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From TFA: "On the other hand, the Samsung watch is the clear winner on overall build quality."

From reality: http://www.androidpolice.com/2...

That's right - it's been only 2 weeks or so since Google I/O and Samsung devices are ALREADY breaking with multiple reports of the same failure mode.

In addition, there are frequent reports of display corruption that doesn't happen with the LG: https://plus.google.com/+Artem...

The Fascinate you picked is a special case since it's basically the same thing as a Nexus S, which has a whole 'nother community behind it simply because it was a Nexus device. And it's got bog-standard ARM hardware, which is the reason it's just slow as all hell. You can't expect this kind of support for most device ever.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2...

I don't know why your vivow isn't supported anymore, but I'd have to guess it has to do with one of the selling points: Qualcomm's ARM CPUs are custom. That Snapdragon S2 was pretty awesome, yeah? Makes them faster but harder to support as they get older.
You knew this going in. And you know it'll bite you again eventually if you buy a Samsung with a Qualcomm CPU. In the meantime, hey, Snapdragon S4s are supported for now.

Come to think of it, the link I posted above mentions that even Samsung fucks up support for their Exynos SoCs without building their own CPU cores.

Does Cyanogenmod need even more encouragement to dump Qualcomm processors? Odd that the Nook Color is still supported, when many faster Qualcomm chips have been shown the door.

I already have to run an unofficial release of Cyanogenmod on my vivow. Now what is the likelyhood that I'm going to get a Towelroot patch when you are nuking the source repositories?

I still won't buy Motorola products because of their past behavior. Am I about to add Qualcomm to that list?

Jelly Bean can already do that. There is another comment below that mentions how to do it in Kit Kat.

According to many websites such as this and this the LG Optimus F3Q has a sliding qwerty keyboard, a 4" 800x480 display, and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

unless someone enables debugging and authorizes a computer with its individual key to connect.

Authorizing an individual computer wasn't introduced until around 4.2 (Jelly Bean 2) or thereabouts. There are still Android devices in use running older operating systems whose manufacturer declines to update the operating system.

Google no longer intends to offer anybody a new "Gmail account". Henceforth they only offer a "Google+ account with email features."

this is a prime example of FUD. you should be modded as a troll.

Did you even read the summary? This is an accurate description of the new behavior of account creation. And if you don't think Google Voice is the next one to be plus-ified then you've missed announcements like http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/11/04/merging-of-google-voice-and-hangouts-will-result-shutting-down-all-3rd-party-voice-apps-in-may-2014/

Linux can do that via selinux, which is extremely fine grained but therefore difficult to manage...
Android can do it - see http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/07/25/app-ops-android-4-3s-hidden-app-permission-manager-control-permissions-for-individual-apps/

Google thinks it does have a good reason for not wanting memory card slots on Android devices.
First thing - a card mounted via UMS (USB Mass Storage) to a PC isn't available to Android OS. Think of all apps (and their data) installed on the card and how would they behave if the card suddenly becomes invisible to Android...
Second thing - security issues. FAT filesystem on most SD card - no file ownership.
Third thing - One of the core Android principles is that you never need a file manager. With a memory card mounted a user can start to wonder where data (photo, music, file) ends up.

I miss memory card slots on Android devices a lot but I can understand Google reasons for shunning them.
A nice (albeit long) article on the subject:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/11/18/impromptu-qa-session-with-android-engineer-dan-morrill-brings-to-light-reasons-behind-galaxy-nexus-lack-of-usb-mass-storage/

I chose the N5 personally - I'm well invested in Android apps, and it automatically re-installs the apps I use with their data. But I do see why people like the iPhone. My daughters prefer it.

I wonder if the benchmarks enabled ART though. I'm enabling the new ART runtime on mine and will report back if the numbers are significantly different from the article. It takes a while to enable ART if you have a lot of apps...

At this level though the benchmarks seem ridiculous. Both phones have the power and display of a midrange laptop. It's difficult to imagine there is going to be some phone task for which either one is insufficient for the next few years. Maybe ever. This may be the knee of "good enough".

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/11/04/merging-of-google-voice-and-hangouts-will-result-shutting-down-all-3rd-party-voice-apps-in-may-2014/

Yes, you can use a 3rd party VoIP app with a 3rd party provider, but having the Google integration was really nice. And how many will be free? Only ones i know of hook into Google voice .. all the rest are pay, so might as well keep using your cell minutes.

