Business opportunity

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Business opportunity

Douglas Roberts-2
Seriously.  If I were one of those Chinese or Korean quick turn-around phone manufactures I'd jump all over this.  What do you suppose the set up time for a new product line is for one of those factories?


I've seen quite a few hits from China, but didn't check to see if they were from any of these guys:



--Doug

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505-455-7333 - Office
505-672-8213 - Mobile

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Re: Business opportunity

Douglas Roberts-2
BTW, the English translation of that first micgadget article is a little amusing, but the gist of it is that the knock-off market is a fast growing one. This bit in particular was interesting:

"Surprisingly, Meizu, the company who well-known for copying Apple iPhone, has gained a higher market share then the big Lenovo. "


On Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 10:01 AM, Douglas Roberts <[hidden email]> wrote:
Seriously.  If I were one of those Chinese or Korean quick turn-around phone manufactures I'd jump all over this.  What do you suppose the set up time for a new product line is for one of those factories?


I've seen quite a few hits from China, but didn't check to see if they were from any of these guys:



--Doug

--
Doug Roberts
[hidden email]

<a href="tel:505-455-7333" value="+15054557333" target="_blank">505-455-7333 - Office
<a href="tel:505-672-8213" value="+15056728213" target="_blank">505-672-8213 - Mobile



--
Doug Roberts
[hidden email]

505-455-7333 - Office
505-672-8213 - Mobile

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Re: Business opportunity

Owen Densmore
Administrator
In reply to this post by Douglas Roberts-2
I don't want to be flame bait (oh well, maybe i do) .. I posted this on your blog post:

I'm surprised anyone buys android phones at all. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place: If they buy from Google they have your well articulated problems. 

But if they get another handset mfgrs phone, they get no updates .. as far as I know most give you the vanilla android+their device's drivers with little to no upgrades over time.

cyanogenmod? Er.. sorta proves the point!


-- Owen


On Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 11:01 AM, Douglas Roberts <[hidden email]> wrote:
Seriously.  If I were one of those Chinese or Korean quick turn-around phone manufactures I'd jump all over this.  What do you suppose the set up time for a new product line is for one of those factories?


I've seen quite a few hits from China, but didn't check to see if they were from any of these guys:



--Doug

--
Doug Roberts
[hidden email]

<a href="tel:505-455-7333" value="+15054557333" target="_blank">505-455-7333 - Office
<a href="tel:505-672-8213" value="+15056728213" target="_blank">505-672-8213 - Mobile

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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Re: Business opportunity

Russell Standish
On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 10:34:39AM -0700, Owen Densmore wrote:

> I don't want to be flame bait (oh well, maybe i do) .. I posted this on
> your blog post:
>
> I'm surprised anyone buys android phones at all. They're stuck between a
> rock and a hard place: If they buy from Google they have your well
> articulated problems.
>
> But if they get another handset mfgrs phone, they get no updates .. as far
> as I know most give you the vanilla android+their device's drivers with
> little to no upgrades over time.
>
> cyanogenmod? Er.. sorta proves the point!
>
>

Updates is not the only reason to buy a phone. I went Android
(upgrading from Symbian), precisely because of the iOS lockdown
prevents me from using a couple of critical features on iPhone (namely
USB Mass store, and USB modem - aka tethering).

Yes, it would be nice to have had some updates to Android (I'm on 1.6
(donut?)), but its not the end of the world, as the phone basically
does everything I need of it.

Cheers

--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Professor of Mathematics      [hidden email]
University of New South Wales          http://www.hpcoders.com.au
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Re: Business opportunity

Douglas Roberts-2

Android 1.6?

Let me guess: you're also one of those running an ASCII email client, as well. I believe I see a pattern.

(Message sent from my rooted, cyanogen modded Android 4.2.2 work-in-progress gorilla glass excuse for a phone).

