Android Phones - Discussion

[n00bMeiSter]

Android phones are getting more and more popular, and I believe in some areas are beating out iPhone sales (Yay!).
I know we've got Android owners / users on here, so I figure why not have a discussion thread to share tips and tricks, discuss OS versions, apps, various Android phones, etc.

[n00bMeiSter]

I'll get things started.

So I'm in the market for a new phone. Kind of want to get away from the iPhone, the only thing really keeping it on my list is Siri, but I've lived this long without it and I can easily continue to live without it.
I've been looking at the Note and Galaxy SIII.

I'm wondering what people think of:
- call quality (sound of caller to you, how well you come across to others)
- reception quality (my old Nokia 6265i got excellent reception in the basement of an all concrete building (TEL building @ York U) and nothing has compared to that since)
- battery life
- apps (how are the apps? are they good? are they buggy or glitch out a lot? is there a good selection?)
- recommended versions or flavours of the android OS?
- How is the camera quality? (picture / video quality, sound quality in videos)
- how's the bluetooth? do you have issues with it and earpieces or car BT's or connecting to computers or other devices via BT?
- are there any good cases out? I've got an iSkin for my iPhone and it's amazing, I need a case that doesn't slide around on surfaces, and this one doesn't budge.
- thoughts on the keyboard? how does it compare to other phone keyboards?

[dentinger]

i have a Galaxy S3.

AMA.

[Fuyuzora]

Just picked up a Galaxy SIII last month, upgraded from a Motorola Milestone (Droid). On Telus.


- call quality (sound of caller to you, how well you come across to others)
Call quality is fine to me, had some people remark I'm quite clear on their end, but that may simply be because my Milestone was starting to get pretty tired when I finally replaced it.


- reception quality (my old Nokia 6265i got excellent reception in the basement of an all concrete building (TEL building @ York U) and nothing has compared to that since) Seem to get good coverage on Telus LTE throughout the NCR. Was doing better on the outskirts (outside Stittsville) with my SGS3 than my buddy's HTC Desire on Fido. Fastest speeds I've seen on Telus LTE was around 33 Mbps.


- battery life
Mediocre-to-average. It's a powerhouse phone, so it's not designed for rovers. Also doesn't help that I tend to dick around with it a lot, meaning I generally unplug it in the morning, play with it on the bus and on break at the office, charge it up a bit before I leave work, use it in the evening, then plug it back in at bedtime. If I were to keep my hands off it, it can easily last over a day. Two days might be a bit of a stretch. Note this is with LTE enabled though... Would probably be better if I forced it down to HSDPA or 2G.


- apps (how are the apps? are they good? are they buggy or glitch out a lot? is there a good selection?)
lolwut. As with any smartphone, the good apps are good, and the garbage apps are garbage; also as usual, there's a few thousand fantastic apps for every hundred thousand pieces of garbage. As far as "Can I find a good quality app to do what I need?" goes, I've had no issues whatsoever. As with a computer, download apps from competent/legitimate developers and you'll do just fine.


- recommended versions or flavours of the android OS?
I was on Cyanogen Mod 7.2 (Gingerbread) on my Milestone, but I'm happy with Samsung's TouchWiz-tweaked Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy S3 for now, so I haven't changed it yet. YMMV.


- How is the camera quality? (picture / video quality, sound quality in videos)
Camera quality is good, and certainly much better than the garbage camera on my Milestone. Not as good as on an iPhone, but perfectly adequate. This picture of my roof racks (http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?42057-What-Did-You-Do-To-Your-Car-Today&p=981671&viewfull=1#post981671) was taken on my SGS3. One complaint about the camera is the lack of a hardware camera button - in the stock implementation you have to use the onscreen button which I find annoying.

I don't record video on my phone, so I can't comment there.


- how's the bluetooth? do you have issues with it and earpieces or car BT's or connecting to computers or other devices via BT?
I find the BT pairs a lot faster than the Milestone. Connection is reliable, call quality is good, and Bluetooth audio (to the Mazda3) is MUCH MUCH better quality than on the Milestone... To the point that I'll probably just use the BT audio (and gain steering controls) instead of using the 3.5mm jack in the car.

Don't have any BT4.0 devices yet, so I can't comment there.


- are there any good cases out? I've got an iSkin for my iPhone and it's amazing, I need a case that doesn't slide around on surfaces, and this one doesn't budge.

I currently have gelaskin art on the back of the phone, and the entire thing inside a clear cheapo silicone case from Telus. Happy enough with it for now, so I haven't been looking for alternatives... Can grab a picture if you want to see. I'm sure some of the other silicone cases available are higher-tack and would work just fine as far as grip goes.


- thoughts on the keyboard? how does it compare to other phone keyboards?
Reason I bought the Milestone was for the physical keyboard, so the loss of it was unfortunate. That said, in landscape mode, typing is very easy thanks to the large screen size. The stock keyboard isn't great so I tried out SwiftKey3, but that felt laggy so I went back to stock and haven't tried out any other ones since then. I also use Simeji for Japanese IME, but it's a bit pokier than stock as well, so I only use it when Japanese is involved.

:thumbsup

[Aitch]

i have a Galaxy S3.

AMA

^^ I'm with him. Had three Android phones so far. App selection is about 90% as good as iOS, I'm hardly ever left wanting thought. GSIII is an awesome phone with excellent battery life (one of the best Android ones so far) and a great camera, plus you can make it look and work exactly as you want it to.

[05Mazda3GT]

I have the Motorola Razr and its a good phone. Really thin and lightweight, the keyboard is amazing. Still waiting on the ICS update though.

The Galaxy S3 and HTC One X/S/V are very good phones.

[dentinger]

Just picked up a Galaxy SIII last month, upgraded from a Motorola Milestone (Droid). On Telus.


haa! that's what i upgraded from!

[Fuyuzora]

HTC One X/S/V are very good phones.

Side note for for those who may not have heard; one reason (among many) I went with the Galaxy S3 was that HTC's "Sense" tweaks have broken Android's native multitasking.

Stock Android will handle multitasking as expected (maintain both processes, and divert resources to the active app). Sense on the other hand, simply arbitrarily kills background processes and re-opens them when you go to switch back... Which can make for unpleasant surprises if you have something important running in the background (a countdown timer, perhaps).

Food for thought.


haa! that's what i upgraded from!

Hah! *high five* :D

[rzapata]

Had an iphone 3GS, went with a Galaxy Nexus (wanted the S3 though but I was impatient and just went ahead).

Awesome smartphone overall. I was hesitant at first, was a pinch away from going with the 4S. Glad I didn't as I found a lot more flexibility with Android phones. Speed and multitasking is fine with the Nexus. Although, I'm sure the S3 will be loads better due to improved processor and other stuff... What I liked most are the widgets.

Reception is ok with the Nexus. Same, if not similar, to the iphone IMO. Camera is way better compared to the iphone 3GS (obviously).. Sounds are ok, I can't complain as I can clearly hear the other side.

As for the OS, the latest one is Ice Cream Sandwhich (4.0). They are expected to release Jelly Bean (4.1) soon I believe and based on talks in the internet, it's suppose to be faster and would eliminate common bugs on 4.0. The S3 has it and it's supposed to be released to other Android phones soon.. With the Nexus, I find that there's a bit of a lag. The phone hasn't crashed yet so I guess it means that it is stable.

Galaxy Note and S3 are somewhat similar in terms of performance I believe. Note is good because it's got a gi-normous screen for a phone. :)

[coriolis]

4.1.1 Galaxy Nexus user here, been using Jelly Bean ever since the ROM leaked onto the net. Love the phone, especially the much much more responsive UI in general. Even with a live wall-paper, it looks and feels great. I came from a iPhone 4 which lasted 2-3 months, and got the GNexus soon after. The UI response isn't as instant as iOS but they're making their way there, slowly but surely.

[rzapata]

4.1.1 Galaxy Nexus user here, been using Jelly Bean ever since the ROM leaked onto the net. Love the phone, especially the much much more responsive UI in general. Even with a live wall-paper, it looks and feels great. I came from a iPhone 4 which lasted 2-3 months, and got the GNexus soon after. The UI response isn't as instant as iOS but they're making their way there, slowly but surely.

Is the difference between 4.0 and 4.1 that noticeable. I've been checking for updates regularly since I read about Jelly Bean... How's your battery with all the addition?

[tre_77]

I'm a big "phone guy" and comes down to this: if you like apple, stick with apple. If you want to be able to do a litlle more customizing, go android.

Android let's you control the layout of your phone home screens ( widgets, clocks, etc). The screens are also bigger and just as vibrant as Apple's "retina display". And, if you don't like the way your phone glides screens, scrolls through apps, or anything like that, you can download a free "launcher" and tweek things even further!


Personally, im an android guy. Sure apple products are simple and do what theyre supposed to do, android is just more customizable to the user. And dont think that android is complicated, after a week of playing with it youll forget all about apple.

Oh, and honestly, just pretend blackberry and windows phones dont exist... because they really dont! Lol

[Hyperion]

The app selection may be 90% of the iphone's, but I have apps that can kick people off my wifi if they are annoying me, log into their facebook if they are on my wifi, and another, but i can't remember. Because of the open sourceness, Android phones are capable of so much more.

[The Wolf]

I have an HTC One X. I love the phone and form factor, although (as previously mentioned) HTC Sense does kill multitasking which is a huge dealbreaker. If I had known, I definitely would have opted for the S3.

all in all, I can't complain since I was coming from BlackBerry and I'm far from a superuser

[turtle]

I went from iPhone to Droid, very happy I did. Customization alone is worth switching. I have the One X, lack of multi-tasking is def crappy, but would that issue not be solved by rooting the device? I'm not exactly sure how rooting works, as this is my first droid and I haven't begun doing any research on how it's done haha.

[coriolis]

Is the difference between 4.0 and 4.1 that noticeable. I've been checking for updates regularly since I read about Jelly Bean... How's your battery with all the addition?

I'm really liking 4.1, I think its a very polished version of ICS, while slowly creeping towards Google domination where Android becomes one and connected 'nexus portal' to everything, Chrome, GMail, Calendar, Docs, etc. Note that I'm on Rogers.

I have no more 'No internet' or 'No data connection' problems, which I used to get at least once a day, I lose data connection but the phone works (I can make phonecalls and sent SMS's). It sucks when I want to check something but I have no data. The only quick solution was a hard reboot or wait for it to reconnect which usually took a few mins. Awesome.

I feel that I get a strong signal everywhere now, whereas in ICS, I'd get a wild spectrum of signal reception from one bar to a full bar, but I don't lose the 3G signal. Now on JB, I usually sit at the least, 3 bars. Not sure if that's just me though. But I never got reception issues, droppped calls. etc. on ICS, but I this was something I noticed in the past few weeks.

