Team-BHP - Android Thread: Phones / Apps / Mods

Quote:

Originally Posted by phamilyman (Post 3127716)

on a side note, I tried out the HTC One today. FAR more impressive and awesome than the S4, but closer to 800$ - what is HTC smoking?!!

The screen is great. Not as punchy as the S4 (i saw them both a aweek apart)
The speakers are so awesome you can watch a regular movie with very decent sound.
The camera is definitely better than the S4 (used only in store, low light photos of people - zoomed in to see detail on eyebrows/beard)
There is ABSOLUTELY no LAG on this device. Maybe Im gushing but it felt a tad faster than the S4 (which is itself an awesome beast).
I like the sense here, rather than the plain vanilla Touchwiz.
The aluminium body construction is drool worthy.

For those going for the S4 - you would be REALLY stupid to not consider this phone.

The biggest negative of One compared to S4 is its virtually irreparable, if something goes wrong. To add to it, HTC phones are known to develop issues and are slow in releasing updates. One is on 4.1 and S4 on 4.2 already. No doubt it looks better but S4 is not bad looking either especially the black one. Was in the market to buy phone, couldn't wait for One any longer and took the plunge to buy S4. Totally happy with it, coming from the original S.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile (Post 3127789)

Please don't be personal with your remarks. You bought S4 and good for you. No need to feel hurt. But the world over, all 'actual' experts do actually find the HTC One to be a better overall product in comparison.

And hey, just don't give too much thought to these comparos. They will come and go and 3 months down the line there will be a even better product than both the One and the S4. That's today's tech life.

So go out and enjoy your S4... Cheers.

No I haven't taken the comment personally not have I made my post a personal statement back to him. I was just making a general remark on a visibly rude comment on the post I responded to. Why do you think I'd be hurt because of a random internet post?

Of course, some device 3 months down the line will ace on the S4 and every other flagship device available today. This is known and how the tech gadgetry world today is. But claiming someone to be stupid not to consider a depreciating asset is out of line.

Fair? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by v.anand (Post 3127819)

HTC phones are known to develop issues

This is more of a perception than reality. Heres the list of least reliable smartphones for 2012

Top 10 most fault-prone smartphones (according to insurance data)

1. Samsung Galaxy S III
2. HTC Desire S
3. Nokia Lumia 610
4. iPhone 4
5. BlackBerry Bold 9900
6. iPhone 4S
7. Sony Xperia S
8. BlackBerry Curve 9220
9. Samsung Tocco Lite 2
10. LG Nexus 4

Link: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/mobi...ones-revealed/

HTC's problem is not quality but their service, at least here in India. It is patchy and slow compared to Samsung's excellent service. But talking about quality alone, HTC is ahead of Samsung. I bought a HTC Touch Diamond 4 years back and it is still running as good (even the battery is as good - gives me 3-4 days on minimal use!). My wife bought a Samsung Star around the same time and it totally died in less than 2 years!

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and are slow in releasing updates.

This again is not true in general. As per arstechnica studies, HTC is as good at updating their phones as anyone. In fact to quote them:

Quote:

HTC’s time-to-update average is a bit skewed due to the fact that it got in on the ground floor of Android when updates came relatively easily, but it is still the most impressive of all the manufacturers, with a 4.7 month update average.

Heres the article: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/...ndset-updates/

Quote:

Originally Posted by k_ajay (Post 3127822)

But claiming someone to be stupid not to consider a depreciating asset is out of line.

Fair? :)

Point is that its a damn neat alternative which someone going for the top end Sammy should consider. Agreed on the word stupid - but imagine it being said as between friends only!

Quote:

Originally Posted by v.anand (Post 3127819)

That's what most people think, but excluding 4.2 version - the One is an awesome phone. that's it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile (Post 3127789)

Exactly - its meant for those IN the market now - am really advocating some patience - its a $800 purchase after all!

Quote:

Originally Posted by k_ajay (Post 3127737)

Well, take it easy with your comments. In India, HTC officially launched the HTC One somewhere around 9th April 2013 claiming phones will be available by end of April 2013. They STILL don't have even demo pieces in any of the leading mobile retailers stores. One cannot wait forever for a phone, even it is it made with materials of the moon rock.

In India, Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 on the 26th of April and people have been buying the phone since the last 3 weeks. Whose stupid and whose the loser?

It would mean something to beat the strategy of a company as dumb as HTC. The people considering and buying Samsung aren't stupid. And the HTC One camera is not better than the Galaxy S4 camera (HTC One camera excels 'only' in low light). Reason why I went for S4. Go read some credible reviews sir.

My friend, you have overreacted on the word "stupid". btw, I didn't check out the device in India either - i'm only advocating patience really to those in the market for these expensive devices! I'm not claiming to be gizmodo, just sharing my real life feedback - rest is upto you what you wish to consider. FYI - I am a BB lover, android-hater so I hate both phones equally :p

Quote:

Originally Posted by phamilyman (Post 3127839)

Point is that its a damn neat alternative which someone going for the top end Sammy should consider. Agreed on the word stupid - but imagine it being said as between friends only!