On Feb 16, 2013 9:35 PM, "Russell Standish" <[hidden email]> wrote:
On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 10:34:39AM -0700, Owen Densmore wrote:
> I don't want to be flame bait (oh well, maybe i do) .. I posted this on
> your blog post:
>
> I'm surprised anyone buys android phones at all. They're stuck between a
> rock and a hard place: If they buy from Google they have your well
> articulated problems.
>
> But if they get another handset mfgrs phone, they get no updates .. as far
> as I know most give you the vanilla android+their device's drivers with
> little to no upgrades over time.
>
> cyanogenmod? Er.. sorta proves the point!
>
>

Updates is not the only reason to buy a phone. I went Android
(upgrading from Symbian), precisely because of the iOS lockdown
prevents me from using a couple of critical features on iPhone (namely
USB Mass store, and USB modem - aka tethering).

Yes, it would be nice to have had some updates to Android (I'm on 1.6
(donut?)), but its not the end of the world, as the phone basically
does everything I need of it.

Cheers

--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Professor of Mathematics      [hidden email]
University of New South Wales          http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

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Re: Business opportunity

Russell Standish
The phone is just a touch over two years old. Even though my contract
has expired, and the phone company has offered an upgrade, its only on
the proviso that I change plans, which would see me losing roaming (a
big deal in a country where mobile coverage it pretty ratshit out of
the big cities). Upgrading the phone would also see me putting the old
phone back in the drawer, not to be used again, as the SIM has changed
format, for the first time in my mobile phone history.

My experience has been so far that every phone upgrade has seen the
loss of as much functionality as new functionality gained. At each
generation, its a different set of functionality I have to do without,
or find alternative ways of meeting the need.

As I said - my phone does everything I need of it right now. At some
point upgrading will become compelling - hopefully that happens before
the phone dies physically.

Cheers

On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 09:48:53PM -0700, Douglas Roberts wrote:

> Android 1.6?
>
> Let me guess: you're also one of those running an ASCII email client, as
> well. I believe I see a pattern.
>
> (Message sent from my rooted, cyanogen modded Android 4.2.2
> work-in-progress gorilla glass excuse for a phone).
> On Feb 16, 2013 9:35 PM, "Russell Standish" <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> > On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 10:34:39AM -0700, Owen Densmore wrote:
> > > I don't want to be flame bait (oh well, maybe i do) .. I posted this on
> > > your blog post:
> > >
> > > I'm surprised anyone buys android phones at all. They're stuck between a
> > > rock and a hard place: If they buy from Google they have your well
> > > articulated problems.
> > >
> > > But if they get another handset mfgrs phone, they get no updates .. as
> > far
> > > as I know most give you the vanilla android+their device's drivers with
> > > little to no upgrades over time.
> > >
> > > cyanogenmod? Er.. sorta proves the point!
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Updates is not the only reason to buy a phone. I went Android
> > (upgrading from Symbian), precisely because of the iOS lockdown
> > prevents me from using a couple of critical features on iPhone (namely
> > USB Mass store, and USB modem - aka tethering).
> >
> > Yes, it would be nice to have had some updates to Android (I'm on 1.6
> > (donut?)), but its not the end of the world, as the phone basically
> > does everything I need of it.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
> > Principal, High Performance Coders
> > Visiting Professor of Mathematics      [hidden email]
> > University of New South Wales          http://www.hpcoders.com.au
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > ============================================================
> > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> >

> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com


--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Professor of Mathematics      [hidden email]
University of New South Wales          http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: Business opportunity

Douglas Roberts-2

That is why an unlocked phone can be to your advantage.

On Feb 16, 2013 10:06 PM, "Russell Standish" <[hidden email]> wrote:
The phone is just a touch over two years old. Even though my contract
has expired, and the phone company has offered an upgrade, its only on
the proviso that I change plans, which would see me losing roaming (a
big deal in a country where mobile coverage it pretty ratshit out of
the big cities). Upgrading the phone would also see me putting the old
phone back in the drawer, not to be used again, as the SIM has changed
format, for the first time in my mobile phone history.

My experience has been so far that every phone upgrade has seen the
loss of as much functionality as new functionality gained. At each
generation, its a different set of functionality I have to do without,
or find alternative ways of meeting the need.

As I said - my phone does everything I need of it right now. At some
point upgrading will become compelling - hopefully that happens before
the phone dies physically.