Everything is buttery smooth, the UI has been thoroughly polished and refined. The whole UI experience is much more iOS-like, everything responds immediately, but there are a few hiccups here and there. Right now I'm using live wallpaper, in ICS, there is still slight screen lag when you go through your screens, but in JB, it is almost non-existent. Of course with a solid wallpaper, everything is much smoother.

Things load faster, period. Going to settings, switching between apps, opening your calendar, etc.

Google Now is still in its early stages. I could see how it can be useful in the future, but it is also a concern about privacy. But nowadays, unless you completely go offline, there is very little privacy anywhere.

As for battery life, it seems that some people are torn. I personally find that I get more between charges, while others get less. What I personally think is that some existing apps don't play nice with 4.1+, however it'll be fixed once they start updating on JB. Another reason could be during the root, having the wrong kernels or RIL, especially if you are installing onto a custom ROM. I have a custom rom, but overall I don't have many widgets, apps or games. I can get my phone to last a little over one and a half days with a good amount of usage. It goes unplugged from Monday morning, to Tuesday afternoon, where I usually charge it at work.

[The Wolf]

I went from iPhone to Droid, very happy I did. Customization alone is worth switching. I have the One X, lack of multi-tasking is def crappy, but would that issue not be solved by rooting the device? I'm not exactly sure how rooting works, as this is my first droid and I haven't begun doing any research on how it's done haha.

You can apparently, but then you lose all the native widgets. It is possible to root and keep sense as well, perhaps once you root you can somehow activate multitasking?

[turtle]

You can apparently, but then you lose all the native widgets. It is possible to root and keep sense as well, perhaps once you root you can somehow activate multitasking?

Maybe, I'll have to ask the internet about that one.

[leungalv]

I have a Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray and just got a HTC One X yesterday ... haven't tinkered enough with the One X yet.

I'm using Gingerbread on the Ray ... what tips can I offer ... not sure, start asking Dave hahaha

[Pyro]

I'll get things started.

So I'm in the market for a new phone. Kind of want to get away from the iPhone, the only thing really keeping it on my list is Siri, but I've lived this long without it and I can easily continue to live without it.
I've been looking at the Note and Galaxy SIII.

I'm wondering what people think of:
- call quality (sound of caller to you, how well you come across to others)
- reception quality (my old Nokia 6265i got excellent reception in the basement of an all concrete building (TEL building @ York U) and nothing has compared to that since)
- battery life
- apps (how are the apps? are they good? are they buggy or glitch out a lot? is there a good selection?)
- recommended versions or flavours of the android OS?
- How is the camera quality? (picture / video quality, sound quality in videos)
- how's the bluetooth? do you have issues with it and earpieces or car BT's or connecting to computers or other devices via BT?
- are there any good cases out? I've got an iSkin for my iPhone and it's amazing, I need a case that doesn't slide around on surfaces, and this one doesn't budge.
- thoughts on the keyboard? how does it compare to other phone keyboards?

For me the only problem with the s3 is battery life currently. However this might be fixed with custom roms (on all my other past android phones this was usually fixed). I only rooted, didn't flash any custom roms. Camera quality is great, not amazing though. Sony phones usually have the best cameras. Cases - there's tons out for the s3 since its a flagship phone. Look here for lots of reviews on cases: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1565. Keyboard - I usually use either Swype (free since its in beta) or Swiftkey (paid). And thats one of the advantages of Android - don't like the built in app? Just go get another to replace it. Bluetooth - this phone connects to my car deck QUICK compared to my last phones.

When it comes down to it - if you just want things to work out of the box, get an iphone. If you like to customize stuff - yeah it takes a long time, but sometimes the end result makes your phone look pretty damn sexy. Check out this thread to see how people are customizing their homescreens: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=476483&page=7068. Some of the screens are shit, but some (especially the ones by graphic designers) look amazing. It all depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it

[eqlso]

I made the switch to the s3 from having blackberrys for a while now. Quality of browsing, apps, video quality are much better than my torch before. The two things that bug me are battery life and having the enter key = newline instead of send for messaging apps.

[loosecannon]

Before you pick your phone, go on XDA and see if there's a large community supporting the device. The bigger the community, the more choices of custom ROMs you'll get. If you can get a phone with support from CyanogenMod and/or AOKP, do it up! Those two have the largest community and have excellent battery life. Paired with Franco's Kernel, even better battery life.

[Aitch]

For better (great) battery life on the S3, disable LTE. I find the normal connection plenty fast for browsing, and it significantly increases battery life. I unplug at 6:30am, browse online for an hour commute each way, have push email on all day, and play around a bit at night. I consistently have 15% left at 11pm.

Use Handcent or GoSMS as your text app, and you can get the enter key to send messages, plus endless custom themes.

Also a lifetime Swype user. I tried Touchpal, which looks slightly better, but the word prediction in Swype is MUCH better. When you show your iPhone friends you can just swype entire words on your keyboard, they'll switch too.

[SilentJay]

I've been on my SGS1 for the longest time i've ever owned a single phone - going on 2 years. What's kept this guy alive, in my eyes anyway, is the XDA community's involvement and development. Who knew that a brand new OS like Jellybean(slim) would run on a 2.5-3 year old phone? That's bordering iOS in device longevity.

[Lactose]

I plan on making the switch to SIII from an Iphone 4, The iphone just gives me to many problems. I can no longer charge it on anything but a PC otherwise it shuts off randomly and wont start up till I "activate" it again. The lock button is broken (seems to be common). Iphone's are great, IFF you jailbreak them. The only concern I have is I plan on getting an AppRadio2 and since I'm switching to Android not sure how great it is with it, but since I'm keeping my iphone I could always just Wifi hotspot and what not to make it work :]

[JonsMazda]

Anyone tried unlocking their Samsung S3?

[rzapata]

...but since I'm keeping my iphone I could always just Wifi hotspot and what not to make it work :]

Exactly what I do with my 3GS. It's jailbroken so I have it as a portable GPS and miscellaneous stuff. :chuckle

Android seems to be catching up (if not better) to the iOS. There's still a few tweaks that need to be done but other than that, it's a very open ended system if you're in to phone customization. Hell, I do different settings every week, stuff that I couldn't do with the iphone. :thumbsup

Dave, it's time to ditch them iphones!

[bhrm]

I have the S2, quite happy with it.

Ice Cream Sandwich is great, glitchy at times and eats my battery (I need to do a factory reset to fix this).

My only complaint is battery life, but I am a pretty heavy user. Next phone I will get must have awesome battery life though.

[SilentJay]

^^ Not sure if they have one yet or not but they usually end up releasing "high density" batteries that are the same size as the original ones but come with 30-50% more mAh.

[zmz3]

I have used many Android phones over the years, and my latest gadget is the samsung s3.

It's a very good device, feels great in the hands, fast, amazing camera (equal or greater than iPhone 4S), and 1080p video with great audio. Call quality is very good as well and signal is decent (probably wont be like that Nokia you had...)

Screen is the best thing about the device. It helps that there is 2GB of ram making it a more futureproof.

I can't see why you wont go for the S3. Personally, the Note with 5.2/5.5 is too big for me to carry around daily. the 4.8 of the S3 just about hits the sweet spot.

Battery is alright, lasts a day with moderate usage (~16-20hrs).

The touchwiz version of ICS on the S3 is very good. It is smoother than stock ICS on Galaxy Nexus... I can't image how it would be with Jelly Bean ! Only bad thing about touchwiz is the inability to make folders with icons of what's inside, instead, it creates a folder (similar to Windows).

PS SwiftKey 3 is amazing and fits TouchWiz theme beautifully :)

[rzapata]

^^ Not sure if they have one yet or not but they usually end up releasing "high density" batteries that are the same size as the original ones but come with 30-50% more mAh.

If you find one, post em up. The ones I saw were the fatty batteries where you have to replace the back with a fat back plate. Don't like that.

[zmz3]

4.1.1 Galaxy Nexus user here, been using Jelly Bean ever since the ROM leaked onto the net. Love the phone, especially the much much more responsive UI in general. Even with a live wall-paper, it looks and feels great. I came from a iPhone 4 which lasted 2-3 months, and got the GNexus soon after. The UI response isn't as instant as iOS but they're making their way there, slowly but surely.

When it's the same home/icon screen since 2007, it's hard to be slow... LOL!

God it's so damn boring to use and so simple (too much). No widgets!

[Hyperion]

iOS is 'instant' because it takes a screen shot when you close the app, and then loads that screen shot when you reopen it, tricking you into thinking it's fully loaded. But it's actually loading in the background while you get accustom to the screen.

[Pyro]

Only bad thing about touchwiz is the inability to make folders with icons of what's inside, instead, it creates a folder (similar to Windows).

Just use another launcher. Personally I am using Apex. I think the Go Launcher is pretty good too

[n00bMeiSter]

Wow, it looks like our Android community is even larger than I thought.

All this talk about Ice Cream Sandwiches and JellyBeans is making me hungry. I dunno if I could handle an Android now, I'd be even more hungry all the time lmao.

Pyro: Thanks for the links, I highly doubt I'll be rom'ing it any time soon, but I definitely will be reading through those before buying.
Loosecannon: Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely be looking through the xda forums for the note community and the s3 community before buying as well.

One big concern (as silly as it may sound) is losing my free Shazam. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I've Shazam'd over 3000 songs in the 4 years I've had my iPhone 3G. I've had Shazam since it first came out so I get it for free on my iPhone. So not having to pay fees is a huge money saver. When we are doing demos, Proof of Concept, trailers, cut scenes, etc; it's a huge asset to have if I hear a song somewhere that would fit in well with something. Also it's my list of stuff to download for my Zune lmao

A friend of mine in the states had swype on one of his phones, and that's where I started to get interested in Androids. Love the idea, and as it stands I type too fast for the iPhone to understand so if I get another one, I'm going to continue to be frustrated by it's inability to keep up with me.


I like the fact that the Galaxy and Note have a slot for an SD card, but where is it? I couldn't find it when I was in Telus last night. Anyone know what capacity SD card they can handle? Can they go up to 32gb or higher?




I plan on making the switch to SIII from an Iphone 4, The iphone just gives me to many problems. I can no longer charge it on anything but a PC otherwise it shuts off randomly and wont start up till I "activate" it again. The lock button is broken (seems to be common).

Ouch, that sucks. The big issue I have with mine right now (other than it being a slow-ass pos that freezes constantly) is that when I plug it into my computer, iTunes doesn't recognize it as my phone anymore. It thinks it's someone else's phone and I can't sync it anymore :$. Thankfully I found a program that let me pull everything off it and was able to save my stuff that way (would have lost a lot of photos and contacts).




