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Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Sun 03 Apr, 2016 22.37
by woah
Alexia wrote:*bump* *doublepost*

Anyone else find it weird that carphonewarehouse.co.uk doesn't exist, or doesn't redirect to carphonewarehouse.com?
That is odd - it's even registered by them.

On another phone related note, has anyone been tempted by the *ahem* new iPhone SE, or indeed any Apple device at all? Apple hardware does look very nice - but I just cannot stomach the astonishing price you pay, nor the weird "cult" that seems to come with being an iThing owner.

I'm definitely an Android person, but the fragmentation is the one thing that drives me mad. I have no idea why each Android manufacturer feels the need to plaster their generally horrible UI, apps and features on their phone that add absolutely nothing and cause even more delays in getting updates out to devices.

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 00.06
by Philip
woah wrote:On another phone related note, has anyone been tempted by the *ahem* new iPhone SE, or indeed any Apple device at all? Apple hardware does look very nice - but I just cannot stomach the astonishing price you pay, nor the weird "cult" that seems to come with being an iThing owner.
A lot of their products, especially the accessories, are overpriced but I'm pretty sure the cult thing is just in your head. I prefer Apple products but that doesn't mean I immediately have to throw away my Windows laptop. If you want I'm sure you can happily get by using a Windows PC, an iPhone, and an Android tablet (although obviously all three want you to be locked in to their own ecosystem).

To be honest in my experience it's actually the Microsoft/Windows Phone fanbase in particular that are the most rabid and defensive online.

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 08.02
by woah
"Cult" is perhaps a little extreme, but they does certainly seem to be a group of people who must have an iPhone and stick their noses up at anything else. They're good phones, I'd never argue they aren't, they're just not good enough for me to pay £250 extra.

I convinced a couple of friends to move to Android recently and while they're happy, they have little niggles with them where they prefer how their iPhones work. I think that's mostly a side effect of the rubbish manufacturer UIs that the manufacturers put on, but obviously software can't fix disappointing hardware. I think people often like iPhones as it's almost a guarantee of a quality product despite the cost - Android can be more of a risk.

The only unfortunate thing is Apple do lock people in to their ecosystem a bit more, a bit inadvertently really, as they usually default to buying all their stuff from iTunes rather than other services that allow you to move your content to different devices. That and iMessage are usually the major barriers to moving to Android I find.

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 10.44
by cwathen
I'm always astonished by how many diehard Apple fans did not own a single Apple product prior to the iphone (or possibly the ipod) and have absolutely no knowledge of the company or their products prior to the mid-2000's (by which time Apple had been trading for 30 years).

Apple's products are perfectly fine but it does irk me the way that they continually talk about newly introduced features as if they invented them when they are rarely first to market on anything (and they distinctly lag behind in some areas - such as video recording on the iphone which arrived very late) and I can't find any way at all to justify the price premium you pay for an Apple device which might well be at the top end but is never quite class leading.

And tbh some things they are just bad at...if I want to copy some music to my android phone I just plug it into my computer where it will be recognised as a mass storage device and just copy the files across. No proprietary software or drivers needed (no special cables with proprietary connectors needed either - although at least Apple are finally learning on that front) and I can do that on any computer to hand. If I get a new phone and want to take my entire photo library with me, it's a simple matter to copy the files off the old device and onto the new one. If the device has an SD card slot it's an even simpler matter of just moving the SD card over and job done.

Whilst on an iphone you're stuck in itunes hell to get anything on and off the device, it's unnecessary complication pushed as innovation.

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 16.05
by Critique
Must say I agree with some of the points made about Apple, and particularly how they make a big deal about features that are not new or exclusive to them at times. However, they do seem to get away with this as they either make the technology work decently or market it well. Touch ID and Apple Pay seem like good examples of this - when Apple did them someone else had done them before, but they managed to make the features have mass appeal, and work really decently. Android/Google had a mobile payment system long before Apple, but it is as nowhere near as well publicised or used. Likewise, I'm sure a Motarola phone had a fingerprint scanner on it years before the iPhone first put one in, but at the time it was seen as a quirky feature or something to make it stand out, rather than as a fairly decent security solution that quite a few flagship phones now have.

