jelly bean

HTC One – Verizon Edition
HTC One Verizon Edition

HTC One Verizon Edition

ONE phone to rule them all, OK, not really, but it sure can make an argument for it.

The following are just my thoughts on this phone, it is not a full technical review highlighting it’s feature set.  It’s just an overview of my personal experience on my new toy. Phonescoop, Engadget, etc., has full reviews of the One, so check them out for a full fledged technical look at this device.

As a birthday gift to myself, I recently purchased HTC‘s current flagship smartphone, the One, and as after spending about a week or so with it, I can safely say it is the best smartphone I have owned/used.

Sure that statement can be made every time a new device comes out, but with my last 2 smartphones being lackluster at best, It can’t be claimed all the time.  Let’s take a closer look at why I think HTC’s One is quite the beast that it is. I know a lot has been said about this phone already, as it’s been out since April of this year.  BUT VZW just got around to releasing it.
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At long last Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 for VZW Galaxy Nexus!

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Finally received the OTA for the next iteration of Android Jelly Bean, 4.2.2. Its been a week since it has been announced for Verizon Nexus handsets and several months since it has been released. I will have to play with it more but at first glance, loving the new improvements.

Did anyone else get the OTA?

Update: Here’s a list of the changes as released by Verizon

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Android 4.2.2 finally arriving to Verizon Galaxy Nexus owners!

Best-Android-4-2-2-Jelly-Bean-Custom-ROM-for-Galaxy-Note-2-ATT-Verizone-T-Mobile-International-N7100

At long last Jelly Bean 4.2.2 is finally being rolled out in phases for Verizon Galaxy Nexus owners. Its been some time since this came out and us Verizon folk were left on the outside looking in. Expect an OTA notification to come soon. I cannot wait. I’m going to be hitting that update button endlessly.

http://tinyurl.com/cprsqxh

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Breaking My Phone.

This is my third Droid Incredible 2 by HTC. I have so many gripes with it.

A) Single core processor, so it lags like all hell.

B) 3G, so it’s a bit on the slow side.

C) The charging port is extremely fragile, and if you actually use your Dinc2, you will break it.

D) It’s stuck (as of now, and probably for the rest of its damned existence) with Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. (refer to my posts from before)

Now, my contract with Verizon isn’t ending for quite a while  (I’m eligible for an upgrade in May), and it really has been a terrible experience with this phone.

My phone died (became utterly useless because of charging port issues) twice in the first 10 months, and it has happened again, but that’s not the actual problem that is rendering this damned phone useless for a third (and hopefully, final) time.

This time, it just does not want to stay turned on, even with battery. I’ll be in the middle of composing a tweet or maybe texting someone, lock the screen and go do something, and then when I go to finish what I’d started, the phone screen would be black entirely, and I’d end up having to do hard resets (battery pulls).

Apparently, this is a problem with many HTC devices (which, of course, furthers my relationship with the Taiwanese company) such as the first Droid Incredible and the HTC Thunderbolt.

Safe to say, I’ll be steering clear of any HTC devices in the future (I personally don’t like the bulky Sense UI nor do I like how light it is compared to the darkness of stock Android).

At this point, I’ve highly considered suspending this phone line without billing (which is a period of 90 days, maximum of twice in a 12 month period, which would give me enough time to cancel this line) and add a new line with new two year contract and get that oh-so-beautiful Samsung Galaxy S III in black for $70 via Amazon Wireless.

My best option, however, is to graciously receive The Big Cheese’s old Droid Bionic (which, as you may know, he hates due to extreme bugs) and wait until my upgrade period begins in May so that I can pick up something like the ever anticipated Samsung Galaxy S 4, or if it is cheap enough, the Galaxy Note 2.

My worst case scenario would be to scour for an iPhone 5 for Verizon with a clean ESN (good luck to me, right?). Worst case because I really REALLY dislike iPhones. REALLY.

HTC and Verizon FINALLY Bring ICS to HTC Thunderbolt

It’s too late now, though.

