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[Commodore]

I understand, I just hate to pay for the subsidy built into the plan AND pay for a phone. Needs to be one or the other for me, so T-Mobile might get my money when my contract is up (if the phones dont suck)

I get that. I've been really impressed lately with what TMo is doing with their plans and seeing it already starting to filter out to AT&T now makes me a tad bit hopeful. Only barely though. I was thinking the same thing about switching to T-Mo but they rarely have the best phones or aren't usually the ones that snag the big exclusive agreements to get a big hero device. So I'm glad I at least have an option here with upgrading at the year mark on AT&T, plus keeping access to their usual better phone selection. We'll see though, reading into the press release, looks like I'll still have to wait till my next upgrade window to initiate the NEXT program. So no 1020 for me looks like.

With AT&T Next, customers purchase a smartphone or tablet with no down payment and agree to pay monthly installments for the device. After 12 payments, they can trade it in and upgrade to a brand new device — again with no down payment — or they can keep using their device and have no more payments after 20 months. AT&T Next is available for new AT&T customers or existing customers who are upgrade eligible.

The other question I had was whether I can sell my phone myself and pocket $200 or so for a used phone, or if I had to trade it in with AT&T instead.

 

[dLMN8R]

What makes you think that the Android and iOS teams are smaller than Windows Phone?

BB10 isn't going to start selling better because it has a 1080p phone. And I highly doubt it'll run that well either, unless it has significantly faster hardware in it, which is more expensive, which people won't want to spend since it's BlackBerry, which means BlackBerry will have slim profits on it. Windows Phone not supporting 1080p yet isn't necessarily reflective of the volume of the work the team can do, but merely indicative of what the team thinks needs to be prioritized first. And the huge push on 512MB lower-end phones for WP8 instead of just pushing for the fastest specs that fewer people care about are apparently paying off.


I don't know what the Windows Phone schedule is, or what features they're planning, but if I had to guess, they probably determined some pretty simple arithmetic in scheduling. Perhaps they estimated that they can get ~50% more done, and release during a quieter time of the tech cycle than holiday 2013, if they just extend the development cycle an extra 25%. And they can update WP8 with a GDR sooner to tackle things like 1080p for larger phones.

 

[Troll]

Lastflowers needs to be careful in that Kinect thread...

 

[lastflowers]

I know you guys are working hard and as fast as you can but doesn't it get discouraging to know that the platform is behind the others at the moment? I mean Blackberry, freakin' Blackberry is going to have better hardware and they're the most inept tech company around.

Why do you think I'm still at work at 11pm .

I don't work on any of the hardware teams, but of course it'd be better to support every SOC and every awesome or weird resolution. There's something to be said for only making your own devices, as there is a much easier hardware set to target. There's also something to be said for Google's approach, where they kind of let things fly. I don't know whether their engineers work on different SOC and resolution support, but it looks like a lot of that work is done by the OEMs and not Goog (pure guesses, could just be bullshit). We help with a lot of the SOC work, and as a result have provided a much more secure and consistent environment for multiple different OEMs.

I'd rather have a solid experience than talk about my CPU. I used to be in that boat during my android obsessed college years--and of course I lust after certain aspects of hardware: screen, camera, color, design, etc.

Keep criticizing, because nobody can work quick enough--especially in this industry. People around here have this feeling that this next release is very similar to mango.

Lastflowers needs to be careful in that Kinect thread...

oh boy, what'd I do now

 

[The Faceless Master]

Don't get angry at me for saying this, but I got a galaxy tab 2 for my birthday (months later, lol) and I can't even imagine having that OS on a phone - it's just so inconsistent, I can't make it look any good.

The tablet is nice though

my condolences.

the Galaxy Tab 2 line is severely underpowered, literally 2011 hardware rebadged in a 2012 product lineup.

