Mobile phones & tablets thread

I know this is on a Microsoft friendly site, but I think it's quite true

HTC: iPhones are for old people | wpcentral | Windows Phone News, Forums, and Reviews

I think iPhones are nowhere near as cool as they used to be, Android is the new cool because iPhones are conformist and a rather unimaginative choice. It's not like back IN 2007 when other touchscreen phones probably weren't as slick, didn't work as well and didn't have an easy to use app portal. But now you can buy an Android, WP7 or RIM handset that is every bit as good as an iPhone.

and a good reason why Windows Phone 7 will still continue to stay in the doldrums

Microsoft Discovers Windows Phone Retailers Know Nothing About Windows Phones

Microsoft really do need to get off their butts and actually do some promotion with WP7. It's not going to sell itself.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

I know you have a WP7 phone Daniel but IMO the interface is awful. The 'tile' interface just seems dull to me and I haven't been impressed when I've had a go with friends phones. Sure you can customize which tile goes where and you can change the colour which is probably marvellous, but I think different phones serve different sectors of the market. Its personal preference at the end of the day. :)

---

Thing is it's all about what you've used. When I've tried to use an Android phone to Frape someone I didn't even know how to turn the 3g on.

I think if you watched a few youtube videos of how the WP7 interface works and understood it a bit better you might grow to like it a bit more. Just as I'd probably like an Android phone if I knew how to use it :p

Another day another lawsuit.

Samsung files French patent complaint against Apple, targets iPhone, iPad -- Engadget

This stuff really pisses me off. It all seems so childish and silly and the only people who get harmed are consumers.


I want one of these Electrolux kitchen laptop concept disregards grease, common sense -- Engadget though!

You can also have operating systems that aren't Microsoft running your PC. Microsoft if just conformist, and not nearly as trendy as it used to be. :)

If people are still buying Iphones long after they quit being trendy or cool, maybe it's because they actually like them. But I'm sure the haters of those products would never consider that as an option in a persons choice of how they spent their own money.

My MacBook is from mid-2007 and is starting to give me some problems. There are blotches on my monitor, the optical drive is acting screwy, and my trackpad doesn't like to work 100% of the time. Not too back for 4 years, and definitely impressive with the way I treat my notebooks. I'm taking it into the Apple shop in 2 hours, so we'll see what they say.

I didn't buy my iPhone because I thought it was 'cool' but because it does the job.

Now if I could have an iPad, that is the same weight and thickness etc but have a full (not mobile) version of Windows on it, that would be fantastic!

From what I've seen iPad is excellent but there are still a few issues with it which mean it can't yet replace a proper PC.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

Windows 8 Slate Hands On: It's Fantastic. (But Don't Sell Your iPad.)

Its only the developers version being tested so far.

---

What a ****ty review. It warbles on incessently about how great Windows 8 is, then goes on to complain about flash not running on a developer preview (a developer preview is not even anywhere near the standard of a beta) when only an idiot would expect everything to work. A developer preview is a sort of proof of concept, this is something to get developers thinking about the designs of their apps for when Windows 8 launches this timeish next year. Criticising this version of Windows for not having things working is like criticising a test mule car for having bits in the interior which don't necessarily fit together 100% perfect etc etc.

He then jibber jabbers on about how it's better than any Android he's ever used. I like Microsoft more than most, but even though I've not spent a huge amount of time with an Android tablet (there's one here on my desk at work unused) I somehow suspect that Android is currently a more feature rich and stable environment than a developer preview of Windows 8. Personally whilst this is a far better tablet OS than 7, I still don't get the whole tablet thing. Marginally more portable than a laptop, less powerful than a laptop, far less portable than a phone...... I could go on. I see the uses for them, I work in a college for mentally handicapped young people and in the kitchens the students use them and I think for people who aren't going to have the ability to use a keyboard and mouse 100% they're great, but if you can use a keyboard and mouse you really should use them.

The author then goes on to prove what a moron he is by saying that Windows 7 is his least favourite build of Windows along with ME. What about Vista? Windows 98????? People are quite rightfully ripping into him on the comments section for that :laugh:

The Metro UI really is rather fantastic and I think once it launches in Windows 8 people will start to see how great it is to use and how tiles make more sense than a grid full of icons as in iOS or Android. Wonder how long it'll take before Apple and Google are doing live tiles?