The Thunderbolt, the first 4GLTE phone on Verizon, has always been a disappointment in the Android community. It’s processor was nothing to write home about, it’s connectivity issues were definitely something to complain about, and it’s bulky (and faulty) design made this phone one of the most hated in America.

It came out of the gates with Android 2.2, and only now in 2013 has it been confirmed to have an Android 4.0 update ready to roll out any time soon. At this point, 4.0 is 2 updates behind the second iteration of Android Jelly Bean, Android 4.2 (and it seems as though Google is prepared to launch Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie [or, and I’m dreading the name, potentially Kandy Kane] in the coming months at Google I/O 2013).

It’s been 5 months already. 5! The Thunderbolt (and it’s younger sister, the Droid Incredible 2) were promised to have gotten the ICS update by September 31st!

I think people have finally come to grips that HTC on Verizon has been a failure and have actually given up hope on both devices, leaving for newer, more premium devices on the carrier (or even on another carrier, or even worse, to an iPhone on another carrier).

–I am very much for Android. I am fascinated with how much better it is overall than other mobile operating systems; however when companies fail to appease the customer, it makes me very angry. HTC and Verizon have failed me in the department of customer satisfaction, and in the future, I shall not be purchasing from HTC. At the moment, I cannot do anything about being on Verizon (in fact I would not want to leave VZW because of how amazing their service is), but when upgrade time comes, goodbye HTC devices. I’m really hoping I can grab a SG Note II or an SIII, maybe even the GNex like The Big Cheese. And if worst comes to worst, if my mom sees that an iPhone 5 is on BOGO come upgrade time, iPhone 5 I shall settle.

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Cell phone conundrum

Nexus 4
Photo courtesy of Google Play

So not having power and what not in light of what has happened in the north east coast of the US, I missed the announcement of Google’s next Nexus phone, the LG based Nexus 4.  Granted I only got into my first Nexus phone a few weeks ago (Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus), and even if it’s a year old (like a million years old in cell phone technology years), it feels very new, very quick, very modern, compared to my  Motorola Droid Bionic, which is only a few months older than the Galaxy Nexus, and I can see how it’s a special phone, being the first one to get any update on the Android OS landscape, and it is basically bloatware free.  It’s also vanilla Android, is as good as it gets (without skins) in terms of Android.  I’ve used Androids with one of HTC’s skins of Android, Sense 2, and Motorola’s watered down version of MotoBlur, and nothing beats plain vanilla Android.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus 
Photo courtesy of Digitaltrends.com

What am I getting at? Well, this version of Nexus will NOT have CDMA variants.  Meaning it will not come out for Sprint or Verizon wireless, the latter of which I am subscribed to.  It will only be out  for T-Mobile, and ATT, using HSPA+ speeds and not LTE.  I did some digging and it seems like Google had problems with the CDMA versions of the Galaxy Nexus, in terms of releasing the hardware, and rolling out Jelly Bean.  Pricing also plays a big part of it, the GSM variants can be sold for $300 off contract, as opposed to the CDMA versions costing $200 more. I got my Galaxy Nexus for $250 off contract, but it’s a certified refurbished unit.  Now, this poses a problem for me when it comes time to get a new handset.  I think I made a good decision to get the Galaxy Nexus.  It didn’t cost a whole lot, and it should last me another 10-12 months.

I was ready to leave Verizon, and perhaps jump to Sprint as they also offer unlimited data (I am still riding on my old unlimited data plan from way back in the day on Verizon Wireless), but I can’t even get the Nexus 4 from them.  I know there are other handsets out there that are just as capable, but, I don’t know, it feels like I have to do less work on Nexus, and it seems to get more support officially, and from the AOSP community.

Only time will tell on where I go from here.  I am really happy with my Galaxy Nexus, and it should keep me happy for many more months, and it shames my Droid Bionic ten times over.  Speaking of my old Bionic, it alone turned me off from getting any Motorola handsets in the near future.  Sure, Google owns Motorola Mobility, so we’ll see what comes out from that partnership.  It’s just funny, that the next Nexus phone is based off of the LG Optimus G, and not a Motorola handset (*CHEESECAKE NOTE! The reason that this is so, in what I have read and what I do believe, if I do remember correctly, is that Google did not want to give Motorola special treatment in the partnership when it comes to Nexus phones, after all, Android is open-source). Why I hate the thing is subject to another rant/post another time.

