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[-Pyromaniac-]

HTC dug their own grave for sure, no one in the world will ever say otherwise. But I think they've definitely done their part this go-around. Yeah the phone isn't all that but realistically speaking they did all they could. They tried to be different because they can't win making the same phone as Samsung.

Last time I checked ATT was a giant carrier too yet I never ever hear of companies having same troubles with them as I do with Verizon, at least not on the same level. I mean you name it, samsung, google, HTC, whoever. They all got problems with Verizon in the past few years. You can't expect everything to work out for you but it also doesn't take a genius to realize that a jerk is sometimes just a jerk lol. They got a lot of power and their wielding it.

TBH I'm surprised Samsung gives in. If verizon came to me and told me to change my home buttom to a verizon home button I'd tell them to fuck off. I guess the pursuit of profit turns everyone into animals. Except Apple. They remain pure. Like angels

 

[DrFunk]

You wouldn't tell Verizon to fuck off because they're the biggest US carrier, and the Note II wasn't Samsung's flagship. (though it should be imo). The S3 wasn't ridiculously branded. That's just too much revenue to pass up on.

I don't know about ATT, but I would imagine it's easier to work with them since they're GSM, and 99% of their devices are the same versions used in Canada. Just brand it and you're done!

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

You think Apple hasn't told them to fuck off before? I'm sure the ONLY reason samsung doesn't is because samsung simply doesn't care. Which is a shame really.

You honestly think Verizon is in the position to pass on the S3 because of some shitty branding on a home button? Samsung could have easily told them to shove it on that front. But they let them do it. Giving power to the people who need it least. We need a revolution up in this bitch. People can shit on apple all they want but it sucks.

Once again though, I'm canadian and in Canada, the carriers don't really brand the phones anymore, at least most of the time.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

HTC dug their own grave for sure, no one in the world will ever say otherwise. But I think they've definitely done their part this go-around. Yeah the phone isn't all that but realistically speaking they did all they could. They tried to be different because they can't win making the same phone as Samsung.

Last time I checked ATT was a giant carrier too yet I never ever hear of companies having same troubles with them as I do with Verizon, at least not on the same level. I mean you name it, samsung, google, HTC, whoever. They all got problems with Verizon in the past few years. You can't expect everything to work out for you but it also doesn't take a genius to realize that a jerk is sometimes just a jerk lol. They got a lot of power and their wielding it.

TBH I'm surprised Samsung gives in. If verizon came to me and told me to change my home buttom to a verizon home button I'd tell them to fuck off. I guess the pursuit of profit turns everyone into animals. Except Apple. They remain pure. Like angels

Have they done their part? The One is a bad device, it concentrates on the wrong areas, when everyone is going bigger screen and people are loving them, they went for a more expensive smaller screen. When the Android buying market has shown it doesn't care too much about build quality and design they went for an expensive aluminium iPhone rip off design. While Sony and Samsung are adding desired hardware (waterproof, ultra-slim, glass) or software (multi-view, that touchless scroll stuff) to make their devices stand out, HTC continue to hammer away at Sense. Sure it might look slightly prettier this time, but it's not that much better than before, the core of Sense is still there, a pig in lipstick is still a pig. HTC needed a radical overhaul of their software package, they needed to take the Moto/Sony route and get much, much closer to stock and then look at adding features to it that they think people will want/like.

They also went with that terrible Ultrapixels idea which is turning into a marketing nightmare for them, 4MP vs 13MP is a loser every single time. The premise might be sound, but the marketing line is too long, "our camera has bigger pixels which allows for better light take up and therefore better pictures when there is little light", for Sony and Samsung the line is "13 > 4!!!!" and 9/10 consumers will respond to the latter. The HTC One has been a clusterfuck, and now it's delayed until April, while more people pre-order the GS4 and buy the Xperia Z. Not only that but Sony are going to continue their strong tradition of decent mid-range devices with the SP and L which are going to be cheap, powerful alternatives for people who don't want the massive devices, so they are automatically behind in that market sector having yielded it in 2012.