And before we go overboard, that leak is a draft. There are a few glaringly obvious issues with it, such as listing Bluetooth 3 (instead of 4) and the exact same dimensions as the Nexus 4, as pointed out on here. While I doubt the screen size or the button placement would change, it's plausible that the battery size could.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/09/17/verizon-expects-new-nexus-7-to-get-certified-for-its-lte-network-at-some-point-no-timeframe-just-yet/

He is mistaken. They are still refusing to activate outside devices in violation of their agreement with the FCC.

The FCC agreement allows them a period of time to certify the device as being compatible with their network, and reject devices under certain conditions.
For any device certified on the Verizon network, they WILL and DO activate it regardless of where you purchased it or who you got it from. "Outside device" does not mean anything you want, it simply means a device purchased from someone other than Verizon.

Supposedly they will allow BYOD once their LTE rollout is completed.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/11/08/verizons-4g-lte-rollout-will-be-complete-by-mid-2013-and-this-actually-has-some-cool-implications/

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/09/17/verizon-expects-new-nexus-7-to-get-certified-for-its-lte-network-at-some-point-no-timeframe-just-yet/

He is mistaken. They are still refusing to activate outside devices in violation of their agreement with the FCC.

$179 for a keyboard? WTF?

For that much you can buy an entire rather good 7" android tablet.

Except Android 4.3 broke compatibility with several popular Bluetooth mobile keyboards. At least the keyboard that ships with a device is warranted to work with the device.

Do these CyanogenMod builds somehow work around Android 4.3's problem with some Bluetooth keyboards?

No pics necessary, it's in the source check out this link. My phone does the same thing but unlike under 4.3 there's no obvious way to turn it off without turning off all WiFi notifications.

What I would love is to selectively choose the permissions to grant an app and fake the permissions I don't allow; for example, give the app access to a fake contacts list so the app itself has no idea whether it has access to my real contacts.

The new Jelly Bean release finally has the beginnings of just such a feature. It's still hidden to the user because it doesn't seem to be quite finished yet, and it's a bit broken in that the permissions you are allowed to enable/disable for an app only seem to show up in the list after the app has used that permission once before, but it's definitely a start! There's an app in the Play store (which does not require any persmissions!) that will give you a launcher to the hidden WIP "App Ops" interface.

Yep, better product, better price and you can install Cyanogen/AOSP to clear any backdoors. With Apple products you're stuck with your OS spying on you.

why do you think cyan/aosp isn't spying on you? And what about all the malicious apps? if i lived in china, home of the filthy filthy app store, I'd want some protection.

Well, you have to have trust in the Cyanogenmod people which is reinforced by being allowed to see the source and build it yourself. As far as malicious apps go, on Cyanogenmod, they've recently added "Privacy Guard" which basically chroots any app in a sandbox and emulates all parts of the system, but allows no chrooted app to see any data from any other app. http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/06/24/privacy-guard-formerly-incognito-mode-has-been-merged-into-cyanogenmod-will-appear-in-nightlies-starting-today/

Probably not that long

yeah, it's a bit of a fuck you to anyone who bought one to stop support in google play for it.

Uhm, nobody bought one. Google gave them away for free to anyone that pre-ordered them.

oh, missed that.

so much for made in usa.

yeah, it's a bit of a fuck you to anyone who bought one to stop support in google play for it.

Uhm, nobody bought one. Google gave them away for free to anyone that pre-ordered them.

I can't find decent strategy games for mobile.

Googling "best games for Android" doesn't give me very useful results.

Then your being deliberately obtuse I just types your phrase "best games for Android" and unsurprisingly gave modern up-to-date lists of Android games, the first post is http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/04/18/51-best-and-4-wtf-new-android-games-from-the-last-2-weeks-4213-41813/ 51 Best (And 4 WTF) New Android Gameswhich unsurprisingly gibes everything from strategy to flight simulator to...hell they even have a point-and-click adventure on the list. Ironically you caould have tried everything on the list...for less price than one of your dated console games.

I'll put it simply the designers are too cheap to simply put a timer circuit/code in place to stop charging the damn battery because it's already as charged as it's going to be....