That's what most people think, but excluding 4.2 version - the One is an awesome phone. that's it!

Exactly - its meant for those IN the market now - am really advocating some patience - its a $800 purchase after all!

My friend, you have overreacted on the word "stupid". btw, I didn't check out the device in India either - i'm only advocating patience really to those in the market for these expensive devices! I'm not claiming to be gizmodo, just sharing my real life feedback - rest is upto you what you wish to consider. FYI - I am a BB lover, android-hater so I hate both phones equally :p

Interesting that the usage of a rude word isn't faulty but my response to it is called 'overreaction'.. Hmmm.. But let's get past that.

When you say you haven't checked out the device in India but stating that you're sharing real life feedback, I don't understand (does that mean you've experienced it outside India? It makes sense then, if it is so).

The HTC One may be the best Android phone but if it isn't available for people to buy it when they want to buy it, after having announced it, it's just very poor planning and strategy. And that innovative ultrapixel cam just didn't go as planned (its good but not great).

No doubt on the fact that and not contesting that the HTC One is an awesome phone (if you want to call it that), but it's not overtly better than any other flagship because it has an all aluminium build. One ugly scratch or dent and all the fancy flies out of the window. It's stereo speakers is a much better feature to consider while buy the phone.

And what use is such build when most of the populace buying the phone will probably slap a protection cover or case that's not going to allow them to enjoy the touch and feel of the build? :) At least on any phone built with polycarbonate or plastic, the damaged part can be repaired or purchased independently to replace.

Anyway, to each his own.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joslicx (Post 3127838)

If these are based on only the number of insurance claims, we can't rely on the same. On the other side if its based on ratio of claims to total manufactured handsets, then we can rely on it. But as per the PC advisor person in the comments list, they rely on the "number of faults" reported. I doubt if its really a good metric to judge reliability!

You have to certainly give it to the media for reporting without using any common sense. Each and every media outlet has the same thing printed.

This is about the supercapacitor that one girl developed which was awarded at Intel Science Fair. I was in doubt whether its a supercapacitor that charges quickly and then slowly charges the battery in the phone since the media printed that the supercap was placed inside the battery. Found the actual project summary to understand it.

http://www.usc.edu/CSSF//History/201...ects/S0912.pdf

And the guide
http://www.chemistry.ucsc.edu/facult...&cruz_id=yatli

By the way, tried out the S4 and One back to back. I am sorry my memory had failed me.

Because I now honestly think for the otherwise awesome package - the S4 camera is not as good compared to the One in regular indoor low light settings. You do get a nice looking image but nowhere as sharp nor as much detail. Think facial hair or beard or hair detail. The kind that you'd go to a movie theater or a pub and click with friends. the One got tack sharp images everytime - S4 had enough with blur, and even then not as sharp.

And yes, this impromptu review was an unpaid android hater's 10 min investment at Suria KLCC - shuttling between the Samsung display at the Concourse and the Level2 HTC store. Sorry no "professional" review this - just plain old unpaid first hand feedback :)

-- I personally believe that indoor usage is where phone cams add the most value over dedicated cams - since indoors, in family or among friends, informally, phone cams are most accessible and have generally had passable quality at best.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k (Post 3127578)

So I decided to write my own app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...y2k.vcustomize

It's not perfect, if it was, there would be many apps in the market capitalizing on this functionality. This is more of my own way of using the phone.

I have added this in the description of the app (takes a while to appear on the google play, hopefully this will explain the way it works.

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Instructions:
The app consists of three screens.
1. First screen that comes on is the basic config screen. From here user can navigate to directory screen, set up sensor override, disable the app completely, and reset directory/defaults.
2. The directory screen is where user enters the telephones numbers to be called. Upto 50 numbers can be stored.
3. The 3rd screen is the actual keytrapper that traps users key-presses and performs actions. Unfortunately android does not give access to background services to trap key-presses. So I have to have the 3rd screen running in foreground if I need to capture the keys. To make it invisible to the user, the default behavior is to bring up this screen only when the proximity sensor is blocked. This way when the phone is in a case/pocket, this screen comes on and user can use key presses to achieve desired results. but when the sensor is not blocked, it will not come up and user will not have access to the key presses. The sensor can be overridden in the first screen and then the 3rd screen will always come up, user just needs to press back button to get back to normal usage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9 (Post 3127781)

That brings some relief. Do you have any reads (links/document) which could help me identify what developer options needs to be set in the phone and how the grand can be rooted. I am very much sure that rooting would enable the apps2sd functionality. But the rooting itself is failing.
Incase even after rooting, the apps2sd thing doesn't work, then I would have to believe that it is a JB OS limitation.
Any pointers to good custom ROM which could eliminate the apps2sd problem ?

I don't have any idea about Galaxy Grand. You should search for your phone on xdadevelopers forums. May be this is it - http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2288