Finally, who the fuck approves a device bigger than the GS3 with a smaller screen. Seriously? No one gives a shit about phone speakers, the Xperia Z is a testament to that fact, the speakers are utter shite, but it is selling out all over Europe and Asia, because it is such a minor feature. Most people listen to music via the headset anyway, it's better to have a smaller phone and give a better headset, what the fuck was their Beats investment for!?! The only people who will care about speakers are those public transport idiots who think that everyone wants to listen to their shitty music, and fuck those guys. It's like they have this idea that people will use their One to play some dubstep in public and because the speakers are so awesome it will start some kind of party in that location, making the owner of that phone look awesome and have sex with hot girls/guys. Such a terrible idea.

As for Verizon, it's their network. In Samsung's place I would have told them to fuck off and watched them continue to leak customers to Sprint and AT&T and then forced them to come grovelling on their knees a few months later.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I genuinely think despite the HTC One being disappointing in a few places, it's still their best chance at regaining any ground. They had to play a different game than everyone else, so they went opposite samsung. High quality materials, different camera, completely different look, different screen, etc... If they play samsungs game they lose, so they played a different one.

The speaker thing is a huge botch. I never heard anyone in my life give a shit about the sound in their phones to the point where they wish they had stereo speakers on the front lol. I don't know where HTC thought people would want that. BUT EVEN STILL, it's all part of playing a different game. And I genuinely think it was their best shot.

What's one feasible thing HTC could have done to make the HTC flagship stand out to the point where people would want it over the Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5. I seriously can't think of anything o_0. I would say focus on big battery but it's clear they don't have the means to acquire such things considering their battery past, besides that doesn't seem to help Motorola much. Focus on screen and build quality? They've done that. Release a good camera experience? They've released cameras before the same as the galaxy line and it did them squat. I think they are out of ideas so they threw anything they had left on the wall and are now hoping it sticks.

 

[DrFunk]

You think Apple hasn't told them to fuck off before? I'm sure the ONLY reason samsung doesn't is because samsung simply doesn't care. Which is a shame really.

You honestly think Verizon is in the position to pass on the S3 because of some shitty branding on a home button? Samsung could have easily told them to shove it on that front. But they let them do it. Giving power to the people who need it least. We need a revolution up in this bitch. People can shit on apple all they want but it sucks.

Once again though, I'm canadian and in Canada, the carriers don't really brand the phones anymore, at least most of the time.

Different times. Apple had a device that could make carriers lose their shit (and ATT did), but Verizon eventually did cave in. Remember, Verizon did pass on the Galaxy S2.

HTC doesn't really have that device, which is why I can understand Verizon's decision. Making a CDMA device, testing it, marketing it, and selling it is expensive, and well the One (as much as I respect it), isn't worth that effort to them.

 

[jey_16]

I was going to buy the Z until I used it, it's just a block that you can't hold properly. I think Sony went more for looks then ergonomics (glass back = fingerprint magnet) and like everyone is saying both the screen and camera are not stand outs. The ZL looks a bit better but I don't even know if its getting released here

Is down to the One and S4 for me to replace my S2, I'm glad HTC gave us something different

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I was going to buy the Z until I used it, it's just a block that you can't hold properly. I think Sony went more for looks then ergonomics (glass back = fingerprint magnet) and like everyone is saying both the screen and camera are not stand outs. The ZL looks a bit better but I don't even know if its getting released here

Is down to the One and S4 for me to replace my S2, I'm glad HTC have us something different

see, and I'm sure there's others who feel the same. It really was their best bet imo. To just do something totally different. It's the only way I can think of at least that they could have got people away from the S4/Iphone5.

 

[DrFunk]

I mean, HTC has been here before with the speaker thing:

I don't know what else can be done lol

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

lol god, those were terrible times when HTC and Samsung were in this weird competition to see who can release the most variations of phones the fastest.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

I genuinely think despite the HTC One being disappointing in a few places, it's still their best chance at regaining any ground. They had to play a different game than everyone else, so they went opposite samsung. High quality materials, different camera, completely different look, different screen, etc... If they play samsungs game they lose, so they played a different one.

