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[RoadHazard]

I never got the appeal of nexus phones. It's vanilla android, but you can run vanilla android on any phone after rooting. Everything else about them seems mediocre?

Official updates right from Google the moment they're ready (well, there's always a staggered roll-out, but still) vs potentially buggy ports that might not be good for daily use for months, if ever (sometimes the sources required to make a really good ROM just aren't ever released). If you prefer vanilla Android there's just nothing that beats being on Google's own, official update track, with the actual device Android itself is developed for.

And they are not mediocre. The battery and camera might be (although the latter has gotten much, much better since a few Nexuses ago), and the lack of expandable storage is a big deal to some people (I personally don't miss it, what with almost everything being in the cloud these days), but otherwise the N5 was top-of-the-line at release. At a price much, much lower than any other flagship phone.

 

[Toki767]

I feel like official updates from Google mean a lot less than they used to ever since they added all of their apps to the Play Store and the main thing they update to get features nowadays is their Services Framework.

What are the actual real new features for Android L from a user perspective other than the new Material Design layout and encrypted data?

 

[PriitV]

What are the actual real new features for Android L from a user perspective other than the new Material Design layout and encrypted data?

Project VOLTA!

 

[osiris3355]

I feel like official updates from Google mean a lot less than they used to ever since they added all of their apps to the Play Store and the main thing they update to get features nowadays is their Services Framework.

What are the actual real new features for Android L from a user perspective other than the new Material Design layout and encrypted data?

Heads up notifications
Expanded notifications
Lock screen notifications
3d mutltasking that includes chrome tabs
64 bit
Art runtime
Improved GPU features/performance
Smartwatch authentication
Project Volta battery saving
Bluetooth 4.1
H.265, 4K Streaming Video
Low Latency audio recording
Google Fit

 

[Toki767]

So half of those new features were already in phones and the other half are kind of dependent on the chip being used?

 

[Jigolo]

So half of those new features were already in phones and the other half are kind of dependent on the chip being used?

Half? I can only think of the 1st 3 he mentioned.

3d mutltasking that includes chrome tabs
64 bit
Art runtime
Improved GPU features/performance
Smartwatch authentication
Project Volta battery saving
Bluetooth 4.1
H.265, 4K Streaming Video
Low Latency audio recording
Google Fit

All this is new, no? Since they are internal and not possible to achieve without 3rd party apps.

 

[Toki767]

ART runtime is in Kit Kat, you just have to enable it yourself.

Bluetooth 4.1 is in the Note 4 already, though it's obviously chip dependent.

The others are pretty dependent on the CPU/GPU being used so it's not like the new Nexus is going to make use of something like the 64-bit OS unless it uses the Snapdragon 810 upon release.

Really the only super new things only possible on Android L seem to be the new multitasking view and the new APIs for Project Volta.

And I guess the smartwatch stuff if you care about that.

 

[PriitV]

ART runtime is in Kit Kat, you just have to enable it yourself.

An old version, the one in L is greatly improved on.

 

[Toki767]

An old version, the one in L is greatly improved on.

Everything gets improved on. The point still stands though.

 

[The Faceless Master]

missing the point. lots of not new stuff.

like when Google finally added quick toggles or screenshots.

 

[SimleuqiR]

missing the point. lots of not new stuff.

like when Google finally added quick toggles or screenshots.

Well, if the iPhone crowd can salivate about new not new stuff, then we also have the right too.

Looking forward to the new not new features.

 

[Toki767]

Well, if the iPhone crowd can salivate about new not new stuff, then we also have the right too.

Looking forward to the new not new features.

Ignorance is bliss and all that. It's good to be excited for those features, but I was just commenting on how faster updates for Nexus/Moto X phones really aren't as important as they were or would have been 3 or 4 years ago.

A bunch of features Android L brings, phones that are currently out now or even will be out this year are not going to be able to take advantage of.

 

[gcubed]

Everything gets improved on. The point still stands though.

i think i'm missing the point then.