Dave, it's time to ditch them iphones!

Agreed!





I have used many Android phones over the years, and my latest gadget is the samsung s3.

It's a very good device, feels great in the hands, fast, amazing camera (equal or greater than iPhone 4S), and 1080p video with great audio. Call quality is very good as well and signal is decent (probably wont be like that Nokia you had...)

Screen is the best thing about the device. It helps that there is 2GB of ram making it a more futureproof.

I can't see why you wont go for the S3. Personally, the Note with 5.2/5.5 is too big for me to carry around daily. the 4.8 of the S3 just about hits the sweet spot.

Battery is alright, lasts a day with moderate usage (~16-20hrs).

The touchwiz version of ICS on the S3 is very good. It is smoother than stock ICS on Galaxy Nexus... I can't image how it would be with Jelly Bean ! Only bad thing about touchwiz is the inability to make folders with icons of what's inside, instead, it creates a folder (similar to Windows).

I have a feeling it will be very hard to find something with the same reception capabilities that my Nokie had.

Is the 2gb of ram upgradable to say 4gb?

I agree the Note is quite large and might be a little annoying to carry around all day without a hip holster, and I definitely don't think I'd like having it in my pocket all the time. But the reason I'm leaning towards the note is because it's large enough that it can sort of double as a tablet in a pinch. It's not as large, but it's big enough that I won't have to worry about not having one near-by all the time when on movie sets, or working with 2d/3d artists. I used to carry around one of those laptops that folded into a tablet, and it was very handy, but annoying to lug it around. Since I don't have the budget to buy a tablet and a new laptop, I was thinking the Note could suffice until I can buy a tablet. But the size and possible reduced battery life due to the larger screen has got me hesitating on it.





iOS is 'instant' because it takes a screen shot when you close the app, and then loads that screen shot when you reopen it, tricking you into thinking it's fully loaded. But it's actually loading in the background while you get accustom to the screen.

I noticed that a year or two ago, after closing an app, you get the home screen instantly but can't click on anything for a few seconds. Was frustrating as hell. I'd prefer a blank screen, or a screen that simply says "closing app".

[zmz3]

Wow, it looks like our Android community is even larger than I thought.


Is the 2gb of ram upgradable to say 4gb?



Yep, Android is in a controlling share now, I believe something like 65%+ globally :) Customization is huge key to its success.

The 2GB of RAM is the memory available for OS use (much like computer memory). The S3 includes an microSD slot for up to 32GB (64GB I think as well - not sure).

2GB of ram for OS is currently the highest and only available on S3. I am guessing Note will have such number as well.

if you always had/wanted a tablet and phone capability, then the note might be for you, but I could not enjoy that large of a phone for daily use. It is definately nice to have the larger screen, but not always.

[Pyro]

Pyro: Thanks for the links, I highly doubt I'll be rom'ing it any time soon, but I definitely will be reading through those before buying.
One big concern (as silly as it may sound) is losing my free Shazam. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I've Shazam'd over 3000 songs in the 4 years I've had my iPhone 3G. I've had Shazam since it first came out so I get it for free on my iPhone. So not having to pay fees is a huge money saver. When we are doing demos, Proof of Concept, trailers, cut scenes, etc; it's a huge asset to have if I hear a song somewhere that would fit in well with something. Also it's my list of stuff to download for my Zune lmao



Ya, stock rom is fine for me too. I won't flash a new rom until either either official Jelly Bean or MIUI. Actually there was a problem with the s3, where flashing it caused the phone to lose the IMEI. There's a tool out to back it up now, but I will wait for a while for those xda guys to find any more problems before before flashing anything

Android has both Shazam and Soundhound. I bought Soundhound, works pretty well. I'm pretty sure there's free versions of each though

[Elusivellama]

How's the file system on the S3? Like, can I open it up in windows explorer and drag/drop files directly into wherever I want, and organize photos by as many folders/subfolders as I want? I hate how the iPhone won't let you organize photos into folders deeper than one level.

Also, how's the web browsing experience? As smooth and fast as the iPhone? Better?

[rzapata]

How's the file system on the S3? Like, can I open it up in windows explorer and drag/drop files directly into wherever I want, and organize photos by as many folders/subfolders as I want? I hate how the iPhone won't let you organize photos into folders deeper than one level.

Also, how's the web browsing experience? As smooth and fast as the iPhone? Better?

Can't say exactly how it works with the S3, but it might be similar to the nexus or other Samsung phones. With the Nexus, it does have an nice file system, unlike the iphone. You can easily drag and drop stuff and everything is arranged in folders. That's another thing I like about it..

With the iphone, you have to mega hack the damn thing to be able to access all the files (pictures, musics, apps etc).

As for web browsing, I think it's dependent on how fast your processor and data connection is. I'm only in the 3G network so browsing is comparable to iphone (maybe a bit on the faster side though). Still, pretty fast for a phone. :)

[zmz3]

How's the file system on the S3? Like, can I open it up in windows explorer and drag/drop files directly into wherever I want, and organize photos by as many folders/subfolders as I want? I hate how the iPhone won't let you organize photos into folders deeper than one level.

Also, how's the web browsing experience? As smooth and fast as the iPhone? Better?

I haven't had a chance to actually organize by folders but using windows explorer, it is so easy to add files access it later. I am not sure about levels to be honest... Maybe someone else could chime in.

Web browsing is great, flash is there and screen is big to see things in a more proper form. The 720p resolution is very good.

Overall a great phone. A true flagship!

[zmz3]

Can't say exactly how it works with the S3, but it might be similar to the nexus or other Samsung phones. With the Nexus, it does have an nice file system, unlike the iphone. You can easily drag and drop stuff and everything is arranged in folders. That's another thing I like about it..

With the iphone, you have to mega hack the damn thing to be able to access all the files (pictures, musics, apps etc).

As for web browsing, I think it's dependent on how fast your processor and data connection is. I'm only in the 3G network so browsing is comparable to iphone (maybe a bit on the faster side though). Still, pretty fast for a phone. :)

4G is very good and LTE is awesome but kills battery.

LTE average speed is 25MBits/sec with a high of 42MBits/sec in some areas of Markham.

With 4G, you get the usual 4-8MBits which is as fast as the Canadian residential Internet speeds. Fast! I am averaging ~1MB/sec

The touchwiz browser is a tad faster than stock ICS but I believe Jelly Bean is on par with Samsung's latest.

[rzapata]

I read about those custom roms too. I tried that go launcher and didn't really like it so I reverted back to stock ICS. I'm just not confident enough to fiddle around with it yet so I'm gonna stick with Ice Cream Sandwich for now. Perhaps, until Jelly Bean comes out.

My coworker has LTE on his S2 and yeah, it is fast in terms of downloads and web browsing. I don't really browse/download stuff all the time except when I'm at home, where I use wifi anyway, so I've really no use for a fast data.

[p-o-g-i]

I just picked up the Samsung Galaxy SII LTE in the last couple of months and absolutely love it. I had an iphone prior.
I still have an iphone for work, but that's not my decision.
The only draw back I had with the Samsung was the battery life, but overall I'm happier with the switch. The ease of use, the clarity, the display; it's a great device.

[Elusivellama]

Man, making it hard for me to justify keeping this iPhone lol. Might make the switch sooner than I thought, depending on whether I can get an unlocked new S3 for a good price.

[Ozil]

I have the Galaxy S3 also,

Overall, the phone is great, the only thing I dont like about the phone is the low battery life and the phone overheating.

[n00bMeiSter]

Ya, stock rom is fine for me too. I won't flash a new rom until either either official Jelly Bean or MIUI. Actually there was a problem with the s3, where flashing it caused the phone to lose the IMEI. There's a tool out to back it up now, but I will wait for a while for those xda guys to find any more problems before before flashing anything

Android has both Shazam and Soundhound. I bought Soundhound, works pretty well. I'm pretty sure there's free versions of each though

Yeah, I'm going to wait for a solid release, even if it means I'm slightly behind. I'd rather not brick it lol.
Well, I love the way Shazam works, and it's few and far between that they aren't able to ID a song. I'd hate to have to switch, but we'll see how it goes.




How's the file system on the S3? Like, can I open it up in windows explorer and drag/drop files directly into wherever I want, and organize photos by as many folders/subfolders as I want? I hate how the iPhone won't let you organize photos into folders deeper than one level.

Also, how's the web browsing experience? As smooth and fast as the iPhone? Better?

Yeah, windows compatibility is a big deal for me as well. My Nokia was compatible, same folder system etc., no special software needed to put things on an SD card and into the external slot. Heck, they even released software you could download that would allow you to access everything on the phone via PC, all you needed was the appropriate cable.




As for web browsing, I think it's dependent on how fast your processor and data connection is. I'm only in the 3G network so browsing is comparable to iphone (maybe a bit on the faster side though). Still, pretty fast for a phone. :)

I hope it's not dependent on the network, my 3G is ridiculously slow on rogers' 3g.




I haven't had a chance to actually organize by folders but using windows explorer, it is so easy to add files access it later. I am not sure about levels to be honest... Maybe someone else could chime in.

Web browsing is great, flash is there and screen is big to see things in a more proper form. The 720p resolution is very good.

Overall a great phone. A true flagship!

Good point, I'm curious about the nesting levels for folders. I'd like to know the maximum level you can go to for nested folders.

Good to know! Can't wait to start seeing websites properly lmao. Stupid iPhone not having flash, or being able to properly display half of most websites lol



Man, making it hard for me to justify keeping this iPhone lol. Might make the switch sooner than I thought, depending on whether I can get an unlocked new S3 for a good price.

Yeah, I'm getting more and more excited to get a new phone! lol

[MarkWB]

We use the Galaxy S2 at work, it's not the 3, but either way the battery life is pretty good, the resolution is nothing short of f***ing amazing, and it's very fast to react/easy to use. If the 3 is an improvement on the 2 like people have been saying I'd go for that, but no qwerty, no buy for me. :P

[Pyro]

Folders - you can just connect your phone to a computer and use windows explorer to make as many folders as you want on your SD Card....there's many file explorer apps to do the same things on the phone too. SD Card for backing stuff up is key, especially if you flash roms so I wouldn't buy an android phone without a SD card personally. Itunes can suck my balls

3G being slow - upgrade to an LTE data plan then? 6GB LTE for $30, same price as 6GB 3G

Shazam - if you like shazam so much, its on android too: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shazam.android&hl=en Soundhound is exactly the same, but if you want to stick with it its there

[n00bMeiSter]

Awesome.
Which type of SD does it use? Micro, mini, regular?

[05Mazda3GT]

ATTENTION!

