I hate to say it but I'm still on spinning disks in fact I just updated my Raid5 to 12TB dunning on 4 Disks. I actually run my applications from an SSD drive, that's the advantage of a big rectangular box as opposed to a none upgradable cylinder.
The maximum size of an SSD drive is 1TB, While Hard old spinny derives are about 4GB...and the Cost difference is insame, a quick look at Google shopping puts the Samsung Pro 256gb at $230 while the 3TB WD Red $145 about 20 times cheaper.
By the way the black rectangular box under my monitor is very attractive too:). Apple have dropped the ball on design, and moved from functional design(rectangular box, with upgradable components) to form over function design(Sanitary Bin, with thunderbird ports or something). So this advertisement for Apple is lost on me, as my 15 year old computer has better specifications, at a fraction of the cost.
You do realize WHATEVER you happened to have typed this silly post on... it HAS FOXCONN components in it... RIGHT?
Except Samsung make CPU's is Austin, Texas. Ironically Apples inability to compete is because they are not in change of their manufacturing process, and are being outmanoeuvred...ironically by Samsung:)
The fact is the iPhone is is a cheap Foxconn device get over it.
And then you'll live in Apple's comfortable little cage, and they'll give you everything you need.
Except its not like that. They block alternative stores, access to replacement for Apple first party tools, because they want to take your money. Its about starving you of alternatives, and making you dependant on them....Like a Feeder.
Apple's view towards jailbreaking can likely be summed up thus: Anyone is free to do whatever they want with their devices. Just don't expect support for unsupported things if it breaks. Found a security exploit in the OS? Thanks, we'll fix that right up.
I would take issue with the description of the practice as "anti-consumer," since the bulk of consumers don't give a toss
That is why consumer groups, and governments woldwide are questioning Apples anti-comumer practices(in china for godsakes). Ignoring Apple I am getting increasingly aware of a battle of ecosystems(Microsoft's Term as they don't have a successful mobile strategy they have metro). I see some great looking phone OS's coming out from Ubuntu and Jolla, and the barriers for switching are getting higher.
We have seen this before and even though Microsoft & Intel walk away with 70% Gross Margin, And Apple taking its Obscene Mark-up (I think they get kidneys). Its bad for consumers, bad for competition.
So, call me a pessimist but this 'feature' seems to just be a gateway into requiring Apple to approve the resale of any piece of hardware they sell.
Apple is killing the whole second market, and has been for sometime. It has even turned its computers into glorified disposable electronics.
I has more than willing to hail this as part end of Apple...it seemed bad business practice(making a great product is the good business practice), but recent news has seen Apple offering what is essentially part exchange on their(not your) products. It makes sense to me that Apples final goal is to get you to hire the hardware. I would argue Apple is already doing this in America with its phones to great success.
Jesus christ - if you want root on your device, get a device that is built to allow that. Don't bitch that a company closes fucking security holes in its software.
I agree it is time to boycott apple for their anti-consumer practices than excusing their behaviour.
I am a little tired of being spoon-fed lies(at least it wasn;t another Ars "open"[sic] article) on how I'm being raped as a consumer by mega-corporations. Everone knows why Apple Locks down devices...its so they can bleed every bit of cash from you with their cheap Chinese Foxconn devices. The EFF called it “corporate paternalism”
Here from when Apple filed a response to an Electronic Frontier Foundation request that the US Copyright Office exempt from the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Apple asserts that jailbreaking fails all four “nonexclusive statutory fair use factors prescribed in 107 of the copyright statute,” essentially calling jailbreaking a crime http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2008/responses/apple-inc-31.pdf .
Its easy boycott Apple. Its not like their is a shortage of better value, better hardware and software, running open standards products from more ethical companies.
Then, it has 6 Thunderbolt 2 ports running at 20gbps managed by 3 controllers.
Get whatever external enclosure you want and run whatever you want. Raids, Video cards, etc..
The shorter answer would be no. Its not expandable, an incompatible rare expensive *external* interface is simply not a solution. Although I do find it somewhat ironic that you could argue that a raspberry pi costing $25 is upgradable too:).
Linux has too choice in ways that should be like do I really need 6 text editors as part of the base os?