The speaker thing is a huge botch. I never heard anyone in my life give a shit about the sound in their phones to the point where they wish they had stereo speakers on the front lol. I don't know where HTC thought people would want that. BUT EVEN STILL, it's all part of playing a different game. And I genuinely think it was their best shot.

What's one feasible thing HTC could have done to make the HTC flagship stand out to the point where people would want it over the Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5. I seriously can't think of anything o_0. I would say focus on big battery but it's clear they don't have the means to acquire such things considering their battery past, besides that doesn't seem to help Motorola much. Focus on screen and build quality? They've done that. Release a good camera experience? They've released cameras before the same as the galaxy line and it did them squat. I think they are out of ideas so they threw anything they had left on the wall and are now hoping it sticks.

That is why exiting the low/medium market was such a disaster move. That's where a lot of money can be made, especially in developing markets. Reusing the Desire branding for low end devices was stupid. They missed their chance to make Desire into their Galaxy/Xperia/Razr and it is still hurting them today.

Aside from that there are plenty of things they could do. Right now there is a huge gaping hole in the premium Android line up at 4". It's not going to exist for long since Sony have a premium 4" device in development, but HTC should have had a device ready called the Desire 4 or whatever with SD600, 2GB, 4" 720p and 2300mAh in a frame either the same size or smaller than the iPhone 5. There are so many people out there who want a small smartphone without any compromises and right now only Apple are serving that market.

Another area in which they could innovate is stuff like waterproofing, so much of the world lives in shitty climates, why not capitalise on that. Part of the reason the Xperia Z is selling so well is that it is waterproof and people can be more careless with it, they don't need to baby it in the rain. Instead they are doing stuff that Android buyers don't really seem to care about, design and build quality, at least not in the direction they chose (iPhone rip off).

I honestly don't see the One bringing HTC back from the brink, this time next year we will all be reading a joint press release from HTC and Microsoft saying that they have signed a deal whereby HTC will carry WP exclusively in return for co-marketing dollars. From what I know, this phone is HTC's final roll of the Android dice, and I'm not going to bet against the house.

Also, the One branding is stupid. It doesn't allow for continuity, what are they going to call next year's phone? The One X, One S, One 2? None of those make sense, and HTC Two is shit. Sure, calling your phone the One is cool, but it only lasts for a year, and then it's time for a rebrand, while Samsung, Sony and Apple forge ahead building their Galaxy, Xperia and iPhone branding.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Actually now that I think about it, what you mention first is probably the best thing they could have done. The android market is missing a premium device in the 4 inch range. Not sure why no one is going for that. ZL is the closest thing to a premium phone of that size, and that's just said.

But yeah all in all I think a lot could fall on marketing, but once again, carriers need to market it as well and for some reason I doubt they will. HTC has talked a big game about marketing the One yet has that begun yet? Because once the S4 marketing machine starts it's pretty much over.

I don't know. I'm just confused about everything HTC related.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Actually now that I think about it, what you mention first is probably the best thing they could have done. The android market is missing a premium device in the 4 inch range. Not sure why no one is going for that. ZL is the closest thing to a premium phone of that size, and that's just said.

But yeah all in all I think a lot could fall on marketing, but once again, carriers need to market it as well and for some reason I doubt they will. HTC has talked a big game about marketing the One yet has that begun yet? Because once the S4 marketing machine starts it's pretty much over.

I don't know. I'm just confused about everything HTC related.

Indeed, which is why Sony have a 4" device in development, a no compromise device just with a smaller screen for people who don't want oversized devices.

Why? Why is it up to the carriers as well. Carriers are happy to advertise what sells, right now Galaxy and iPhone are hot in the US. HTC isn't. They need to market their own devices with good adverts and basically do the carrier marketing for them. Say "available on AT&T" at the end of every advert and give AT&T free advertising. They might not need it, but HTC are in such a bad way that they can't rely on the carriers throwing them a bone.

Right now in the UK Xperia Z has got almost blanket coverage with Sony doing their "our tech heritage is legendary, and Xperia Z is awesome" advert all over TV and they have a bunch of co-marketing with the carriers in newspapers and on billboards. Sony are paying for all of it, but it gets their message out there, "Buy Xperia Z on such and such carrier for just £99 up front".