Cheers

On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 09:48:53PM -0700, Douglas Roberts wrote:
> Android 1.6?
>
> Let me guess: you're also one of those running an ASCII email client, as
> well. I believe I see a pattern.
>
> (Message sent from my rooted, cyanogen modded Android 4.2.2
> work-in-progress gorilla glass excuse for a phone).
> On Feb 16, 2013 9:35 PM, "Russell Standish" <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> > On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 10:34:39AM -0700, Owen Densmore wrote:
> > > I don't want to be flame bait (oh well, maybe i do) .. I posted this on
> > > your blog post:
> > >
> > > I'm surprised anyone buys android phones at all. They're stuck between a
> > > rock and a hard place: If they buy from Google they have your well
> > > articulated problems.
> > >
> > > But if they get another handset mfgrs phone, they get no updates .. as
> > far
> > > as I know most give you the vanilla android+their device's drivers with
> > > little to no upgrades over time.
> > >
> > > cyanogenmod? Er.. sorta proves the point!
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Updates is not the only reason to buy a phone. I went Android
> > (upgrading from Symbian), precisely because of the iOS lockdown
> > prevents me from using a couple of critical features on iPhone (namely
> > USB Mass store, and USB modem - aka tethering).
> >
> > Yes, it would be nice to have had some updates to Android (I'm on 1.6
> > (donut?)), but its not the end of the world, as the phone basically
> > does everything I need of it.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
> > Principal, High Performance Coders
> > Visiting Professor of Mathematics      [hidden email]
> > University of New South Wales          http://www.hpcoders.com.au
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > ============================================================
> > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> >

> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com


--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Professor of Mathematics      [hidden email]
University of New South Wales          http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

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Re: Business opportunity

Bruce Sherwood
I've been very happy with my Galaxy S3 phone. At the time I bought it this summer, my iPhone had removed Google maps, which was a very serious loss. Also, I wanted a phone on which I could try out GlowScript, which required a browser with WebGL, which is not available on an iPhone. These two reasons were sufficient to switch, but as it turns out, I like the way Samsung and Android have structured the phone. There has been one update to Android since I got the phone, from 4.0 to 4.1, not that it matters to me.

Bruce

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Re: Business opportunity

Bruce Sherwood
Oh, for completeness I should say that my iPhone and Galaxy S3 are with AT&T.


On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 11:02 PM, Bruce Sherwood <[hidden email]> wrote:
I've been very happy with my Galaxy S3 phone. At the time I bought it this summer, my iPhone had removed Google maps, which was a very serious loss. Also, I wanted a phone on which I could try out GlowScript, which required a browser with WebGL, which is not available on an iPhone. These two reasons were sufficient to switch, but as it turns out, I like the way Samsung and Android have structured the phone. There has been one update to Android since I got the phone, from 4.0 to 4.1, not that it matters to me.

Bruce


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Re: Business opportunity

Sarbajit Roy (testing)
In reply to this post by Douglas Roberts-2
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/01/25/144204/unlocking-new-mobile-phones-becomes-illegal-in-the-us-tomorrow

On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 10:38 AM, Douglas Roberts <[hidden email]> wrote:

That is why an unlocked phone can be to your advantage.

On Feb 16, 2013 10:06 PM, "Russell Standish" <[hidden email]> wrote:
The phone is just a touch over two years old. Even though my contract
has expired, and the phone company has offered an upgrade, its only on
the proviso that I change plans, which would see me losing roaming (a
big deal in a country where mobile coverage it pretty ratshit out of
the big cities). Upgrading the phone would also see me putting the old
phone back in the drawer, not to be used again, as the SIM has changed
format, for the first time in my mobile phone history.

My experience has been so far that every phone upgrade has seen the
loss of as much functionality as new functionality gained. At each
generation, its a different set of functionality I have to do without,
or find alternative ways of meeting the need.

As I said - my phone does everything I need of it right now. At some
point upgrading will become compelling - hopefully that happens before
the phone dies physically.