Its new stuff. If all you want is updated app's, then go ahead and get them on the store. But again, if you are using touchwiz you wouldn't see many of the underlying changes anyway since they get washed away.

And your point is completely moot if you are talking about ROMs, as it will take just as long as it takes a manufacturer to release a L based image for the ROM community to have anything worth a damn to install on your phone. Well, that is, if you want to actually use your phone reliably.

 

[Antiwhippy]

All I need from L is improved battery life.

 

[PaulLFC]

All I need from L is improved battery life.

I can't wait for Sony to release their version of it purely to see updated benchmarks for the Z3 and Z3 Compact. Should be incredible.

 

[popeutlal]

Rumoured pics of the better Moto X (Droid Maxx) http://www.droid-life.com/2014/09/23/droid-turbo-back-panel-leak/

3gb ram? Hmm

 

[Jazzy Network]

God that looks hideous.

 

[popeutlal]

God that looks hideous.

But at least now you can actually turn the screen on without worrying about the battery life.

 

[osiris3355]

Ignorance is bliss and all that. It's good to be excited for those features, but I was just commenting on how faster updates for Nexus/Moto X phones really aren't as important as they were or would have been 3 or 4 years ago.

A bunch of features Android L brings, phones that are currently out now or even will be out this year are not going to be able to take advantage of.

I'm excited for the beautiful material design that will be consistent throughout the ui and my apps. Something no android phones will have except the Moto X and Nexus phones.

Yes there are less ground breaking features that arent just performance improvements but I will gladly take a release that improves the ui and increases performance/battery life over any update that is just filled with features.

This is the ios 7 release for android minus missing so many basic features.

 

[Toki767]

So that's what happens when everyone ditches plastic but still refuses to use aluminum or other higher end materials.

 

[soundahfekz]

Rumoured pics of the better Moto X (Droid Maxx) http://www.droid-life.com/2014/09/23/droid-turbo-back-panel-leak/

3gb ram? Hmm

2011 called and they want their shitty phone designs back

good god

 

[NaM]

so 5.9 it is then...

 

[Fox318]

Am I the only person who see's Moto's lineup and is disgusted by it?

They can do better.

Not including the G

 

[Toki767]

so 5.9 it is then...

The Moto G is bigger than the Moto X? Seems like the image on the right could be 5.5".

 

[VanWinkle]

First impressions of my new G3: It's amazing. The screen size and quality blew me away, especially seeing how little the face of the phone is compared to the size of the screen. Camera seems incredible, interface is fluid and feature-filled, and the build quality is comfy and reassuring, while being incredibly sleek. It may take time to find the flaws, but so far it's incredible.

For reference, I'm coming from the Verizon Galaxy Nexus.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Price, fast updates. Sorry, I meant PRICE.

Well they cut out minor things like the battery, the camera, and an SD card slot to hit that price. I don't replace my phone every 6 months so I need hardware I can actually fathom using.

 

[Fox318]

First impressions of my new G3: It's amazing. The screen size and quality blew me away, especially seeing how little the face of the phone is compared to the size of the screen. Camera seems incredible, interface is fluid and feature-filled, and the build quality is comfy and reassuring, while being incredibly sleek. It may take time to find the flaws, but so far it's incredible.

For reference, I'm coming from the Verizon Galaxy Nexus.

I made the same move.

Its a great phone.

Make sure to get a wireless charging back/sticker.

 

[thenexus6]

My Nexus 5 has been acting up recently , nothing major just very noticeable slow down when going to home screen or app drawer..

 

[Zombie James]

so 5.9 it is then...

Fore fuck's sake, my e-reader has a 6" screen.

 

[NotBacon]

ART runtime is in Kit Kat, you just have to enable it yourself.

Bluetooth 4.1 is in the Note 4 already, though it's obviously chip dependent.

The others are pretty dependent on the CPU/GPU being used so it's not like the new Nexus is going to make use of something like the 64-bit OS unless it uses the Snapdragon 810 upon release.

Really the only super new things only possible on Android L seem to be the new multitasking view and the new APIs for Project Volta.

