Google Announces New Nexus Smartphone and Tablets 297
TheBoat writes In with news that not even a hurricane can keep the Google product announcements away. "Surprise, surprise. It looks like Hurricane Sandy can't hold Google down, as the company has just gone ahead and unveiled the Nexus 4 smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet even though its press conference was canceled. Nexus 4 specs include a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display with 1,280 x 768-pixel resolution, an 8-megapixel camera, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM and Android 4.2. The phone starts at a shockingly affordable $299 without any contract or subsidies, and it will launch in the United States on November 3rd. The Samsung-built Nexus 10 tablet sports a 2,560 x 1,600-pixel display with a pixel density of 300 PPI, a dual-core 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos chipset, 2GB of RAM, NFC and a 5-megapixel camera. Pricing starts at $399 with 16GB of storage and tops out at $499 for the 32GB model, and both will launch on November 3rd alongside the Nexus 4. Both devices will be available through the Google Play store."
Thanks, Google, for releasing them anyways (Score:2)
No Strings Attached? (Score:2, Interesting)
$299, no contracts, and those specs? Maybe it's time I finally paid attention to the smartphone market and finally bought one. I've not kept up though - will I have to have any kind of "google account" or "phone home to google" stuff enabled to use this phone properly? And if so, how hard would it be to jailbreak the thing and fully change that (without introducing additional issues)?
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:5, Informative)
Nope, it is optional. You cannot use the play store without associating the phone with the Google Account though. You could use Amazon App Store, which has most apps. You could side load apps (just copy them to the system apps folder), if you have the apk and you are rooted (I dont know of a reliable site, where you can get the apk file from though)
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:5, Informative)
I don't think you need to be rooted to install APK files ... just drop them on the phone and run them.
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:5, Informative)
This is correct. Just check the "unknown sources" option under settings and you can install apps from pretty much anywhere (web, email, etc) -- the system will show what permissions the app needs and obtain permission to install it (or not) from the user.
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean that gaping security hole that still requires the user to confirm their desire to install things after they've been shown a fine-grained list of permissions that said things require?
Unlike Apple, other phone manufacturers don't believe that locking you in a padded room with children's safety scissors is an acceptable practice.
--Jeremy
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Then how would an app that sends out sms on a schedule work?
I have to approve each time it sends?
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:4, Funny)
This application wants to send a text message (_content_) to _number_. How should I handle it?
[ ] Deny, and ask me for permission next time.
[ ] Deny, and disable this app ([ ]until (*)tomorrow, ( )next week, ( )next month)
[ ] Deny, and uninstall this app
[ ] Allow this time
[ ] Allow until tomorrow
[ ] Allow until next week
[ ] Allow forever
[ ] Allow if (_click to select app_), which implements IGatekeeper, says it's OK to allow.
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:4, Interesting)
The gaping hole in Android's security model is the fact that in order to have an app that fetches location-based ads over the internet, uses wi-fi (instead of GPS) for coarse location, and has the ability to pause when the phone rings or cooperate nicely with alerts and other apps, you basically have to give the app the right to do almost everything up to and including scrape your phone logs and dump them over the internet to the developer's server, then eavesdrop on your LAN's traffic and report it as well.
I don't have time to repost the whole essay I've written a few times detailing a provider-agnostic framework for adserving that keeps apps from leaking private user info by moving responsibility by proxying the network calls to fetch the ad content through Android itself in a way that allows users to say, "I trust Android to not leak my private info, but not this specific app... I'll allow this app to treat Android's new adserver API like a semi-black box to fetch ads in a way that prevents apps from injecting values not carved into stone in android-manifest.xml, and has Android itself inject sensitive values so the app itself can't touch them, and makes the requests in non-realtime with somewhat randomized timing through Google's adproxy (or a trusted CDN, for larger advertising agencies with the resources to pay someone like Akamai) that masquerades the user's IP address (so developers can't comb through logs and match up ad requests with IP addresses).
If Android did something like this, the laundry list of permissions that 98% of modern Android apps end up requiring could be concisely boiled down to:
* Display anonymized, location-based ads fetched over the internet in a way that does not reveal your current IP address or personally-identifiable information to advertisers or the app's developer, and does not allow apps to use it as a back door to leak information over the internet by injecting runtime values specified by the application itself into the ad request or by varying the timing of its network requests to convey private information to a remote server.