Also make so you move a little slower then distribution X 2012 2012.5 2013 with out a seamless update system.
All come with gedit only (ignoring CLI) and its great and available for windows. Ironically you are given a choice on Linux or having a fast moving cutting edge distribution like Linux, and a slow moving desktop like Debian. Its why there may seem like there are a lot of choices, but really there are only a few sensible ones dictated by your needs.
In reference to your comments the alternative in Windows your choice is something unwanted or something old, nether is particularly desirable.
This seems to be a mediocre, unnecessarily page-broken review of a machine with mediocre hardware specs. Did I miss anything important?
Yes using Auto-pager. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/autopager/ I don't know if there is an equivalent in other browsers, but it automatically loads next pages when you reach the end of a page...and I rarely get this problem of page-breaks. It used to work on the mobile firefox version.
...and its hurting them across the board. Ironically the exception was the launch of the original ipad which started at $500 the device closest to this one...and (stupidly) its latest model is still that price.
Obviously you could choose an Android device and cut another $200.
People forget what relatively good value the iPad was for a launch device.
>And lets get one thing clear, without Linus and Linux, you wouldn't even have any clue who RMS was
I've cut your personal attacks on me(oh no you called me a zealot what will I do...against someone writing 13 paragraph rant), and your hatred of GPL(I am sorry that some programmers don't want to program free for Apple). I'm surprised you didn't realise that GCC is a big deal, Apple have being trying to get rid of it for years:).
What is ironic is Apple subverted BSD so easily by buying off the main programmers, and handing out a few Apple laptops they destroyed the real BSD community rather than nurturing it. You can get (real)Unix with vastly improved performance simply by running a mixture of GNU and Linux (built under different ideals under one license.) GPL wins again.
Say it you loooove apple. xxx. The fact that GPL won and well BSD lost is history. Apple should have learnt to share, or chosen the kernel by Linux under Stallmans linus...lie that other operating system. The one with 1.5Million activations a day...runs on the Pi too...Android:) I notice its desktop figures continue to rise as well unlike Apple (down 22% and 2% woops)
The bottom line is Apple should have shared. Its part of their downfall. The sad fact is Apple would have been better aiming for the Microsofts Market share instead on Linux...will they never learn. Cant help think your graphics and file system performance are a little slow:)
I hope your shares do better...maybe you should try Microsoft instead.
There are so many other SBCs out there, why does everyone keep focusing on this one particular...
Its actually a reasonable comment, and for future reference on that could have been made without the bad language(I do it for effect, but it rarely adds anything), Other boards (and Android TV sticks) provided real advantage over the pi from price, to power...someone even suggests openness, and many(including me) think it has sacrificed too much in memory, and CPU(for that price)...and for me misses a critical SATA header.
The reality is the best technology does not win, It gained support by having good intentions(and succeeding in them)...revolutionise Computer science education (hell its now made in Wales), and has become the the most supported board out there...there are three distribution for XBMC alone, and some really cool things done with it. I own one it works great
uhm, they wont mention it because it would defeat the whole purpose of RPI in the first place.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/about "There isn’t much any small group of people can do to address problems like an inadequate school curriculum or the end of a financial bubble. But we felt that we could try to do something about the situation where computers had become so expensive and arcane that programming experimentation on them had to be forbidden by parents; and to find a platform that, like those old home computers, could boot into a programming environment."
The pi is about education, and part of that is the price. Its the price of replacing a whole board or simply swapping an sd card. The fact that you might plug one into a $2000 TV even is not the price we are talking about. Its about the cost of hacking the computer without worrying about its price.
Hold the bus; There is no us, there is a you. lonely and on your own you. I am little tired of your subterfuge, why don't you say it proudly and openly. I support Apple, and pretend I care about BSD. You regularly attack RMS, who wrote a rather nice free compiler and started a movement that I benefit from daily. I don't care if you like or believe in RMS who has been consistent about his beliefs for forever (win lose or draw), but I rate him more than your Cook who simply opened his mouth and Lied about not paying Tax...the things that pay education and hospitals, and I look forward to him lying about Apple being a ringleader in raising the price of books.
Or, y'know, just get the best camera. Even a mediocre camera would probably be better than any phone camera...
