Technology catch-all thread

[Balta1701]

Yeah I hear ya, I was hoping that having my ipad with me on the road I could get around this issue. Having more call reliability is pretty big at this point.

It sounds like you're doing a good job of selling yourself on Verizon.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

This implementation of Siri (or voice control, period) is by far the best thing I've seen, and it's accuracy is amazing in comparison to anything I've ever used or seen demonstrated to date. Do note, that Siri was a company/technology bought by Apple, and then implemented directly into iOS, so it's not just some various program running in the background, but deeply entwined into the OS itself. They've had an app out for a while, but it wasn't anything close to this.

 

A lot of voice control software has let you say things to set alarms, load programs, play songs, and that sort of thing, but they don't work well under most circumstances. Every time I've seen someone try to "show off" their ultra cool voice recognition technology, they've had to do it under perfect circumstances, with little to no background noise, etc. Then, it gets funny watching them issue commands it doesn't understand 10 times, or it fails to do what they requested, and then they say, "well it was working perfectly for me earlier". Like, "Call Jeff...", and it says, "Calling Julie". Or, even better, when it says, did you mean, "George Mokrisky", which sounds nothing remotely close to "Jeff".

 

So yes, there is other voice recognition tech out there, but it all pretty much sucked in real world use.

 

Ok, well yeah, the one on my brothers phone is pretty dope. It's the best voice controlled implementation I've ever seen. It's pretty amazing.

[Y2HH]

Ok, well yeah, the one on my brothers phone is pretty dope. It's the best voice controlled implementation I've ever seen. It's pretty amazing.

 

Well, what kind of phone and what is the software you're brothers friends neighbors sisters little cousins dog is using that's amazing and awesome? I'm sure others here would like to use it if it works that well and is available on their platform, but you're being vague and telling us Apple/Siri is meh, because this technology is old with no details.

Edited October 19, 2011 by Y2HH

[Balta1701]

Also, called Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich is clearly designed to unify the Android experience. And as Matias Duarte, Google's senior director of Android user experience said, it's also built on three design principles: "enchant me, simplify my life, and make me awesome."

 

Here's an almost-complete list of Ice Cream Sandwich. We'll explore these in more detail over the next few days. For more tasty ice cream, check out CNET Asia's Top 5 features in Android 4.0. And be sure to tell us what new feature you're savoring most in the gallery.

 

Virtual buttons in the user experience free up display space

Create folders by dragging apps on top of each other

A new tab for thumbing through your widgets

Calendar app now supports pinch-to-zoom

Gmail gets offline search (nice), a two-line preview, and gesture support for swiping between conversations

The revamped Gmail user interface has an action bar for composing a message, searching, and accessing labels

Take screenshots by holding power and volume down buttons (finally!)

"Request desktop site" in the Chrome browser opens the full version of a Web site and syncs with your bookmarks

Save Web pages offline and use up to 16 tabs in the browser

More keyboard error correction and an inline spell check

Access apps directly from the lock screen

A recent applications icon

"Roboto" is a new typeface

Delete individual notifications by dragging them off the notifications menu

Improved voice integration and copy and paste

Face Unlock is a facial recognition service that use your face to unlock the phone

New Data Usage options in the Settings menu will notify users when they near a data use limit and disable the feature when the limit is reached

You can kill off apps that are using data in the background

Open the camera quickly from the home screen

Camera has no shutter lag, continuous focus, zoom while recording, panorama photos, time lapse settings, and 1080p recording

Face detection in the camera

Integrated photo editor including focus and exposure and "hipster filters" (we don't want to know)

New gallery layout, organized by location and person

People app brings together high-res photos, social media information, and status updates

Phone app lets you swipe between favorite friends with integrated visual voice mail

New photo gallery layout for organizing by location and person

Speed up and slow down voice mails

Quick message sends canned response text message when you decline a call

Android Beam, an NFC feature for exchanging information between two phones by tapping them

 

 

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20122.../#ixzz1bEmxL8HT

[HuskyCaucasian]

I am just watching the Ice Cream Sandwich announcement. Looks really solid. They kinda "Stole" how you create folders and move apps around on the screen from Apple, but that's OK. Apple stole notifications They stole the "flick to close" option from webOS, but it's nice to have.