The requirement that values either be filled in by Android itself (in a black-box manner that keeps the values away from the app) or declared immutably via android-manifest.xml, and slightly-randomized non-realtime ad-fetching and timing is necessary to keep apps from using runtime values or timing attacks to leak information. If ads are fetched on demand by the app, the developer could modulate the request timing itself to convey one bit of data at a time, over a long period (ex: requesting new ad within 1 minute of last request == 1, requesting new ad after 2 minutes of last request == 0, requesting new ad after 3+ minutes = escape, resume as directed by the next few bits... over the span of an hour, you could leak 30-60 bits of data).
The hard part would be making it vendor-agnostic and not handing an ad monopoly to Google, without excluding ad agencies who don't have the resources of Akamai (hence, the transparent trusted anonymizing proxy for fetching the ad data itself).
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The gaping hole in Android's security model is the fact that in order to have an app that fetches location-based ads over the internet, uses wi-fi (instead of GPS) for coarse location, and has the ability to pause when the phone rings or cooperate nicely with alerts and other apps, you basically have to give the app the right to do almost everything up to and including scrape your phone logs and dump them over the internet to the developer's server, then eavesdrop on your LAN's traffic and report it as well.
That simply isn't true. You don't even need permission to receive events when the phone rings, but you do need to ask if you want to read phone logs or access your files. You can't eavesdrop on LAN traffic because Android doesn't support putting the wifi or mobile data radios in "receive all" mode. There are some hacks to do it on certain rooted devices with supported chipsets, but not on unrooted systems.
Location is actually two separate and specific permissions - precise (GPS) or coarse (wifi/mobile netwo
Reliable site for APKs (Score:4, Informative)
I dont know of a reliable site, where you can get the apk file from though
Ideally, the publisher of a Free, free, freemium, or ad-supported application would distribute an APK on the application's web site, usable by anybody who has turned on "Unknown sources". A reliable site will use HTTPS with a well-known CA or HTTPS + DANE (public key fingerprints in DNSSEC).
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That's still more work than just uploading it to the Google Play store, and perhaps the Amazon store.
If the application's developer already has a web site, how is making the APK available for download from that web site any harder than submitting it to Google and Amazon? A lot of free software projects already do this, especially those hosted on Google Code or SourceForge, as Nerdfest pointed out in the post above yours.
More work for very little benefit.
One benefit to making an APK available is that you're able to reach owners of older Archos devices such as the Archos 43 Internet Tablet, which prior to October 2011 was Android's closest t
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:4, Informative)
I'm also a little annoyed that I got my Nexus 7 just a month ago... Would certainly have waited for one of these here Nexus 4's.
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:5, Informative)
(That isn't completely true - you can root your tablet and install a third party ROM without connecting to Google, but that's kinda outside the spirit of the question.)
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Typically you don't need to set up any Google stuff on it at all, although the Google software will definitely come installed on it. The only thing you lose is access to the Google Play market, but you can use Amazon, several others, or side-load.
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:4, Informative)
You can of course just make a Google account for that device, using a disposable email address to sign up and never entering any personal info. You don't need credit card details or anything like that.
Re:No Strings Attached? (Score:4, Informative)
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$299, no contracts, and those specs? Maybe it's time I finally paid attention to the smartphone market and finally bought one. I've not kept up though - will I have to have any kind of "google account" or "phone home to google" stuff enabled to use this phone properly? And if so, how hard would it be to jailbreak the thing and fully change that (without introducing additional issues)?
I'm waiting for a sufficiently stupid (read: not loaded up with clever bloatware) little smart phone I can move my Pay-as-you-go service to and do some basic web surfing through free wi-fi spots. I don't need books, I don't need financial software, I don't need instant/text messaging and I really don't want a lot of crap which makes the phone wake up and kill the battery so it's not available when I need it.
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The Nexus line are pretty good about this; if you buy them direct from Google and not through a carrier, they won't be loaded down with much, and if you want more control than that, you can root them using manufacturer-supported (albeit warranty-voiding) tools.