Ignoring the cost cutting exercise, or the this particular advertisement. I would argue the quality of a decent smartphone is on par or better with a mid range camera, with the advantage of a whole software environment(and always on you). In the hands of all but a decent photographer, and this had been the case for some time.
Ignoring the fact that this is an Apple advertisement, and awesomely stupid; If the idea is to get good photos...then choose the phone with the best camera. Personally I love the fact that suddenly journalists who I never liked, over reporters who I do, can no longer spew whatever propaganda they have been paid for that I am forced to digest...they are suddenly no more relevant than a blogger(or whatever term is popular today), who are on mass decidedly more honest. Now if only TV news was as easy to end.
Personally though I love the idea of spiderman on the dole queue and superman taking iPhone lessons because holy mother of mary I could not sit though another reboot of lets face it a raped caricature of their former self, and maybe....just maybe I can have a squeal to Dredd 3D.
It does not change your point of your comment but netmarketshare http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0&qpcustomd=1 where the data comes from, has something wrong with the way records data, especially with mobile usage. Its often quoted on Apple sites due to its heavy bias towards Apple(that does not reflect real world use). They have heavily massage figures, and they do not match those of independent larger sources. Here is statcounter http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_browser-ww-monthly-201205-201305 (Again it does not dispute your point but the source data)
That's right! This is Linux. Not that Apples or Microsoft shit. Nothing ever goes wrong in Linuxland. Any kind of "error" you have with Linux is because you're too inept to use a computing device. Any real user would have rooted this phone and installed CustomModXYZ 10.43222.8a.
...Ironically This is nothing to do with Linux(The Kernel) this is a *bug* in the stock browser, you can ignore it and simply use Opera or Chrome on Android, Would the same true for Apples or Windows Shit(sic).
Why does it seem when major problems like this arise companies are quick to dismiss/deny/ignore whatever as the first response?
I am not sure of your personal beef, but from the article which identifies a minor bug "have contacted Samsung to report the issue." Where is Samsung dismissing or denying...or ignoring the problem.
If this was really a problem it would have been noticed a long time ago.
The summery overstates what is going on, it implies that using a surfing on a S3 Phone will cause you to burn several times the magnitude of bandwidth it should, its subterfuge.
Its simply a bug in the stock web browser that does not break page views. that systematically downloads all images in a srcset instead of picking only the one it needs. An example "" if its not used...it does not happen.
Why is it not being discovered is that it does not make enough of an impact in common usage. I suspect additionally if your have a carrier like mine they simply serve a compressed version of the original image anyway, or S3 users are now using like me Chrome. Popular alternatives like the offer the same functionality.
The bottom line is Browser have bugs. That is not news, this is neither a critical, or even as stated a bandwidth hog.
The Samsung S3 browser bug ====================== When comparing our results on the different devices and networks for our Wikipedia trace, we noticed significantly higher latencies for our Samsung S3 smartphone on both Wifi and 3G. We first looked at the number of HTTP requests per page and the size of the pages down loaded from the server. Our findings are illustrated on Fig. 13. The number of HTTP requests is always much higher for the Samsung S3 and the page sizes are much bigger. Note that the page size for Samsung S3 on 3G is sometimes very small as we only account for successfully transferred bytes and not expected object sizes. On a successful page load, the page sizes should be the same on both networks. Fig. 14 gives an insight into the cause of the problem. By looking at the recorded HTML page source, we saw that Wikipedia pages use srcset HTML tags that indicate a list of images to pick from depending on the resolution and magnification needed by the device. It turns out that the S3 browser has a bug and systematically downloads all images in a srcset instead of picking only the one it needs (left most red circles on Fig. 14 show 3 different versions of the same image being downloaded). This can result in a massive amount of extra data download.