 

The "speed dial"/people short cut folder is an excellent idea.

 

I really hope LG updates my G2x to ICS when it's available.

Edited October 19, 2011 by Athomeboy_2000

[Y2HH]

I am just watching the Ice Cream Sandwich announcement. Looks really solid. They kinda "Stole" how you create folders and move apps around on the screen from Apple, but that's OK. Apple stole notifications They stole the "flick to close" option from webOS, but it's nice to have.

 

The "speed dial"/people short cut folder is an excellent idea.

 

I really hope LG updates my G2x to ICS when it's available.

 

They all take ideas from each other, which is good...because it shows that if one didn't exist, odds are they never would have done it that way...the competition between WinMobile7, IOS and Android are good for consumers.

 

I'm not keen on the "face unlock" crap, however...it failed in their demonstration (good going), but it looks like something that will be easily hackable considering it's using a 2D camera (IE 1 camera) to scan your face. Such technology in security circles uses multiple cameras from multiple angles in order to get a 3d/depth image of the user, so it can verify size, shape, etc...seems like a gimmicky addon with little use if you want security (which is increasingly important today, despite people being clueless about it).

Edited October 19, 2011 by Y2HH

[RockRaines]

It sounds like you're doing a good job of selling yourself on Verizon.

Just looking for opinions either way.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Well, what kind of phone and what is the software you're brothers friends neighbors sisters little cousins dog is using that's amazing and awesome? I'm sure others here would like to use it if it works that well and is available on their platform, but you're being vague and telling us Apple/Siri is meh, because this technology is old with no details.

 

Lol, so somehow you have turned "my brother" in to "my brother's friend's neighbor's sister's little cousin's dog"? Is one relation too much for you to follow?

 

And you have also managed to construe my post in to saying that I think Apple/Siri is "meh" and old technology, when in fact I made no comments about it whatsoever, other than to point out that voice-activated software on phones is not "another" brand new thing that Apple has amazingly pioneered before anyone else.

 

It existed before Apple started using it, although most people (not you) will be led to believe otherwise.

Edited October 19, 2011 by JoeCoolMan24

[RockRaines]

Lol, so somehow you have turned "my brother" in to "my brother's friend's neighbor's sister's little cousin's dog"? Is one relation too much for you to follow?

 

And you have also managed to construe my post in to saying that I think Apple/Siri is "meh" and old technology, when in fact I made no comments about it whatsoever, other than to point out that voice-activated software on phones is not "another" brand new thing that Apple has amazingly pioneered before anyone else.

 

It existed before Apple started using it, although most people (not you) will be led to believe otherwise.

Technically Apple had voice control even before the Siri app was written, so I'm not sure anyone would say otherwise.

 

 

Also, Spotify is pretty damn cool.

[HuskyCaucasian]

WhySiriWhy.com

[iamshack]

Lol, so somehow you have turned "my brother" in to "my brother's friend's neighbor's sister's little cousin's dog"? Is one relation too much for you to follow?

 

And you have also managed to construe my post in to saying that I think Apple/Siri is "meh" and old technology, when in fact I made no comments about it whatsoever, other than to point out that voice-activated software on phones is not "another" brand new thing that Apple has amazingly pioneered before anyone else.

 

It existed before Apple started using it, although most people (not you) will be led to believe otherwise.

And you managed to construe my post to mean that because I thought Siri would be a vert significant and material improvement to cell phone experiences, especially with the new hands-free laws, that I was stating that Apple invented all voice-activation technology.

 

 

[Jenksismyhero]

WhySiriWhy.com

 

has anyone tested those on their own phone? seems like it would be impractical to program all of these unique responses people post. Kinda like the auto-correct stuff that seems way way fake.

[Jenksismyhero]

Just looking for opinions either way.

 

My wife and I are in the same boat as you. Iphone 3 and 3gs owners, beyond our contract and ready for new phones. I want to re-up with AT&T just for simplicity sake, but don't want to give up the unlimited data option at what we pay. Although I get some dropped calls now and again, and some areas of the city seem to lose signal for no apparent reason, I gotta believe that that's the case with every carrier. That's the nature of their respective networks.