Or the designers *did* put that in but then took it out after too many complaints from users about their cellphones being less than 100% charged after having been plugged in to the charger overnight. http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/12/14/your-battery-gauge-is-lying-to-you-everything-you-need-to-know-about-bump-charging-and-inconsistent-battery-drain/

Just another reminder that for some applications users would much prefer a battery that lasts longer on a per-day basis over one that has a longer total lifetime.

Being "illegal" to root ones device you send everything to third parties
you have no business knowing who, and nothing you can do about it.

You can opt out but that's at the desecration of the third party, only those
living in California USA can write and request where there private info has gone.

ADaway or any other ad blocking application can't be found as it's against Google Play TOS.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/03/13/breaking-google-has-begun-purging-ad-blocking-apps-from-the-play-store/

Android 4.2.X and above a HOSTS file doesn't work anymore, it was disabled to patch a security hole.
- I lost the link for this, If you google ADaway you will run across it as the "hole" is what Adaway used, (ability to use 127.0.0.1 once a WiFi session).

But the sheep know nothing of this, and have or will never read a Privacy Policy.
From the replies to this article it's good to see the "what are they thinking" of attitude

-s
I don't like Zuckerberg, I don't trust him and I don't want anything to do with him.

The PC world is a lot like the Android/iOS world....as illustrated by the following. http://cdn.androidpolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/image77.png

I bought a Nexus 7 and returned it immediately due to the crappy screen they put in them. Horrible ghosting problems.

It's no wonder they were so cheap. They are made of crap components, which isn't too surprising because they are made by ASUS. ASUS used to be one of the best brands in computer tech, but in recent years their quality is shit.

To be clear, this is what the vulnerability did:

Let me put it another way. By using only the INTERNET permission, any app can also gain at least the following:

        ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION Allows an application to access coarse (e.g., Cell-ID, WiFi) location
        ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION Allows an application to access fine (e.g., GPS) location
        ACCESS_LOCATION_EXTRA_COMMANDS Allows an application to access extra location provider commands
        ACCESS_WIFI_STATE Allows applications to access information about Wi-Fi networks
        BATTERY_STATS Allows an application to collect battery statistics
        DUMP Allows an application to retrieve state dump information from system services.
        GET_ACCOUNTS Allows access to the list of accounts in the Accounts Service
        GET_PACKAGE_SIZE Allows an application to find out the space used by any package.
        GET_TASKS Allows an application to get information about the currently or recently running tasks: a thumbnail representation of the tasks, what activities are running in it, etc.
        READ_LOGS Allows an application to read the low-level system log files.
        READ_SYNC_SETTINGS Allows applications to read the sync settings
        READ_SYNC_STATS Allows applications to read the sync stats

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/10/01/massive-security-vulnerability-in-htc-android-devices-evo-3d-4g-thunderbolt-others-exposes-phone-numbers-gps-sms-emails-addresses-much-more/

Note the date of that article. (!)

Well... first we were talking about Android... maybe the OP knew the Apple walled garden crap (though I doubt it). But, hey, in any case even jailbreaking is far from somehow changing the firmware to become a TI calculator :)

And to follow up... turns out there are actually several projects doing just what we are talking about. You may need to provide your own ROM but that's just for copyright purposes...

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/01/17/nostalgic-and-awesome-fully-working-ti-83-ti-85-and-ti-86-android-emulators-hit-the-market/
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/02/15/nostalgia-ti-89-calculator-emulator-finally-comes-to-android-download-it-while-you-still-can/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.supware.tipro&hl=en

Well... first we were talking about Android... maybe the OP knew the Apple walled garden crap (though I doubt it). But, hey, in any case even jailbreaking is far from somehow changing the firmware to become a TI calculator :)

And to follow up... turns out there are actually several projects doing just what we are talking about. You may need to provide your own ROM but that's just for copyright purposes...

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/01/17/nostalgic-and-awesome-fully-working-ti-83-ti-85-and-ti-86-android-emulators-hit-the-market/
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/02/15/nostalgia-ti-89-calculator-emulator-finally-comes-to-android-download-it-while-you-still-can/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.supware.tipro&hl=en

Here: Sprint and here: Verizon

Here: Sprint and here: Verizon

...or google could just section off the store - devs can submit, or submit for review and approval. wild west over here.. anything goes. these have been reviewed. they're safe.

i don't see a downside. the relative lack of app dollars going to google (vs. Apple) has to be at least partially because some people don't feel "safe"

if you get too many warnings from this.. http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/10/11/apk-teardown-the-play-store-is-getting-a-built-in-malware-scanner-theres-more-wish-list-progress-and-more/ - some people will stop using the store. makes no sense.. scan apps on the way IN.. not on the way out.