The Wikipedia page dedicated to the Internet Explorer browser that typically requires 600KB of data download jumped to 2.1MB on the S3. This bug significantly affects the Wikipedia performance on 3G were these massive number of requests for image downloads overwhelmed the network and ended up timing out rendering an incomplete page. This can be seen on Fig. 14 where a large number of requests are blocked for very long amount of time and many of them fail with a ‘NO RESPONSE’ HTTP error code. Note that we were able to reproduce these results with the latest Android 4.2.2 for the S3 GT-I9300(international version of the phone). The issue was also reproduced with an S3 SGH-I747 which is the AT&T US version of the phone. We believe that this problem affects all S3 versions and have contacted Samsung to report the issue.Having a database with results from other devices helped us to quickly locate the origin of the problem and detect this previously undiscovered bug. Based on this experience, a possible direction for future work is to design tools that automatically analyze and report anomalies by comparing experience reports between devices/networks for the same trace.
Slashdot Mirror
I hate to say it but I'm still on spinning disks in fact I just updated my Raid5 to 12TB dunning on 4 Disks. I actually run my applications from an SSD drive, that's the advantage of a big rectangular box as opposed to a none upgradable cylinder.
The maximum size of an SSD drive is 1TB, While Hard old spinny derives are about 4GB...and the Cost difference is insame, a quick look at Google shopping puts the Samsung Pro 256gb at $230 while the 3TB WD Red $145 about 20 times cheaper.
By the way the black rectangular box under my monitor is very attractive too :). Apple have dropped the ball on design, and moved from functional design(rectangular box, with upgradable components) to form over function design(Sanitary Bin, with thunderbird ports or something). So this advertisement for Apple is lost on me, as my 15 year old computer has better specifications, at a fraction of the cost.
You do realize WHATEVER you happened to have typed this silly post on ... it HAS FOXCONN components in it ... RIGHT?
Except Samsung make CPU's is Austin, Texas. Ironically Apples inability to compete is because they are not in change of their manufacturing process, and are being outmanoeuvred...ironically by Samsung :)
The fact is the iPhone is is a cheap Foxconn device get over it.
And then you'll live in Apple's comfortable little cage, and they'll give you everything you need.
Except its not like that. They block alternative stores, access to replacement for Apple first party tools, because they want to take your money. Its about starving you of alternatives, and making you dependant on them....Like a Feeder.
Apple's view towards jailbreaking can likely be summed up thus: Anyone is free to do whatever they want with their devices. Just don't expect support for unsupported things if it breaks. Found a security exploit in the OS? Thanks, we'll fix that right up.
Apples view is your a criminal breaking DMCA http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2008/responses/apple-inc-31.pdf
I would take issue with the description of the practice as "anti-consumer," since the bulk of consumers don't give a toss
That is why consumer groups, and governments woldwide are questioning Apples anti-comumer practices(in china for godsakes). Ignoring Apple I am getting increasingly aware of a battle of ecosystems(Microsoft's Term as they don't have a successful mobile strategy they have metro). I see some great looking phone OS's coming out from Ubuntu and Jolla, and the barriers for switching are getting higher.
We have seen this before and even though Microsoft & Intel walk away with 70% Gross Margin, And Apple taking its Obscene Mark-up (I think they get kidneys). Its bad for consumers, bad for competition.
So, call me a pessimist but this 'feature' seems to just be a gateway into requiring Apple to approve the resale of any piece of hardware they sell.
Apple is killing the whole second market, and has been for sometime. It has even turned its computers into glorified disposable electronics.
I has more than willing to hail this as part end of Apple...it seemed bad business practice(making a great product is the good business practice), but recent news has seen Apple offering what is essentially part exchange on their(not your) products. It makes sense to me that Apples final goal is to get you to hire the hardware. I would argue Apple is already doing this in America with its phones to great success.
Its great anti-consumer lock-in.
Jesus christ - if you want root on your device, get a device that is built to allow that. Don't bitch that a company closes fucking security holes in its software.
I agree it is time to boycott apple for their anti-consumer practices than excusing their behaviour.
I am a little tired of being spoon-fed lies(at least it wasn;t another Ars "open"[sic] article) on how I'm being raped as a consumer by mega-corporations. Everone knows why Apple Locks down devices...its so they can bleed every bit of cash from you with their cheap Chinese Foxconn devices. The EFF called it “corporate paternalism”
Here from when Apple filed a response to an Electronic Frontier Foundation request that the US Copyright Office exempt from the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Apple asserts that jailbreaking fails all four “nonexclusive statutory fair use factors prescribed in 107 of the copyright statute,” essentially calling jailbreaking a crime http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2008/responses/apple-inc-31.pdf .