 

 

[Balta1701]

My wife and I are in the same boat as you. Iphone 3 and 3gs owners, beyond our contract and ready for new phones. I want to re-up with AT&T just for simplicity sake, but don't want to give up the unlimited data option at what we pay. Although I get some dropped calls now and again, and some areas of the city seem to lose signal for no apparent reason, I gotta believe that that's the case with every carrier. That's the nature of their respective networks.

By almost all accounts I've read/heard, Verizon is better on dropped calls than ATT.

[Jenksismyhero]

By almost all accounts I've read/heard, Verizon is better on dropped calls than ATT.

 

Verizon doesn't have the SG II, which is the phone I want, and they don't let you bundle an Apple/Android product in the same plan, which is what my wife would want to do. All of these companies suck. Buying a smartphone, 10 dollar extra fee just cause we can. Buying two different products? Can't have a family plan, need to have two individual plans. Activating new phones, gimme gimme more.

 

f*** these companies.

[Y2HH]

Verizon doesn't have the SG II, which is the phone I want, and they don't let you bundle an Apple/Android product in the same plan, which is what my wife would want to do. All of these companies suck. Buying a smartphone, 10 dollar extra fee just cause we can. Buying two different products? Can't have a family plan, need to have two individual plans. Activating new phones, gimme gimme more.

 

f*** these companies.

 

Why would you want the SG II now? Like with all Android phones (and this is an inherit problem with how that business model works), the SGII is already outdated, and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.0 (debut last night) has already made a phone less than 6 months old obsolete. What makes it worse is it just became available in the US a short while ago (despite being older than that), and it's already been superseded, with a better device running a newer OS.

 

There is choice, and then there is too much choice. I'm happy knowing my iPhone4s will be top of the line for another year. Being a gadget-head that loves having the latest of whatever model gadget I have, that's a nice thing to know and one of the main reasons I can never jump on board Android.

 

It's a shame too, because I'd love Android to become an actual possible choice for me, but as things stand, it will never be.

 

*Android rant warning*

 

Google, thankfully (if the Motorola deal goes through) will have tighter quality control over their devices, and hopefully slow down the unnecessary flow of devices -- I hope. It'd be nice if Google retained some sort of applicable control and started limiting the number of devices these manufacturers can release every year, because Android is beyond the absurd point of product "ghettoism". It's a phrase I apply to technology where "disposable tech" seemingly becomes "daily disposable tech" due to the over flooding of the market with devices -- and worse -- imitation devices, not to mention, despite Google's attempts, the software updates are slow coming across the board, which leads to a widespread hack market. I.E. I don't know a single Android owner that's not running some hacked variation of their OS in order to be current. To me, that's a problem.

 

*End Android rant, hoping Google gets things together sooner rather than later*

[RockRaines]

The new Motorola Android phone is called the Razr. Awesome, Im glad we are going to bring back that name.

[Jenksismyhero]

Why would you want the SG II now? Like with all Android phones (and this is an inherit problem with how that business model works), the SGII is already outdated, and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.0 (debut last night) has already made a phone less than 6 months old obsolete. What makes it worse is it just became available in the US a short while ago (despite being older than that), and it's already been superseded, with a better device running a newer OS.

 

There is choice, and then there is too much choice. I'm happy knowing my iPhone4s will be top of the line for another year. Being a gadget-head that loves having the latest of whatever model gadget I have, that's a nice thing to know and one of the main reasons I can never jump on board Android.

 

It's a shame too, because I'd love Android to become an actual possible choice for me, but as things stand, it will never be.

 

*Android rant warning*

 

Google, thankfully (if the Motorola deal goes through) will have tighter quality control over their devices, and hopefully slow down the unnecessary flow of devices -- I hope. It'd be nice if Google retained some sort of applicable control and started limiting the number of devices these manufacturers can release every year, because Android is beyond the absurd point of product "ghettoism". It's a phrase I apply to technology where "disposable tech" seemingly becomes "daily disposable tech" due to the over flooding of the market with devices -- and worse -- imitation devices, not to mention, despite Google's attempts, the software updates are slow coming across the board, which leads to a widespread hack market. I.E. I don't know a single Android owner that's not running some hacked variation of their OS in order to be current. To me, that's a problem.