And I guess the smartwatch stuff if you care about that.

The ART build in KK is almost a year older than the build being released in L. To put that in perspective: when I'm writing code, a build I do in the afternoon can have massive improvements over a build I just did in the morning. So.........

Also a lot of things are going to be native and polished, instead of hackily done by 3rd parties.

L is a pretty big update......

I can't wait for Sony to release their version of it purely to see updated benchmarks for the Z3 and Z3 Compact. Should be incredible.

Imagine the Z3 on L.

 

[Toki767]

Also a lot of things are going to be native and polished, instead of hackily done by 3rd parties.

Sorry but that made me laugh. As much as I like Android, this is Google we're talking about.

 

[soundahfekz]

The ART build in KK is almost a year older than the build being released in L. To put that in perspective: when I'm writing code, a build I do in the afternoon can have massive improvements over a build I just did in the morning. So.........

Also a lot of things are going to be native and polished, instead of hackily done by 3rd parties.

L is a pretty big update......



Imagine the Z3 on L.

Z3 on L might do it for me. I need to get hands on though to see if I'd like it or not and there's nowhere to do so!

 

[Maiar_m]

Well they cut out minor things like the battery, the camera, and an SD card slot to hit that price. I don't replace my phone every 6 months so I need hardware I can actually fathom using.

SD cards aren't a deal breaker for everyone. I couldn't care less. As for battery life, when the N4 and N5 got out, they had average battery life. Yes, average, not last in class, not kill-me-now battery life. Is it good enough? I personally don't think it is, but if that's where corners had to be cut to make great smart phones (fantastic screen and performance) reasonably priced, I think it is more than fair, don't you?

 

[Bboy AJ]

Google made a trivia app that uses material design. "Topeka" - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chromecordova.Topeka

 

[Toki767]

Google made a trivia app that uses material design. "Topeka" - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chromecordova.Topeka

Why are they called Chrome Apps for Mobile?

 

[cuevas. PhD.]

Just that fake Verizon leak all the news we have about the moto x?

 

[SimleuqiR]

Why are they called Chrome Apps for Mobile?

They are not "native". I believe they are running oh mostly HTML5.

 

[manfestival]

I just caved and bought the moto g through amazon because well... dat amazon prime 1 day shipping for 4 dollars. Here is to hoping that its as much of an improvement as I want to believe it is. My heart desires for a close to experience as that I had with my htc one m7. Now that I wiped the m7... time to sell it to usell.com or something like that and collect that 44 dollars

 

[NotBacon]

Why are they called Chrome Apps for Mobile?

Probably because they have a lot more leeway(in terms of implementing MD) when writing an html5 app than a native one, considering the L APIs aren't live yet.

 

[reKon]

I just caved and bought the moto g through amazon because well... dat amazon prime 1 day shipping for 4 dollars. Here is to hoping that its as much of an improvement as I want to believe it is. My heart desires for a close to experience as that I had with my htc one m7. Now that I wiped the m7... time to sell it to usell.com or something like that and collect that 44 dollars

1) The HTC One M7 is a better performer than the Moto G

2) Use swappa.com to sell your device

 

[jokkir]

Why are they called Chrome Apps for Mobile?

It's a Chrome web app that's been ported to mobile. I believe it's a HTML wrapper like what SimleuqiR says.

They are not "native". I believe they are running oh mostly HTML5.

They're using Web Components and Polymer but yeah, a lot of HTML5 in there using Shadow Dom, Templates, HTML imports and whatnot

Probably because they have a lot more leeway(in terms of implementing MD) when writing an html5 app than a native one, considering the L APIs aren't live yet.

"Material Design" isn't exclusive to L. They said in their I/O keynote that they're looking to expand their design philosophies into any screen size and that includes the web.on desktop, web on mobile, etc. This is one of their projects that show this.

Actually, this was made a while ago around I/O to show off what Web Components and what Polymer can do but was only available as a web app. If you don't know Web Components and Polymer, it's an attempt to componentize the web so it's easier to import certain HTML tags and then use it right away with ease. Instead of a 20 line code that calls Google Maps, you can just write <google-maps></google-maps>.