HTC need to copy Sony. Literally copy them. The marketing operation from Sony has been great for the Xperia Z, the tech heritage advert is amazing and people respond to it. HTC need to do the same, show their heritage in Smartphones, starting all the way from the original to the new HTC One. Show that they have the pedigree, that they have brought innovation in the past and continue to do so. Just a quick slideshow of all of their important smartphones:

That advert and have some voiceover, "HTC, we've been here with you from the beginning" show the evolution "and now we're better than ever. The new HTC One, available now on AT&T".

 

[jey_16]

Fuck.....I was all set going to buy the One but now with all this "X" phone nonsense now I'm not sure, it just all sounds too good to be true though....

 

[vivftp]

So do we have any clue how Samsungs octo-core processor stacks up against the upcoming s800 processor for power and battery efficiency?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So do we have any clue how Samsungs octo-core processor stacks up against the upcoming s800 processor for power and battery efficiency?

Well, if big.LITTLE works as promised, when the phone is mostly idle it will use less power than the Snapdragon S6/S8 series because the low-power cores are ARM Cortex-A7 cores. When the CPU is being heavily taxed, it will be more powerful than the S6/S8 because the high-power cores are full ARM Cortex-A15 cores which are more powerful than the custom-designed Krait cores. So, I guess it depends on this big.LITTLE thing works exactly. The Exynos 5410 Octa has 4x ARM Cortex-A7 and 4x ARM Cortex-A15 for maximum overkill so if big.LITTLE's claims are all true, it will have pretty amazing battery life and power level well over 9000. I actually wonder if it's possible to have a mixed set of cores active, say 1x A7 and 3x A15 for instance, or if the SoC just runs all 4x A7s together and then when CPU load increases, switches over to all 4x A15s. Obviously for the best power usage, a mixed set of cores active would be active but I imagine that would create nightmarish hardware thread-timing issues.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Indeed, which is why Sony have a 4" device in development, a no compromise device just with a smaller screen for people who don't want oversized devices.

Why? Why is it up to the carriers as well. Carriers are happy to advertise what sells, right now Galaxy and iPhone are hot in the US. HTC isn't. They need to market their own devices with good adverts and basically do the carrier marketing for them. Say "available on AT&T" at the end of every advert and give AT&T free advertising. They might not need it, but HTC are in such a bad way that they can't rely on the carriers throwing them a bone.

didn't microsoft do the same kind of advertising, with the whole we've been there from the start nostalgia angle. Surprised HTC doesn't give it a go.

So do we have any clue how Samsungs octo-core processor stacks up against the upcoming s800 processor for power and battery efficiency?

no idea but qualcomm has made some hefty promises for their future stuff in terms of battery

 

[Al-ibn Kermit]

Like I said, Sony didn't need no US carriers to execute their turnaround. So I'm not sure what the hangup is with HTC and Verizon. Especially since most devices are released on Verizon without the Droid branding.

Turnaround in what sense? It's pretty rare to see Sony phones in the US and I don't think any carriers are carrying the new xperias yet.

 

[vivftp]

Turnaround in what sense? It's pretty rare to see Sony phones in the US and I don't think any carriers are carrying the new xperias yet.

Turn around their image and popularity on a global scale. The Z and ZL show Sony is ready to fight for the high end premium market, but they're just the beginning. The 2H phones should skyrocket them even further up the ladder as they're rumored to have a ~4", 5" and 6.1" phone that all have the S800 CPU and other high end specs. They'll be blanketing all high end size segments, and they'll also have a compelling selection of low/mid range phones that should be announced soon and in 2H as well.

From what zomg has stated, it appears the 2H phones are the ones that'll be heavily pushed in North America. The Z and ZL are being pushed more in other countries to give Sony more market share and popularity so they can leverage that with North American carriers to ensure those carriers don't dick around with Sony phones by branding them or putting their own bloatware and crap all over them. Sony wants full control over their phones without carrier intervention, and frankly so does the public.