 

*End Android rant, hoping Google gets things together sooner rather than later*

 

"outdated" seems a bit much, but that's the nature of all of this technology. The iphone 4s will be "outdated" within 6 months, if not sooner. Gotta jump in sometime or you'll be waiting forever. Admittedly though I know nothing about Android since I've been using my iphone for over two years. What's the best android phone available right now? I thought the SGII was the greatest Android based phone ever? That was like 3 weeks ago...

 

[Y2HH]

"outdated" seems a bit much, but that's the nature of all of this technology. The iphone 4s will be "outdated" within 6 months, if not sooner. Gotta jump in sometime or you'll be waiting forever. Admittedly though I know nothing about Android since I've been using my iphone for over two years. What's the best android phone available right now? I thought the SGII was the greatest Android based phone ever? That was like 3 weeks ago...

 

We aren't talking about the same thing.

 

To clarify, I'm speaking strictly about the latest model being outdated versus what you are talking about, which is technological/specs being outdated. The iPhone4s won't become "outdated" until a newer iPhone model is released, which will take around a year. Outdated in terms of pure technology/specifications is a foregone conclusion and thus a pointless talking point/discussion. Because as you know, in this regard, especially in technology, whatever you have is outdated the day you bought it.

 

The Galaxy Nexus just replaced the SGII in terms of Samsung modeling and the Android RAZR supersedes the other 50 Motorola Android models released by Motorola this year. This is my point about too much too soon. These Android manufacturers need to start creating something that can stand the test of time as a design for more than a few months. The slight technological changes are meaningless...1.1 ghz vs 1.2, etc...yes, it's faster, but it's not a game changer. Apple's iPhone4 does not need to be updated to the 4s, and because they look the same, those with non 4s models will not feel as if they're carrying a dated phone.

 

Apple has shown that 1 model being available is not necessary a bad thing, as they outsell most other combined yearly models. There is no need for Motorola to release 5-10 different Androids per year, considering they have to subsidize them to the point that they're free a month after release. They could make more money by creating a single great design and making 100-300$ off each one sold (on top of the carrier subsidy).

Edited October 19, 2011 by Y2HH

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

And you managed to construe my post to mean that because I thought Siri would be a vert significant and material improvement to cell phone experiences, especially with the new hands-free laws, that I was stating that Apple invented all voice-activation technology.

 

What? I specifically put "not you" in the sentence because it's obvious that you know better, but I am sure a lot of people don't, and will file it under yet another Apple invention that changed the world to go along with MP3s, touchscreen devices, and anything else they can make up.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

The new Motorola Android phone is called the Razr. Awesome, Im glad we are going to bring back that name.

 

Lol. I'll wait until they get come out with the Krazr before I get one.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Quick cell phone charging question:

My wife got a Samsung Galaxy S and I got the T-Mobile G2x. They both came with chargers that use mico-USB. However, one charger labels its output as "5.0V--0.7A" and the other is "4.8V--1.0A". Can I interchange the chargers for our phones without destroying a battery??

[Texsox]

Quick cell phone charging question:

My wife got a Samsung Galaxy S and I got the T-Mobile G2x. They both came with chargers that use mico-USB. However, one charger labels its output as "5.0V--0.7A" and the other is "4.8V--1.0A". Can I interchange the chargers for our phones without destroying a battery??

 

Officially no. Unofficially, probably.

[Texsox]

My son's XBox live account was compromised and 25 Gold FIFA packages were purchased.

 

1. He doesn't own the game
2. Doesn't spend $80 a month ever
3. Microsoft has hundreds, perhaps thousands of complaints all the same.

 

The dickheads still haven't refunded the money.

[Quin]

Oh look, Steve Jobs kind of an ass. He vowed to "destroy" Android for being stolen.

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/10/21/ste...destroy-android