Windows Phone or Android

[Boges]

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad, which is an Android PC tablet I wanted an e-reader and this is the same thing, but has a web browser and camera attached to it. Nice handy little device that runs on a wireless network. but it does not seem to be able to multi-task. If I run a web page in the browser, such as streaming radio then open new browser window to read the news headlines, the streaming radio halts. It resumes again if I make it the foreground window. I assume it's just a limitation of Android.

No it's the limitations of your device. What's the Speed and RAM for it?

My wife has a Kobo Vox, it's fine for browsing and reading but try to do streaming or multi-functions it's shit.

My Samsung Galaxy S2 is twice as fast as the iPad though so I can stream, surf the web and text all at once if I want.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Boges

[Handsome Rob]

I've been with my lovely Android phone for a few weeks now. I freakin' love it!

How can iPhone users really look down their nose as Google when it comes to the phone.

Is there really anything that iOS does better than Android except for the the fact that you can play lots of video games them because the App Store is flooded with them.

Who uses their phone for full length console style video game anyway? 15-year-olds?

The big problem with Android is the OS upgrades. My Samsung comes with something called Gingerbread. But something called Icecream Sandwich has been out for months but Rogers wont give it to me. Now something called Jellybean has been announced. How long will it be before I get that?

One thing Apple has over Android is there is no variety in the hardware so people either can get the software for their phone or they cant. But I don't see that as a plus.

Rooting is so easy it's shameful not to do it. Cyanogenmod, plain and simple. Heck he even works for Samsung now, something like 6 of the top 10 apps on Google play require root now? That's the extent it's in, ICS has been out for months and you don't really have it. You have ICS integrated with Samsung's Touchwiz which just ruins Android. Jellybean just flies.

While that may be true, the Galaxy wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the iPhone. Samsung is really good at taking other people's products and tweaking them. They've never created anything original of their own in this market, however.

The iPhone was modeled after the LG Prada, the first real full front touchscreen phone that sold quite well. With the functionality of the Motorola Rokr E1, the first smartphone to incorporate iTunes. Apple simply took an idea and made it better, just like Samsung. Just like they didn't invent accelerometers in mobile devices, finger gestures, bounceback on overscroll and all the other nonsense. It's evolution, not innovation.

I do have a galaxy, but I find the touch screen annoying in that I make a lot more spelling errors. The swipe feature is irritating too since I wind up calling people by accident. And even though I'm not a big user I have to recharge it every night or it dies.

Spend four bucks on swiftkey. You can mash the keyboard with your palm it's so smart at predicting.

Yes what he said was rational.

Interestingly, Boges states that his Galaxy S3 is way better than an iPhone 4s.

Yet it seems to compare about the same when both devices are actually used as compared to looking at the hardware specs.

But I'm sure CNET et al. are all a bunch of Apple fanbois.

That's an authors opinion, the S3 mops the floor with the i4S hardware wise.

1.5 Ghz Qualcomm Dual Core (Quad core Int version) vs 1 Ghz Apple A5

1-2 Gb RAM vs 512 Mb

1280x720 res SAMOLED vs 960x640 Retina

300 hours standby vs 200 hours standby

Removable SD, removable battery VS Neither

3G/4G vs Plain old 3G

It still doesn't make it a better phone, different strokes for different folks. Some people need the iPhone. But there is no comparison in hardware capability, the I4S isn't in the race.

With Siri and Siri clones for Android you can now text by just talking to your phone. Not 100% safe, but a bit safer I suppose.

This is assuming you have a mount for your phone on your dash.

Android Voice to text has been out for years. Vlingo & Assistant offer the same type functionality as SIRI, they just didn't get picked up and developed the way SIRI did. SIRI started it's life much the same way Vlingo did, wasn't Apple's idea either. I think it's all a big gimmick anyway.

[cybercoma]

The iPhone was modeled after the LG Prada, the first real full front touchscreen phone that sold quite well. With the functionality of the Motorola Rokr E1, the first smartphone to incorporate iTunes. Apple simply took an idea and made it better, just like Samsung. Just like they didn't invent accelerometers in mobile devices, finger gestures, bounceback on overscroll and all the other nonsense. It's evolution, not innovation.

This all may very well be true, but legally all that matters is who owns the patents.

[Boges]

This all may very well be true, but legally all that matters is who owns the patents.

True but patenting rectangular phones with rounded edges is really silly.

I agree with the gestures. That was taken from iOS it would appear but I'm not exactly sure how do to a touchscreen smartphone interface.

Sort of like patenting the wheel.

[Handsome Rob]

This all may very well be true, but legally all that matters is who owns the patents.

Which just showcases the sillyness of it all. The patent system ought to be able to punish Samsung for it's copying of things like trade-dress as they successfully have with the galaxy tab, but at the same time recognizing that all products in the marketplace copy each other to some extent and purchasing patent portfolios does not constitute intellectual property.

True but patenting rectangular phones with rounded edges is really silly.

I agree with the gestures. That was taken from iOS it would appear but I'm not exactly sure how do to a touchscreen smartphone interface.

Sort of like patenting the wheel.

No they didn't, multi-touch gestures are way older than the iPhone. Like touchpad gestures on a laptop, here's a patent that was submitted in 2005 before the iPhone was ever even conceptualized.

Apple invents very little, they take good ideas and make them successful. The iPhone was the first mobile device to successfully incorporate multi-touch and gestures but they certainly did not invent it.

[Boges]

Apple invents very little, they take good ideas and make them successful. The iPhone was the first mobile device to successfully incorporate multi-touch and gestures but they certainly did not invent it.

Very true. Nothing I've heard about the iPhone 5 is something revolutionary or new. 4G/LTE, NFC, Dual Core processing. All things Android users have enjoy for awhile now.