The down side is that you're limited with respect to choice of pay-as-you-go carriers (as quite a lot of them resell Sprint service, and so aren't comp
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Booyah!! (Score:5, Interesting)
I knew there was a reason I didn't buy the Samsung Galaxy S3. Among the reasons:
1. To get it 'affordably' I would have to buy it from a wireless carrier... oh yeah and extend or buy a new contract with expensive data plan.
2. To get it otherwise, I would have to pay about $500... that's an expensive toy.
3. The darkest color I could get is blue...blue?! Really? Something wrong with black or grey? White is for chicks and Apple users.
4. When you get a phone through a carrier which is carrier branded, unless it's an iPhone, then the carrier is responsible for firmware updates. In cases like that, you will either never get one or it will be extremely late in coming and will contain even more bloatware than before.
Something told me that if I were to just hold off a little longer, I could get my next phone without all the trouble, And there we have it... A new Nexus 4 heading to my pocket in the near future.
As for the new tablet?? Well... that's kinda pricy. I've got a Nexus 7 and I'm pretty happy with it. But then again, the price was extremely reasonable. $500?? That's well within my "balk" range... the $200-$250 range is well within my "I'll strongly consider it" window. And a phone without obligations at $299? And likely to support high speed data options (which I will not likely use or pay for)? It's a no-brainer.
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I knew there was a reason I didn't buy the Samsung Galaxy S3. Among the reasons:
How big is it? I can't find the outer dimensions. At 4.7" I worry that it is one of those too-big-for-me smartphones.
And why can't they publish the size specs on the site?
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SIZE [google.com]
133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm
Re:Booyah!! (Score:4, Informative)
The dimensions are listed there, to the precision of 0.1mm (no word on the accuracy though).
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T-Mobile. If you live in a well-populated area chances are they're fine. The only time I've ever had poor signal was out in the boonies, and I'm only very rarely out in the boonies.
Still no microSD? (Score:5, Informative)
My ancient Nexus One has an 8 GB microSD card in it, and that filled up ages ago. So getting the 8 GB Nexus 4 would be a non-starter, and i don't expect it would take me long to fill up the 16 GB version either. I don't care what Google says, streaming everything off the cloud is not an option. I'm happy with T-Mobile for the price i'm paying, but they don't have the best coverage. (And from what i understand other carriers that have better coverage have stricter limits on data usage instead.)
Re:Still no microSD? (Score:4, Informative)
out of curiosity, what did you fill up 8gb with? I went for the 16gb version of the nexus 7 and after 2 months and literally hundreds of apps have only 2gb used, thinking I should have saved the $50 and got the 8gb version.
Re:Still no microSD? (Score:4, Interesting)
Personally, I'd feel constrained by 8GB, but not by 16GB once you realize that even 8GB of "music" is more than anyone needs unless they're spending a TON of time away from the balance of their library. What will put the squeeze on things are 8MP photos and full HD video. Provided I can offload my photos to cloud storage (via Wifi thanks) or home storage, I can live with this level of storage. Thus, I'll be buying the 16GB version to replace my Nexus S.
Now if they had 32GB at $429, this would be a compelling compromise/price point, and would shut down many of the "it's too small" comments.
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I have the GS3, and after filling it up with my music and apps, I still have more than 6GB left. Plus, I find myself listening to internet radio 90% of the time. I thought the microSD would be a good investment, but now I'm convinced I don't need it, and wouldn't ever need it.
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Amazon MP3 with CloudDrive storage solves the balance of my music problem
Provided you're using your phone on Wi-Fi at home or at a public hotspot, or you can afford a big data plan.
For most, it's simply silly to carry around your entire collection. It's unlikely you'll want all of it available
Unless you want to play a particular song for someone else who's in the room or in the vehicle.
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I don't know but I can only guess that having all VNV Nation albums alone would be 2+ GB, possibly 2.5.
then upload them to google music, and then they only use up 0 bytes of local storage.
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Not everyone has unlimited data plans, and not all areas have 100% coverage on the way to/from work (including tunnels/sparse areas/etc).
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I don't know but I can only guess that having all VNV Nation albums alone would be 2+ GB, possibly 2.5.
then upload them to google music, and then they only use up 0 bytes of local storage.