My current plan is to get the ZL when it launches in Canada next month, but I am giving serious consideration to waiting for either the upcoming phablet (6.1", 2560x1600, S800 CPU, 3-4GB RAM, Sony stylus, 3500mah battery, 8MP camera), or the 2H flagship (5", 1080p, S800 CPU, 3-4 GB RAM, 2700mah battery, waterproof, IR blaster, newer, better camera over what's in Z/ZL, and the size will be closer to the ZL). All those specs are only rumored at this point, but if they're true then IMO they're compelling enough to give me reason to wait and possibly skip the ZL. My current phone is the Xperia x10a, and while it's giving me issues, I think I can hold out a bit longer. Current projections for the 6.1" phablet are for a June announcement, and until recently the 2H flagship was due for a Aug/Sept announcement, but there were rumblings recently that Sony might push up the announcement at least for Japan into June... but take that with a bigger grain of salt than the rest of the rumors I've posted above.


There is one other factor that's weighing on my mind. I'm in Canada and my provider is Rogers. Rogers for LTE covers 2 bands, but from what I can tell the Z and ZL only cover one of those bands. That means I'll still get LTE, but I don't think I'll be able to get the same sort of experience out of it as I would if I get one of the 2H phones that're supposed to be pushed more heavily in North America. I have to imagine those phones will have better compatability for North American carriers. Well, plus there's the fact that recent expenses have come up and getting the ZL next month would be a bit more difficult... but getting a 2H phone in June - October would be much easier on my bank account

 

[Pctx]

X phone.

 

[vivftp]

X phone.

So how likely are the previously posted rumors of this X phone? I may have missed it, but is there a timeframe for its release?

I do like the option of having capacities up to 256 gigs, I hope more manufacturers eventually add that option but I can only imagine the cost of those phones

 

[Pctx]

So how likely are the previously posted rumors of this X phone? I may have missed it, but is there a timeframe for its release?

I do like the option of having capacities up to 256 gigs, I hope more manufacturers eventually add that option but I can only imagine the cost of those phones

256GB is most likely a Pipedream. 128 I can see eventually but not anytime soon. Cost of the lower tier phones 16/32 will be inline with the offering of the N4 currently; obviously the 32 and higher costing a bit more but hey factory unlocked is nice from the get go.

 

[vivftp]

256GB is most likely a Pipedream. 128 I can see eventually but not anytime soon. Cost of the lower tier phones 16/32 will be inline with the offering of the N4 currently; obviously the 32 and higher costing a bit more but hey factory unlocked is nice from the get go.

Interesting. So since you appaerently have some insight into the workings over at Moto, can you tell us how this X phone stacks up against the rumors of the Sony 2H flagship that've been posted recently? I can understand if you don't want to go into details, but just an idea of whether you think it'll either be more powerful or have better features would be nice hint

 

[Vanillalite]

I will say while most of the time I just use my IEMs. It would be nice to have non shitty speakers if I ever want to show a quick video to a friend or throw someone up on speaker phone. It's not a system seller by any means to me though.

 

[Pctx]

Interesting. So since you appaerently have some insight into the workings over at Moto, can you tell us how this X phone stacks up against the rumors of the Sony 2H flagship that've been posted recently? I can understand if you don't want to go into details, but just an idea of whether you think it'll either be more powerful or have better features would be nice hint

You are the Android&me leak aren't you?

 

[vivftp]

You are the Android&me leak aren't you?

lol, no. I'm a nobody who happens to frequent the estato forums where other insiders have shared info (hopefully true) about the Sony phones. Not to mention a good deal of the info I have comes right here from zomgbbqftw.

Also, I didn't get the reference, what's up with this Android&me leak?

 

[The Faceless Master]

oh look, I guess it's not happening lololol

Verizon is just disgusting

they didn't rule out the Droid 1

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

they didn't rule out the Droid 1

Droid 1 Deluxe with Verizon BoomSound LTE

 

[The Faceless Master]

I was going to buy the Z until I used it, it's just a block that you can't hold properly. I think Sony went more for looks then ergonomics (glass back = fingerprint magnet) and like everyone is saying both the screen and camera are not stand outs. The ZL looks a bit better but I don't even know if its getting released here

Is down to the One and S4 for me to replace my S2, I'm glad HTC gave us something different

you sound like the people who switch from their iPhone to something else because "it's different" and then they end up not liking it. why get something different that you plan on using for 1-2 years just because? it's not like trying a different food...