The failure of whatever the Android payment system is called is probably down to the fragmentation of the operating system, as woah mentioned. It requires NFC, which manufacturers haven't decided to provide on all their phones, so you end up with a scenario where two phones running the same OS don't have access to the same features. I think it's things like that which put me off Android and shifted me to an iPhone - I owned a decently specced phone but a few months after release there was a new version of the OS, which wouldn't just roll out to all devices at once, as individual manufacturers would want to load it with their bloatware and their own UI etc beforehand.

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 16.45
by cwathen
Critique wrote:Likewise, I'm sure a Motarola phone had a fingerprint scanner on it years before the iPhone first put one in, but at the time it was seen as a quirky feature or something to make it stand out, rather than as a fairly decent security solution that quite a few flagship phones now have.
Yep, the Motorola Atrix 4G (which wasn't actually 4G, at least not in the UK) had a fingerprint scanner 5 years ago, had one myself. Although many reviews dismissed the fingerprint scanner as an unreliable gimmick, I thought it was the best implemented fingerprint scanner ever.

Instead of what has become the standard of having the scanner on the home key on the front of the device, on the Atrix the scanner doubled up with the power button and was mounted on the rear of the device exactly where your index finger naturally rests. Since it was on the back, they could make it a slightly inset which created guides for your finger to run through so you always swiped the same portion of your finger in the same place. The result is that the fingerprint unlock felt very natural to use and almost always worked first time, it really was pretty nifty and I sorely missed it on phones I had after.

Was quite excited to get it back on the S6 but never managed to get on with having it on the home key and usually took several attempts to make the phone unlock (as well as feeling like I was holding the phone unnaturally to use the scanner). Gave up on it after a week and went back to using a pattern to unlock.

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 17.02
by Alexia
Regarding Android fragmentation, that's why I don't touch anything made by Samsung, HTC, Huwaei or anyone else which are equally as overpriced and overhyped and indeed culty as Apple. I have a Motorola Moto G which has a tiny amount of actually useful bloatware on it, but it's easily disabled and the interface is, by and large, 99% pure Android. It cost me £140 from Phones4U (remember them) and its still going today. Tablet wise I use a Nexus 7 2012 tablet which IS pure Android, albeit only useable at 4.4.4 - Lollipop renders it unusable and it won't receive any updates to Marshmallow or Nutella.

Which is why I am looking forward to this year's Google I/O. There's rumoured to be a new, slightly more premium Nexus 7 coming out, as well as a new Nexus 5 or possibly even a 4.4 inch phone, which is more suited to my short fingers than anything 5inches or up. (stop sniggering at the back).

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 18.10
by bilky asko
I've found the fingerprint scanner on the S7 to be very good. It works first time, every time (except when I use the wrong finger).

One advantage of owning a cult-y phone is the resale value.

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 18.31
by scottishtv
Alexia wrote:I am looking forward to this year's Google I/O. There's rumoured to be a new, slightly more premium Nexus 7 coming out, as well as a new Nexus 5 or possibly even a 4.4 inch phone, which is more suited to my short fingers than anything 5inches or up. (stop sniggering at the back).
Oh no, I might be getting my wallet out again. I have the 2013 Nexus 5, and the 2013 Nexus 7 and love them both to bits, however I'm a little anxious I won't get the next update to the operating system and have the fear of missing out.
Alexia wrote:Nutella.
Ha! Now I have to.

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2016 18.43
by Alexia
That's only one possible name, although Google have played up to the possibility.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/09/google ... android-n/

Re: Another 'Yet Another phone thread'

Posted: Wed 11 May, 2016 18.01
by thegeek
EU blocks Three's takeover of O2

Illustrated earlier by the BBC with this rather elderly stock photo:

Image