Places where this idea fails:
Streaming only really makes sense for home/work situations where you are unlikely to hit a bandwidth availability issue or data cap. Travelling anywhere means it's a crap-shoot, so local storage is as important as ever. I've filled up my 64GB iDe
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if you install a lot of games, the space goes quick. it's not uncommon for a game to take up over 1GB of local storage. i have one (bard's tale) that takes up over 1.6GB.
also, if you ever want to pre-load movie rips, you are looking at 700MB-1.4GB each.
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No idea about Daetrin's exact situation, but like him, I can't possibly afford to stream everything from the cloud. I filled up most of a 32 GB microSD card with music and video; if it weren't for the video I'd only need maybe 16 GB. Let's see--should I pay an extra $10/month for a (much) larger data plan, or should I get a phone with a microSD slot and buy a 32 GB microSD card for like $25? Of course, it's complicated by the fact that the kind of phone that comes with a microSD slot is very different from
Re:Still no microSD? (Score:5, Insightful)
Media. Audiobooks in my case.
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I am also not the OP, but I've run out of space on my 16gb Galaxy Nexus, and no SD card on the Nexus 4 might mean no more Nexus phones for me. I tend to keep my phones till they die (had a Nexus One before this guy) but the lack of expandable space has limited the lifetime by quite a bit.
I have 5gb dedicated to music cache, and I got a whole bunch of Audubon Field Guide apps when they were on sale for $0.99. I can only have one or two of them installed at a time. It's ridiculous.
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OK I get it (and thanks for the polite answers , realize now I should.have guessed the answer to my own query).
It seems to be not apps but offline media storage that ppl need the larger storage for, or maybe for some massive games.
I guess maybe my usage is atypical as I don't (or havent yet) take the nexus anywhere that I need media and don't have wifi. Just wasn't thinking along those lines at all
Thanks
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2.5 GB - Music (I'll sometimes use Pandora at home, but when i'm out driving or rollerblading at the beach i want to use my own playlists rather than stream stuff.)
1.4 GB - Audiobooks (I always try to have several books on there at a time, because it sucks if i finish a book up away from home and find i don't have any other new ones downloaded yet.)
1.4 GB - Pictures and video (I'll occasionally transfe
Re:Still no microSD? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't think that is the main reason as Android now uses MTP to allow concurrent access to the SD card. It is my belief that one of the reasons behind the lack of any sort of SD card is the possibility of it impacting the user experience. If you put in a cheap slow SD card then the apps located there slow to a crawl. With the built in flash storage, it should run to whatever standard Google demanded. I also believe this is one of the reasons Apple refuses to include expansion capabilities, the other of course the ability to charge a huge premium on upgraded space. For the Nexus 4 the bump from 8 to 16GB is only a $50 up-charge which isn't that bad in my opinion.
FAT is patented (Score:2)
I don't think that is the main reason as Android now uses MTP to allow concurrent access to the SD card.
It still costs manufacturers money to license Microsoft's patents in VFAT and ExFAT.
the other of course the ability to charge a huge premium on upgraded space. For the Nexus 4 the bump from 8 to 16GB is only a $50 up-charge which isn't that bad in my opinion.
But consider how much of a mark-up it is over buying an 8 GB microSDHC card for $8.
Re:Still no microSD? (Score:4, Insightful)
"Hook, Line and Sinker". Look it up.
The real reason for the lack of an SD slot is this: "Pricing starts at $399 with 16GB of storage and tops out at $499 for the 32GB model"
When was it again that 16 GB of flash cost $100?
Re:Still no microSD? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think the real reason to not have an SD card would be that that Google is subtly trying to push consumers into the cloud. Flash drives don't make them extra money. But Google Drives do.
Not fair to Google, flaw is in FAT (Score:2)
Any unreliability or danger in doing so is probably by design of Google.
Reliability would be on Google but not security. FAT simply is not meant to be secure, making it easy to modify files anywhere on the FAT volume...
"True HD"? (Score:2)
Nexus 4 specs include a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display with 1,280 x 768-pixel resolution...