 

[Troll]

You didn't do anything, yet. I just remember a recent week long ban courtesy of the gaming side from what started as friendly banter

 

[lastflowers]

You didn't do anything, yet. I just remember a recent week long ban courtesy of the gaming side from what started as friendly banter

very true. Goes to show you what the mods think about someone eating crow!

Spoiler

don't ban me bish

 

[Unknown Soldier]

What makes you think that the Android and iOS teams are smaller than Windows Phone?

iOS is well known for having a design team no larger than a dozen people or so. The actual number of programmers is probably larger but certainly not dramatically large.

Google's Android team is only a few hundred people. This is also pretty well known. For their size, the Android team gets a lot done.

 

[lastflowers]

iOS is well known for having a design team no larger than a dozen people or so. The actual number of programmers is probably larger but certainly not dramatically large.

Google's Android team is only a few hundred people. This is also pretty well known. For their size, the Android team gets a lot done.

uhhh,yeah.

 

[MCD]

MS is always late because they want to use Android leftovers.

 

[Fjolle]

How the hell is Blackberry getting a 1080p phone before WP8? What the hell are those guys doing up there in Redmond/

I haven't been on top of the news the last week. Is Blackberry making a 1080p phone?

All i can find is that the leaked specs of some upcoming phone is totally not including 1080p.

 

[JaggedSac]

The 1020 is up for preorder: http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/devices/nokia/lumia-1020-matte-yellow.html#fbid=ez59MStIX3K

Not sure if I am lttp on this.

 

[VanMardigan]

The white is matte as well? Did not know that. I will check them out in person at the store.

 

[hwalker84]

I haven't been on top of the news the last week. Is Blackberry making a 1080p phone?

All i can find is that the leaked specs of some upcoming phone is totally not including 1080p.

Yeah I believe their upcoming 5 inch phone is 1080p.

 

[hadareud]

Not according to the "leaked" specs

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone...-appear-in-leaked-top-secret-document-1166111

 

[brotkasten]

My Galaxy Nexus fell down and the glass in the lower right corner cracked. It still works fine, though. Aside from running that piece of junk OS, of course.

Buying new glass for the GN: 19 bucks
Buying a Lumia 920: 300-340 bucks

This is a really tough decision for me.

 

[hwalker84]

The 1020 is up for preorder: http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/devices/nokia/lumia-1020-matte-yellow.html#fbid=ez59MStIX3K

Not sure if I am lttp on this.

Hurry up Microsoft store. I want to see the best deals.

 

[hadareud]

My Galaxy Nexus fell down and the glass in the lower right corner cracked. It still works fine, though. Aside from running that piece of junk OS, of course.

Buying new glass for the GN: 19 bucks
Buying a Lumia 920: 300-340 bucks

This is a really tough decision for me.

You know the time has come to jump back in.

 

[Lucius86]

Who here has made apps for Windows Phone? I've followed some basic guides on MSDN, got my settings working but kinda stuck now in doing what I want to get done next.

 

[scently]

Why do you think I'm still at work at 11pm .

I don't work on any of the hardware teams, but of course it'd be better to support every SOC and every awesome or weird resolution. There's something to be said for only making your own devices, as there is a much easier hardware set to target. There's also something to be said for Google's approach, where they kind of let things fly. I don't know whether their engineers work on different SOC and resolution support, but it looks like a lot of that work is done by the OEMs and not Goog (pure guesses, could just be bullshit). We help with a lot of the SOC work, and as a result have provided a much more secure and consistent environment for multiple different OEMs.

I'd rather have a solid experience than talk about my CPU. I used to be in that boat during my android obsessed college years--and of course I lust after certain aspects of hardware: screen, camera, color, design, etc.

Keep criticizing, because nobody can work quick enough--especially in this industry. People around here have this feeling that this next release is very similar to mango.




oh boy, what'd I do now

I wouldn't claim to be an authority on this but I feel that while a quad core processor is not explicitly necessary, I would argue that if you are going to for 1080p screen then you have to include a quad core cpu, and a capable gpu for that matter. Also, while the jump from 720p to 1080p is less noticeable than the jump from 480p to 720p, having seen the GSIV, its quite a sight to behold compared to the GSIII.