Does anyone know when the ICS update is coming out for Motorola Razr?

[Impressive]

Dad just bought the S3 today. It's a pretty sweet phone, but I'm not totally wow'ed by it yet.

[dentinger]

Awesome.
Which type of SD does it use? Micro, mini, regular?

the S3?

micro

[n00bMeiSter]

the S3?

micro

Thx. Time to find out what the Note uses.

[The Wolf]

I don't think anything uses anything other than micro the days

[n00bMeiSter]

Dad just bought the S3 today. It's a pretty sweet phone, but I'm not totally wow'ed by it yet.

Why's that?
Not that I'm expecting anyone to be instantly "zomg!" but what is bugging you about it?

[Impressive]

Why's that?
Not that I'm expecting anyone to be instantly "zomg!" but what is bugging you about it?

In particular the only thing "bugging" me would be the speed of the phone itself. My 4S runs at least as fast as my dads brand new S3. LTE internet is significantly faster than anything I can muster on my phone tho.

I dislike how the phone itself seems to have so many advanced options that are not touched on in the owners manual and the awkwardness of setting up the Home Screen initially shocked me.

I guess most of these rants I have about the phone will disappear once I have some true hands-on time with the device, but I must say - considering that I would have never even considered an Android phone 2 years ago, their operating systems and phones (particularly the Samsung models) have come a LONGGGG way. If I wasn't in so deep with my Apple connectivity features, I might even consider buying one myself one day.

P.S - If anyone has any tips/tricks/neat features that they could share with me (besides the stuff in the commercials) about the S3, please feel free :)

[dentinger]

setting up my Galaxy took a bit, mostly due to theh fact that my owners manual was zero help.
luckily, having come from another Android phone, i knew the basics of the S3, and everything else (gmail, contacts, etc) was already set up.

ive had this phone a few weeks now, and im still learning new things about it.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Galaxy S III Tips & Tricks (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1732018) .... it's listed in the Sprint forum but TouchWiz is pretty much the same across the carriers

The biggest microSD the S III can use is 64 GB but those comes formatted in exFAT which is a Microsoft standard that won't work with AOSP ROMs such as CyanogenMod (due to licensing that has to be paid to Micro$oft to use it) ....that said, you can format a 64 GB card in FAT32

When connecting to a PC, the storage on the S III will be an MTP device and not "USB Mass Storage"...this goes for both the internal storage (/mnt/sdcard or "Phone" in Windows Explorer) and the external storage (/mnt/extSdCard or "Card" in Windows Explorer).... it's MTP because the OS (/system /data /boot , etc) shares the same space on the internal storage and you can't see that file structure in Windows.

I used to hate TouchWiz on the Galaxy S II but the TouchWiz UX on the S III is quite nice.

[Impressive]

Galaxy S III Tips & Tricks (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1732018) .... it's listed in the Sprint forum but TouchWiz is pretty much the same across the carriers

The biggest microSD the S III can use is 64 GB but those comes formatted in exFAT which is a Microsoft standard that won't work with AOSP ROMs such as CyanogenMod (due to licensing that has to be paid to Micro$oft to use it) ....that said, you can format a 64 GB card in FAT32

When connecting to a PC, the storage on the S III will be an MTP device and not "USB Mass Storage"...this goes for both the internal storage (/mnt/sdcard or "Phone" in Windows Explorer) and the external storage (/mnt/extSdCard or "Card" in Windows Explorer).... it's MTP because the OS (/system /data /boot , etc) shares the same space on the internal storage and you can't see that file structure in Windows.

I used to hate TouchWiz on the Galaxy S II but the TouchWiz UX on the S III is quite nice.

Thanks but what is TouchWiz? The phone is my dad's, so the odds of him actually using it past about 5% of its capabilities is almost slim to none. I personally would like to be able to try out some of the stuff it has that my 4S lacks (LTE browsing was one, for example).

I will share the storage information with my dad as I'm sure he will be taking and uploading pictures from his phone a lot more now.

[Pyro]

One trick I found is to turn off the feature of hitting the home screen button twice for s voice. This will make the home screen appear significantly faster if you turn off this shortcut in s voice.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Thanks but what is TouchWiz? The phone is my dad's, so the odds of him actually using it past about 5% of its capabilities is almost slim to none. I personally would like to be able to try out some of the stuff it has that my 4S lacks (LTE browsing was one, for example).

I will share the storage information with my dad as I'm sure he will be taking and uploading pictures from his phone a lot more now.

TouchWiz is Samsung's "Launcher" (homescreen, app drawer, etc) ...it's basically the GUI.

You can replace the Launcher with others mentioned in this thread.... Nova, Apex, Go, etc to customize the GUI to how you like it.

[Pyro]

oh also turn off some of the features if you dont use them - the thing to silence the phone if you turn it upside down etc. I think this would drain your battery alot because the phone has to constantly monitor the phones orientation via gyroscope and thus will drain battery. I also turned off that feature where the screen will stay on if it knows you are looking at the screen. The way the phone does this is by trying to find your eyes through the front camera. It's smart but it made my phone hot and drained the battery so I don't use it anymore. After disabling alot of stuff I managed to control the phone idle drain pretty well.

I guess the giant screen is what causes the not so good battery life. How is the battery life for you guys. Light usage I can get about 21-22 hours out of it, but if I use it a lot throughout the day I get cut down to 16-18 hours

[Pyro]

In particular the only thing "bugging" me would be the speed of the phone itself. My 4S runs at least as fast as my dads brand new S3. LTE internet is significantly faster than anything I can muster on my phone tho.

I dislike how the phone itself seems to have so many advanced options that are not touched on in the owners manual and the awkwardness of setting up the Home Screen initially shocked me.

I guess most of these rants I have about the phone will disappear once I have some true hands-on time with the device, but I must say - considering that I would have never even considered an Android phone 2 years ago, their operating systems and phones (particularly the Samsung models) have come a LONGGGG way. If I wasn't in so deep with my Apple connectivity features, I might even consider buying one myself one day.

P.S - If anyone has any tips/tricks/neat features that they could share with me (besides the stuff in the commercials) about the S3, please feel free :)

As someone said earlier in the thread, iphone tricks you into feeling its faster by showing you a screenshot of the homescreen or app before it's finished loading. I can understand what you mean though. You can "speed up" the phone by disabling unused apps like all the Rogers and Samsung junk through the Application Manager. Also try the trick I posed about disabling the S Voice Shortcut by hitting the home button twice. The home screen is slow to appear because it waits for that second home button for the shortcut before it decides its not coming and goes back to home.

Androids suck out of the box. You have to put some work into making it better then iphone and learning how to use it because it is not intuitive. Apple is very good at design, such as the trick to make the phone feel faster, and designing the menus so everything is easier to find. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who wants to use new functions but is not tech savvy. It's ok for someone who just wants a phone, but I'd still say iphone is ahead for those kinds of people. But I hate Itunes and I use alot of the google features like gmail, calender, documents, contacts etc so it works for me.

Here's some useful apps:

Titanium Backup (root) - backup all your apps and user date. Great if you flash phone roms alot because you can restore everything easily.

Soundhound/Shazam - ID tracks you hear at the club

GO SMS - Text Message app with advanced functions and theming. Looks way better then stock

Adfree (root) - blocks ads in apps, espcially free apps

Pulse - read my rss feeds. Flipboard looks nicer but uses more data. I configure Pulse to only update automatically if it's on Wifi.

Tapatalk - view forums like TM3

Opera Mobile - better then stock browser.

Dropbox - cloud storage

GSAM Battery Monitor - detailed view of what is using up my battery as I disable and remove apps

SMS Backup and Restore - backup all your text messages and email the xml file to yourself. Again, great if you flash roms a lot

Astro - file manager

Barnacle Wifi Tether - make your phone into a wifi hotspot so you can connect other phones and laptops to your phone data

Launchers - there's tons of launchers that are better then the stock ones. ADW Launcher, Launcherpro, Apex, Nova, Go Launcher. Hell there's even a launcher to imitate windows phones called Launcher7.

Iphone has alot of apps, but a lot of times doesn't let you do stuff that power users want to do, like the last few apps I mentioned such as a file manager or tethering .

[Impressive]

As someone said earlier in the thread, iphone tricks you into feeling its faster by showing you a screenshot of the homescreen or app before it's finished loading. I can understand what you mean though. You can "speed up" the phone by disabling unused apps like all the Rogers and Samsung junk through the Application Manager. Also try the trick I posed about disabling the S Voice Shortcut by hitting the home button twice. The home screen is slow to appear because it waits for that second home button for the shortcut before it decides its not coming and goes back to home.

Androids suck out of the box. You have to put some work into making it better then iphone and learning how to use it because it is not intuitive. Apple is very good at design, such as the trick to make the phone feel faster, and designing the menus so everything is easier to find. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who wants to use new functions but is not tech savvy. It's ok for someone who just wants a phone, but I'd still say iphone is ahead for those kinds of people. But I hate Itunes and I use alot of the google features like gmail, calender, documents, contacts etc so it works for me.

Here's some useful apps:

Titanium Backup (root) - backup all your apps and user date. Great if you flash phone roms alot because you can restore everything easily.

Soundhound/Shazam - ID tracks you hear at the club

GO SMS - Text Message app with advanced functions and theming. Looks way better then stock

Adfree (root) - blocks ads in apps, espcially free apps

Pulse - read my rss feeds. Flipboard looks nicer but uses more data. I configure Pulse to only update automatically if it's on Wifi.

Tapatalk - view forums like TM3

Opera Mobile - better then stock browser.

Dropbox - cloud storage

GSAM Battery Monitor - detailed view of what is using up my battery as I disable and remove apps

SMS Backup and Restore - backup all your text messages and email the xml file to yourself. Again, great if you flash roms a lot

Astro - file manager

Barnacle Wifi Tether - make your phone into a wifi hotspot so you can connect other phones and laptops to your phone data

Launchers - there's tons of launchers that are better then the stock ones. ADW Launcher, Launcherpro, Apex, Nova, Go Launcher. Hell there's even a launcher to imitate windows phones called Launcher7.

Iphone has alot of apps, but a lot of times doesn't let you do stuff that power users want to do, like the last few apps I mentioned such as a file manager or tethering .

The 4S does tether actually, but I know what you mean about the lack of options when it comes to modifying your iPhone vs. an Android OS phone.

Thanks for the tips guys! Also, how would you go able changing the launcher?