 

[The Faceless Master]

Well, if big.LITTLE works as promised, when the phone is mostly idle it will use less power than the Snapdragon S6/S8 series because the low-power cores are ARM Cortex-A7 cores. When the CPU is being heavily taxed, it will be more powerful than the S6/S8 because the high-power cores are full ARM Cortex-A15 cores which are more powerful than the custom-designed Krait cores. So, I guess it depends on this big.LITTLE thing works exactly. The Exynos 5410 Octa has 4x ARM Cortex-A7 and 4x ARM Cortex-A15 for maximum overkill so if big.LITTLE's claims are all true, it will have pretty amazing battery life and power level well over 9000. I actually wonder if it's possible to have a mixed set of cores active, say 1x A7 and 3x A15 for instance, or if the SoC just runs all 4x A7s together and then when CPU load increases, switches over to all 4x A15s. Obviously for the best power usage, a mixed set of cores active would be active but I imagine that would create nightmarish hardware thread-timing issues.

yes, they're all individually gated and switched.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

yes, they're all individually gated and switched.

Hawt.

 

[jey_16]

you sound like the people who switch from their iPhone to something else because "it's different" and then they end up not liking it. why get something different that you plan on using for 1-2 years just because? it's not like trying a different food...

I swapped from my iPhone to the S2 because it was better and now I'm looking for my next phone. S4 feels like more of the same from Samsung so that's why I like what HTC is doing.....not sure what's wrong with that

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I swapped from my iPhone to the S2 because it was better and now I'm looking for my next phone. S4 feels like more of the same from Samsung so that's why I like what HTC is doing.....not sure what's wrong with that

Samsung has added tons of stuff between S2 and S4. HTC is the company which actually hasn't done anything in years, which is why they are almost dead.

 

[OriginalThinking]

I swapped from my iPhone to the S2 because it was better and now I'm looking for my next phone. S4 feels like more of the same from Samsung so that's why I like what HTC is doing.....not sure what's wrong with that

Samsung has added tons of stuff between S2 and S4. HTC is the company which actually hasn't done anything in years, which is why they are almost dead.

HTC have made some poor branding choices and had shit marketing but they still make good phones. The problem is no can hear it due to the noise that Samsung and Apple make.

I also think this "why bother changing mantra" is bizarre. You change because you prefer what the competition is doing more than the sequel. Hell if i'd never changed i'd still be using a Nokia budget phone with Snake because I loved that phone. Just because you are familiar with a particular brand it doesn't necessitate that there might not be something better out there and you'll never know until you dip your toes. My brother recently sold his Nexus 4 and bought the Xperia Z. Personally I think he's nuts and he'll rue it when I'm running KLP and he's just getting 4.2 but he loves it. Different strokes for different folks. Oh and previously he was an iPhone lover from the 3GS onwards. But he became bored by Apple because the the iPhone 5 didn't feel like much of a leap. Familiarity can also breed contempt.

My advice to Jey? Wait til both are out and pop into a shop and get demos of both. Then you can make an educated decision about what suits you best. Both are quality handsets.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Turnaround in what sense? It's pretty rare to see Sony phones in the US and I don't think any carriers are carrying the new xperias yet.

8m smartphones sold in 2010, 34m sold in 2012. US =/= World.

 

[Sleeplessnights]

I'm so done with Chrome for Android, recorrecting in GAF post box doesn't work, what's up with the bad font and why does it have to reset the launcher each time I quit it?

Gah. Back to stock browser I guess.

 

[OriginalThinking]

I'm so done with Chrome for Android, recorrecting in GAF post box doesn't work, what's up with the bad font and why does it have to reset the launcher each time I quit it?

Gah. Back to stock browser I guess.