 

[MCD]

I love my 920 but I ain't buying one with 925 next to it in the store.

 

[brotkasten]

I love my 920 but I ain't buying one with 925 next to it in the store.

Online price for a new Lumia 925: 509 bucks
Online price for a new Lumia 920: 319 bucks in black and 339 for the other colors

For essentially the same phone. Yeah.

The inclusion of wireless charging is also a plus for me, even though the Qi standard is pretty much dead (cost wasn't the only reason why Nokia dropped it for the 925 and 1020).

 

[VanMardigan]

My Galaxy Nexus fell down and the glass in the lower right corner cracked. It still works fine, though. Aside from running that piece of junk OS, of course.

Buying new glass for the GN: 19 bucks
Buying a Lumia 920: 300-340 bucks

This is a really tough decision for me.

I thought the GN was amoled? How are you getting the screen for so cheap?

 

[The Faceless Master]

I thought the GN was amoled? How are you getting the screen for so cheap?

if it's just the outer glass broken and not the panel under, you can replace just the glass on some handsets... it's trickier than replacing the entire display unit though...

 

[PG2G]

I don't know what the Windows Phone schedule is, or what features they're planning, but if I had to guess, they probably determined some pretty simple arithmetic in scheduling. Perhaps they estimated that they can get ~50% more done, and release during a quieter time of the tech cycle than holiday 2013, if they just extend the development cycle an extra 25%. And they can update WP8 with a GDR sooner to tackle things like 1080p for larger phones.

I always thought releasing in the holidays was silly because the next gen SoC tend to come out early Spring. They'd pretty much always be stuck with ~8 month old hardware at release. A move to early Spring could potentially put them on the same hardware cycle as the major Android vendors.

 

[VanMardigan]

if it's just the outer glass broken and not the panel under, you can replace just the glass on some handsets... it's trickier than replacing the entire display unit though...

Ah, ok.

The inclusion of wireless charging is also a plus for me, even though the Qi standard is pretty much dead (cost wasn't the only reason why Nokia dropped it for the 925 and 1020).

I haven't been following the wireless charging standards war, who's winning? Qi is the only one I've ever heard of in terms of shipping in phones (N4, Lumia line).

 

[brotkasten]

I thought the GN was amoled? How are you getting the screen for so cheap?

It's just the glass that's broken. The panel beneath is fine.

if it's just the outer glass broken and not the panel under, you can replace just the glass on some handsets... it's trickier than replacing the entire display unit though...

The display and glass are fused together, so it's not really easy to replace. But the glass and LCD would cost me about 170 bucks and that's not really worth it, imo.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Repairability Score: 6 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

• Battery replacement is incredibly simple thanks to the removable rear panel.
  
• Minimal adhesive makes removal of the motherboard and other components a snap.
  
• Headphone jack and speaker assembly are not soldered to the motherboard, so replacement is easy.
  
• The only soldered components are the volume switch and vibrator motor.
  
• Removing the rear case to access the motherboard and other internals requires a lot of careful prying and guitar-picking.
  
• The glass is fused to both the display and the display frame. So don't crack the glass unless you're good with a heat gun, or you're fond of replacing the glass, display, and frame together ($$$).

 

[The Faceless Master]

It's just the glass that's broken. The panel beneath is fine.

The display and glass are fused together, so it's not really easy to replace. But the glass and LCD would cost me about 170 bucks and that's not really worth it, imo.

oh i know about the difficulty level of doing just the glass relative to replacing the entire panel, i've watched Youtube videos!

 

[hwalker84]

I haven't been following the wireless charging standards war, who's winning? Qi is the only one I've ever heard of in terms of shipping in phones (N4, Lumia line).