[CH0SiiN1]

Just picked up a HTC One X..
its a Beast IMO

[hisakix]

People have covered pretty much all the points and I agree with most of them but I would like to point out some incorrect "information":

1.) The Retina display was never more "vibrant" than the 2nd generation AMOLED screens. It was definitely higher resolution but was never able to match the colour department. These are two different aspects of display technology. Spec sheets are only useful to a point on displays, these things are meant for you to see them in person. Use a calibrated test for both display technologies and compare it in person, hands down 2nd gen AMOLED screens have eye popping colour. However, screen resolution is an entirely different matter.

Keeping this in line, the AMOLED display on the S3 appear to be not as saturated and due to their usage of PenTile vs regular RBG some text appear ever so slightly pixelated when looked upon closely.

[Pyro]

The 4S does tether actually, but I know what you mean about the lack of options when it comes to modifying your iPhone vs. an Android OS phone.

Thanks for the tips guys! Also, how would you go able changing the launcher?

to change a launcher, first install it. then hit the home button. you'll then be given the choice of what launcher to use. You can just pick it to use it that one time or you can choose to have the new launcher as the permanent option. If you ever want to clear the permanent option, go to application manager, then the launcher app, then hit clear defaults i think

[Elusivellama]

Hmm where is a good place to buy a Samsung Galaxy S3, unlocked? Don't want to buy any ones that might possibly have fallen off the back of a truck.

[midnightfxgt]

Went out and picked up a Samsung S3 last night. One thing I find disappointing is that when I use the FB App, I can not save pics from FB to my S3. Seems that the only options are to use Friendcaster or perform a screenshot.... can anyone confirm?

Thanks!
John

[Aitch]

When viewing a photo, I usually click "share" and save it as an Evernote item, then save it on my computer later. A little odd you can't save it to the phone directly though but I always hear complaints about the FB apps (even on iOS).

[midnightfxgt]

When viewing a photo, I usually click "share" and save it as an Evernote item, then save it on my computer later. A little odd you can't save it to the phone directly though but I always hear complaints about the FB apps (even on iOS).

iOS I found a little slow to update and other strange things. This is a great feature and is just missing. What a failure! lol. The rest of the phone I like :)

[Aitch]

iOS I found a little slow to update and other strange things. This is a great feature and is just missing. What a failure! lol. The rest of the phone I like :)

Complain to Facebook. I hear they are great at responding to criticism. :P

[zoso]

been rocking an LG G2x from wind since it came out
Fast for what I need and I prefer the smaller size. I find the bigger ones too awkward for practical use especially as a phone

[Nooby31]

just got the nexus from wind and so far not many complaints with the phone itself but some complaints with wind lol. The phone is surprising light for its size and only issue for me is the somewhat crappy battery life, but that is expected with the amount of stuff on it.

[n00bMeiSter]

Anyone know how much an S3 costs if you don't buy it from rogers or telus on a plan? I'm thinking of getting one that I could switch between carriers with, just in case.

Also, does anyone know if there's a difference between an S3 you would get from Rogers and one from Telus or Bell, etc? I've heard the phones you get with wind, koodo, virgin, etc are all cheaper because they don't come with all the features that a rogers version would come with. Can anyone shed some light onto this?

[midnightfxgt]

Dave - I think your looking at $650 from a carrier. I know a lot of carriers (ahem... Rogers) include a bunch of links to 1Number, and your billing etc. All stuff I didnt want, so I removed it. The beauty of Android.

I am almost 24hours in, so I am still an Android N00B

-John

[Pyro]

Anyone know how much an S3 costs if you don't buy it from rogers or telus on a plan? I'm thinking of getting one that I could switch between carriers with, just in case.

Also, does anyone know if there's a difference between an S3 you would get from Rogers and one from Telus or Bell, etc? I've heard the phones you get with wind, koodo, virgin, etc are all cheaper because they don't come with all the features that a rogers version would come with. Can anyone shed some light onto this?

the ones from rogers, telus, bell or all basically the same except for the crap the companies put on afaik
however:
international version is quad core
at&t/rogers/bell is dual core

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Anyone know how much an S3 costs if you don't buy it from rogers or telus on a plan? I'm thinking of getting one that I could switch between carriers with, just in case.

Also, does anyone know if there's a difference between an S3 you would get from Rogers and one from Telus or Bell, etc? I've heard the phones you get with wind, koodo, virgin, etc are all cheaper because they don't come with all the features that a rogers version would come with. Can anyone shed some light onto this?

Rogers/Bell (including Virgin)/Telus is the LTE-capable SGH-i747M running the dual-core S4 cpu and 2GB RAM

Wind/Mobilicity is the AWS-capable SGH-T999 also running the dual-core S4 cpu and 2GB RAM

the international version Galaxy S3 I9300 runs the Samsung Exynos 4412 quad-core cpu and 1GB RAM


All phones sold through a carrier in Canada come with carrier-specific bloatware; however, they can be disabled in App Manager if you choose to do so.

[n00bMeiSter]

Ah, okay cool.

How come the international version only has 1GB but has quad core?
Is it wiser to go with the SGH-i747M over the I9300?

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Ah, okay cool.

How come the international version only has 1GB but has quad core?
Is it wiser to go with the SGH-i747M over the I9300?

The Exynos chip in the i9300 didn't support LTE in North America ...or so they said. Samsung is going to release a Exynos quad-core LTE SIII with 2GB in Korea soon.

If you want LTE speeds here, you have to go with the i747M. The Snapdragon S4 is no slouch...it hangs with the Exynos but to appease North Americans who equate more cores with a better processor, Samsung upped the RAM to 2 GB.

[n00bMeiSter]

Cool.
Any word on how long until the Exynos quad-core with LTE comes here?

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Cool.
Any word on how long until the Exynos quad-core with LTE comes here?

not likely, it's a Korea-only phone...unless you can find it on the interwebz for sale.

[midnightfxgt]

Get the dual core, and don't worry. I think in some tests its even out performed the quad. Really, unless a crazy phone user, I dont think you would notice.

[SilentJay]

The current version of the quad-core LTE in S. Korea won't work here (on LTE anyway) as it's on a different band.

There's rumblings that Samsung really wants to stick it to Apple by releasing a version with the Exynos 5 on-board, which is supposedly a dual-core 1.7GHz with north american LTE radio SoC, right around the time of the IP5 launch.

[n00bMeiSter]

The current version of the quad-core LTE in S. Korea won't work here (on LTE anyway) as it's on a different band.

There's rumblings that Samsung really wants to stick it to Apple by releasing a version with the Exynos 5 on-board, which is supposedly a dual-core 1.7GHz with north american LTE radio SoC, right around the time of the IP5 launch.


I do find it interesting that they are putting quad-cores on phones. How much could your phone possibly be doing at once for you to need more than dual-core? (gotta love how the iPhone can only do one thing at a time lmao).

I hope they do, Apple needs to be put in their place.

[SilentJay]

I do find it interesting that they are putting quad-cores on phones. How much could your phone possibly be doing at once for you to need more than dual-core? (gotta love how the iPhone can only do one thing at a time lmao). I hope they do, Apple needs to be put in their place.

It's all about the ePeen factor :chuckle unless you really need to concurrently run several games of angry birds (it's free on android, suck it iOS lol) I don't think theres much out there that'd use that many cores for now - As in the PC world, software developers are probably scrambling to utilize the extra processing cycles efficiently. Now that speeds rival that of netbooks, the trend now seems to point towards tweaking efficiency out of "screaming" dual-cores up to 1.9GHz.

Without igniting another Apple-bashing controversy, unless there's something magical under the hood on the iP5, the supposedly leaked pictures of components don't show much of an evolution from the 4S... LoL new iPhone 4SS.

[Pyro]

rumours that jelly bean will be out for the s3 end of this month. Likely only the international version. however dev's on xda might be able to port it over to the NA version 747m hopefully....

[SilentJay]

<3 XDA

Saved my keeshster a few times after almost bricking my phone :P

[Hyperion]

They did it because in Europe + Asian, the 3G speeds are like our LTE here. But LTE + Quad Core would drain the battery in 4 hours.

[Elusivellama]

Suppose I bought an S3 locked to Telus, any recommendations on where to get it unlocked without paying too much? Thinking about buying one then selling my iPhone 4S privately.

[n00bMeiSter]

Suppose I bought an S3 locked to Telus, any recommendations on where to get it unlocked without paying too much? Thinking about buying one then selling my iPhone 4S privately.

I'd say Pacific Mall, but you're in Sudbury right?

[The Wolf]

Suppose I bought an S3 locked to Telus, any recommendations on where to get it unlocked without paying too much? Thinking about buying one then selling my iPhone 4S privately.

kijiji, but if you don't buy from a carrier you're SOL for warranty repairs.

[Elusivellama]

No, I'm in Waterloo. Here's the story... this guy can upgrade to a SGS3 but he already has his HTC one that he likes. So he's basically doing this for profit, upgrading to a new contract but selling the new phone. How does that work for warranty?

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Suppose I bought an S3 locked to Telus, any recommendations on where to get it unlocked without paying too much? Thinking about buying one then selling my iPhone 4S privately.

MobileInCanada... $20 to get the code for Rogers and Telus, $35 for every other carrier (http://www.mobileincanada.com/How-To-Unlock-Your-Cellphone)

[The Wolf]

No, I'm in Waterloo. Here's the story... this guy can upgrade to a SGS3 but he already has his HTC one that he likes. So he's basically doing this for profit, upgrading to a new contract but selling the new phone. How does that work for warranty?

Sorry, I misread your post. Warranty is already gone if you got it second hand I think

[Elusivellama]

Thanks Neil.

$500 a good price? Incl. receipt... literally will be standing there watching him receive it from the Telus guy over the counter.

[SilentJay]

Sorry, I misread your post. Warranty is already gone if you got it second hand I think

If the guy isn't a dick, he should be willing to get Telus to do the Warranty work on your behalf.

[SilentJay]

Thanks Neil.
$500 a good price? Incl. receipt... literally will be standing there watching him receive it from the Telus guy over the counter.

$500 is decent, especially since you'll see that he hasn't ever used it/done anything to it. I've seen them as low as $430 (no reciept though).

[Elusivellama]

Ok thanks, yeah, I'll actually be there as he gets his upgrade phone through Telus. That's assuming he hasn't already sold it - in which case it'll remove temptation from me, so i win either way (lol).


http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Samsung-Galaxy-S3-white-blue.jpeg

Blue... or white? I'm leaning towards blue.

[rzapata]

Ok thanks, yeah, I'll actually be there as he gets his upgrade phone through Telus. That's assuming he hasn't already sold it - in which case it'll remove temptation from me, so i win either way (lol).

Blue... or white? I'm leaning towards blue.

