The List of things Verizon changed on the SIII

[eshropshire]

Try West Virginia, rural areas of Virginia. Large parts of Maine. There are many places around that have a really strong carrier and minimal to no prescence from the others. Let's face it, there are plenty of people stuck with one carrier if they want coverage where they live and or work.

I was thinking the poster could bring a Sprint or T-mobile phone to my house. I can call all day on AT&T or Verizon, but on the others you have to go out side and you might if you are lucky get enough signal to make a call. Had Sprint when we moved here - the promised for a year they were fixing their network. Several years later friends with Sprint still have the same problem when they visit. Have had those with T-Mobile have similar issues.

 

[draco947]

Rooting and unlocking boot is 2 different items

This is my first smart phone. I'm coming from a dumb phone on a different provider, so pardon my lack of knowledge on the subject, but quick question...

What does an unlocked boot loader do for you, exactly, that's different than rooting it and being able to use custom ROMs?

I thought that it being locked just kept you from obtaining su on the OS, but they're different?

 

[dmmarck]

This is my first smart phone. I'm coming from a dumb phone on a different provider, so pardon my lack of knowledge on the subject, but quick question...

What does an unlocked boot loader do for you, exactly, that's different than rooting it and being able to use custom ROMs?

I thought that it being locked just kept you from obtaining su on the OS, but they're different?

You can't flash custom kernels or unsigned packages without being unlocked. It limits the amount of control one can have, regardless of root permissions.

Sent from Oliver, Lord of Time and Space and All Things Gelatinous

 

[nexsin]

The bootloader being locked sucks, and i wish they hadn't done that. But why in the world do they need an on going notification in the bar? Its so much easier just to have a little toggle button...

 

[MazoMark]

Seriously, AT&T is not as bad as they once were.

That's like saying a dog turd will stop stinking if you just keep it long enough!

AT&T screwed me once and I will never go back to their lousy network and daily dropped calls.

 

[dubge]

I do understand the ongoing notification and how it will help people who have limited data plans but seriously give us the option to shut it off. As long as it doesnt use more power or resources

 

[dkeven]

not sure if its a Verizon change or a US version change. No remote control for Samsung Dive find my phone or am I not turning a feature on correctly.

 

[dkeven]

ok no go for us versions per samsung

 

[sixty_four]

Re: The List of How Verizon Screwed Us Over

The vendor is only required to release the source code. However, locking down the device the binaries were shipped on violates the spirit and intention of the GPL.


The cost for such a phone is pretty easy. Take a look at the pricing for the Nexus on the Google Play store and there you have it. I would imagine it's cheaper than developing a device with a custom skin and bloatware. Warranty and support are pretty easy for modified devices that have had the bootloader unlocked. You either charge for support on modified devices or don't provide support. Either way is fine so long as there is a fool proof way to completely restore the device through fastboot. Again, the Nexus model is where to look to for this. As for the bloatware, it wouldn't be nearly as irritating if it were uninstallable, much like how the bloatware is on Windows PCs.



Yes, they should. So should Google.

These are great ideas. It wouldn't affect the majority of users who don't care about unlocked bootloaders or missing WiFi toggles yet it would keep the nerds feeling less "screwed by the Man".

Unless the manufacturers or developers step in, I'm not holding my breath that the carriers will be doing this anytime soon.

 

[wowpaw]

Per this thread: http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-galaxy-s-iii/187557-more-services-app-missing.html
More services app gone?

 

[Channan]

Gotta love the people here. God forbid you complain about anything.

Don't want a locked GSIII? Leave Verizon. Stop complaining.

AT&T doesn't offer you enough data at a reasonable price? Leave AT&T. Stop complaining.

T-Mobile doesn't have 3G where you work? Leave T-Mobile. Stop complaining.

Sprint doesn't have service at your house? Don't pay for phone service. You're not allowed to complain.