I haven't much either but it would seem Qi is winning and also losing. What I mean is it seems to be the standard but is getting removed and being placed into accessories.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

Hurry up Microsoft store. I want to see the best deals.

For what it's worth, the Microsoft Store had the worst deal at launch for the 920. As in, no deal. No free charging plate, no free headphones, and $100 up front instead of $50 like some other places. The only thing the MS Store had going for it was that the phones were actually in stock.

 

[hwalker84]

For what it's worth, the Microsoft Store had the worst deal at launch for the 920. As in, no deal. No free charging plate, no free headphones, and $100 up front instead of $50 like some other places. The only thing the MS Store had going for it was that the phones were actually in stock.

It clearly states free camera holder with purchase and new 2yr agreement. I want to see if i buy it flat out from MS store that I can get the same deal. ATT isn't offering anything.

 

[hadareud]

Would be a shame if Qi lost out/Nokia wouldn't build it into their next flagship.

I've a wireless pillow at work and a charging plate at home and that's all I use to charge my phone. I really like the convenience of it and would like to keep it that way.

Was thinking of buying the car charger too if it's on sale here at some stage.

 

[hwalker84]

Would be a shame if Qi lost out/Nokia wouldn't build it into their next flagship.

I've a wireless pillow at work and a charging plate at home and that's all I use to charge my phone. I really like the convenience of it and would like to keep it that way.

Was thinking of buying the car charger too if it's on sale here at some stage.

It doesn't seem like they lost as its made it to airports, coffee shops, etc. What seems to be the problem is footprint inside of a device. I just plan on buying some of those covers for the 1020 and having them in places i need wireless charging.

 

[hadareud]

Would be nice if they could miniaturise the coil, though I obviously haven't the slightest clue whether that's possible.

 

[brotkasten]

Qi is not going to die overnight, but it's like hwalker84 said. They're neither winning nor losing. The Wireless Power Consortium (Qi) has strong supporters (lots of OEMs), but the new Power Matters Alliance, founded last year by Procter and Gamble and Powermat, also has the FCC, Energy Star, AT&T, Starbucks, Broadcomm (imagine having the charging controller inside the WiFi + BT controller) and pretty much all relevant phone OEMs (including the ones who support Qi), like HTC, Samsung, LG, ZTE, Huawei.

I hope it's not going to end in a US vs Europe/rest of the world situation, like with GSM and CDMA.

 

[antiquegamer]

if it's just the outer glass broken and not the panel under, you can replace just the glass on some handsets... it's trickier than replacing the entire display unit though...

Yeah, my son drop his 820 last week and crack the glass (that thing is really build like crap, I am moving him on to my 920 when I get 1020). I bought the glass for $40.00 but then realize that without the frame it would be pain to remove all the broken glass. I ended up paying a shop to fix it for $60.00. If I have know I would have just sold it as is instead of fixing it, consider I only paid $150.00 for that phone....

 

[VanMardigan]

Qi is not going to die overnight, but it's like hwalker84 said. They're neither winning nor losing. The Wireless Power Consortium (Qi) has strong supporters (lots of OEMs), but the new Power Matters Alliance, founded last year by Procter and Gamble and Powermat, also has the FCC, Energy Star, AT&T, Starbucks, Broadcomm (imagine having the charging controller inside the WiFi + BT controller) and pretty much all relevant phone OEMs (including the ones who support Qi), like HTC, Samsung, LG, ZTE, Huawei.

I hope it's not going to end in a US vs Europe/rest of the world situation, like with GSM and CDMA.

But what devices use the PMA standard? The few devices I've heard of with wireless charging all use Qi.

Edit:

Also, the official Aviary photo editing app is out and its FREE for a limited time. And guys, it's pretty frickin awesome. I've been using Fotor and Fhotoroom and this one has better filters imo. Only problem is I can't find frames, so I use one of the other two editors to add a frame after I've edited the pic on Aviary.