And yeah, Google made a lot of Material Design related components available to web developers so you can make something like <paper-button></paper-button> that will easily make your button have the ripple effect instead of playing around with Javascript and whatever was used to make it happen.

Anyway, more on Polymer here:
http://www.polymer-project.org/

and the first Topeka app:
http://www.polymer-project.org/apps/topeka/

I've been playing around with Polymer and actually making a website with it now and it seems to be quite nice so far.

 

[mrklaw]

That Z3 comoact ultra stamina mode is great. It is a shame you lose the web browser, but it'll still let you send and receive calls and texts, which is what you really don't want to lose if you're out somewhere away from a charger. The review talking about it kicking in at 40% was a bit silly though. More likely at <20%

Need to check if my wife's M2 has this and set it up for her

 

[NH Apache]

That Z3 comoact ultra stamina mode is great. It is a shame you lose the web browser, but it'll still let you send and receive calls and texts, which is what you really don't want to lose if you're out somewhere away from a charger. The review talking about it kicking in at 40% was a bit silly though. More likely at <20%

Need to check if my wife's M2 has this and set it up for her

Plus camera.

 

[PaulLFC]

Thanks, I'll think it over but I may just keep the z3 preorder. They are both solid phones with monstrous battery either way.

Definitely. If you're happy with 5"+ phones then I'd say go for the Z3. It looked and felt like a brilliant phone in the few minutes I got to try it out. I love the design. Wasn't sure if the non-curved back would impact comfort and I didn't really get time to test that, but the rounded sides should help.

Either of the two will be a fantastic phone.

Imagine the Z3 on L.

Having seen the benchmarks for the battery life it gets already, I'm amazed just at the thought.

I looked at my Nexus 4's result - 32! Up until now I thought that was "quite good" since I charged it at work during the day so it'd last me all of my free time outside work. How wrong I was! Z3 is going to feel like a revelation compared to this.

 

[NotBacon]

"Material Design" isn't exclusive to L. They said in their I/O keynote that they're looking to expand their design philosophies into any screen size and that includes the web.on desktop, web on mobile, etc. This is one of their projects that show this.

Actually, this was made a while ago around I/O to show off what Web Components and what Polymer can do but was only available as a web app. If you don't know Web Components and Polymer, it's an attempt to componentize the web so it's easier to import certain HTML tags and then use it right away with ease. Instead of a 20 line code that calls Google Maps, you can just write <google-maps></google-maps>.

And yeah, Google made a lot of Material Design related components available to web developers so you can make something like <paper-button></paper-button> that will easily make your button have the ripple effect instead of playing around with Javascript and whatever was used to make it happen.

Anyway, more on Polymer here:
http://www.polymer-project.org/

and the first Topeka app:
http://www.polymer-project.org/apps/topeka/

I've been playing around with Polymer and actually making a website with it now and it seems to be quite nice so far.

Yeah that's kinda what I'm saying. But if someone is wondering why the Topeka app isn't native, it's because the APIs just aren't there yet.

 

[manfestival]

1) The HTC One M7 is a better performer than the Moto G

2) Use swappa.com to sell your device

I am aware the m7 is a better performer. People compare the g to the nexus 4 and the htc one m7 is a much better phone from my experience. however, the phone is damaged

 

[NaM]

The Moto G is bigger than the Moto X? Seems like the image on the right could be 5.5".

Yes.

Shamu is supposed to be 5.9", Idk but if the next nexus phone is is bigger than 5.2 I'm out.

 

[Talon]

Yes.

Shamu is supposed to be 5.9", Idk but if the next nexus phone is is bigger than 5.2 I'm out.

Is Shamu the codename, or are we just being jocular?

 

[Vanillalite]

Is Shamu the codename, or are we just being jocular?

 

[WhiskerFrisker]

Is Shamu the codename, or are we just being jocular?

"The truth can be adjusted"