 

[VicVinegar]

It's also my understanding that Verizon had an ongoing notification added that won't go away when you are not on Wifi and there's no way to clear it unless you connect to a wifi hotspot.

http://www.droid-life.com/2012/07/06/yo-verizon-whats-with-this-ongoing-wi-fi-toggle-notification/

This sounds pretty annoying. Hopefully a method to remove it is discovered.

Either way, it can keep suggesting wifi all it wants. There is none at my office, which is why I like having unlimited. Even if there was wifi at my office, I doubt they would want everyone connecting with their phones and streaming music all day. They already block than on the wired LAN.

 

[slategalaxy]

Gotta love the people here. God forbid you complain about anything.

Don't want a locked GSIII? Leave Verizon. Stop complaining.

AT&T doesn't offer you enough data at a reasonable price? Leave AT&T. Stop complaining.

T-Mobile doesn't have 3G where you work? Leave T-Mobile. Stop complaining.

Sprint doesn't have have service at your house? Don't pay for phone service. You're not allowed to complain.

look out, we got a bad *** up in here!!!

 

[Channan]

look out, we got a bad *** up in here!!!

If only you knew what that meant.

 

[parapluie]

In terms of the wifi notification constantly going off... for people who cannot connect to wifi at a certain location, will that ruin their battery life since it will be constantly searching for a signal (and telling you your wifi should be on)?

 

[VicVinegar]

In terms of the wifi notification constantly going off... for people who cannot connect to wifi at a certain location, will that ruin their battery life since it will be constantly searching for a signal (and telling you your wifi should be on)?

I don't have the phone yet, but from reading about it, it looks like it is just a notification telling you to turn on your wifi. It looks like you can still shut your wifi off, just Verizon is going to harass you to turn it back on. I'd imagine the notification shouldn't have much of an effect on your battery.

 

[trivor]

Unfortunately, there aren't enough people that are unhappy with VZW that are leaving to make VZW change their ways. I'm praying that there will actually be some movement with how bad the Share Everything plans are (or very few people switching to VZW) that they will at least modify it some (unless you've got a bunch of family members not using much data it is really expensive). Most of the people complaining on here will stay with VZW so it's just ing and whining and no effect on VZW's bottom line.

 

[hokiesteve]

Unfortunately, there aren't enough people that are unhappy with VZW that are leaving to make VZW change their ways. I'm praying that there will actually be some movement with how bad the Share Everything plans are (or very few people switching to VZW) that they will at least modify it some (unless you've got a bunch of family members not using much data it is really expensive). Most of the people complaining on here will stay with VZW so it's just ing and whining and no effect on VZW's bottom line.

Exactly. Most people on Verizon prioritize coverage and reliability over pricing and device selection so it's difficult for customers to have an impact on Verizon's bottom line for issues with the later. Unfortunately, I think the Share Everything plans are not going to push many people away. They were crafted so that most people pay about the same or a bit less than what they were paying given their usage. Heavy data users on unlimited plans are the major losers in the change and I think they're in the extreme minority of customers. As a result, I don't think Verizon cares much if they lose them to another carrier. Should those customers decide to stay, they'll have to pay full price for their phones and unless their data use is extremely heavy, economics are going to move them to the Share Everything plans eventually.

A lot of analysis went into that pricing strategy. It seems to have made a lot of changes internally to the pricing without actually changing the bottom line much that most end consumers pay. As a result, it's competitive with both their existing plans and with other carriers' plans. I don't think we'll see any changes to it until AT&T introduces their new pricing structure with shared data.

 

[techgeek32#WN]

At least Verizon users could not purchase the SIII or just return them in droves to the point that VErizon loses a ton of money handling the returns. At least this might adjust their thinking on the next major device release. There are other phones like the Maxx and Nexus that don't pigeon hole customers like he SIII and DInc 4g.

 

[dkeven]

Man its just a little icon on a big screen with lots of real estate, unless you pull the menu down it occupies as much space as the temperature readout or battery level, no big deal really, havent seen any battery effect, just liked the lack of wifi toggle, I use the Verizon auto Wifi gps based works fine and if need be can bypass no biggie, like the phone cant wait to see what gets developed for it, locked bootloader meh, may never root who knows.