Installation has been blocked

why would you ever show that to the user. reject the app until those messages aren't even triggered.

More proof that Slashdot posters and moderators have last used Windows in 1998 and are totally clueless.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/11/19/android-4-2-gate-here-are-some-of-the-major-issues-plaguing-googles-newest-release/

Anti-competitive. That's quite a laugh.

Samsung engaging in anti-competitive practices vs Apple is rich. Apple, who wants an absolute monopoly on anything resembling a smartphone would seem to be the one being anti-competitive. Samsung designed another phone, the Galaxy S3 that was designed by lawyers not to infringe, yet Apple found some triviality that they could use to name that phone in a patent suit.

The trivialities about what Samsung did, or minutia of particular patent details are mere distractions. The big picture is about Apple wanting an absolute monopoly. Apple cannot charge monopoly rents otherwise. Apple is also suing every other Android manufacturer. And if any other smartphone brand (eg, Microsoft) represented an actual threat, Apple would be suing them too. Steve Jobs was specific that he would spend all of Apple's money to destroy Android -- not Samsung. It's just that Samsung makes the most awesome Android phones, at the moment, and so are the targets of Apple's anti-competitive actions.

Simple- it wouldn't. Android on a desktop box would work just like Android on a phone. It wouldn't keep separate users. Why would it? It's not a multi-user system. You seem to want a new feature to Android for a desktop box. Since desktop isn't their goal, I doubt they'd add it.

Your claim is easy and quick to dispute, amigo.

But don't worry; pompousness and self-confidence will get you far in life!

Huh? Samsung have already released the patch for most galaxy S3s. It was several weeks ago in my case.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/09/25/video-most-galaxy-s-iii-devices-are-not-vulnerable-to-ussd-wiping-exploit-it-was-already-fixed-in-an-update/

The patch came over the air and installed with the touch of an on-screen button.

Oh so difficult.

It was a pretty nasty vulnerability, but I'm glad to see it is fixed (for me anyway).

I mentioned this in another post, but the exploit was already patched a few weeks ago. Source.

Most Galaxy S III Devices Are Not Vulnerable To USSD Wiping Exploit: It Was Already Fixed In An Update

A simpler solution is to verify if the image has slightly alterations over time, or to require that the person to blink or do any other thing.

Android 4.1 (Jellybean) has a "liveness check" which requires an eyeblink to unlock:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/06/29/jelly-beans-face-unlock-asks-you-to-blink-for-the-camera-locks-out-after-several-failed-attempts/

When a recent review for a Samsung tablet by an Android site says something like this I doubt it :

"The build quality. Terrible even by Samsung's low standards. The back is actually squishy, and you can feel it deform while holding it. It's noisy too, the plastic creaks, groans, and grinds when you pick it up. Regular, strong plastic would still be unacceptable when everyone else uses aluminum, but this... this is insulting for a $500 tablet"

I think this is one of the fundamental differences between iPhone owners and Android owners: I don't care as much about the aesthetics of the phone and what it's made of. Talk to me about what version of Android it's running and on what hardware. It's also why I wear my phone in a holster even though I know it's not "cool". It's functional....and that's why I have a smartphone in the first place.

I'm not suggesting that everyone who owns an iPhone is about fashion and looks, but there are certainly a good portion of iPhone owners I believe purchased the phone because it's the "in" thing.

Maybe they're actually making good phones that do what people want.

