just because it is not that popular right now, does not mean that it will not become more of a standard during your two year contract. Phone tec is moving fast.



Basically if you want to root and ROM with all available options you will want your boot-loader unlocked. The fact that people do not know how to do it means nothing, if you want to utilize the great devs out there, you need to learn and to learn you will need a step by step guide/video/instructor. Just like anything else, learn from some one who knows more about it then you.
What is awesome is to have the choice and not be forced to have a locked downed boot-loader. best of both worlds. This is why i do not own a moto, I like to tinker with my phone to much.

NFC is limited because it is relatively new. Its growing and will probably be a prevelent technology in a few years, and that has nothing to do with whether or not the iPhone gets it. The point is, by the time it is in heavy use and available to the majority of the people, people like us will be on their next phone, or maybe 2 or 3 phones down the line. So what's the point in making a big deal about putting it in phones now?

Having the bootloader unlocked makes it easier for devs to do their work and to create ROMs. I get that. My point is, most of the people who are crying about it wouldn't know the difference between a phone with a locked or unlocked bootloader unless they read somewhere that the phone is or isn't locked. For the average person that roots and ROMs, how specifically does it affect them? Not the devs who are creating the ROMs, but how specifically does it affect the end user? As someone who likes to flash different ROMs but doesn't know how to program, or create ROMs or modify kernels, how does a locked bootloader affect me?

 

[PhyscoAssassinX]

what's a paper map? LOL

I think there's a huge gap between the OP's "no physical buttons" and "no hardware keyboards".

Me, I disagree with the no physical buttons.. My last 3 phones had physical buttons (and by that I mean home, menu, back.. sometimes even search or camera button!) and I found them extremely usable and useful, much more than capacitive and way more than on-screen buttons. Had a honeycomb tablet and the on-screen buttons really annoyed me, much more than the benefit of having them always at the bottom no matter how I rotated my tablet.

Plus my brain, being human and having evolved in the real world, has spatial memory and knows when things move that things attached to them (ie buttons) move too, and can make the transition pretty easily lol. Maybe that's just me, heck I don't even rotate paper maps when trying to make my way somewhere and always know whether to turn left or right.. Maybe I'm getting old?

 

[Clak]

Thank god nobody will listen to this.

Choice. look it up.

you know, I'd expect that kind of reply from some of the riff raff around here, but not from you. Lately I've noticed a real lack of respect for users of this forum from some staff, and It's getting to the point that I'm thinking I should go elsewhere.

 

[bakerbert]

NFC is limited because it is relatively new. Its growing and will probably be a prevelent technology in a few years, and that has nothing to do with whether or not the iPhone gets it. The point is, by the time it is in heavy use and available to the majority of the people, people like us will be on their next phone, or maybe 2 or 3 phones down the line. So what's the point in making a big deal about putting it in phones now?

Having the bootloader unlocked makes it easier for devs to do their work and to create ROMs. I get that. My point is, most of the people who are crying about it wouldn't know the difference between a phone with a locked or unlocked bootloader unless they read somewhere that the phone is or isn't locked. For the average person that roots and ROMs, how specifically does it affect them? Not the devs who are creating the ROMs, but how specifically does it affect the end user? As someone who likes to flash different ROMs but doesn't know how to program, or create ROMs or modify kernels, how does a locked bootloader affect me?

It will take a bit for NFC to catch on. but it is a very simple and inexpressive tec. for the end companys to utilize. A sticker in magazines, movie posters, or a plate on the wall in business. I think when it gets a little more press it will catch on very quick. That is why i brought up the Iphone, If apple puts it on there phone it will get lots of advertising (they will come up with the latest an greatest thing for cell phones... Sarcasm) and lots of things could pop up very quick.
maybe it is just the tec geek in me wishing, but i think this will catch on quick when it becomes well know.
Right now most peple do not know about it.

You are correct....if you are an average user, it does not matter about the phones bootloader. my point is why not make phones unlockable and you can appeal to all users of your phone. from devs to first time smartphone users.

P.S.
LOL at your signature, Love it

 

[blacksapphire08]

iPhone 4S has a button.

Yes, but it's a single button used for everything. I like phones that have at least a Home, Back, Menu, and Search buttons.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

Not sure how we lost a lot when we still get pretty nice devices like the Galaxy Nexus and one of HTC's only phones currently out with a 720p display, and Beats marketing too boot. Can't say it's all that bad.

He is referring to the myth that Verizon got rid of unlimited data because of the iPhone which seems to continue to propagate for whatever reason. There is no truth to it and fact is most Android phones use more data than iPhone largely due to all of the things that sync in the background.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I'm not necessarily agreeing with the OP, but obviously many of you didn't read the whole post. His last paragraph states that he's only demanding one device like this. How many manufacturers only make one device?

You hit the nail on the head right there "demand"... the tone of the post made it come off as if he were someone in authority that the OEM's had to listen to.

