The great combined Smrtphone OS thread

[Ab]

fragmentapalooza!

[StN]

BAL0010

[_indigo1]

Modular phones? Apple invented them.
They don't sell them or have any history of discussing the idea, but somehow they own all the patents. Phonebloks is a slavish copy.

[Lightspeed]

If they come up with some epic modules, like biological testers (e.g. blood sugar or medication levels) then maybe it has a chance?

[StN]

^^GATTACA app?

[blur^]

nexus 5 is out
come on US intl version

other option is aussie version which apparently supports same band as NZ (for the LTE goodness)

[blur^]

5" 1080p screen
wireless charging
802.11ac
$349 USD

shut up and take money
oh and its already sold out

cant have had much stock?

[?>Superman]

what's your method for ordering? Youshop?

[blur^]

i got a mate to buy one from aussie play store

dont get the US n5 till the international version is confirmed to use the same LTE band as NZ (if you want 4g that is)

[^BITES^]

Originally Posted by blur^

wireless charging

Oils my gears, didnt think I would use it much now I've bought several additional stations ... "have a spare charge cable? ... No sir .. No sir I Do not"

[mpx]

How much are they on the Aussie play store?

Good golly molly I want one!

[blur^]

worked out to be $540 NZ (32gig) including the cost for my mate to ship to me

tough luck tho, sold out
next shipment is like 6 weeks

[mpx]

Nnnnooooo!!

I have a friend going over on Thursday for work, damnit.

[mr selfdestruct]

News just to hand. iPhone 5C is an overpriced pile of shit that no one really wants

http://b-i.forbesimg.com/chuckjones/...7.27.51-AM.png

Oh well, time to focus on making more overpriced decent phones like the 5S.

[MoP]

Originally Posted by blur^

worked out to be $540 NZ (32gig) including the cost for my mate to ship to me

tough luck tho, sold out
next shipment is like 6 weeks

Got a 32GB white one, ordered it less than a week ago, shipped yesterday. $AU450, plus I get to salary sacrifice it, making it cheap as chips. Winning all round

[wugambino]

got my Nexus 5 today, iPhone 5 is going into the draw. Good timing as my iPhone decided to wipe it's self after the 7.04 update.

Initial impressions ... screen is amazing, phone is FAST, deceptively light and I have missed Android.

[mpx]

I had a play with one in 2 Degrees store, the quality and finish is so light years beyond anything Samsung has created it's ridiculous, it feels so much nicer in hand than the S3 (and even iPhone 5). And yeah, the phone is seamless, so fast, screen is gorgeous, but what I love most is how it switches off the display! Like a TV screen *bwomp!*

Just need to put my S3 on TradeMe and wait for someone to buy it, before I can get a Nexus 5 of my own.

[mpx]

Where are you guys buying it from? Australia? Do you get stung by GST when it lands?

[MoP]

AU Google Play Store. I'm in Melbourne, so that's easy ;-)

Pretty shit that they don't have native NZ availability tbh

[wugambino]

Originally Posted by mpx

Where are you guys buying it from? Australia? Do you get stung by GST when it lands?

Got mine from wherehouse stationary

[DrTiTus]

I bought a Nokia Lumia 520 Windows 8 phone to evaluate - tried to get yellow, but they are sold out everywhere. Got black because I didn't care to leave my name and wait.

It's a nice phone, but the 3rd party apps are totally lacking. It's a decent size without being too heavy (122gm), the screen is nice, it's dual core, the camera seems alright (makes genuine imitation camera noises like high frequency flash recharge). Bing Search does text recognition/translation with the camera, so I took a photo of a book spine, plucked the words out and translated it to Chinese. I tried taking a photo of the Asian script (who knows) on the back of a Bruce Lee book but it wasn't clever enough to read symbols arranged in a circle! That's OK, neither am I. I don't have pictures of general Chinese signs to try normal pictograms, though I might try it at a takeaway shop. Bing Search also includes music recognition a la Shazam (found my 60s Tartans track) by default. Quite a good search facility actually. It would be handy if the pictures you use for searching are also saved/archived, but I haven't looked in any detail.