Lay of the TV marketing crack, Google. True HD means 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Re:"True HD"? (Score:4, Insightful)
negative. HD == 720p, which is ~1280x720px.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television [wikipedia.org]
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Surely the resolution depends massively on the screen size. 1920 x 1080 is considered True HD but that is a term used for televisions which are normally at least 19 inches. Saying that you can't call a 4.7" screen True HD when it will have a pixel density far higher than a 'True HD' tv seems a bit ridiculous. This is exactly why pixel density and screen size are much clearer measurements than resolution.
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You're supposed to wank off to what's on the screen, not the screen specifications. If your eyes can't tell the difference because of the pixel density, the increased resolution of "1080p" won't matter in the least.
Re:"True HD"? (Score:4, Funny)
Sir!
This is slashdot! If there's one place on the internet spec-wankery and taking potshots at marketing misusing terms of art are not only permissible, but good form, this is it.
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A better link. (Score:5, Informative)
http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/nexus-best-of-google-now-in-three-sizes.html [blogspot.co.uk]
Nexus 10 needs better designers (Score:5, Informative)
They managed to cram some awesome hardware into the Nexus 10. 2560x1600 at a $399 price point is very, very good.
But the physical design of the tablet – there's no way to sugarcoat this – is butt-ugly. Why did they have to make the bezel so huge? And asymmetrical? (I suppose that latter factor may have been a precaution against being sued by Apple.) Even though the hardware inside is great, the exterior just looks cheap. It looks like what you'd find on a $99 Archos tablet. Samsung's other designs are much more elegant than this.
I'm not at all impressed by the lack of a SD card slot. I loathe the "cloud" (and since this is a Wi-Fi-only device, it's not a viable solution anyway), and I'm not going to spend an extra $100 for 16GB extra of flash memory that cost the vendor under $10. Admittedly, this doesn't make Google/Samsung any worse than Apple on this front, but I had hoped they might actually do better.
Also, is there a physical home button? I can't tell from the photos. A tablet needs at least that one physical button.
Re:Nexus 10 needs better designers (Score:5, Insightful)
How many people carrying around a Nexus 10 won't have a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone in their pockets?
If the tablet always has connectivity when it's near your phone, why would you want to pay your carrier $30/mo (or whatever) for the privilege of having separate connectivity?
Lack of CDMA/4G LTE option disappointing (Score:3)
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Yep. I'm stuck on a Droid 1 right now to keep my unlimited data. Doing the math for my usage habits it would be another $40-50 per month higher over my existing plan to move to the "Share Everything plan" with enough bandwidth. Taking a subsidized phone isn't worth that, but there is a definite lack of any reasonably priced unsubsidized phones for Verizon. $299 for this phone I could handle, but seems every decent handset on Verizon (even the ones they're GIVING away subsidized) is over $500 without con
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That's a lame excuse. Put the LTE module on a daughtercard, sell the phone without it, and users with AT&T/Verizon/Sprint/MetroPCS can buy their carrier's LTE module, rip off the back, plug it in, and snap it back on. Or really, just put the RF amplifier and antenna on the daughtercard. I believe there's even a company in Japan that came up with a standard ~10 years ago for more or less this purpose (allowing users to buy a radio module from their carrier, and stick it into a phone made by someone else.
Google Voice (Score:4, Interesting)
If I order the new nexus phone with no contracts, can I activate and use it as a wifi phone without it being associated with a carrier via Google voice?
I would gladly pay $300 for that.
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Lots of people find the other functionality of a "smartphone" far more useful than the occasional call. I make around 3-4 calls a month with mine.
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Barometer? (Score:2)
Interesting.
Now all I need is an SD slot, but Google prefers a consistent user experience, so accomodating user storage is limited to the built-in they provide. Kinda like the browser no longer being able to load the desktop version of iGoogle. But I'm not bitter.
I could buy this one.
Storage (Score:2)
Any word on storage on the Nexus 4?
I have a Galaxy Nexus, and the absolute worst thing about it is the lack of an external storage slot. Since I have an unlocked GSM model I was limited to 16gb. And yeah, that got filled up REALLY fast. If the Nexus 4 doesn't have external storage (or at least a model with a LOT of internal storage), that might be a deal-breaker for me and the Nexus line of phones, which would be very sad.
