Could that be the reason that Photosphere is not in the Galaxy s4 despite the fact it has Android 4.2? Or maybe is Samsung trying to distance themselves from Android. It seems Android wasn't even mentioned in the s4 presentation
Because of these reasons Microsoft is pushing software subscriptions HARD. e.g.: Office 2013: There's the traditional version pay-once-run-forerver and there's Office 365 the free-upgrades-of-office-while-you-pay version. Everywhere I see office ads these days I see them pushing the subcription version hard.
I guess it won't be long until they try the same with Windows.
I'd mod you up if I had points.
This! a million times this!. Microsoft even, against every customer wishes, changed the start menu for a screen which looks exactly like their mobile phone.
They're totally trying to do what they're acussing Google of doing. I guess they're just bitter they're not winning this time.
Wee, of course they understand, it's just that they pretend not to understand because that's what's been dictated from upper management since they believe it'll make them more money.
It's the same as when Mark Zuckerberg says "privacy is a thing of the past": They want to make what makes them money seem normal and cool...because it makes them money
It might not be at the same level of the 3gs running iOS 6, but Samsung have published 2 major updates to the Galaxy SII (2.3->4.0->4.1). An update to 4.2 is rumored.
As I said, that support might not be as good as Apple's but it's the best in the Android world.
Anyway I also think that Samsung waste too many time releasing too many pointless Galaxy Android phones
You can't be sure that Samsung is going to update the OS but AFAIK they've been pretty good with updates so far. At least regarding flagship models.
The galaxy s2 was released on 2011 with Gingerbread (2.3), so far it has received two major updates: Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) and Jelly Bean 4.1. There's even rumors they will release Jelly Bean 4.2 for the s2.
Meanwhile, most phones from other Android device makers have received one major update (if any).
So Apple is better, but among the Android manufacturers Samsung are among the best.
At least with open source you can fork. The computer stores over here are plastered with Microsoft flyers trying to convince people that Windows 8 is great and very easy to use with keyboard and mouse (*groan*).
I feel sorry for the sales guys who have to convince people to buy computers with Windows 8.
It almost makes me want to give a hand to Reactos to try to make a open source Windows clone.
I understand you and I agree that would be nice to be able to update to the latest Android version on your own without having to depend on the manufacturer/carrier.
Anyway, being able to update to OS of your phone (apart from minor updates and fixes) has only been posible since Apple released the iPhone.
At least you have the Nexus option. It's not the ideal scenario but at least you have choice.
Supporting a device for a long time can also be seen as a differentiating strategy by manufacturers. And some of them are not too bad: Samsung just released a Jelly Bean update to my almost 2 year old galaxy s2. It went from 2.3 to 4.0 to 4.1. That's two major updates. Pretty good in my book.
I'd vote you if I had mod points.
I completely agree with you. Apple software and hardware is great, and I have nothing against them in principle but...the way they try to control the user is horrible and the artificial limitations they impose on their hardware for business reasons is irritating.
Let's not kid ourselves, Google is no saint, they are a corporation too seeking their own benefit but their software is more open and that's why I want them to grow.
The ideal situation would be that there wouldn't be a dominant player so that the smartphone companies would have to give the users what they want.
Monopolies are bad for the consumer. Always
This is one of the bad thing of consoles: When the machine dies the games are pretty much dead.
Exceptions:
Next gen console compatible with last gen: Not always and not always perfect since sometimes it's software based emulation
Some titles released on newer consoles: Only some of them, and usually you have to pay for the games again (even if at a reduced rate)
Emulators: Best option, even then compatibility it's not perfect and for the newer consoles there will probably be workable emulators
The PC is not perfect either, but thanks to digital download services (Steam, gog.com,...) not property of the console owner and programs like Dosbox you can run on a modern PC games very old, and in any case, much more not-this-gen games than on consoles.
In any case, great software not being runnable anymore is a big shame.
Tablets and smartphones are getting good enough. It's the same process the PC underwent but much faster: Hardware progresses to a point that 90% of applications run plenty fast so the average person doesn't need to change them very often unless it breaks. Together with the maturity of the OS these devices use I think the exponential growth phase is gonna end soon.
Moreover, it seems the cheap tablets are getting good enough too so it looks that making expensive tablets it's not gonna be a great business plan.
Anyway, it looks that it'll affect expensive android tablet manufacturers more since Apple looks comfortable in the different and pricier-but-better market niche. This also mirrors the PC history.
OpenOffice and LibreOffice might be too slow for your taste but both are mostly written in C++. Not that it undermines your point but just wanted to clear that misconception
To smartphone making companies: Stop using the advancements in manufacturing to make the phones slimmer, they're slim enough (I'd say too much), instead use it to put larger batteries. They really need them.
I know some companies have gone that route (some Motorolas have large batteries) but we need more of these.