I like the blue one. White is kind of everywhere nowadays. :)

[n00bMeiSter]

I like the blue one. White is kind of everywhere nowadays. :)

Same, I do like the white and kind of want one, but I like the brushed look of the blue

[rzapata]

Same, I do like the white and kind of want one, but I like the brushed look of the blue

Easy to have both. Buy the blue S3, then get a white case and voila... You now have both. :chuckle

[midnightfxgt]

I went with the blue in fear of the the white getting really dirty.

[SilentJay]

Blue looks a little too "grey" in the pics :P

[Aitch]

I got white 'cause I've only had dark phones for a long time.

[rzapata]

Blue looks a little too "grey" in the pics :P

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Color is almost similar to Cosmic Blue/Metro Gray MS3.

[n00bMeiSter]

Easy to have both. Buy the blue S3, then get a white case and voila... You now have both. :chuckle

good idea haha



I got white 'cause I've only had dark phones for a long time.

Same, but I'm with John, I fear it will get dirty quick.

Also, is anyone on here using a case? If so which one? (and how much $ ?)

[Aitch]

Mine has been fine so far, no case, in my pocket all the time. Still white.

[rzapata]

I got this (http://www.case-mate.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Nexus-Cases/Case-Mate-Samsung-Galaxy-Nexus-GSM-Version-Barely-There-Cases.asp)one for my Galaxy Nexus in white. :) So my phone is now black and white, with hints of grey.

Hard case, covers the back but it doesn't really cover the bottom and top of the phone.

[vinnierap]

Im gonna be getting the SG3 very soon. Definately gonna be getting an Otterbox.

http://www.otterbox.com/samsung-galaxy-s3-cases/samsung-galaxy-s3-cases,default,sc.html

Watched some videos on the defender series and it looks very durable, plus it comes with a screen protector built in, and belt clip/stand. looks crazy.

[midnightfxgt]

Otterbox are awesome. A lot of buddies are trademen, and use them, and abuse them with no ill effects. A few have broken the case, called OB, and a new replacement was shipped, no problems.

Pricey cases - but they do what they say!

[n00bMeiSter]

Otterbox are awesome. A lot of buddies are trademen, and use them, and abuse them with no ill effects. A few have broken the case, called OB, and a new replacement was shipped, no problems.

Pricey cases - but they do what they say!

Bulky cases too tho.

[midnightfxgt]

Bulky cases too tho.

Very! Only reason I dont buy one

[Elusivellama]

Try the otterbox commuter, it's much less bulky compared to the defender and still offers a lot of protection. I use this on my iPhone 4S and it's hands down the best case out of anything else out there.

[n00bMeiSter]

Try the otterbox commuter, it's much less bulky compared to the defender and still offers a lot of protection. I use this on my iPhone 4S and it's hands down the best case out of anything else out there.

Hard cases don't do much for your phone, you really need a soft layer between your phone and the hard case or just your phone and other objects to absorb the impacts. Commuter does look like a decent size though.

I have an iSkin on my iPhone, and it's the best case I've ever had, super grippy on surfaces (so no chance of it sliding around on tables or floors) and absorbs impacts quite well.

[leecheefoto]

I like my phone naked. I've tested dozens of cases for each phone I've had from BBs to Android devices to iPhones.

Protection is nice, but it's nicer without. (If you know what I mean)

[Pyro]

Hard cases don't do much for your phone, you really need a soft layer between your phone and the hard case or just your phone and other objects to absorb the impacts. Commuter does look like a decent size though.

I have an iSkin on my iPhone, and it's the best case I've ever had, super grippy on surfaces (so no chance of it sliding around on tables or floors) and absorbs impacts quite well.

you can buy cheap slim TPU cases from ebay for like $2-3. I just got one in the mail yesterday - 0.3mm thickness

I also flashed Cyanogenmod 10 (jelly bean based) a couple of days ago, and it's pretty stable (couple of dropped calls but that might be fixed in the new build that just came out today). Jelly bean is now a real contender to iOS imo. It's not that much different from ice cream sandwich but overall it just looks better - the notifications look way better, the animations are a little nicer, overall it just looks much more polished like a real phone OS should look like

[Elusivellama]

Hard cases don't do much for your phone, you really need a soft layer between your phone and the hard case or just your phone and other objects to absorb the impacts. Commuter does look like a decent size though.


It has a soft silicone layer inside, and a hard layer outside.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

if you plan on flashing the S3 with custom ROMs and Kernels, etc... backup the IMEI and NV using these instructions (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801997) before doing so.

[vinnierap]

Just got my SG3 (blue) last night with the Otterbox Defender. I like the case, not as bulky as I thought it was gonna be. Makes the phone feel much stronger. So far its crazy. Still gotta figure out how to use it lol...

[SilentJay]

=/ Still in the hunt to pick one up without having to pay $600+ through Rogers.

[dambay]

Just installed an early build of Jellybean for my HTC Not-So-Incredible S, and am VERY impressed with how much quicker it is than Ice Cream Sandwich.

[SilentJay]

Jellybean runs like arse on my Galaxy S1 =/

[dambay]

Yeah this build is missing a lot of features but in terms of responsiveness and speed, its fantastic

[n00bMeiSter]

I can't decide if I should stick with Rogers or move to Telus or Fido (Yes I realize fido is still technically rogers). Ugh decisions. Anyone know if the S3 gets better service on one provider or the other?

[Impressive]

I can't decide if I should stick with Rogers or move to Telus or Fido (Yes I realize fido is still technically rogers). Ugh decisions. Anyone know if the S3 gets better service on one provider or the other?

Ever consider Bell? My dads S III gets excellent reception and he's got service through Bell. I would avoid Fido to be honest pretty much at all costs. Actually, I would wait a couple more weeks for the black version to come out :)

[peterm15]

I can't decide if I should stick with Rogers or move to Telus or Fido (Yes I realize fido is still technically rogers). Ugh decisions. Anyone know if the S3 gets better service on one provider or the other?

Last I checked ( couple years ago) Rogers reception SUCKS between spading station and GBC. if that helps you at all.

[n00bMeiSter]

Ever consider Bell? My dads S III gets excellent reception and he's got service through Bell. I would avoid Fido to be honest pretty much at all costs. Actually, I would wait a couple more weeks for the black version to come out :)

Had horrible experience with Bell while working for a renovation company. The reception was shit, the phones sucked ass and the customer service / tech support sucked.




Last I checked ( couple years ago) Rogers reception SUCKS between spading station and GBC. if that helps you at all.

Street level? I didn't seem to have any issues, but I was driving at the time.

[Impressive]

Ouch. Yeah Bell was not our first choice either. We ended up going with them simply because my dad got a union phone plan that he pays only like $45 a month for (tax in) which includes data, call display, voicemail and everything.

[peterm15]

Had horrible experience with Bell while working for a renovation company. The reception was shit, the phones sucked ass and the customer service / tech support sucked.





Street level? I didn't seem to have any issues, but I was driving at the time.

Ya street level.
It seems to be mainly between the station and school. As well in the school seems to suck.
Granted this was a while ago so it may be better. If your with Rogers head down ( subway ) one day and check it out.

[n00bMeiSter]

Ya street level.
It seems to be mainly between the station and school. As well in the school seems to suck.
Granted this was a while ago so it may be better. If your with Rogers head down ( subway ) one day and check it out.

Cool, I'll check that out when I go this week.

[Disturbed666]

I love my Android, and with all the bullsh*t going on between Apple and Samsung I love it even more, couple links related to the situation for those that aren't aware of what's going on:

Article on the court case:
http://adf.ly/COcYm

Closing statements from Apple and Samsung:
http://adf.ly/COcb9

Another article I found showing over 300 Apple patents:
http://adf.ly/COZnc

[Pyro]

i heard from someone in the industry that big Rogers dealers are gonna drop $100 off the price of the GS3 soon....maybe a back to school promotion? Of course this would be on contract, but for anyone on the fence wait a few weeks...

[dambay]

Yeah, all these lawsuits are retarded. I can understand Apple's desire to increase their market share, but give me a break. Some of the patents that were supposedly infringed upon are fackin stupid. I'm sure Apple fanboys everywhere are cheering Apple's "victory", but it just makes me dislike Apple even more.

[SilentJay]

^^^ Careful, iSheep swarm like locusts.

[vinnierap]

This is my favourite part of all this bull sh*t lawsuit....

"The RAM and internal memory chips, as well as the A4 chipset, i.e what makes the handset tick and remember stuff are all done by Samsung, and these make for 26% of all iPhone 4 components' cost."

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-makes-26-of-the-iPhone-4s-components-says-infographic_id21206

[rzapata]

Yeah, all these lawsuits are retarded. I can understand Apple's desire to increase their market share, but give me a break. Some of the patents that were supposedly infringed upon are fackin stupid. I'm sure Apple fanboys everywhere are cheering Apple's "victory", but it just makes me dislike Apple even more.

It's like war...

What do you do to slow down your enemy's advance? Attack the supply lines... In Apple's case, lawsuit caused major Samsung products to be banned. It's a dirty game...

[Pyro]

Although I agree the whole patent thing is stupid, and Apple shouldn't own many of the patents it actually has (such as a square phone with a screen ane one button). However one of the reasons why apple won is because samsung showed clear intent to copy:


He said two pieces of evidence were crucial in persuading the jury that Samsung had intentionally copied elements of Apple's iPhone functionality: minutes of a meeting in South Korea with Google, which had warned senior Samsung executives to "pull back" from their tablet designs because they were too close to Apple's; and internal emails from Samsung executives which said that the difference between the iPhone and Samsung's smartphones was "heaven and earth", and that the two needed to be moved closer.

Samsung executives had thus encouraged willful copying: "In doing that, they crossed the line," Hogan told Bloomberg News


http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/28/apple-samsung-foreman-explains?newsfeed=true

It is Samsung's company culture to copy successful devices actually. My mom used to have a phone that from the outside looked 90% like a Motorola RAZR. If you have internal emails going "Our phones need to look more like Apple" then you're doing it on purpose. It worked though, since Samsung is the most successful of the Android companies.

The real problem is the patent system in the US

[Hyperion]

Getting my 32 GB S3 this friday night.
Have to get it in Blue as the white is on back order. But I can deal with that.

[SilentJay]

Getting my 32 GB S3 this friday night.
Have to get it in Blue as the white is on back order. But I can deal with that.

Where ya getting it, and how much?

[Hyperion]

Going to Telus, I assume it's going to be about $250

[rzapata]

Going to Telus, I assume it's going to be about $250

$250 under a 3 year contract or something?

[Impressive]

Going to Telus, I assume it's going to be about $250

Don't quote me but I think it's around $209. I was at a Mobile Shop yesterday and I believe that is the price I saw the 32GB one at.

[Hyperion]

Actually, just looked on Telus' site, it's $149 on a 3 year.