So they are just big icons which can update themselves?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark

So they are just big icons which can update themselves?

---

Well yes, but icons updating themselves isn't simply the work of 5 minutes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark

Now if I could have an iPad, that is the same weight and thickness etc but have a full (not mobile) version of Windows on it, that would be fantastic!

From what I've seen iPad is excellent but there are still a few issues with it which mean it can't yet replace a proper PC.

---

I don't get why you'd want to replace a PC though? Phones are excellent portable computing devices which in terms of brute force aren't that far behind tablets in terms of performance. A tablet has all the disadvantages of a phone with the advantage of a larger display and the disadvantage of having to find somewhere to put it when you want to take it somewhere.

I really think this is almost an electric car type device. Fantastic for its purpose, BUT due to limitations it can't really replace the device it's meant to replace, so you end up with 3 devices (a phone, tablet and computer) rather than just 2.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

I hope not. Its the most least appealing characteristic of WP7 for me and I hope others don't go that way. A screen full of tiles that update is just a different way of doing what the other interfaces already do and its purely an aesthetical difference IMO. I don't see it as massively innovative and something that will be copied as the others are already ahead in the market at this stage.

---

I personally think you're wrong and whilst you're right that it's purely aesthetical, isn't that the whole reason Apple have succeeded with the iPhone? The whole point of live tiles is that you can get certain information without having to actually open an application. If I just want a temperature why should I have to launch the bloody app? If you're wanting to see if there are any new tweets waiting for you, the live tile can tell you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

If I just want a temperature why should I have to launch the bloody app? If you're wanting to see if there are any new tweets waiting for you, the live tile can tell you.

---

You've just described widgets which Android already has - and which are far more customisable than Mango / Metro - and which iOS5 looks like it's going to copy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dave B

You've just described widgets which Android already has - and which are far more customizable than Mango - and which iOS5 looks like it's going to copy.

---

Fair enough. I have seen other people using widgets like that. I think it's a 6 of one half a dozen of the other type thing.

From what I remember the WP7 implementation is a little bit more minimalistic. For me at least, I'd rather just have a notification of something new if all of the data can't fit into the field. Swings and roundabouts though I suppose.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

Fair enough. I have seen other people using widgets like that. I think it's a 6 of one half a dozen of the other type thing.

From what I remember the WP7 implementation is a little bit more minimalistic. For me at least, I'd rather just have a notification of something new if all of the data can't fit into the field. Swings and roundabouts though I suppose.

---

I don't know if you've played much with Android handsets, but one of the things I like about it is the way I can have widgets mixed in with shortcuts, in various sizes.

For example I use Plume as my Twitter client and I can have any or all of a simple icon which takes me to the full app, a 2x1 tile with basic notifications, a 4x1 tile which displays the latest tweet... right up to a 4x4 tile which is pretty much fullscreen. I can drag this to wherever I like (so long as there's space), duplicate it, mix it with icons and shortcuts, use 2 or 3 different widgets from the same app, whatever.

Windows' tiles are a similar concept but I'd only be interested if I could customise them in a similar way. I don't want Microsoft or a developer telling me that my Facebook tile must be blue and a certain size, for example.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dave B

I don't know if you've played much with Android handsets, but one of the things I like about it is the way I can have widgets mixed in with shortcuts, in various sizes.

For example I use Plume as my Twitter client and I can have any or all of a simple icon which takes me to the full app, a 2x1 tile with basic notifications, a 4x1 tile which displays the latest tweet... right up to a 4x4 tile which is pretty much fullscreen. I can drag this to wherever I like (so long as there's space), duplicate it, mix it with icons and shortcuts, use 2 or 3 different widgets from the same app, whatever.

Windows' tiles are a similar concept but I'd only be interested if I could customise them in a similar way. I don't want Microsoft or a developer telling me that my Facebook tile must be blue and a certain size, for example.

---

I think I'd have to see what you're talking about to really understand it tbh. Maybe I'll have a play on the Android tablet that's staring at me.

I wouldn't imagine MIcrosoft would be too silly with restrictions.