There's no Dropbox, no Chrome, no Firefox, no Opera, no Google Hangouts, no GMail app at all. There is a Speedtest.net app, because there's no Flash. There is Acrobat Reader (thankfully).

There is a Google Maps, though it's released/signed by a company name other than Google Inc. Seems like Google Maps at first glance? I can't tell, it might just be a style applied to to the HERE maps while it siphons my Hotmail contacts.

There is SkyDrive, which I will use to sync my camera folder a la Dropbox. It also provides an option to retrieve files from my PC that aren't in my SkyDrive folder. If I can do that from my phone, that's pretty cool. I tried opening a [very basic] Excel spreadsheet that I use for invoicing - it still managed to screw it up (although I had saved it from OpenOffice?). I wouldn't rely on being able to open documents of any great complexity.

There is a Spotify - though you have to be Premium, and I'm not.

There is no app for Kiwibank, ANZ, or the Co-operative Bank. There /is/ an ASB app, but I don't have an ASB account.

I did find IM+ so that I can Google Talk via XMPP, but there was no messaging wizard asking me to link to any major chat network (not even MSN/Skype). It hooked into my old as Hotmail, so I have all my contacts from since ever - not that useful, will have to purge.

There is no VLC, though there are video streaming from VLC apps (lame).

I paid $189 for this phone, and I consider that fair given the hardware specs and capability. I can use it with my motorbike gloves on, woo hoo. If I had bought a 'flagship' Windows 8 phone for $800 and realised I had fuck all apps I'd be pretty gutted.

TLDR: I bought a Nokia Lumia 520 with Windows 8. There are fuck all apps available and you have to use Skydrive if you want Dropbox functionality. Have fun with IE. Impressive specs for the price. My motorbike gloves work on the screen.

[CCS]

I already knew there were fuck all apps for Win 8 phones without having to spend $189.

TL:DR lol

[BoyWonder]

But wait - motorbike gloves. You missed the whole point of the review.

[CCS]

I thought he rode a scooter. Let's call them 'scooter gloves'.

[mpx]

Originally Posted by wugambino

Got mine from wherehouse stationary

Looks like a trip to Warehouse Stationary in the weekend or early next week then!

...nobody wants a beautiful S3 that I constantly bag on?

[DrTiTus]

Forgive me father, for I have synonymed.

My whole point was not about my gloves, but to actually try Windows 8 rather than just laugh because Micro$oft.

[sidbo]

Originally Posted by mpx

Looks like a trip to Warehouse Stationary in the weekend or early next week then!

Let me know if they're in any way sim locked to 2degrees. I'm quite keen on a Nexus but want to use it on a grownup's network :P

[CCS]

Were the gloves yellow? Like a Windows 8 yellow? Or like maybe a buttery yellow?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by DrTiTus

My whole point was not about my gloves, but to actually try Windows 8 rather than just laugh because Micro$oft.

Yeah I found exactly the same thing with my 920 last year. Sold it to a mate who then sold it himself within 2 months The standard Nokia apps on the 920 were good, and the camera was amazing ... neither of which I used extensively, and neither of which made up for the horrible shortfalls in other areas. I know two other 920 owners who love their phones, but only because they don't use any other apps than the standard pre-installed ones.

[mpx]

Originally Posted by sidbo

Let me know if they're in any way sim locked to 2degrees. I'm quite keen on a Nexus but want to use it on a grownup's network :P

Will do - though I don't envision it will be, I bought my S3 from Dick Smith and they were with 2degrees but I use Vodafone, the only difference is that the firmware updates came via 2degrees but everything else was Vodafone.

[madmaxii]

Originally Posted by sidbo

Let me know if they're in any way sim locked to 2degrees. I'm quite keen on a Nexus but want to use it on a grownup's network :P

So, what's your issue with 2 degrees? I started with Bell South, then Vodafone and after crap service moved to 2 degrees when they launched. I have never, never had any issues with their pricing, coverage and service. They beat the shit out of the other two in all areas.