[Impressive]

Actually, just looked on Telus' site, it's $149 on a 3 year.

Even better. I guess the rate I saw must have been for Rogers.

You'll love the S3 when you get it no doubt.

[Hyperion]

Even better. I guess the rate I saw must have been for Rogers.

You'll love the S3 when you get it no doubt.

Turns out that's if you order on line, it was $149.
Samsung does everything better than HTC BUT the home screen.
Htc has a great weather/clock widget that is one widget but if you press the top (weather part) it's a weather widget, and the if you press the clock, it takes you to your alarms, world clock, timers and all those good things. HTC also has a icon bump thing so that if an icon is already where you want to put it, you can bump the old one out of the way with the one you are dragging.

[fywdyl]

For anyone that cares, ICS is out for Xperia Ion.

[dambay]

For anyone that cares, ICS is out for Xperia Ion.

Apparently HTC has decided they will no longer be releasing ICS for The Incredible S, which is bulls**t. It means we won't be gettin legit camera drivers for any roms above Gingerbread, and so have to deal with a buggy camera and tempermental Camcorder with any ICS/JB roms.

[SilentJay]

No update to JB yet for legit Rogers S3? =/

[Aitch]

No but should be coming soon.

I guess this is the appropriate place to laugh at iPhone owners all ga-ga over the iPhone5 and iOS 6 which ships with essentially the 2008 version of Google Maps.

[loosecannon]

No update to JB yet for legit Rogers S3? =/

According to a few sources, expect it in October/November.

However, if your phone is rooted, there are plenty of custom ROMs to choose from that are JB but also make the rom so much better. You can almost guarantee that the Samsung version of JB will be full of bloatware.

[Impressive]

No but should be coming soon.

I guess this is the appropriate place to laugh at iPhone owners all ga-ga over the iPhone5 and iOS 6 which ships with essentially the 2008 version of Google Maps.

I actually feel like the maps in iOS 6 are a decent upgrade over the old Google ones to be honest. I haven't spent much time looking at them but from the ten minutes or so I did spend messing around with the app I think it has actually improved.

[midnightfxgt]

I actually feel like the maps in iOS 6 are a decent upgrade over the old Google ones to be honest. I haven't spent much time looking at them but from the ten minutes or so I did spend messing around with the app I think it has actually improved.

You need to play with it more. Or better yet, use it and see how bad it is ;)

[Prezi]

Getting my 32 GB S3 this friday night.
Have to get it in Blue as the white is on back order. But I can deal with that.

your going to love the phone!

[Impressive]

You need to play with it more. Or better yet, use it and see how bad it is ;)

I'll give it a shot when I head from Markham to Milton this evening...hopefully it doesn't go to shit on me :P

Thankfully I have an in-dash GPS now so I'll likely never have to rely on Apple's GPS again if it really does end up blowing.

[vinnierap]

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/costco-wireless-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-49-99-125-cash-card-3-yr-term-1231860/

Just found this deal. anyone with rogers, fido, bell, virgin.

[beyond]

I think at BB or FS, I saw them selling SGS3 for $0 on a 3 year term?

[SilentJay]

My phone was rooted the first day I got it but the ROMs that are out there right now are full of bugs and have issues running at LTE. I ran slimICS on my S1 and it was awesome to be without all that bloat.

[n00bMeiSter]

Anyone know if Fido has the S3? I can't seem to find it on their website....

[loosecannon]

Anyone know if Fido has the S3? I can't seem to find it on their website....

Nope. Pr3y had to port to Rogers from Fido just to get the S3.

[n00bMeiSter]

Nope. Pr3y had to port to Rogers from Fido just to get the S3.

Thank god, that eliminates Fido from my list!

Now to decide between Telus or Rogers :S

[The Wolf]

Now to decide between Telus or Rogers :S

Well when faced with that decision, I always find the best option is to just lube up and blindly pick either one.

[n00bMeiSter]

Well when faced with that decision, I always find the best option is to just lube up and blindly pick either one.

Not a bad idea

[Fuyuzora]

I've been a lot happier on Telus than I was on Rogers, for what it's worth. (although prices are pretty similar between the two)

[Hyperion]

Thank god, that eliminates Fido from my list!

Now to decide between Telus or Rogers :S

Just came from Rogers.
Oh my god I hated them.

Much much much happier with Telus.
Reception is 10x better to begin with.

[n00bMeiSter]

Just came from Rogers.
Oh my god I hated them.

Much much much happier with Telus.
Reception is 10x better to begin with.

Only problem is, I'm in concrete buildings pretty much all day, I'd hate to bother switching just to find that they get the same or worse reception.

[Hyperion]

Only problem is, I'm in concrete buildings pretty much all day, I'd hate to bother switching just to find that they get the same or worse reception.

My work is a catacomb of cement.
I went from reception in 1 square foot area, to being able to stand anywhere and send it.

[Aitch]

I've been with Telus for about 5 years now. No real reception problems. The deciding factor to me was Rogers' customer service sucked balls at the time I was switching, and I'd chew off my arm rather than sign a new contract with them (had them for cable at the time).

[SilentJay]

To chime in, I actually had no issues with Telus. I was a client for over 14 years and was part of their "platinum VIP" club. They offer much cheaper roaming text message packages vs. Rogers.

They dropped the ball, though, when they declined to move me from unlimited CDMA data to 6GB 3G/LTE data, claimed that I was suddenly not part of the VIP program, and told me that essentially my tenure meant nothing to them. Calls from the office of the president resulted in nothing, so I ported over to Rogers. Rogers sucks balls for customer service and will milk you for all you're worth if you're not careful and diligent with billing details. Can't say that I like either of them but the "other incumbents" just can't compete for coverage and call quality.

[aris]

^^ it's funny you say that about Rogers... I've never had a issue with them.


They always treat me good... Any time I call about anything they all ways do what they can to make me happy.... I probally will never leave Rogers :) lol

[SilentJay]

Over the past 2-3 years, i've kind of made them credit off a lot of stuff (currently sitting at $53/month in credits), but nothing seems to come as easily as when I was with Telus.

[JSI]

My phone was rooted the first day I got it but the ROMs that are out there right now are full of bugs and have issues running at LTE. I ran slimICS on my S1 and it was awesome to be without all that bloat.

I've had my S3 since July and some of the older builds for CM10 had some issues but the nightlies coming out now are pretty solid. Running the Sept 25 build now and have no issues. LTE issues people are reporting now are mainly them not knowing how to set apn or changing phone info to use GSM/LTE by default.

I have had zero issues with CM10 since late August. Just check the xda threads to see reported issues. The improved performance is totally worth it, the S3 is such an awesome phone I don't know why anyone would even consider something else. Iphone5 pfff who cares.

[n00bMeiSter]

So I picked up the S3, and damn is this phone awesome! Soo glad I switched! Can't wait to start developing for it!

[loosecannon]

So I picked up the S3, and damn is this phone awesome! Soo glad I switched! Can't wait to start developing for it!

If you need a hand, let me know. Having more than one phone to test on (different hardware) is a plus.

[Hyperion]

I'm not sure if I want to root my phone yet.

[Laz93]

kind of off topic but has anyone seen this commercial?
Samsung really hates Apple haha


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR8A3T6sPzU

[vinnierap]

http://www.s3forums.com/

I am also on this forum. Some really good info on the Galaxy and features/tips and tricks.

[cobra]

I'll get things started.

As trucker who travels between US and Canada, I tried Bell, Rogers, Fido and Rogers and finally switched to the US VERIZON Wireless. I have an LG Spectrum smartphone (Android) with a 4.5" 1080p display and it costs 79 bucks for 900 minutes ANYWHERE IN USA AND CANADA, Voice Mail and Caller ID included. In terms of data I pay another 35 bucks for 2 or 3 Gb for US only. When in Canada I just turn off the data and use Wi-Fi when available. Spectrum is a very decent phone and has an excellent display and good voice quality. But recently I've been thinking of trading in the smartphone and getting a basic phone (like Samsung Rugby 2) and iPad. I find data plans are better in Canada but voice is still way cheaper in US. The beauty of iPads for me in my trucking job is that for roughly 70 bucks I can have it hooked up to a data plan on both sides of the border, so I'll have a constant Internet connection (Bell or Telus in Canada; Verizon in US).

Telus is my choice for a GSM/HSPA voice plan in Canada (60 bucks for 400 min and No Long Distance AnyWhere in Canada; plus Caller ID and Voice Mail are included). In USA you can go to any WalMart and get a STRAIGHT TALK SIM card or phone (http://www.straighttalk.com/). These pay-by-the-month phones give you 1,000 min in USA (no roaming , no long distance, all calls local) for 35 bucks a month. What Bell and Rogers are doing here is a daytime robberry. No one charges long distance in US anymore.

[n00bMeiSter]

If you need a hand, let me know. Having more than one phone to test on (different hardware) is a plus.

Yes, it definitely is. I will definitely hit you up when its time.



I'm not sure if I want to root my phone yet.

Same, luckily i dont have to if i want to develop. One of my engines compiles and publishes directly to android and it goes right on to the device.

[midnightfxgt]

Any idea when JellyBean will officially be available for the North American S3?

Also - Where is a good spot to start reading up on Rooting, and what ROMs are available?

[coriolis]

Any idea when JellyBean will officially be available for the North American S3?

Also - Where is a good spot to start reading up on Rooting, and what ROMs are available?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/

[midnightfxgt]

Ya, I saw this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426&page=2)

Looks a little complicated. Maybe not once I dive in lol

[Aitch]

I don't think its too bad to get the leaked version on it, but I've decided to just be patient this time. Not really missing much on my phone so why chance screwing anything up?

[midnightfxgt]

No solid ETA yet though, is there?

[loosecannon]

I just rooted My girlfriend's S3.

The process was rather complicated cause the wireless providers provided an OTA update that will wipe and inject the stock recovery back into the phone when it detects a different one. This will cause a problem when you're trying to flash SuperUser (root) onto your phone. Gave me the biggest headache.

I'll post the link to the process when i get home.

[n00bMeiSter]

Does anyone else hate S Memo? Why the hell does it have a shadow cursor that can't be turned off? I don't want to start a note in the middle of the screen.

Edit: Is anyone using "Kies" ?

[Hyperion]

Does anyone else hate S Memo? Why the hell does it have a shadow cursor that can't be turned off? I don't want to start a note in the middle of the screen.

Edit: Is anyone using "Kies" ?

Yes that's stupid
Also want to disable Svoice. I can't wait for 4.1

[n00bMeiSter]

what is this LH1 update that's coming up when I connect to Kies? Has anyone else used it yet?

[loosecannon]

Is anyone using "Kies" ?