Cheers

On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 09:48:53PM -0700, Douglas Roberts wrote:
> Android 1.6?
>
> Let me guess: you're also one of those running an ASCII email client, as
> well. I believe I see a pattern.
>
> (Message sent from my rooted, cyanogen modded Android 4.2.2
> work-in-progress gorilla glass excuse for a phone).
> On Feb 16, 2013 9:35 PM, "Russell Standish" <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> > On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 10:34:39AM -0700, Owen Densmore wrote:
> > > I don't want to be flame bait (oh well, maybe i do) .. I posted this on
> > > your blog post:
> > >
> > > I'm surprised anyone buys android phones at all. They're stuck between a
> > > rock and a hard place: If they buy from Google they have your well
> > > articulated problems.
> > >
> > > But if they get another handset mfgrs phone, they get no updates .. as
> > far
> > > as I know most give you the vanilla android+their device's drivers with
> > > little to no upgrades over time.
> > >
> > > cyanogenmod? Er.. sorta proves the point!
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Updates is not the only reason to buy a phone. I went Android
> > (upgrading from Symbian), precisely because of the iOS lockdown
> > prevents me from using a couple of critical features on iPhone (namely
> > USB Mass store, and USB modem - aka tethering).
> >
> > Yes, it would be nice to have had some updates to Android (I'm on 1.6
> > (donut?)), but its not the end of the world, as the phone basically
> > does everything I need of it.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
> > Principal, High Performance Coders
> > Visiting Professor of Mathematics      [hidden email]
> > University of New South Wales          http://www.hpcoders.com.au
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > ============================================================
> > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> >

> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com


--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Professor of Mathematics      [hidden email]
University of New South Wales          http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com


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Re: Business opportunity

glen ep ropella
In reply to this post by Owen Densmore
Owen Densmore wrote at 02/16/2013 09:34 AM:

> I don't want to be flame bait (oh well, maybe i do) .. I posted this on
> your blog post:
>
>     I'm surprised anyone buys android phones at all. They're stuck
>     between a rock and a hard place: If they buy from Google they have
>     your well articulated problems.
>
>     But if they get another handset mfgrs phone, they get no updates ..
>     as far as I know most give you the vanilla android+their device's
>     drivers with little to no upgrades over time.
>
>     cyanogenmod? Er.. sorta proves the point!

Heh, classic trolling!  I love bait ... you just don't get that tame
domestic flavor from the gamey meat you find in the wild.

I've been quite happy with my Google Nexus, made by Samsung.  And I was
previously satsified, approaching, though not achieving happiness with
my Motorola Droid 2 Global.  I used Verizon stock, Liberty ROM, and
Cyanogenmod on my D2G.  I've used Google stock, Cyanogenmod and AOKP on
my Gnex.

In the process of all this, I've learned quite a bit about linux and
Java, and some tiny bits about odd things like phone radios, wifi, GUI
real estate, lcd and oled displays, etc.  When we were developing our
iPhone app, I learned a tiny bit about the way apple manages/exposes its
development APIs ... and a WHOLE LOT about the fascist control they
wanted to establish/preserve over the iphone market. [grin]

So, I can certainly see why someone would want to buy either the iPhone
or an android phone.  You can learn from either device.

--
glen e. p. ropella, 971-255-2847, http://tempusdictum.com


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Re: Business opportunity

Douglas Roberts-2
Well, in the spirit of continuing to provide Troll bait:



On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:20 PM, glen e. p. ropella <[hidden email]> wrote:
Owen Densmore wrote at 02/16/2013 09:34 AM:
> I don't want to be flame bait (oh well, maybe i do) .. I posted this on
> your blog post:
>
>     I'm surprised anyone buys android phones at all. They're stuck
>     between a rock and a hard place: If they buy from Google they have
>     your well articulated problems.
>
>     But if they get another handset mfgrs phone, they get no updates ..
>     as far as I know most give you the vanilla android+their device's
>     drivers with little to no upgrades over time.
>
>     cyanogenmod? Er.. sorta proves the point!

Heh, classic trolling!  I love bait ... you just don't get that tame
domestic flavor from the gamey meat you find in the wild.

I've been quite happy with my Google Nexus, made by Samsung.  And I was
previously satsified, approaching, though not achieving happiness with
my Motorola Droid 2 Global.  I used Verizon stock, Liberty ROM, and
Cyanogenmod on my D2G.  I've used Google stock, Cyanogenmod and AOKP on
my Gnex.