Resetting the launcher is very odd, which phone/launcher are you using? Chrome still needs a bunch of improvement in performance. I'm hoping that by Google I/O Chrome will be at M26 and smoother yet again. If you check what they're working on via Chrome issues they are really focused on improving it. And then (hopefully) they can focus on things like extensions/speed and not just basic scrolling. Fingers crossed.

 

[giga]

yes, they're all individually gated and switched.

I don't think so. From my readings, it switches between the core clusters. Either the big (a15) or little (a7) clusters will be used at any given time.

In the big.LITTLE task migration use model the OS and applications only ever execute on Cortex-A15 or Cortex-A7 and never both processors at the same time. This use-model is a natural extension to the Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS), operating points provided by current mobile platforms with a single application processor to allow the OS to match the performance of the platform to the performance required by the application.

http://www.arm.com/files/downloads/big.LITTLE_Final.pdf

There are two different implementations of big.LITTLE that hardware makers can use: one in which the Cortex-A7 and A15 cores can be active at the same time (called "big.LITTLE MP" in ARM's documentation) and one in which a Cortex-A7 core powers down when its corresponding A15 core powers up and vice versa. By all appearances, the Octa uses the latter implementation.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...-checking-out-the-chip-inside-the-galaxy-s-4/

big.LITTLE MP allows the use of all 8 cores simultaneously, but that's probably not going to be happening in a phone, for heat and battery reasons.

 

[Goldrush]

Just posting to show support for good speakers. I drive an old ass car and a phone that is louder than the engine and noisy traffic is something that I definitely covet.

 

[Kiraly]

http://www.modaco.com/page/news/_/android/htc-one-this-is-not-the-sense-you-love-to-hate-r1012

An article showcasing the new Sense.

 

[gcubed]

http://www.modaco.com/page/news/_/android/htc-one-this-is-not-the-sense-you-love-to-hate-r1012

An article showcasing the new Sense.

That's a great write up which does a lot to show just how awful Sense was. They are still needlessly graphics heavy in some spots but it looks more "android" and is definitely heading in the right direction.

 

[Diablo Rosso]

http://www.modaco.com/page/news/_/android/htc-one-this-is-not-the-sense-you-love-to-hate-r1012

An article showcasing the new Sense.

I still think Sony has the best, or the least offensive, Android overlay.

 

[brotkasten]

In a way I get the bitching about the skins and overlays, because they can be resource hogs, but lets make clear that the stock Android experience is nothing to write about, especially not after 4.2.

 

[gcubed]

In a way I get the bitching about the skins and overlays, because they can be resource hogs, but lets make clear that the stock Android experience is nothing to write about, especially not after 4.2.

why not after 4.2.2? You are dissolving the entire thing because of a (sometimes) bolded number?

 

[Groof]

One thing I do miss in stock Android is no smart dial, like the article mentions. I used that feature a fuckton, but eh, I can still get by without.

 

[The Faceless Master]

I swapped from my iPhone to the S2 because it was better and now I'm looking for my next phone. S4 feels like more of the same from Samsung so that's why I like what HTC is doing.....not sure what's wrong with that

those are not the same reasons.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

In the end it all doesn't matter since we'll all be selling our phones to pick up dat x phone.

 

[Al-ibn Kermit]

8m smartphones sold in 2010, 34m sold in 2012. US =/= World.

Well yeah but that doesn't disprove the theory that carrier control is messing with their penetration into the US.

 

[Sleeplessnights]

Resetting the launcher is very odd, which phone/launcher are you using? Chrome still needs a bunch of improvement in performance. I'm hoping that by Google I/O Chrome will be at M26 and smoother yet again. If you check what they're working on via Chrome issues they are really focused on improving it. And then (hopefully) they can focus on things like extensions/speed and not just basic scrolling. Fingers crossed.

GN with stock 4.2. Doesn't happen with stock browser, I assume because the page is a resource hog, stock browser just crashes!

 

[kinggroin]

In a way I get the bitching about the skins and overlays, because they can be resource hogs, but lets make clear that the stock Android experience is nothing to write about, especially not after 4.2.

Nah.