Its easy boycott Apple. Its not like their is a shortage of better value, better hardware and software, running open standards products from more ethical companies.
Ram is upgradable
Then, it has 6 Thunderbolt 2 ports running at 20gbps managed by 3 controllers.
Get whatever external enclosure you want and run whatever you want. Raids, Video cards, etc..
The shorter answer would be no. Its not expandable, an incompatible rare expensive *external* interface is simply not a solution. Although I do find it somewhat ironic that you could argue that a raspberry pi costing $25 is upgradable too :).
Hard... disk? Was that some sort of primitive SSD? ;)
No ten times cheaper per Gb with sizes up to 6Gb as opposed to 1Gb. SSD's are fast, but in every other way they are worse.
All what come with gedit only? The KDE-based distributions probably don't come with gedit only.
I don't talk about Android either.
Linux has too choice in ways that should be like do I really need 6 text editors as part of the base os?
Also make so you move a little slower then distribution X 2012 2012.5 2013 with out a seamless update system.
All come with gedit only (ignoring CLI) and its great and available for windows. Ironically you are given a choice on Linux or having a fast moving cutting edge distribution like Linux, and a slow moving desktop like Debian. Its why there may seem like there are a lot of choices, but really there are only a few sensible ones dictated by your needs.
In reference to your comments the alternative in Windows your choice is something unwanted or something old, nether is particularly desirable.
This seems to be a mediocre, unnecessarily page-broken review of a machine with mediocre hardware specs. Did I miss anything important?
Yes using Auto-pager. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/autopager/ I don't know if there is an equivalent in other browsers, but it automatically loads next pages when you reach the end of a page...and I rarely get this problem of page-breaks. It used to work on the mobile firefox version.
apples price for the same thing $1800 base
...and its hurting them across the board. Ironically the exception was the launch of the original ipad which started at $500 the device closest to this one...and (stupidly) its latest model is still that price.
Obviously you could choose an Android device and cut another $200.
People forget what relatively good value the iPad was for a launch device.
>And lets get one thing clear, without Linus and Linux, you wouldn't even have any clue who RMS was
I've cut your personal attacks on me(oh no you called me a zealot what will I do...against someone writing 13 paragraph rant), and your hatred of GPL(I am sorry that some programmers don't want to program free for Apple). I'm surprised you didn't realise that GCC is a big deal, Apple have being trying to get rid of it for years :).
What is ironic is Apple subverted BSD so easily by buying off the main programmers, and handing out a few Apple laptops they destroyed the real BSD community rather than nurturing it. You can get (real)Unix with vastly improved performance simply by running a mixture of GNU and Linux (built under different ideals under one license.) GPL wins again.
Say it you loooove apple. xxx. The fact that GPL won and well BSD lost is history. Apple should have learnt to share, or chosen the kernel by Linux under Stallmans linus...lie that other operating system. The one with 1.5Million activations a day...runs on the Pi too...Android :) I notice its desktop figures continue to rise as well unlike Apple (down 22% and 2% woops)
The bottom line is Apple should have shared. Its part of their downfall. The sad fact is Apple would have been better aiming for the Microsofts Market share instead on Linux...will they never learn. Cant help think your graphics and file system performance are a little slow :)
I hope your shares do better...maybe you should try Microsoft instead.
There are so many other SBCs out there, why does everyone keep focusing on this one particular...
Its actually a reasonable comment, and for future reference on that could have been made without the bad language(I do it for effect, but it rarely adds anything), Other boards (and Android TV sticks) provided real advantage over the pi from price, to power...someone even suggests openness, and many(including me) think it has sacrificed too much in memory, and CPU(for that price)...and for me misses a critical SATA header.
The reality is the best technology does not win, It gained support by having good intentions(and succeeding in them)...revolutionise Computer science education (hell its now made in Wales), and has become the the most supported board out there...there are three distribution for XBMC alone, and some really cool things done with it. I own one it works great
uhm, they wont mention it because it would defeat the whole purpose of RPI in the first place.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/about
"There isn’t much any small group of people can do to address problems like an inadequate school curriculum or the end of a financial bubble. But we felt that we could try to do something about the situation where computers had become so expensive and arcane that programming experimentation on them had to be forbidden by parents; and to find a platform that, like those old home computers, could boot into a programming environment."