Hearing what Samsung had to say today I hope people a turned off by Apple's actions and when they're looking for a phone they don't get a new iPhone.

It's anecdotal, but I know two co-workers that had iPhone and now have Galaxy S2's and love them.

[Guest Manny]

even though I'm not a big user I have to recharge it every night or it dies.

Check the bluetooth settings. If it's on and you aren't using it, shut it off. Known to consume large amounts of battery charge.

[cybercoma]

True but patenting rectangular phones with rounded edges is really silly.

Is it? If it's a trademarked look and feel that makes your product recognizable, do you think other companies should be able to replicate that?

I agree with the gestures. That was taken from iOS it would appear but I'm not exactly sure how do to a touchscreen smartphone interface.

Some people say the gestures were copied by Apple from others still. Regardless, they seem to have the patents.

There are other ways to hand the gestures however. Instead of swiping pages, one could tap the edge of the screen to flip pages just as a single example. Perhaps zooming in and zooming out could be accomplished by doing a circular gesture clockwise vs anticlockwise, giving the feel of cranking in vs cranking out.

We only can't imagine other gestures because Apple's gestures are what we're used to using and Samsung adopted them as well.

Sort of like patenting the wheel.

Hopefully my example above indicates that it's not anything like patenting the wheel. It's more like patenting the wheel for vehicles, ignoring the fact that a vehicle could operate on treads for example.

[cybercoma]

Check the bluetooth settings. If it's on and you aren't using it, shut it off. Known to consume large amounts of battery charge.

This is true. I get approximately 33% longer on a charge with BT off.

[Boges]

This is true. I get approximately 33% longer on a charge with BT off.

I'm a big fan of an app called Juice Defender. It disconnects you from wifi and your data package when your phone is idle. Saves a lot of juice and data.

Also make sure you have shut down programs you are no longer using. Pressing home doesn't shut a program down, you have to either manually shut it down using the task manager or press the back button until it shuts the program down.

I still charge my phone every night but I could probably go 2 days in between charging. Most of the battery life is taken up by the display screen so the more you use the phone obviously the faster the battery drains.

[Handsome Rob]

I'm a big fan of an app called Juice Defender. It disconnects you from wifi and your data package when your phone is idle. Saves a lot of juice and data.

Also make sure you have shut down programs you are no longer using. Pressing home doesn't shut a program down, you have to either manually shut it down using the task manager or press the back button until it shuts the program down.

I still charge my phone every night but I could probably go 2 days in between charging. Most of the battery life is taken up by the display screen so the more you use the phone obviously the faster the battery drains.

Task killing does not save battery and is not good for the OS. Android has a great memory manager by default and sleeping processes do not draw.

The exception to this rule being poorly designed apps. IE: Say something designed to collect RSS feeds that has runaway syncing and is always using radio, there are apps that will look for these.

Usual design for manual shutdown would be on whatever top level menu there may be, then menu button with close being on the list.

I think one day of heavy use is pretty much the standard across manufacturers.

[Boges]

Task killing does not save battery and is not good for the OS. Android has a great memory manager by default and sleeping processes do not draw.

The exception to this rule being poorly designed apps. IE: Say something designed to collect RSS feeds that has runaway syncing and is always using radio, there are apps that will look for these.

Usual design for manual shutdown would be on whatever top level menu there may be, then menu button with close being on the list.

I think one day of heavy use is pretty much the standard across manufacturers.

Before I downloaded the app I couldn't get through a day of heavy use without charging. I suppose if you root your phone things will be different.

I actually went to the site you recommended and it doesn't include the GS2 LTE Skyrocket, just the standard GS2.

[Handsome Rob]

Before I downloaded the app I couldn't get through a day of heavy use without charging. I suppose if you root your phone things will be different.

Then you probably have a problem app somewhere and want to try something like:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.latedroid.juicedefender&hl=en

I'm not specifically familiar with any of them as I've never had to use one.

Consensus is still task killer = bad.

1)Processes that want to run and get killed will automatically restart anyway using more juice. Lots of users kill processes that are sleeping and not consuming anything.

2)Makes the system run crappily for an average range of 10% loss VS 10% gain.

Task-Killer Apps: Will They Help or Hurt Your Battery Life?

Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn’t Use Them

Regardless, YMMV and ultimately up to you. Be interesting to actually measure it one day against the next.

I actually went to the site you recommended and it doesn't include the GS2 LTE Skyrocket, just the standard GS2.

They just haven't updated the website, phone's change too fast.

Full Update Guide

File Downloads

Developers forum

CM9 is Ice Cream Sandwich, CM10 unfortunately not stable release for you yet is Jelly Bean. You can find unstable, I'm running one on I9100.

Just beware, it's like a red pill-blue pill type thing. The phone can be made carrier whole again but it's very unusual and takes work. 90% of root users never go back.

On average the quadrant benchmark doubles over the stock Samsung firmware, includes extra features like embedded black list, custom launchers, you can select and modify notification drawer widgets and buttons, lockscreen widgets and buttons, custom boot animation like a droid peeing on an apple, long press volume up & down change tracks from in the pocket while on lock screen, long press soft keys can be assigned, you can put in a custom kernel and overclock or govern it to extend battery life, put in any launcher you like or multiple launchers, sideload apps and even steal them if you're not nice (I would never advocate that), install US only .apk's....

The list is endless, it's what Android is supposed to be. Samesung Touchwiz I hate.

You should know exactly what you're getting into before hand and do plenty of reading. It's extremely difficult to break a Samsung phone beyond repair doing this but it's not difficult to get it in a state that you need advanced help with to get out of .

Follow directions step by step and you're fine.