In terms of playing with android handsets. It's always been someone elses phone and of course you don't go moving other people's stuff around so my experience of moving stuff around and configuring Android is virtually nil :)

m.guardian.co.uk

Some interesting but nerdy details for developers.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dave B

m.guardian.co.uk

Some interesting but nerdy details for developers.

---

Good piece. If as they say, the Metro UI is a success in the desktop field then it'll give a massive boost for Windows Phone and if people are buying windows phones then why are they going to go for Mac's and so on and so forth. As some sites are saying, it's an attempt at "One OS to rule them all"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

In the link I posted earlier on the Windows 8 tablet, am I right in thinking 'Socialite' and 'Tweeter' are microsofts apps for running Facebook and Twitter? Or are these applications microsoft has developed to rival the two?

---

I would imagine they're the apps Microsoft has Twitter and Facebook. I would imagine Socialite works with myspace, bebo and facebook etc etc whereas tweeter is probably just solely for twitter.

I mentioned earlier that I took my MacBook to the Apple store because of some hardware issues. Well, they fixed my trackpad and hard case for free and I just picked it up this morning. They said that any repairs to my monitor and my optical drive would cost extra (no surprise since my MacBook is from 2007). I may be a douche bag for owning a MacBook, but at least the customer service is AWESOME-O!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gloomyDAY

I mentioned earlier that I took my MacBook to the Apple store because of some hardware issues. Well, they fixed my trackpad and hard case for free and I just picked it up this morning. They said that any repairs to my monitor and my optical drive would cost extra (no surprise since my MacBook is from 2007). I may be a douche bag for owning a MacBook, but at least the customer service is AWESOME-O!

---

Yeah, but it broke in the first place which sucks.

Having just tried an iPad (not sure if it was a 1 or a 2) for the first time for any length of time I have to say I'm not that impressed. It's not as intuitive as I would have thought. I'm sure if I spent another hour or so with it then I'd have been fine but it just wasn't a device you could pick up and use after not having used iOS before.

We were trying to sort something out for a quadriplegic boy whose brain still goes at a million miles an hour, but who has very little use of his hands and arms. He was pretty darn excited to have the chance to use an iPad so I think they're going to do their best to get him one. Having virtually no fine motor skills I think it's going to be a struggle but I think it's far better than him just telling someone else to something on his behalf. He struggled to hit the right buttons himself so I did wonder if a Windows 8 tablet would actually quite suit him because the icons are rather large but of course with it being a year off......

Oh my god! I've just found the other person who bought a Windows Phone and she works at the same place as me! :p

DailyTech - Apple Looks to Kill Samsung's Android Tablets and Phones in Britain

Hmmmmmm any bets as to whether this backfires on Apple? :dozey: People are going to start getting annoyed at this anti-competitive behaviour just like they got annoyed at Microsoft in the past.

Indeed, competition is good. We want better products and maximum choice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

Oh my god! I've just found the other person who bought a Windows Phone and she works at the same place as me! :p

---

:kiss: :s ailor: :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

DailyTech - Apple Looks to Kill Samsung's Android Tablets and Phones in Britain

---

Why doesn't Samsung just ramp down it's apple chip factory? :confused:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

Yeah, but it broke in the first place which sucks.

---

Well, no. I broke it by putting my MacBook in my backpack and throwing my stuff around. I really don't use my optical drive that much anyway and the screen got messed up because of moisture that seeped in from being around the beach.

I'll never buy a brand new MacBook because the price is nowhere near justified. Buying one second hand as I did would be a far better option, especially if your friend sells it to you for only $340.

m.guardian.co.uk

More nerdery which probably only Daniel and I will find interesting.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by donKey jote

Why doesn't Samsung just ramp down it's apple chip factory? :confused:

---

Money. Apple is one of Samsung's biggest customers. Apple's contribution to Samsung's annual revenues is reportedly in the $7.5-$8.0 billion range for 2011. And though Apple would have to find another chip manufacturer, the mobile chip designs belong to ARM (and Apple). Samsung just licenses the technology from ARM Holdings. But I suspect that Apple will begin moving certain chip purchases away from Samsung. I'm not sure what they'll do with NAND flash purchases. But with almost $80 billion cash on hand, Apple could snap up a chip manufacturer and start supplying itself, as well as others. But the margins aren't very high in chips (or flash), so I don't think that will happen.

