KingoftheCheese: I think people are just jealous that Apple puts out a better product hands down. Android and Blackberry will not be able to keep up and will soon go the way of the record player, the tape deck, and HDDVD.

Face it, fandroids, your love for an inferior product isn't going to keep Apple from continuing to supply the world with excellence.

It's cute that you think that.

fang06554: On a similar but separate note - I have the Samsung S3 now, and replaced a Thunderbolt. I really liked the Thunderbolt, but you had to have an extended battery in order to get use out of it and not have it die halfway through the day.

With the Samsung, I spend a day at work, watch a couple hours of Netflix over 4G, listen to music, etc. Still at 40% at the end of the day.

Also, last two android phones were HTC, and both had hardware failures after the 1 year mark, but before the 2 year upgrade mark.

/I have insurance now.

HTC give a two year manufacturers guarantee, at least they do here in the UK.

NotARocketScientist: That patent law is now stifling innovation

What evidence do you see that innovation is "stifled"?

The fact that provisional patents last only 1 year means that only corporations with research departments can get anything to patent status and get all the paperwork filled out for the regular patent. The backyard inventor who may take 2 or 3 years developing something is locked out. In fact, if a company sees what he's working on and can develop it faster, they can sue him for using his own invention. I've had a couple ideas that could be mildly useful, but don't have the time or money to develop them quickly, so I can't develop them at all.

Then keep it secret. You could spend ten years developing something in secret before filing a patent. Of course someone else could independently come up with the same idea in the mean time.

Or file the patent anyway. You can still develop the idea, flling new applications on incremental improvements, while you develop. You can apply for the full patent before you have finished developing your prototypes, the patent office do not demand to see a working prototype before issuing a patent.

SacriliciousBeerSwiller:

There are still some features to be exploited. E.G. Siri/Google Voice/etc. have a loooong ways to go before being viable. Also, improved cameras do help. Most cell phone cameras still suck at photographing moving objects. Or, for example, the S3 has a 20-shot burst mode which is actually pretty sweet. So, there's still some things they can do. But yes, you're right, for many people these things are already commoditized.

My HTC One X had that before the S3 came out. Did Samsung copy HTC?! Sue them!!!

mccallcl: Masso: Yeah, fark this shiat, Apple. You pulled a fast one over the entire industry

Yeah, a fast one by spending 30 years building a brand through excellence that allowed them to acquire the kind of talent necessary to conceive of and execute the phone that changed personal communication forever. All while operating primarily out of outrageously expensive southern California, in the good old US of A.

If that's a "fast one", I'd hate to see what you think hard work and determination looks like. Apple isn't winning because they cheat. They're winning because they make the best products in the world. The cheating is just an extra kick in the teeth to their competition.

Apple copy someone else? Unpossible!!

imasig: Wife = iPhone 4s
Me = Samsung Galaxy S2

Task: Transfer pictures off digital camera onto phone.

Me:

1.) Plug in camera and phone to PC.
2.) Drag pictures onto phone.

Wife:

1.) Plug in camera and phone to PC.
2.) Drag pictures onto phone.
3.) Fail.
4.) Google to transfer pictures from camera to iphone.
5.) Launch Itunes.
6.) Plug in iphone to PC.
7.) Address itunes concerns that this phone is not what it seems and restore a 2 month old configuration it had stored.
8.) Wait 45 minutes as phone syncs all data.
9.) Notice text messages and contacts from last two months are gone.
10.) Oh well, back to the task at hand.
10.) Copy digital camera pictures to PC.
11.) Add new directory to Itunes.
12.) Sync.
13.) Wait 45 minutes for resync.
14.) Look at pictures from phone.
15.) Notice pictures from camera now on phone but pictures originally on iphone are now missing.
16.) Oh well, nothing in life last forever...not even pictures.
17.) Itunes now pops up every 15 minutes to say whats up to iphone.
18.) Google how to keep itunes from popping up every 15 minutes.
19.) Fail.
20.) Give up.
21.) Try to play favorite song on iphone by Goyte to relieve stress.
22.) I'm too sexy by RSF plays instead.
23.) Wife finally ask me to fix her phone.
24.) Still trying to fix her phone 1 week later.



How to make a song on your phone the ringtone for the phone.

iPhone: Five minute video explaining how to do it without paying Apple again for music you already own. (Sorry, "Licence")

HTC:
1. Click on song in song list.
2. Click "Set As Ringtone"
3. Er...
4. That's it.

Yea, I love my wifes ipod touch. Oh wait, they stopped releasing OS for it, and all the apps migrated to the newer OS, so now I can't use it for much.

fang06554: Flint Ironstag: HTC give a two year manufacturers guarantee, at least they do here in the UK.

That got my hopes up, but in the US apparently it is only 12 months. The messed up part is it is a known issue of the actual on board memory going bad, but is usually goes bad pretty early in the life cycle of the phone.

Sorry man. I had a problem with my Desire overheating at about 18 months. I'd fitted a bigger battery and used a gel case that kept the heat in so I don't know it it was the phone of me that caused the problem, but they fitted a new mobo and that was it. Maybe the 24 month guarantee is a EU thing?

Vance Uppercut: I can't say HTC without farking swearing. farking garbage and a non stop run around.

I love mine. The Desire wiped the floor with the then iPhone 3GS when I got it and my One X is way better than the 4S now. If I hadn't already got the One X I might have been tempted by the Galaxy 3, but I prefer HTCs Sense interface.

fang06554: Flint Ironstag: Sorry man. I had a problem with my Desire overheating at about 18 months. I'd fitted a bigger battery and used a gel case that kept the heat in so I don't know it it was the phone of me that caused the problem, but they fitted a new mobo and that was it. Maybe the 24 month guarantee is a EU thing?

Yeah looks like they have different warranties for different geographical areas. The US one is 12 months, while the EU ones look like 24 months.

HTC Warranty Page

Strange. I know the EU have all sorts of warranty laws, but then surely the iPhone would have to do the same if it was law?

SacriliciousBeerSwiller: imasig: Wife = iPhone 4s
Me = Samsung Galaxy S2

Task: Transfer pictures off digital camera onto phone.

Me:

1.) Plug in camera and phone to PC.
2.) Drag pictures onto phone.

Alternatively, set images to upload to Google+ automatically via wifi (it will auto-upload when it detects the connection). Then, just pull them all down from there. No plugging-in-the-phone necessary.

Alternative the third:

1) Install file browser with SMB client (ES File Explorer being a good free option, File Expert being another, there are lots and lots of others) from Google Market.
2) Set up network share on PC, or if you have network storage, store your pics on the network drive.
3) Grab pics from network share and copy them to Android picture directory, easy peasy.

Alternative the fourth:

1) Upload pics to Picasa account or Flickr account via computer or (assuming sufficiently advanced camera) from camera itself.
2) Download to Android device. :3

Alternative the fifth (difficulty: requires web hosting with FTP server):

1) Set up private FTP uploading account (if you run your own website), install WinSCP for Windows or your choice of FTP program for other operating systems.
2) Upload pics to website or FTP site you operate.
3) Download via browser in Android, or (more properly for FTP) nice file browser like ES File Explorer or Astro or File Expert with FTP client capability.

Seriously, the mere acts of getting stuff on and off an Android device to a PC (and vice versa) are FAR less of a major PITA than with an iDevice, and this is even counting the "minimal device config required" stuff like "pulling stuff off a network share" and "putting stuff up on FTP site and then downloading from Android".