You can't force free software developers (being mostly unpaid volunteers) to work on whatever you want, and I'm pretty sure some KOffice (now Calligra Office) developers wouldn't be working in other KDE parts if KOffice/Calligra didn't exist.
Besides that, you can't predict what will come from someone's work. As an example, the Webkit browser engine originated as KHTML (the engine KDE guys did for they browser) and you can bet Google, Apple and others (It's the engine used in all their browser, including: Chrome, Android browser, Safari/iOS browser) are very happy someone started that beautiful piece of work
I also think Calligra it's important since it's very good to have several implementations of open standards (the Open Document file formats) and competition for OpenOffice/LibreOffice it's actually very positive.
In some old CPUs (Z80 maybe?) some illegal opcodes were discovered to have interesting side effects. Thus, programmers started using them as regular instructions.
It goes without saying that they had to be implemented exactly the same way in later revisions (o compatible versions) of the CPUs.
"...as soon as Stephen Elop found out the researcher was thrown out of a window while Elop threw a chair and yelled "You don't disrespect Windows Phone like that!"."
Maybe they think this is a dealbreaker on phones since they are energy limited and thus any competitive browser can't afford not to have hardware accelerated media playing, but, I'd also like to see this on the desktop.
I certainly don't have any interest in H.264 but I'm just practical. Would it be difficult and/or put Mozilla in a legally complicated situation to use the OS facilities for playing H.264 on PCs?.
If the tag is gonna replace Flash for playing videos it'd be very good to have this.
...And that's the main reason I have a separate (from my touchscreen smartphone) MP3 player with tactile controls. That and that I don't wont to drag down the smartphone's battery more by also using it as a MP3 player.
This.
IMHO Facebook is playing a very hard game of appearing to give you privacy controls and actually making it very hard to control who sees your information through confusing and cumbersome privacy controls. And, as the parent said, it's obviously to get people to feel confident and to post information the wouldn't post if they were aware how many people can see it.
I'd really like to hear opinions from blind people who have used the latest Android versions (4.0 and 4.1). AFAIK these have much improved accesibility.
I have ICS in my Galaxy S2 but I must admit I haven't really tested the accesibility features and a blind person would be a much better judge anyway.
Some time ago the.apk of the S Voice app was actually leaked and it worked perfectly on other Android phones, the problem is that, like Siri, it requires a server on the Internet to work so when Samsung detected it was being used on other phones they blocked it server-side.
So no, there appears to be no technical reason why it can't work on other phones just business ones.
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Could that be the reason that Photosphere is not in the Galaxy s4 despite the fact it has Android 4.2? Or maybe is Samsung trying to distance themselves from Android. It seems Android wasn't even mentioned in the s4 presentation
Because of these reasons Microsoft is pushing software subscriptions HARD. e.g.: Office 2013: There's the traditional version pay-once-run-forerver and there's Office 365 the free-upgrades-of-office-while-you-pay version. Everywhere I see office ads these days I see them pushing the subcription version hard.
I guess it won't be long until they try the same with Windows.
I'd mod you up if I had points. This! a million times this!. Microsoft even, against every customer wishes, changed the start menu for a screen which looks exactly like their mobile phone.
They're totally trying to do what they're acussing Google of doing. I guess they're just bitter they're not winning this time.
Wee, of course they understand, it's just that they pretend not to understand because that's what's been dictated from upper management since they believe it'll make them more money. ...because it makes them money
It's the same as when Mark Zuckerberg says "privacy is a thing of the past": They want to make what makes them money seem normal and cool
It might not be at the same level of the 3gs running iOS 6, but Samsung have published 2 major updates to the Galaxy SII (2.3->4.0->4.1). An update to 4.2 is rumored.
As I said, that support might not be as good as Apple's but it's the best in the Android world.
Anyway I also think that Samsung waste too many time releasing too many pointless Galaxy Android phones
You can't be sure that Samsung is going to update the OS but AFAIK they've been pretty good with updates so far. At least regarding flagship models.
The galaxy s2 was released on 2011 with Gingerbread (2.3), so far it has received two major updates: Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) and Jelly Bean 4.1. There's even rumors they will release Jelly Bean 4.2 for the s2.
Meanwhile, most phones from other Android device makers have received one major update (if any).
So Apple is better, but among the Android manufacturers Samsung are among the best.
In my Samsung Android phone (s2) you can, in fact, encrypt the SD card. I don't know if it's a standard Android feature though.
At least with open source you can fork. The computer stores over here are plastered with Microsoft flyers trying to convince people that Windows 8 is great and very easy to use with keyboard and mouse (*groan*).
I feel sorry for the sales guys who have to convince people to buy computers with Windows 8.
It almost makes me want to give a hand to Reactos to try to make a open source Windows clone.
I understand you and I agree that would be nice to be able to update to the latest Android version on your own without having to depend on the manufacturer /carrier.