[mpx]

My friend recently switched from 2degrees to Vodafone, purely due to coverage. She was getting dropouts in Kohimarama, let alone outside of Auckland. I assumed they piggybacked off all Vodafone towers that weren't theirs but as soon as she switched to Vodafone, everything was fine.

I'd rather go to Telecom because even Vodafone is shit in Thames where I often go in the weekends, I can't browse anything inside the house in Thames without waiting a good 2 - 5 minutes for something to load (And 2degrees is non-existent) but the plan I'm on that no longer exists has me stuck on Vodafone - it's too good to give up.

[sidbo]

Originally Posted by madmaxii

So, what's your issue with 2 degrees? I started with Bell South, then Vodafone and after crap service moved to 2 degrees when they launched. I have never, never had any issues with their pricing, coverage and service. They beat the shit out of the other two in all areas.

Coverage mainly. I live in an area that gets pretty bad reception and Telecom is the best that I've found so far.

That and I work for Telecom, y'know... So unless 2degrees are going to give me a staff discount.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by sidbo

Coverage mainly. I live in an area that gets pretty bad reception and Telecom is the best that I've found so far.

That and I work for Telecom, y'know... So unless 2degrees are going to give me a staff discount.

Ahh so, biased.

[mpx]

I've got nothing with Telecom and even I have to agree they have the best coverage. If I could get 2.5GB for $40 a month on Telecom I would switch in 0.001 seconds.

[mr selfdestruct]

Originally Posted by DrTiTus

I bought a Nokia Lumia 520 Windows 8 phone to evaluate - tried to get yellow, but they are sold out everywhere. Got black because I didn't care to leave my name and wait.

It's a nice phone, but the 3rd party apps are totally lacking. It's a decent size without being too heavy (122gm), the screen is nice, it's dual core, the camera seems alright (makes genuine imitation camera noises like high frequency flash recharge). Bing Search does text recognition/translation with the camera, so I took a photo of a book spine, plucked the words out and translated it to Chinese. I tried taking a photo of the Asian script (who knows) on the back of a Bruce Lee book but it wasn't clever enough to read symbols arranged in a circle! That's OK, neither am I. I don't have pictures of general Chinese signs to try normal pictograms, though I might try it at a takeaway shop. Bing Search also includes music recognition a la Shazam (found my 60s Tartans track) by default. Quite a good search facility actually. It would be handy if the pictures you use for searching are also saved/archived, but I haven't looked in any detail.

There's no Dropbox, no Chrome, no Firefox, no Opera, no Google Hangouts, no GMail app at all. There is a Speedtest.net app, because there's no Flash. There is Acrobat Reader (thankfully).

There is a Google Maps, though it's released/signed by a company name other than Google Inc. Seems like Google Maps at first glance? I can't tell, it might just be a style applied to to the HERE maps while it siphons my Hotmail contacts.

There is SkyDrive, which I will use to sync my camera folder a la Dropbox. It also provides an option to retrieve files from my PC that aren't in my SkyDrive folder. If I can do that from my phone, that's pretty cool. I tried opening a [very basic] Excel spreadsheet that I use for invoicing - it still managed to screw it up (although I had saved it from OpenOffice?). I wouldn't rely on being able to open documents of any great complexity.

There is a Spotify - though you have to be Premium, and I'm not.

There is no app for Kiwibank, ANZ, or the Co-operative Bank. There /is/ an ASB app, but I don't have an ASB account.

I did find IM+ so that I can Google Talk via XMPP, but there was no messaging wizard asking me to link to any major chat network (not even MSN/Skype). It hooked into my old as Hotmail, so I have all my contacts from since ever - not that useful, will have to purge.

There is no VLC, though there are video streaming from VLC apps (lame).

I paid $189 for this phone, and I consider that fair given the hardware specs and capability. I can use it with my motorbike gloves on, woo hoo. If I had bought a 'flagship' Windows 8 phone for $800 and realised I had fuck all apps I'd be pretty gutted.

TLDR: I bought a Nokia Lumia 520 with Windows 8. There are fuck all apps available and you have to use Skydrive if you want Dropbox functionality. Have fun with IE. Impressive specs for the price. My motorbike gloves work on the screen.

