Sunday Evening Chat: Android style week 2

[pc747]

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Back for another week of android chat and looking forward to seeing what is new over the horizon. This past week we saw hell freeze over as the Motorola X was not only updated to 4.4 kit kat but Verizon was the first carrier to push the ota. Hopefully this is a trend of things to come from Motorola as they also announced that they will now honor warranties for those who unlock the bootloader on developer phones. Motorola (under the guidance of Google) is doing what I felt needed to happen in rebuilding the confidence of the android community. People say why worry about the 1% who root and rom and my argument is that we are the loudest percent. We are the people who over time can sway opinions from one manufacturer to another over time and right now Samsung has a lot of momentum.

What would it take for Motorola to win you over?

Some of those running Kit Kat, whether it be via AOSP rom or from Google, are experiencing issues with Exchange. When 4.0 ICS released with the Galaxy Nexus we ran into a few issues with the software early on and though the problems eventually got fixed it raised the point about why it may be best for oems to wait on pushing the latest and greatest of android software. As a fan of roms I enjoy the experience of flashing a new rom or tweak but the flip side of that are bugs. People who understand the nexus brand are more likely to be forgiving than an average fan. Can you imagine if a phone like the s4 or Note 3 was pushed with kit kat and native exchange email was broke now users are forced to spend money on an app to keep up with work email; you would see a mutiny as carrier stores and tech support would be flooded with angry customers.

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VCR vs Betamax, Blu-ray vs HD Movies, these are the head to head battles that will make one company look like a genius while the other look like a goat and we are seeing this right now with the curved display. Though the curved display is not new (galaxy nexus) it does look like that is an avenue that manufacturers may be eying. The question is will the market accept the technology like they did phablets and which will rise to be the staple of the curved display?

 

[MotoXGirl]

I have the Motorola X, and love everything about it. However, I am running the Nexus 5 launcher.. I like the bigger icons. I just got the Moto X to replace my s4, and the size is perfect. Also it's very much easier to use.

I would totally get a curve screen phone.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[AECRADIO]

A vertical curvature would suffice somewhat, but having a curve that is not in line with a shirt pocket leaves me pondering the reason why.
When I need to shirt pocket my phone, I prefer the curvature conform to by chest area, not against it, as the model on the left so strikingly does.
This design is absolutely worthless, but might be acceptable if I were a butt pocket phone placer, which I am not.
I do not think I would enjoy sitting on my phone, then out of the blue, it butt dials some agency like the ATF, for which I would need to become verbally abusive with, so I dare say that my first choice of the two offerings would be the second, on the right, as it would conform better to my shirt pocket resting area, and not my butt pocket.

 

[AECRADIO]

Once my wife and I can agree on a single device platform, I am certain it will be the Dev version for me, and possiby the same for my wife, since I maintain all the data and rooting, as well as adding mods to the phone, I am quite certain we both have the developer version in our near future.
I can support a company that finally recognizes the benefits of developer work, and have actually gone out on a limb with actual support of same. This speaks volumes for those that yell the loudest, and for that, we are eternally grateful!
I wish I had the resources to build phones, and if i could, I would offer one hell of a sweet device to all. Base memory of at least 64GB, with the same for user addressing and storage, and always unocked, and rooted from the factory, no more subsidized phones, everybody gets the same goodies at the same price.

 

[FryFTW]

Motorola already got my vote with the Moto X. Great device all around, except for the camera, which I'm reading about and everyone's saying it can be fixed via software update, so that's not that big a deal. I get just as good of pictures as I did on my GNex, and I'm fine with that.

Now when it comes to the matter of curved displays, I like the concept. I liked it on my GNex though it's not as extreme as it is on these newer phones. I'd have to do more research on it to see if it's as cool as it sounds. That's just my opinion though, not sure how the billions of people in the world are gonna feel about it. Not sure if it's gonna be as popular as the Galaxy S and Note lines though. We'll have to wait and see.

 

[tech_head]

Need a flagship with a Snapdragon 800 or the newer 820, I think it is.
Removable storage (not going to happen).

Otherwise Samsung can have my coin.

 

[MotoXGirl]

I wonder how much the screen will flex on the curved phone... I usually carry my phone in my back pocket, so it might be nice if it fits around my bootay lol

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[TatDroid]

I wonder how much the screen will flex on the curved phone... I usually carry my phone in my back pocket, so it might be nice if it fits around my bootay lol

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

It won't. These screens are curved - but rigid.

Flexible screens will probably be the NEXT thing to eventually come on the market. But nothing on the immediate horizon.

 

[MotoXGirl]

It won't. These screens are curved - but rigid.

Flexible screens will probably be the NEXT thing to eventually come on the market. But nothing on the immediate horizon.

I watched a video this weekend of an LG (I think the one on the left) where the guy pushed it down flat against the table, it totally went from curved to flat, and worked fine. Ill see if I can find the video again. It was pretty cool. I think its actually called the LG Flex.

 

[johnomaz]

I left Verizon with a bad taste in my mouth from Motorola. I know Verizon had them lock their phones down but they did such a good job at it compared to Samsung and HTC. I've had good experiences with Samsung phones so I've been staying with them. That being said, Samsung is showing sings of being very Apple like lately and I may reconsider that choice for my next phone. I have the TMobile JUMP program so I won't be locked into a device for 2 years that I may not like. The MotoX looks like a great phone and I may consider Moto for my next phone. I'm using the Google Experience Launcher on my Nexus 7 and love it. If that was available for Moto phones, it'd be even easier.

 

[MotoXGirl]

I left Verizon with a bad taste in my mouth from Motorola. I know Verizon had them lock their phones down but they did such a good job at it compared to Samsung and HTC. I've had good experiences with Samsung phones so I've been staying with them. That being said, Samsung is showing sings of being very Apple like lately and I may reconsider that choice for my next phone. I have the TMobile JUMP program so I won't be locked into a device for 2 years that I may not like. The MotoX looks like a great phone and I may consider Moto for my next phone. I'm using the Google Experience Launcher on my Nexus 7 and love it. If that was available for Moto phones, it'd be even easier.

I love everything about the X. It's only a dual core but it's much snappier.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[shrop21]

*Curved displays are very new. The Galaxy Nexus did not have a curved display but rather curved glass over a flat display. The difference is crucial in the G Flex because the curved display in it is flexible. I think this phone is the future with its self-healing back and flexibility. [video=youtube_share;TwqQWj4Izs4]http://youtu.be/TwqQWj4Izs4[/video]

 

[TatDroid]

Thanks for posting that Cnet video. I hadn't seen that. It's very interesting. When I responded earlier in this thread that the display was curved, but did NOT actually bend, I was basing my information on THIS ARTICLE (also from Cnet), which stated: "Weirdly, the Flex does not indeed flex; an LG rep encouraged us to try, and we pressed the device down on the table face-first, against every instinct not to. It held up against the pressure, and is meant to survive being sat on. How this holds up over time is anyone's guess." So I guess the crucial word "NOT" shouldn't actually have been there. In this case I would say the picture speaks louder than the words.