Motorola Droid Bionic
Photo courtesy of Amazon

Right now though, I do have other issues to think about other than what my next smart phone should be.  But it’s just something else to get my mind on, and a step to moving closer to normalcy.

Links:

http://www.zdnet.com/google-nexus-4-why-im-saying-goodbye-to-verizon-7000006636/

http://www.google.com/nexus/4/

http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/02/nexus-4-review/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Nexus

Time to Catch Up, Apple.

iPhone 5. I hope people out there are disappointed by this lackluster device, because I am.

I’m not an Apple guy by any means, but I was actually hoping for a well spec’d phone from them this time. Not to say that the specs of the new iPhone 5 aren’t good, I’m just saying that it’s nothing new or impressive.

The two biggest upgrades to the iPhone are 4G LTE and the 4 inch screen. Apple will probably go as far to say that they are the pioneers of 4G technology, when they aren’t. Of course, now many more people will know about 4G LTE, considering that the technology is now on an Apple iPhone. Then there will be the people (especially those on AT&T) questioning how it is different from HSPA+, called 4G on the AT&T iPhone 4S. On Android devices running HSPA+ it is titled as such, or H+.

The 4 inch screen is lacking as well, and it isn’t even HD. It’s a 4 inch screen! Most phones are of 4.5 inches to 5.2 inches, with 4.8 being the average “sweet spot.” This iteration is a 16:9, a widescreen Retina Display. Of course, the pixel density is stellar, something I actually can complement an iPhone about. But it still isn’t HD. Apple is going to continue with its Retina display.

They added Facebook sync in iOS 6, so now all Facebook contacts will be on the phone if desired. Guess what? Android did that. From the start. Another thing Apple has blatantly stolen from Android is the notification pull down from iOS 5. Catch up, Apple.

They’ve used the same camera as the iPhone 4S, just with a newer, thinner, more durable cover. Improvement, but won’t change the fact that the iPhone will produce blurry images and pretty much work like a brick in low light situations. Even so, this overshadowed the brilliant Nokia PureView Camera on the Nokia Lumia 920, a gorgeously designed phone with a simple and clean user interface on Windows 8.

The processor it’s running is the Apple A6 chip. A dual core CPU with quad core graphics, essentially making the media experience smooth. But internationally, there are Android phones running quad core CPU’s along with quad core GPU’s. Apple is behind a bit on this one.

Apple decided to get rid of Google Maps in favor of their own native Maps. The native Maps app has a fly-over feature, essentially mimicking Google’s Street View and Building View. Oh, and the biggest thing improved for the iPhone’s maps? It now has turn-by-turn navigation! Isn’t that a surprise, the Maps application has features that Google Maps and Google Earth have had nearly from the get-go! Oh, Apple, catching up.

Siri has also had some updating, and now it copies the Google Now, Android 4.1’s native voice actions app. Siri can now tell sports scores and allow you to make reservations on the go.

But perhaps one of the most talked about things is the new dock connector, misleadingly called the Lightning dock connector. For one, the Lightning cable is only a USB 3.0 cable. Most iMacs are at USB 4.0, making for insanely fast data transfers. Also, people with all the speaker accessories will now need to buy special adapters so their new iPhone 5’s will be able to fit on the dock! A question asked moreover about this new dock is why didn’t Apple just go with the industry standard MicroUSB? The world may never know.

With all the similarities to Android phones, why isn’t Apple the company getting sued?

Point is, Apple is merely evolving the iPhone brand, but in the process making it less innovative, and less… Different.

Exciting, isn’t it? Apple is the one having to play catch up in the technology world.

Will you be waiting in line to buy the iPhone 5? Or will you wait for it to cool down to get it? Maybe you’ll wait for the inevitable launch of the iPhone 5S? How about switching to an Android 4.0 device or a Windows 8 device?

Time for a laugh.