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Only 8GB and 16GB available:
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_4_16gb&feature=device-featured [google.com]
8GB is a joke, I don't get it.
Release date 3rd or 13th and Nexus 7 upgrade (Score:2)
The summary says November 3rd, but the linked article says November 13th. I'll assume the original article is correct.
And how could you not mention the confirmed upgrade to the Nexus 7? That just moved it from my "interested" to my "must buy" column.
"Google is also upgrading the Nexus 7 tablet. The 16GB version of the 7-inch device is now $199, and is joined by a 32GB version retailing for $249. There’s also the option of HSPA+ mobile in addition to WiFi, which adds a bit of cost. Like the Nexus 4, it
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The summary says November 3rd, but the linked article says November 13th. I'll assume the original article is correct.
The horses mouth suggests your assumption is correct: https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_4_8gb [google.com]
too big (Score:3)
Are the Korean hands getting bigger every day? Or is it now popular to hold a phone with two hands now?
I really wish there was a Nexus phone with a 4"(or less) display.
Re:too big (Score:5, Funny)
If you want a phone with a small screen, just get an iPhone.
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You know how some guys are just too short to play basketball? Well some guys' thumbs are just too small to operate the best smartphones.
how much does flash cost? (Score:3, Interesting)
can someone explain this to me?
i can buy a 32GB micro SD card for $20. that's retail. but google charges +$50 for +8GB? that, and it has to be cheaper for them to add flash internally that for me to buy a retail-packaged micro SD card?
even assuming retail prices, they should be able to ship a 32GB version for less than $20 more, and still make the same profit on the extra memory that would otherwise be made on selling the memory retail ... ?
i understand that they might want to milk customers here ... but if they are really trying to beat apple on prices, offering a low-priced 32 or 64GB model seems like a no-brainer.
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Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:4, Informative)
I realize they're cheaper to produce... but that's probably because the result is cheaper looking. Just do it the standard way and save us from the misery of the pentile display.
None of the Nexus devices have a Pentile display - the Nexus 4, 7, and 10 all have regular RGB subpixels.
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:5, Informative)
Pretty much every recorded image we see takes advantage of this. Nearly all digital cameras use a Bayer filter (RGBG overlay), so the images they capture have half the red and blue resolution as they do green. Unless you flip certain JPEG options, a JPEG image you create from a pure RGB scan will do the same thing - reduce the red and blue information that's stored relative to green. Same for MPEG and NTSC. Basically, nearly all the recorded images you've ever encountered in your life were brought to you in RGBG. That you never noticed is proof that it's indistinguishable.
It's only displays which were typically RGB, but that was because there were no "pixels" on CRTs, and LCDs typically had low PPI. Once the display's PPI becomes high enough, RGB becomes a waste. When the G sub-pixels in an RGB array are dense enough to surpass the the threshold of visual acuity, the R and B sub-pixels are far too dense and way past that point. That is, you have way more R and B sub-pixels than are actually needed. If you're at this point, then an RGBG display like pentile with the same pixel density (but lower sub-pixel density) will create an image that's indistinguishable from RGB but using fewer sub-pixels.
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:4, Informative)
Pentile is a specific design type (ie IPS), retina is a marketing term for high resolution.
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:5, Informative)
And Apple "Retina" displays are also IPS. Pentile basically means you can forget the resolution number they give. It's probably not going to look as clear as an iPad even though the resolution specs are higher.
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:5, Informative)
Apple's retina displays are also a "lottery". They are not all from the same manufacturer. The lower quality ones have IR (image retention, kind of like short term (a few minutes) screen burn in). The samsung displays are superior to the lg ones, here is a 350+ page thread from fanboys as proof https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4034848?start=255&tstart=0
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:4, Informative)
Apple's retina displays are also a "lottery". They are not all from the same manufacturer.
Just to be clear, the "retina" issues identified above are all related to the Mac Book Pro (retina) not the iPad.
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And Apple "Retina" displays are also IPS. Pentile basically means you can forget the resolution number they give. It's probably not going to look as clear as an iPad even though the resolution specs are higher.
