The Cell Phone / Mobile Phone Thread

Trying to compete head to head with Apple is stupid. In this sphere of things anyway. Microsoft as a brand does not have the cache that the Cult of the Orchard has as far as overpriced fondlephones go. This rebrand, which I feel is idiotic in the extreme, has the potential to cost Microsoft even more money for no real gain in market share.

Heh, if Microsoft wanted to get much of a foothold in mobile phones I feel they'd do best at the cheap end - a refined, cheaper set of phones where people just want something to do a few bits, but they don't get it.

What video converter setting work best LGL 33 L phone? What video converter is good with LGL 33 L Phone? I want to convert my videos into MP 4 but I don't it to be too big and/or lose quality.

To the question about motorola from last page, I got a Moto G 2nd Gen without LTE and got the Marshmellow upgrade somewhere in April.

Though it probably helps that Motorola's Android is pretty close to basic version and no big add ons, i.e. less work to upgrade through the bank for Motorola.

One of the reasons my father is considering getting a 3rd Gen G to retire his old Sony now that its cheaper and the 4th Gen doesn't have anything he really wants. I had to fix something for him a while back and was shocked because all those apps that Sony forces on him were on it :/

edited 20th May '16 3:09:20 AM by 3of4

So apparently Moto's MWC Conference previously believed to be centered around the Moto Z reveal might also have a RAZR relaunch in store for us.

Man....... I dunno. If were gonna go around bringing back 2000s ass phones, what they should do is make a Sidekick/Hiptop Spiritual Successor running Marshmellow. I mean, that form factor and keyboard is actually legitimately good and I'd love to see a more modern take on that design. Hell, I know Samsung basically but a Galaxy S2 in that form factor as the Sidekick 4G but the screen slided out instead of 180 spinning out, and FUCK that 180 degree spin is so god damn cool to this day. Hell, Matías Duarte and Andy Rubin were both ex-Danger so it already makes Android a Sidekick/Hiptop sequel tbh.

I mean, I know Microsoft bought Danger and cannibalized their remains into the piece of ass that was the Kin, so if it's them owning the 180 degree spinning screen patent that stops another company from doing it......... put a spinny screen in the Surface Phone and I'd seriously consider switching to Windows 10 Mobile from Android (to be fair I really like my Surface Pro so it's not just a matter of spinny screens)

The Surface Phone may not be coming, at least not in the form Microsoft's hinted at. Intel, who would have been providing the guts of the thing, are in the process of sacking 11,000 workers in their mobile division, and they've cancelled a lot of chipsets/So Cs.

http://pocketnow.com/2016/05/01/intel-cancels-atom

There's a really good write-up about their plans in the British "Micro Mart" magazine from last week, but they've got a horribly poor web presence so I can't link their article.

What may come out is some sort of over-priced, re-branded and warmed over "flagship" Lumia phone.

So, out of curiosity, I want to ask carrier-bought phone owners here - how many carrier apps (or perhaps "bloatware") come preinstalled on your phones, and do you use any of them at all? I'm asking because from what I know, if one buys a phone there, they should expect to see said apps tacked along with OEM stuff on their new phone.

edited 21st Jun '16 9:26:25 AM by DarkDestruction

My phone's non-carrier, so...

The only two I ever much used was one for Wi Fi calling, and the other which showed my minute/data limits and a few other bits.

Otherwise? No.

There wasn't anything of the sorts on my iPhone 5.

My phone carrier does offer a free app allowing you to check your account status (call times, data used etc.) but you have to download it yourself from the app store.

I have a Samsung phone from Verizon and I uninstalled a bunch of bloatware after I rooted my phone.

There's Knox, which is a security app that keeps your phone safe for Verizon, there's WatchON, which is actually a pretty useful remote if you've got an IR blaster in your phone's hardware, but is mostly a junky TV schedule and recommendation app. They included an app that looks up the registered location of incoming phone calls, but it was a one-month trial of a paid service.

I really just either ignore the bloatware or delete it if I can, and either way it doesn't stick in my memory.

So there's some new specs for new Nexus phones for Nougat released, and they look pretty snazzy.

Yeah, the specs do look nice. But there's no Micro-SD slot listed and that's a deal breaker with me for fondlephones.

True, although they have 128 GB of space for the larger, so I'm not too sure I'd need one.

Yeah, but the bigger phone's going to cost the GDP of a small European country. Like Britain.

Meh, just as long as I don't need to sell off one of my Chelsea properties I'll be good.

Although my last one I did need to pawn off a home in Anglia for.

Well, my G still works fine, so...

I like being able to swap out cards, but I pretty much never use that ability the way I was meant to. I don't think you're going to see a Nexus device with removable storage. They made it clear a few generations back that they believed that cloud storage made external cards redundant.

I have a bigger problem with phones that don't have a removable battery. Every phone I've ever had, I've used the ability to yank the power supply as a last resort on an unresponsive phone multiple times a month.

Also I've invested in wireless charging and don't want to go back. I have designs upon a 5X, but I intend to get a Qi reciever modded into it.

@T Paradox - well, there's a way to force-shutdown Android phones that works on most models with nonremovable batteries - hold down Power and volume-down (or failing that, both volume) buttons for about 15-ish seconds until you can see the screen forcibly powering off. An obscure trick, admittedly, but from my experience with the Nexus 5 and Moto X Style, it does work in a pinch.

Speaking of wireless charging, while it's indeed neat and mess-free, I'm personally worried that the excess heat the process of charging generates will shorten my phone's battery life or even damage it outright. I do see the appeal in not having to deal with infuriatingly tangled and knotted cables, though.

edited 2nd Jul '16 9:27:27 AM by DarkDestruction

F#$%! Dropped my phone in a pond, now it’s bricked!

Gonna see if I can’t get it apart and dry out wherever water leaked in to save it, if I can. I actually retrieved it and dried it off as quickly as I could and it seemed to be OK at first.

I’m sad about this. I may be in the market for a new phone, but I didn’t want to have to shell out that much money right now.

I seem to be capable of freezing phones all the way down to the BIOS.

But I didn't realize you needed a full fifteen seconds. I thought it was more like five.

If you fully dismantle the phone and stick all its bits in a bag of cooking rice and leave it overnight, it might just dry them out enough for you to rebuild it and get it working again. I've seen a lot of people on the net making posts about that working for them - if the phone is still knackered all you're going to be out is the cost of a bag of rice. If on the other hand it works, you've got your phone back.

Silica gel packets work pretty well if you don't feel like using rice. You can find them in most vitamin bottles.

Several days later and the phone is still bricked. I’ve gone online and ordered a refurbished Nexus 5, which cost a lot less than I anticipated.

That’s still a week away. In the meantime, I’ve reverted to my horrible, much-loathed LG Optimus L9. God, how I hate this phone with a seething passion!

A Nexus 5 is already one generation behind the leading edge, and they're probably going to announce the new generation in a matter of weeks, so a refurbished one is gonna be pretty cheap right now.

edited 5th Jul '16 5:39:27 PM by TParadox