*paging mr selfdestruct*

News flash: Windows Phone 8 uses the Microsoft eco system not the Google one. If you refuse to move away from Google products, you will not have a good experience. Not sure how you did not know this or how you can rate it based on the fact it blatantly doesnt support google stuff.

Skydrive is built in natively into everything in the phone and does a great job, dunno why you'd need Dropbox except of course if you're already 100% committed to it like you probably are with Google.

Maps. Again, no shit Google Maps doesn't work. Again, Microsoft/Nokia eco system. You're expected to use Here Maps, Here Drive (formerly Nokia). They both kick ass, sync to your MS account and can be used across any of your devices.

Not sure why people still say there are 'fuck all apps'. Windows Phone 8 has 85% of the top 25 apps downloaded on iOS and Android. Fact.

How is that fuck all? Oh no, it's missing your obscure, only 1 in 50 people give a fuck about apps, that's always going to happen with a relatively new platform but all the main ones are there.

I have a Lumia 520 for my work phone and it is a steaming pile of shit, I'm surprised you give it so much credit. The screen is god fucking awful, the IPS screens on the high end Lumia's leave it in the dirt and it has no Carl Zeiss lens, I think the photos on the 520 are god awful, it doesn't even have the latest Nokia Camera algorithms yet cos its too cheap and low priority for Nokia. I guess most people that only pay $200 for a phone have very low standards anyway so fuck em.

If you're a cheap bastard and want to try Windows 8 I would suggest the Lumia 820, not quite on a par with the 920 but you can pick one up for only $350 ish

[mr selfdestruct]

Originally Posted by Savage

Yeah I found exactly the same thing with my 920 last year. Sold it to a mate who then sold it himself within 2 months The standard Nokia apps on the 920 were good, and the camera was amazing ... neither of which I used extensively, and neither of which made up for the horrible shortfalls in other areas. I know two other 920 owners who love their phones, but only because they don't use any other apps than the standard pre-installed ones.

Wow, no fucking clue at all. Also Savage when you had a 920 they hadnt released Nokia Camera so you were using a completely crippled camera that wasn't even using the potential of the Carl Zeiss lens, its easily twice as good now.

Top 25 downloaded apps on iOS

Facebook
Pandora
Instagram
YouTube
Skype
Words With Friends
The Weather Channel
Twitter
Temple Run
Google Search
Netflix
Shazam
Angry Birds Free
Draw Something Free
Flashlight
Facebook Messenger
Google Earth
Fruit Ninja Free
iHeartRadio
Movies by Flixster
Bump
eBay
PAC-MAN Lite
Groupon
Google Maps

Ones WP8 doesnt have in this list:
YouTube
Netflix
Google Earth
Google Maps

The only one in that list thats a shame is the YouTube one but there are plenty of full featured 3rd party apps such as MetroTube that do everything you can do on the official app. The rest, who cares?

So Windows Phone 8 basically has all the apps iOS and Android have worth caring about, I think that puts this ridiculous argument to bed.

[Golden Teapot]

That's pretty bad reasoning; actually it's astonishingly bad. I'd be worried if my six year old made assertions like that one.

[sidbo]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Ahh so, biased.

No.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by mr selfdestruct

angry rant

Holy shit dude, its a phone we're talking about, not your mum. Calm down.
Reading and comprehension ... why the hell would I give a shit about new camera software on the 920 when I barely used the camera? Why would I give a shit about the apps available on the phone now, when I sold it almost a year ago?

All I've done is describe the situations I've seen with the 920 (I thought it was shit, sold it. Buyer then thought it was shit, sold it. The only two people I know with a 920 like it because of its standard apps. I gave your beloved 920 a go, I didn't like, so I got rid of it. I'm really sorry that's hurt your feelings so much.

Originally Posted by mr selfdestruct

I think that puts this ridiculous argument to bed.

LOL what argument? No one is arguing except you ...
Try to read the posts people are putting up before you come in like the Microsoft Lone Ranger (and I mean Lone ...) to take vengeance on anyone who dares say anything slightly negative about your beloved phone. We get it, you love it. Good for you.