Perhaps you mean sharp it's been my experience with a number of small CE items that higher resolution does not produce a sharp display, unless the graphic handling provides sufficient contrast. I have one device which has very high resolution for a 3 inch screen, but looks somewhat blurred and faded. Lower resolution, better backlighting or higher intensity LEDs would serve the user better.
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm literally holding an iPhone 4S and Samsung S3 in my hand at the same time (work phone and personal phone).
The S3 has the supposedly crappy pentile display, the 4S has the non-pentile display, with a higher DPI to boot.
Yet text is far crisper and easier to read on the S3 because Apple doesn't know how to do sub-pixel hinting for reasons I can't comprehend.
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:5, Informative)
It's not that they don't know how to do it; it's that they choose not to.
Jeff Atwood gives a good commentary on why they choose not to here: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/06/font-rendering-respecting-the-pixel-grid.html
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, that and if you don't do any sub pixel font drawing, then you can use the same exact code in portrait and landscape. However, if your display can be tilted then the vertical and horizontal sub pixel layout is swapped. Some Pentile displays are designed to be horizontally & vertically agnostic. [wikipedia.org]
MS also has several patents on some sub-pixel rendering tricks, and although MS cross licensed them to Apple, who knows if they did so for their mobile devices? Maybe that's why you even need a high res retina display? To mask the lack of sub-pixel rendering? (can't be troubled to try and find out, ATM)
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I thought all current Apple Retina displays used IPS. The iPad does, the iPhone does, the iPod Touch does, and I'm pretty sure the MacBooks do.
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Indeed, I have a 4th generation iPod touch and my wife has an iPhone 4s. Although it shares the resolution, great for text, the screen on the iPhone is vastly superior when it comes to playing games or watching videos.
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retina is a marketing term for high resolution.
I understand that Apple uses the marketing term "Cataract Display[tm]" for their low resolution displays.
This makes sense. But I am a littled confused about why Apple introduced the new iPad mini with a Cataract Display[tm].
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Atleast it's not called Penile
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Got me the strangest woman
Believe it, this chick's no cinch
When I wanna get her goin'
Then I whip out my Big Ten Inch...
...Nexus tablet computer.
What PenTile means (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Ugh, Pentile displays (Score:5, Informative)
The tablet is a Pentile display.
Nope, RGB subpixels - standard LCD layout. It is *NOT* pentile. Hence the "RGB Real Stripe", which is Samsung marketing for "we didn't fuck with it"
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Re:No LTE. Less space than an iPhone. Lame. (Score:5, Insightful)
1/2 the price of an iphone. win.
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Considering it has about as much features of an old 16 GB iPhone 4s, I'd sure hope it would be less.
that "old" 4s has a weaker processor and lesser display, and costs exactly the same. huh. i guess maybe when you compare phones you need to do a little better research,
Re:me like! (Score:5, Informative)
I don't think any of the major US wireless carriers offer discounted monthly rates for buying your phone outright. You might as well reap the price of discounted phones if your bill is the same rate.
In Europe, you have the option of a contract subsidizing your phone, or no contract and a cheaper rate, but buying an expensive phone outright upfront.
Re:me like! (Score:4, Informative)
T-Mobile does, unless that changed recently. I still have the cheaper non-subsidised plan.
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In the USA, all carrier-discounted phones are locked to that carrier, meaning you technically can't use the same phone on a different carrier's network. The phone will complain if it sees the wrong company's SIM card. Supposedly some carriers will unlock your phone once you have met the terms of their contract, but that doesn't seem to be universally true, nor easy to get.
I don't think any of the major US wireless carriers offer discounted monthly rates for buying your phone outright.
I've never been able to get a discount for bringing my own phone to the party. But they do have one advantage. I still have a decent
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I don't think any of the major US wireless carriers offer discounted monthly rates for buying your phone outright. You might as well reap the price of discounted phones if your bill is the same rate.
Prepaid. Prepaid is almost always significantly cheaper than contract.
For example, with an iphone prepaid can save you $500-$1000 over a 2 year contract including all up-front costs like the full purchase price of the phone. And that doesn't include all the misc "surprise" fees that frequently show up on contract phone bills but never on prepaid.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57449345-94/why-a-prepaid-iphone-is-an-amazing-deal-for-bargain-hunters/ [cnet.com]