 

[lastflowers]

Who here has made apps for Windows Phone? I've followed some basic guides on MSDN, got my settings working but kinda stuck now in doing what I want to get done next.

what do you need to get done?

 

[hadareud]

So the iphone 5s apparently has the same resolution as the 5?

Dual core A6 too.

If only Microsoft could match Apple's pace.

 

[hwalker84]

So the iphone 5s apparently has the same resolution as the 5?

Dual core A6 too.

If only Microsoft could match Apple's pace.

Clock bump and significant GPU bump. Now that Apple is going to support NFC watch all the fanboys say Apple invented it.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

I don't need 1080p, but I would like a bump in processing for games. Also reliable notifications. Facebook notifications really work.

 

[dLMN8R]

iOS is well known for having a design team no larger than a dozen people or so. The actual number of programmers is probably larger but certainly not dramatically large.

You are seriously misinformed if you think that any operating system can be created by "a dozen people" or "not dramatically larger" than that. Apple has 80,000 employees worldwide. Easily thousands of them are working on iOS.

Google's Android team is only a few hundred people. This is also pretty well known. For their size, the Android team gets a lot done.

Android had hundreds and hundreds of people working on it years ago. Today it's undoubtedly much larger than that. But I wouldn't exactly say they "get a lot done". Most of the work is done by manufacturers like Samsung building new features on top of it.

Android couldn't even handle smoothly-scrolling menus until Jelly Bean. And it's been a year since Jelly Bean's release with no hint of anything coming next.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Johnny does it all for Apple and Google has Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.

 

[VanMardigan]

Clock bump and significant GPU bump. Now that Apple is going to support NFC watch all the fanboys say Apple invented it.

But didn't that Apple dude diss NFC at the Apple conference when he demoed the airshare feature?

 

[hwalker84]

But didn't that Apple dude diss NFC at the Apple conference when he demoed the airshare feature?

Yep.

 

[VanMardigan]

The iPhone 3GS was the first smartphone that I LOVED. It was the greatest device I'd ever used at the time. Pure magic, and I'm the farthest thing from an Apple fanboy and I don't usually describe electronics that way. Still, if I hadn't abandoned the iPhone for the Nexus One 3 years ago, and eventually abandoned Android for Windows Phone, I'd be frustrated as heck at the pace of hardware and software innovation at Apple. Maybe iOS 8 and the iPhone 6 will provide the spark that's been missing for years at the phone division. I like what they're trying to do with iOS7, but they need to go even farther.

 

[brotkasten]

But didn't that Apple dude diss NFC at the Apple conference when he demoed the airshare feature?

Yes, but Apple always shits on everything they don't have/support, until they do. What else is new?

So the iphone 5s apparently has the same resolution as the 5?

Dual core A6 too.

If only Microsoft could match Apple's pace.

The difference is that they always have one of the fastest SoCs on the market, be it on the CPU or on the GPU side. That's why spec bullshitting still matters, even when you mention Apple.

Compare the iPhone 5 with the One X (S4/Adreno 225) and you'll see where all of the currently available Windows Phones stand against the competition.

I tried not to pick any too theoretical benchmarks, like fillrate tests.

Why Nokia didn't pick the S4 Pro for the 920 is a bit baffling. And no, the Chinese 920T does not count. There are probably more KIN owners than Lumia 920T owners on this planet.

 

[lastflowers]

The difference is that they always have one of the fastest SoCs on the market, be it on the CPU or on the GPU side. That's why spec bullshitting still matters, even when you mention Apple.

Apple definitely puts a lot of their effort in the SOCs

 

[VanMardigan]

It's weird that you quoted my NFC comment when talking about SOC's, lol.

 

[brotkasten]

It's weird that you quoted my NFC comment when talking about SOC's, lol.

I edited my post a second ago. I simply forgot to respond to it.