Apparently, you need to install Kies for it to properly install the drivers for you phone. (which you need, in order to push a recovery onto your phone before you can root)

[n00bMeiSter]

Apparently, you need to install Kies for it to properly install the drivers for you phone. (which you need, in order to push a recovery onto your phone before you can root)

ahhhh. well good thing I installed Kies.


Also, one of the Telus ppl trying to sell me a new phone said you need to use Kies to download apps and stuff, yet I don't see that anywhere in Kies.....

[MajesticBlueNTO]

ahhhh. well good thing I installed Kies.


Also, one of the Telus ppl trying to sell me a new phone said you need to use Kies to download apps and stuff, yet I don't see that anywhere in Kies.....

download the S3 USB Driver for windows here (http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/SGH-I747?tabContent=content2) then
download ODIN and the pre-rooted LH1 files here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426)

then download/install GooManager (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.s0up.goomanager&feature=nav_result) from the Play Store and install TWRP Recovery

no need for Kies

[MajesticBlueNTO]

prior to flashing the S3 with custom ROMs, follow this thread to backup the NV of the phone (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801997)...which will backup the IMEI in the event it gets wiped.

[JSI]

My S3 is on CM10 M2 Androind 4.1.2, so far really solid and no issues at all with this build.
(Only been a couple hours but still)

[SilentJay]

Finally took the leap into AKOP 4.1.2...

No more 4G/LTE indicator though - only H+ and 3G... Supposedly intended on this build.

I also happened dropped the phone and cracked the screen and maybe some of the bezel a few days ago...

[n00bMeiSter]

Downloaded 53 apps on the train ride home today. I'm surprised at how well the battery held up.

[The Wolf]

Downloaded 53 apps on the train ride home today. I'm surprised at how well the battery held up.

Hopefully you got the utorrent beta app. So ill

[n00bMeiSter]

Hopefully you got the utorrent beta app. So ill

nope, I went through the "top free" apps and "top free" games.

[m_bisson]

Power button on my Nexus S broke so I got a Galaxy SII X yesterday... I miss jelly bean already :( I hope they release it for the Galaxy's soon.

The dual core in the SII is much faster though. Oddly, it actually loads my blueprints for work and navigates them faster than my Nexus 7, which is quad core....

[SilentJay]

Anyone know of a good place to get the glass on my S3 replaced?

[loosecannon]

Anyone know of a good place to get the glass on my S3 replaced?

Check out cnn.cn

[SilentJay]

thanks - I actually ordered the glass AND the bezel from ebay since they're both cracked, ended up costing me about $29 together. Thing is, i'm not that handy with a heat gun, or are my bear-paw fingers suited for this kind of delicate work :P

I'd rather fork out $75 at a pacific mall stand if someone there can do it :P

[dave2010GT]

Hey if you look at what Calvin did with the app radio android is the only OS you can integrate to car without restrictions.

[n00bMeiSter]

Lately I've been trying to update my firmware, and it keeps telling me "update cancelled. disconnected from wifi... <blah blah bla>". Yet I don't have wifi enabled, and I told the damn thing to download via LTE. So what gives?

also, anyone know how to get rid of that annoying ass settings button on the keyboard? Like seriously, who puts that there? All it does is get in the way....

[Thrizzl3]

Lately I've been trying to update my firmware, and it keeps telling me "update cancelled. disconnected from wifi... <blah blah bla>". Yet I don't have wifi enabled, and I told the damn thing to download via LTE. So what gives?

also, anyone know how to get rid of that annoying ass settings button on the keyboard? Like seriously, who puts that there? All it does is get in the way....

yay noobmeister! posting again.

[Hyperion]

Dave, use Swiftkey 3. It is well worth it.
Just rooted mine yesterday and put Android 4.2 on it. It's pretty slick, but the ROM has a few bugs.

[trulankan]

anyone else planning to jump on the Nexus 4 when its released on tuesday? i cant wait to get it! i'm sick of my samsung captivaye, even with the latest jellybean rom its slow as ****

[MS308-john-a]

Dave, use Swiftkey 3. It is well worth it.
Just rooted mine yesterday and put Android 4.2 on it. It's pretty slick, but the ROM has a few bugs.

Swift key is pretty awesome. I upgraded from the GO keyboard

[leecheefoto]

Dave, use Swiftkey 3. It is well worth it.
Just rooted mine yesterday and put Android 4.2 on it. It's pretty slick, but the ROM has a few bugs.
That's what I've been trying to tell him when he got, the s3!! My trial expired and I ended upgrading, well worth it.


anyone else planning to jump on the Nexus 4 when its released on tuesday? i cant wait to get it! i'm sick of my samsung captivaye, even with the latest jellybean rom its slow as ****

Nexus 4 by LG.. If it was by a different company I'd take it but I hate LG phones. It all started with the chocolate!

If I had to choose a nexus phone it would be Samsung hands down besides the memory card support.

[loosecannon]

Nexus 4 by LG.. If it was by a different company I'd take it but I hate LG phones. It all started with the chocolate!

If I had to choose a nexus phone it would be Samsung hands down besides the memory card support.

You could always wait till next November when the Nexus 5 comes out. Probably going to be made by Asus or Motorola. And most likely without an SD card again.

[leecheefoto]

You could always wait till next November when the Nexus 5 comes out. Probably going to be made by Asus or Motorola. And most likely without an SD card again.

If Motorola say goodbye to swappable battery lol

[trulankan]

That's what I've been trying to tell him when he got, the s3!! My trial expired and I ended upgrading, well worth it.



Nexus 4 by LG.. If it was by a different company I'd take it but I hate LG phones. It all started with the chocolate!

If I had to choose a nexus phone it would be Samsung hands down besides the memory card support.

yes its made by LG but based on all the positive reviews i've read its a very powerful phone at an amazing price. the only thing it lacks is LTE and expandable memory but since when did the iphone ever have expandable memory? if the price were higher I would probably lean more towards the SGS3 but this phone is actually more powerful and no contract to sign!!

[Mazdy]

Bubububuttt S4 comes out February....

[asyed]

Nexus 4 by LG.. If it was by a different company I'd take it but I hate LG phones. It all started with the chocolate!

If I had to choose a nexus phone it would be Samsung hands down besides the memory card support.


+1 Samsung FTW

my first phone was an LG Eve that came with Android 1.5!!!!( then got upgraded to 1.6 while everyone was at 2.3). It was slow,the touchscreen was horrible and waay out of calibration, barely any good apps for it, camera was not smartphone quality, and i had to send it out for repairs 2 times...and everytime rogers would just send it out for repair rather than give me a new phone. :|



also anyone else here with Galaxy Nexus + Root (with Clockwork Recovery or similar)....im trying to install the 4.1.2 OTA but it wont let me since i have custom recovery and the only way is to either manually update via usb or go back to factory rom ( both have weird instruction sets)....im really tired with this popup every 10 min about the OTA being available....

[Aitch]

I've said it before....... Swype keyboard FTW. I hate typing letter-by-letter now. It's free too if you download the beta version.

[loosecannon]

I've said it before....... Swype keyboard FTW. I hate typing letter-by-letter now. It's free too if you download the beta version.

Have you seen/tried the 4.2 swype keyboard? It's AWESOME!

[coriolis]

Google's 4.2 keyboard app is fantastic. I've completely replaced it over Swiftkey Pro and Swype, both of which I had purchased in the past. Best of all, its free and completely lagless AND accurate!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KqzQFXX940

[The Wolf]

Just downloaded 4.2 keyboard. Awesome, thanks for the tip guys :) TouchPal is gone.

[trulankan]

+1 Samsung FTW

my first phone was an LG Eve that came with Android 1.5!!!!( then got upgraded to 1.6 while everyone was at 2.3). It was slow,the touchscreen was horrible and waay out of calibration, barely any good apps for it, camera was not smartphone quality, and i had to send it out for repairs 2 times...and everytime rogers would just send it out for repair rather than give me a new phone. :|



also anyone else here with Galaxy Nexus + Root (with Clockwork Recovery or similar)....im trying to install the 4.1.2 OTA but it wont let me since i have custom recovery and the only way is to either manually update via usb or go back to factory rom ( both have weird instruction sets)....im really tired with this popup every 10 min about the OTA being available....

my 2nd ever phone was as LG and yes it crapped out on me after awhile but so did my first samsung and my present samsung captivate sucks big time...u cant really compare the Nexus 4 to past LG phone. this is a NEXUS device co-developed with google. the phone is based on the Optimus G.

review: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9233345/Google_Nexus_4_deep_dive_review_Android_at_its_bes t


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66-4uMQqerA&feature=share

[The Wolf]

The nexus 4 will be a good phone.

I mean, it's no HTC One X, but you know, it'll do.

[trulankan]

The nexus 4 will be a good phone.

I mean, it's no HTC One X, but you know, it'll do.

+1 exactly, for the price you cant go wrong, its a steal

[Aitch]

Have you seen/tried the 4.2 swype keyboard? It's AWESOME!

Yep. FINALLY able to get themes. Using the black one that matches what was on my RAZR.

[thenightvision88]

I have a nexus s. Its a great phone now that I rooted it and put mods on it.. before this I had lg which sucked, but once the nexus 4 comes out I'll get that.

[m_bisson]

I have a nexus s. Its a great phone now that I rooted it and put mods on it.. before this I had lg which sucked, but once the nexus 4 comes out I'll get that.

The power button broke on my Nexus S so I "upgraded" to a Galaxy S2.... The Nexus S, running 4.2, blows the S2 out of the water for almost everything. I really miss it :(

[LezOLee]

anyone have luck or ordering a nexus 4?

[trulankan]

anyone have luck or ordering a nexus 4?

nope, I was patiently waiting and hoping at midnight but its not available. It apparently went up on sale early at 11:30pm and was sold out in like 20 minutes :'( damn google making me wait...they didnt even send an email out like they should have

[prinsesa]

I've been hunting down a Galaxy Note 2 for the past week =( I love Android!

[loosecannon]

nope, I was patiently waiting and hoping at midnight but its not available. It apparently went up on sale early at 11:30pm and was sold out in like 20 minutes :'( damn google making me wait...they didnt even send an email out like they should have

Is this from the Play Store?

[trulankan]

Is this from the Play Store?

yup, only place to get it at the moment

[loosecannon]

yup, only place to get it at the moment

Oh man. If this is exactly like the Nexus 7 launch, expect a long wait...

[Soulsofmischief]

I've been hunting down a Galaxy Note 2 for the past week =( I love Android!


Got one from Best Buy Mobile.. only place thats had them when i started hunting... and btw.. its Magnificent!!.. its my first switch since leaving iPhone. and very glad i did.