Anyway, being able to update to OS of your phone (apart from minor updates and fixes) has only been posible since Apple released the iPhone. At least you have the Nexus option. It's not the ideal scenario but at least you have choice.
Supporting a device for a long time can also be seen as a differentiating strategy by manufacturers. And some of them are not too bad: Samsung just released a Jelly Bean update to my almost 2 year old galaxy s2. It went from 2.3 to 4.0 to 4.1. That's two major updates. Pretty good in my book.
I'd vote you if I had mod points.
I completely agree with you. Apple software and hardware is great, and I have nothing against them in principle but...the way they try to control the user is horrible and the artificial limitations they impose on their hardware for business reasons is irritating.
Let's not kid ourselves, Google is no saint, they are a corporation too seeking their own benefit but their software is more open and that's why I want them to grow.
The ideal situation would be that there wouldn't be a dominant player so that the smartphone companies would have to give the users what they want. Monopolies are bad for the consumer. Always
Exceptions:
The PC is not perfect either, but thanks to digital download services (Steam, gog.com, ...) not property of the console owner and programs like Dosbox you can run on a modern PC games very old, and in any case, much more not-this-gen games than on consoles.
In any case, great software not being runnable anymore is a big shame.
Tablets and smartphones are getting good enough. It's the same process the PC underwent but much faster: Hardware progresses to a point that 90% of applications run plenty fast so the average person doesn't need to change them very often unless it breaks. Together with the maturity of the OS these devices use I think the exponential growth phase is gonna end soon.
Moreover, it seems the cheap tablets are getting good enough too so it looks that making expensive tablets it's not gonna be a great business plan.
Anyway, it looks that it'll affect expensive android tablet manufacturers more since Apple looks comfortable in the different and pricier-but-better market niche. This also mirrors the PC history.
OpenOffice and LibreOffice might be too slow for your taste but both are mostly written in C++. Not that it undermines your point but just wanted to clear that misconception
To smartphone making companies: Stop using the advancements in manufacturing to make the phones slimmer, they're slim enough (I'd say too much), instead use it to put larger batteries. They really need them.
I know some companies have gone that route (some Motorolas have large batteries) but we need more of these.
You can't force free software developers (being mostly unpaid volunteers) to work on whatever you want, and I'm pretty sure some KOffice (now Calligra Office) developers wouldn't be working in other KDE parts if KOffice/Calligra didn't exist.
Besides that, you can't predict what will come from someone's work. As an example, the Webkit browser engine originated as KHTML (the engine KDE guys did for they browser) and you can bet Google, Apple and others (It's the engine used in all their browser, including: Chrome, Android browser, Safari/iOS browser) are very happy someone started that beautiful piece of work
I also think Calligra it's important since it's very good to have several implementations of open standards (the Open Document file formats) and competition for OpenOffice/LibreOffice it's actually very positive.
...And that's why it's not going to be used in commercial video streaming services (Netflix and similars) until it can.
In some old CPUs (Z80 maybe?) some illegal opcodes were discovered to have interesting side effects. Thus, programmers started using them as regular instructions.
It goes without saying that they had to be implemented exactly the same way in later revisions (o compatible versions) of the CPUs.
"...as soon as Stephen Elop found out the researcher was thrown out of a window while Elop threw a chair and yelled "You don't disrespect Windows Phone like that!"."
Maybe they think this is a dealbreaker on phones since they are energy limited and thus any competitive browser can't afford not to have hardware accelerated media playing, but, I'd also like to see this on the desktop.
I certainly don't have any interest in H.264 but I'm just practical. Would it be difficult and/or put Mozilla in a legally complicated situation to use the OS facilities for playing H.264 on PCs?. If the tag is gonna replace Flash for playing videos it'd be very good to have this.
...And that's the main reason I have a separate (from my touchscreen smartphone) MP3 player with tactile controls. That and that I don't wont to drag down the smartphone's battery more by also using it as a MP3 player.
Or any other large e-ink based reades as the Onyx M92. 9'7 inches, so-so software but the hardware is very nice.
Yeah, I was going to suggest this. This man has to be greteatest experts ever on SNES details.
This.
IMHO Facebook is playing a very hard game of appearing to give you privacy controls and actually making it very hard to control who sees your information through confusing and cumbersome privacy controls. And, as the parent said, it's obviously to get people to feel confident and to post information the wouldn't post if they were aware how many people can see it.
I'd really like to hear opinions from blind people who have used the latest Android versions (4.0 and 4.1). AFAIK these have much improved accesibility.
I have ICS in my Galaxy S2 but I must admit I haven't really tested the accesibility features and a blind person would be a much better judge anyway.
Some time ago the .apk of the S Voice app was actually leaked and it worked perfectly on other Android phones, the problem is that, like Siri, it requires a server on the Internet to work so when Samsung detected it was being used on other phones they blocked it server-side.
So no, there appears to be no technical reason why it can't work on other phones just business ones.