When a recent review for a Samsung tablet by an Android site says something like this I doubt it :

"The build quality. Terrible even by Samsung's low standards. The back is actually squishy, and you can feel it deform while holding it. It's noisy too, the plastic creaks, groans, and grinds when you pick it up. Regular, strong plastic would still be unacceptable when everyone else uses aluminum, but this... this is insulting for a $500 tablet"

#3 and #4 are beat.

you don't slide to unlock (that pattern thing)
and they have a blue tint that indicates overscroll.

and if 1 & 2 were at issue, why were certain Samsung phones excluded from the injunction?

if you look at the section "Back in April 2011, Apple's trade dress infringement claims against Samsung went like this"
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/05/04/the-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-the-first-smartphone-designed-entirely-by-lawyers/

it's all about hardware. "Like a trademark offers protection to the use of a word or the look of a logo, trade dress offers protection on design."

furthermore, that section sates "That is basically a list of things you aren't allowed to do. Now, individually, those traits aren't worthy of a lawsuit. It's the combination of those things that will send Apple Legal over to kick down your door."
the operative word is combination.
you said:

"single one of the following Apple's patents"

a single violation hasn't gotten anyone in trouble (yet)

"does not mean the failure of the entire Google Android ecosystem"
I have no idea how people come to the conclusion that Apple's win dooms the rest of the OEMs.

don't fucking copy and you're good to go.

and before you mod me down as a troll..
copying to this degree is what put 1B of Samsung's dollars in Apple's coffers
http://allthingsd.com/20120807/samsungs-2010-report-on-how-its-galaxy-would-be-better-if-it-were-more-like-the-iphone/

download the pdf and look at it yourself (it's evidence submitted at trial).
i had no idea it was this bad.

getting your panties in a bunch over a handful of standard essential patents is one thing and needs to stop.
that PDF is embarrassing.. it's like Samsung is a shady Chinese replica maker with big bucks, and a brand name.

then they turn around and do shit like this?
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/08/21/samsung-galaxy-note-10-1-review-an-embarrassing-lazy-arrogant-money-grab/

LG, the other Koreans, did AMOLED first in smartphones IIRC. Samsung's styluses came later, I don't think there's a product in this case that used them. Reviews have been less than favorable. I guess it counts as an innovation (just barely since it's just taking a known technology and making it work with tablets) but I specifically asked about innovations in the phones convicted in this lawsuit that supposedly stifles innovation.

And, did we miss the part where the Google/Motorola Mobility deal was finalized?

The last holdout of red tape was China, and they gave it up in late May. The deal was finalized a couple days later and a Googler was made CEO. It's been fairly quiet since then--not a whole lot of headline-busting changes to Motorolla Mobility--so I'm not surprised you haven't noticed the transition. There have been some, though, especially lately.

"but is under no obligation to provide them for free "

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/fcc-verizon-tethering/
Thanks to a government investigation, a large number of Verizon Wireless customers will be able to download apps that share a smartphone’s Internet connection with other devices, a feature known as tethering. And they won’t have to pay monthly fees to the carrier for the privilege. ..."won't have to pay monthly fees"

"They also were compliant by allowing customers who did have third party applications to use the network for no additional fee." - sure. no charge, and NO DATA FOR YOU

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/05/30/psa-using-an-unapproved-tether-app-on-your-verizon-device-expect-to-have-your-data-session-cut-off-with-an-upsale/

"....as the latest Gingerbread update for the Droid X now seems to detect tethering apps not approved by the carrier and cut off users' data, replacing all requests with an upsale page for the official hotspot add-on.'

only Ford can make something with 4 wheels and a body (a form so established) - but we know that's not true, because we have thousands of car models... but you can differentiate a Honda from a BMW from a Hyunday at a distance...

whereas

http://computersight.com/computers/samsungs-lawyers-can-not-tell-an-ipad-a-galaxy-tab-10-1/

Sammy knows they fucked up.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/05/04/the-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-the-first-smartphone-designed-entirely-by-lawyers/

it's not "tablet" it's ALL OF THESE THINGS TOGETHER
a rectangular product shape with all four corners uniformly rounded;
the front surface of the product dominated by a screen surface with black borders;
as to the iPhone and iPod touch products, substantial black borders above and below the screen having roughly equal width and narrower black borders on either side of the screen having roughly equal width;
as to the iPad product, substantial black borders on all sides being roughly equal in width;
a metallic surround framing the perimeter of the top surface;
a display of a grid of colorful square icons with uniformly rounded corners; and
a bottom row of square icons (the "Springboard") set off from the other icons and that do not change as the other pages of the user interface are viewed.

Then you want a phone with CyanogenMod It's got pretty fine grained control for denying apps certain permissions. Take a look:

  http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/05/22/cyanogenmod-adds-support-for-revoking-and-faking-app-permissions/