When phones are made there are lots of priorities: those of Google, those of the OEM, and those of the carrier, and often they conflict with each-other. Even GSM phones fall pray to the needs of the carriers even if hey are sold on multiple carriers. They need to balance what they think the majority of people want, with manufacturing cost, and the bring the whole thing in at a price that people will be willing and able to pay.

A lot of people's dream phones like this would cost almost a thousand dollars to make and would need to sell for $400-500 subsidized for the carriers to not loose their shirts on them.

And only handful pf people would ever buy them.

 

[GNex Girl]

He is referring to the myth that Verizon got rid of unlimited data because of the iPhone which seems to continue to propagate for whatever reason. There is no truth to it and fact is most Android phones use more data than iPhone largely due to all of the things that sync in the background.

I think the fear was that more dumb phone users will switch to iPhones and that would overload the network.

What VZW should have done was keep unlimited for 4G phone new lines and upgrades from a 3G phone.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

you know, I'd expect that kind of reply from some of the riff raff around here, but not from you. Lately I've noticed a real lack of respect for users of this forum from some staff, and It's getting to the point that I'm thinking I should go elsewhere.

He cold have been more tactful about it, but he was only saying what a lot of us were thinking but didn't dare say. You could have and should have stated your views better.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I think the fear was that more dumb phone users will switch to iPhones and that would overload the network.

What VZW should have done was keep unlimited for 4G phone new lines and upgrades from a 3G phone.

Most dumb phone uses who upgrade to iPhones dont know how to use them and dont use a lot of data anyway. I see this all the time.

Dropping unlimited had nothing to do with the iPhine and everything to do with needing more income to build the 4G network and in reaction to those who abused the system before tethering without paying and listening to Pandora all day long.

The only thing that giving those who get 4G phones unlimited data would do was give them an incentive to get 4G phones, but the double data promo (which is back again BTW), and the fact that going forward almost all phones will be 4G takes care of that.

 

[Crispy]

I am all for choice. I explicitly mentioned this - "You are free to introduce 10 different variants which don't have these features".

I am also not happy that after Google introduces an OS designed with certain features in mind (e.g. no hardware buttons) for which they have very good reasons, and have explicitly said they want to get rid of buttons like menu, almost no new phones respect that.

The goal of a flagship phone is to push the envelope and give users the best possible experience. Nexus phones are the only ones that do that, and I want more than one choice.

Addressing a few issues -

- NFC is very cheap. There's no reason not to include it in a new device. Like someone else said, wait till iPhone has it and then see every oem scramble to include it

- Updates: the only reason it takes 6 months - 1 year (or never) to get updates is because they don't care about users. They have access to the sdk and software months before its publicly available (just like any Windows oem partner gets access to early Windows builds). It's not a question of 2 or 3 or 4 months - its committing to support for a phone. It doesn't take months to package ICS with some proprietary drivers. What this all comes down to is they'd rather spend resources and money on new phones rather than supporting old ones since they don't get any money from them.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

- NFC is very cheap. There's no reason not to include it in a new device. Like someone else said, wait till iPhone has it and then see every oem scramble to include it

Source please.

- Updates: the only reason it takes 6 months - 1 year (or never) to get updates is because they don't care about users. They have access to the sdk and software months before its publicly available (just like any Windows oem partner gets access to early Windows builds). It's not a question of 2 or 3 or 4 months - its committing to support for a phone. It doesn't take months to package ICS with some proprietary drivers. What this all comes down to is they'd rather spend resources and money on new phones rather than supporting old ones since they don't get any money from them.

Respectfully you dont know what you are talking about. No one outside of Google and the specific OEM partner (Samsung) who designed the current Nexus device sees the code until it is released into the AOSP.

 

[Crispy]

I can't find the source for NFC costs right now, but I remember reading it's not that much.

As for access to code, you may be right. I think this is bad on Google's part since it leads to fragmentation of their platform. But even if oem's get access to AOSP when its made public, there's still no excuse. There are ICS ports made by hobbyists in their spare time, and the only thing lacking is proprietary drivers, which the oem's own.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I can't find the source for NFC costs right now, but I remember reading it's not that much.

As for access to code, you may be right. I think this is bad on Google's part since it leads to fragmentation of their platform. But even if oem's get access to AOSP when its made public, there's still no excuse. There are ICS ports made by hobbyists in their spare time, and the only thing lacking is proprietary drivers, which the oem's own.

They do that because they dont want OEM's writing their software on top of old builds.

As for hobbyists getting it done faster you hit the nail on the head right there "hobbyists" ... as popular as they are and as smoothly as they seem to run they are not tested a fraction of what the official builds are and the kinds of people who install custom roms are a lot more forgiving of bugs than joe consumer who will complain about them to the carrier and ask for replacement devices which costs the carriers and OEM's money in the long run.