In the process of all this, I've learned quite a bit about linux and
Java, and some tiny bits about odd things like phone radios, wifi, GUI
real estate, lcd and oled displays, etc.  When we were developing our
iPhone app, I learned a tiny bit about the way apple manages/exposes its
development APIs ... and a WHOLE LOT about the fascist control they
wanted to establish/preserve over the iphone market. [grin]

So, I can certainly see why someone would want to buy either the iPhone
or an android phone.  You can learn from either device.

--
glen e. p. ropella, <a href="tel:971-255-2847" value="+19712552847">971-255-2847, http://tempusdictum.com


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--
Doug Roberts
[hidden email]

505-455-7333 - Office
505-672-8213 - Mobile

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Re: Business opportunity

Owen Densmore
Administrator
In reply to this post by glen ep ropella
On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:20 PM, glen e. p. ropella <[hidden email]> wrote:
Owen Densmore wrote at 02/16/2013 09:34 AM:
<snip> 
I've been quite happy with my Google Nexus, made by Samsung.  And I was
previously satsified, approaching, though not achieving happiness with
my Motorola Droid 2 Global.  I used Verizon stock, Liberty ROM, and
Cyanogenmod on my D2G.  I've used Google stock, Cyanogenmod and AOKP on
my Gnex.

Can you share the details of upgrading android without help from Google?  .. could most customers do this?

Now to be fair, as Bruce sez: I don' need no stinking updates!  But I find that isn't true for myself, and simply observing the android market, most folks lust after the next major release.

And I could be wrong.  When I bought my last phone, I asked around about, for example, Samsung and how well they handle updates.  IIRC the answer was "what updates"?  I.e. there were none.  I could be completely wrong or simply have asked the wrong folks.  But I do recall being told that Cyanogenmod is your friend.
 
In the process of all this, I've learned quite a bit about linux and
Java, and some tiny bits about odd things like phone radios, wifi, GUI
real estate, lcd and oled displays, etc.  When we were developing our
iPhone app, I learned a tiny bit about the way apple manages/exposes its
development APIs ... and a WHOLE LOT about the fascist control they
wanted to establish/preserve over the iphone market. [grin]

That's been my observation: Apple == draconian, Google == Open but amateur.  I think I'd prefer developing for android, but then we've mainly followed "web app" and Javascript/HTML5/CSS .. and recently an attempt at "responsive design" which manages different screens and devices, or at least attempts to.
 
So, I can certainly see why someone would want to buy either the iPhone
or an android phone.  You can learn from either device.

Doug's learning a lot .. mainly how to swear! 

Perhaps shortly when I get my next new GSM phone, I'll stop being timid and just jump into android.  But only if I can upgrade easily.  Wish the battery life were a tad better.  And I do have an app or two that I'm addicted to that is not available on android .. one of which the maker said "never!".

   -- Owen

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Re: Business opportunity

glen ep ropella
Owen Densmore wrote at 02/18/2013 02:15 PM:
> Can you share the details of upgrading android without help from Google?
>  .. could most customers do this?

Yes, I think so.  But you can't be afraid of breaking the phone.  So,
there's a distinction between _could_ and _would_.  The hacking distance
between my D2G and the Gnex is huge.  I really had to work hard to get
the D2G into a place where I was comfortable with it, including writing
a script to set the firewall rules, manually replacing the super user
and USB apps, etc.

But Motorola is unfriendly.  Samsung, by contrast, is friendly.

Rooting the phone is easy with the right phone from a friendly
manufacturer.  Once rooted, install ROM Manager or ROM Toolbox, a little
clicky-pokey, and you've installed a new ROM (e.g. Cyanogenmod or AOKP).
 If you do it that way, then you can get an update any time that ROM is
updated.  These lag behind the source release, of course.

The biggest problem is _fear_.  The ROM makers pepper their sites with
disclaimers ... it's not their fault if you break your phone.  But if
you're wealthy enough to buy one of these damned things, then you're
wealthy enough to buy another one after you break the first one.  If you
can't buy at least 2 of them, don't bother buying one of them.  Stay in
the hell created by the corporations that rule our world.