Samsung and Apple were once friends. Now they're frenemies (I've been wanting to use that word for the longest time!).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dave B

m.guardian.co.uk

More nerdery which probably only Daniel and I will find interesting.

---

That screwed with my head somewhat :p

Whilst I can see his logic, sadly logic doesn't seem to matter these days. iOS, in spite of being more difficult to program for still had craploads more apps than anyone else.

I still remember when the original iPhone launched and didn't even have 3g and both of us laughed at how Apple could launch such a product without such a vital feature and how it would fail..... Thing is there seem to be enough ignorant people to buy Apple products that it doesn't matter, they could take 3G out of their next iPhone and people would still buy it and then put it in on the next model and it would be hailed as a triumph.

If anyone else had made a phone which you could kill the 3g signal on by holding it in a particular manner then they'd be laughed out of business. Not Apple. As someone who enjoys technology and likes to see good implementation of technology, Apple stuff pisses me off because it's expensive and underfeatured. I'm not a gadget person like others on here. I simply don't see the point of technology for technology's sake and I really hate to see duplication of function across 2 or more devices. Why do I want a tablet when my phone can do all that crap and is infinitely more portable? You've got yet another device to lug about as well.

I really doubt I'll get a tablet ever tbh. It's too much like my phone yet doesn't provide all the functionality of a computer because you can't use a proper hardware keyboard. If there is a good quality convertible tablet that doubles as a laptop and is good at both tasks then I'd certainly consider that.

You can get Bluetooth keyboards for iPad and iPhone but I agree with your point a tablet which is just one half of a laptop.

Looks like ARM is going to take over the world then. Look what the humble BBC Micro has become :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark

Looks like ARM is going to take over the world then. Look what the humble BBC Micro has become :p

---

Hmmmmm I think we'll wait and see with that. The only thing that's certain about the processor world is that it doesn't stand still and no one ever stays on top forever. I think beefy processors running the x86-64 instruction set will be with us in our laptops and desktops for a good while longer :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gloomyDAY

My MacBook is from mid-2007 and is starting to give me some problems. There are blotches on my monitor, the optical drive is acting screwy, and my trackpad doesn't like to work 100% of the time. Not too back for 4 years, and definitely impressive with the way I treat my notebooks. I'm taking it into the Apple shop in 2 hours, so we'll see what they say.

---

Get a Dell! :p

Seriously though my 5 years old Dell laptop runs without any problems, and I used it daily all this time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark

Looks like ARM is going to take over the world then. Look what the humble BBC Micro has become :p

---

Electron, surely? The BBC's used 6502s.</geek>

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

Oh my god! I've just found the other person who bought a Windows Phone and she works at the same place as me! :p

---

A match made in heaven! ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

DailyTech - Apple Looks to Kill Samsung's Android Tablets and Phones in Britain

Hmmmmmm any bets as to whether this backfires on Apple? :dozey: People are going to start getting annoyed at this anti-competitive behaviour just like they got annoyed at Microsoft in the past.

---

No. And you described the reason yourself:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

I still remember when the original iPhone launched and didn't even have 3g and both of us laughed at how Apple could launch such a product without such a vital feature and how it would fail..... Thing is there seem to be enough ignorant people to buy Apple products that it doesn't matter, they could take 3G out of their next iPhone and people would still buy it and then put it in on the next model and it would be hailed as a triumph.

If anyone else had made a phone which you could kill the 3g signal on by holding it in a particular manner then they'd be laughed out of business. Not Apple. As someone who enjoys technology and likes to see good implementation of technology, Apple stuff pisses me off because it's expensive and underfeatured. I'm not a gadget person like others on here. I simply don't see the point of technology for technology's sake and I really hate to see duplication of function across 2 or more devices. Why do I want a tablet when my phone can do all that crap and is infinitely more portable? You've got yet another device to lug about as well.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ioan

Get a Dell! :p

Seriously though my 5 years old Dell laptop runs without any problems, and I used it daily all this time.

---

I'm quite liking HP's at the moment. At work I've got a HP Probook 4520s and other than the fact that my predecessor seems to have ****ed the machine over, it feels really nicely built.