It's difficult to be any more concrete than the above generalities
unless you choose a particular device.  The cyanogenmod website has a
nice list of devices, rooting instructions, etc.

E.g. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Tilapia_Info

> And I could be wrong.  When I bought my last phone, I asked around
> about, for example, Samsung and how well they handle updates.  IIRC the
> answer was "what updates"?  I.e. there were none.  I could be completely
> wrong or simply have asked the wrong folks.  But I do recall being told
> that Cyanogenmod is your friend.

All the ROM makers update their releases at different rates.

> That's been my observation: Apple == draconian, Google == Open but
> amateur.

I wouldn't say "amateur", I'd say "It's a poor craftsman who blames his
tools."

> Doug's learning a lot .. mainly how to swear!

I don't read Doug's web log because I don't follow undescribed links in
e-mail messages. ;-)  I ass/u/me most of what's there is the result of
hysteresis.

> Perhaps shortly when I get my next new GSM phone, I'll stop being timid
> and just jump into android.  But only if I can upgrade easily.  Wish the
> battery life were a tad better.  And I do have an app or two that I'm
> addicted to that is not available on android .. one of which the maker
> said "never!".

My advice is to buy an old, used phone and subscribe to something like
Cricket or Simple Mobile ... or just use the wifi.  I sold my D2G for
$60.  I would have given it to you for free if you'd asked for it.
(Don't buy a D2G, though.  If you want a droid 2, buy the straight CDMA
one without the GSM sim card slot.) Play around with it for a month or
two and if it doesn't pique you, forget it and stick with what you know.

--
glen e. p. ropella, 971-255-2847, http://tempusdictum.com


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Re: Business opportunity

Bruce Sherwood
In reply to this post by Owen Densmore
On battery life: When I first got a Galaxy S3 the battery life was quite poor. I installed the app "JuiceDefender Ultimate" and now the battery life is excellent. Evidently Samsung or Android or Google has done something fundamentally wrong in this area.

Bruce

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Re: Business opportunity

Russell Standish
In reply to this post by glen ep ropella
On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 02:53:37PM -0800, glen e. p. ropella wrote:

> Owen Densmore wrote at 02/18/2013 02:15 PM:
> > Can you share the details of upgrading android without help from Google?
> >  .. could most customers do this?
>
>
> The biggest problem is _fear_.  The ROM makers pepper their sites with
> disclaimers ... it's not their fault if you break your phone.  But if
> you're wealthy enough to buy one of these damned things, then you're
> wealthy enough to buy another one after you break the first one.  If you
> can't buy at least 2 of them, don't bother buying one of them.  Stay in
> the hell created by the corporations that rule our world.

Very sage. You have to decide whether you need the latest
functionality, in which case you should be prepared to pay for
replacements should things "brick". I can see anyone on the business
of developing phone apps would want to do this sort of thing.

Otherwise, you could just simply treat the phone as a tool, and live
well behind the bleeding edge. Its a cheaper option, but only if the
latest and greatest is not important.

So I'm on Donut (1.6). Its a 2 year old phone running a 3 year old
operating system. Shucks - my laptop also does that, but I am
considering updating the OS on that. I just need to schedule a week or
so when I cope with the inevitable breakages that occur from an OS
upgrade, but past practice has been to upgrade my computer OS every 18
months to 2 years.

I was planning on doing an Android upgrade of my mobile phone when my
plan expired, and I was due for a new model. That way, I could get the
experience, without the pain if I ended up bricking it. Unfortunately, my telco
requires me to change plans to get the new phone, so even though my
plan has expired, so it is not time to upgrade the hardware :(. It'll
probably be a matter of the telco prising my plan from my cold, dead
fingers :). As they did with CDMA, when CDMA was switched off in Australia.

Cheers

* The telco in question is "Vodafone", who either bought, or merged my
  old telco, "Three". Currently they're honouring the plans of existing
  Three customers, but not offering equivalent plans for new
  customers. It is not viable to jump to another telco - the others
  cost about double for the same thing.

--

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