The pi is about education, and part of that is the price. Its the price of replacing a whole board or simply swapping an sd card. The fact that you might plug one into a $2000 TV even is not the price we are talking about. Its about the cost of hacking the computer without worrying about its price.
The rest of us...
Hold the bus; There is no us, there is a you. lonely and on your own you. I am little tired of your subterfuge, why don't you say it proudly and openly. I support Apple, and pretend I care about BSD. You regularly attack RMS, who wrote a rather nice free compiler and started a movement that I benefit from daily. I don't care if you like or believe in RMS who has been consistent about his beliefs for forever (win lose or draw), but I rate him more than your Cook who simply opened his mouth and Lied about not paying Tax...the things that pay education and hospitals, and I look forward to him lying about Apple being a ringleader in raising the price of books.
Your off-topic
Or, y'know, just get the best camera. Even a mediocre camera would probably be better than any phone camera...
Ignoring the cost cutting exercise, or the this particular advertisement. I would argue the quality of a decent smartphone is on par or better with a mid range camera, with the advantage of a whole software environment(and always on you). In the hands of all but a decent photographer, and this had been the case for some time.
Ignoring the fact that this is an Apple advertisement, and awesomely stupid; If the idea is to get good photos...then choose the phone with the best camera. Personally I love the fact that suddenly journalists who I never liked, over reporters who I do, can no longer spew whatever propaganda they have been paid for that I am forced to digest...they are suddenly no more relevant than a blogger(or whatever term is popular today), who are on mass decidedly more honest. Now if only TV news was as easy to end.
Personally though I love the idea of spiderman on the dole queue and superman taking iPhone lessons because holy mother of mary I could not sit though another reboot of lets face it a raped caricature of their former self, and maybe....just maybe I can have a squeal to Dredd 3D.
The vast majority of people use the stock browser, and defaults in general. Not everyone is a geek.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/04/03/according-to-net-applications-stock-android-browser-usage-is-still-way-out-in-front-of-chrome/
It does not change your point of your comment but netmarketshare http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0&qpcustomd=1 where the data comes from, has something wrong with the way records data, especially with mobile usage. Its often quoted on Apple sites due to its heavy bias towards Apple(that does not reflect real world use). They have heavily massage figures, and they do not match those of independent larger sources. Here is statcounter http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_browser-ww-monthly-201205-201305 (Again it does not dispute your point but the source data)
That's right! This is Linux. Not that Apples or Microsoft shit. Nothing ever goes wrong in Linuxland. Any kind of "error" you have with Linux is because you're too inept to use a computing device. Any real user would have rooted this phone and installed CustomModXYZ 10.43222.8a.
...Ironically This is nothing to do with Linux(The Kernel) this is a *bug* in the stock browser, you can ignore it and simply use Opera or Chrome on Android, Would the same true for Apples or Windows Shit(sic).
Why does it seem when major problems like this arise companies are quick to dismiss/deny/ignore whatever as the first response?
I am not sure of your personal beef, but from the article which identifies a minor bug "have contacted Samsung to report the issue." Where is Samsung dismissing or denying...or ignoring the problem.
If this was really a problem it would have been noticed a long time ago.
The summery overstates what is going on, it implies that using a surfing on a S3 Phone will cause you to burn several times the magnitude of bandwidth it should, its subterfuge.
Its simply a bug in the stock web browser that does not break page views. that systematically downloads all images in a srcset instead of picking only the one it needs. An example "" if its not used...it does not happen.
Why is it not being discovered is that it does not make enough of an impact in common usage. I suspect additionally if your have a carrier like mine they simply serve a compressed version of the original image anyway, or S3 users are now using like me Chrome. Popular alternatives like the offer the same functionality.
The bottom line is Browser have bugs. That is not news, this is neither a critical, or even as stated a bandwidth hog.
The Samsung S3 browser bug
======================
When comparing our results on the different devices and networks for our Wikipedia trace, we noticed significantly higher latencies for our Samsung S3 smartphone on both Wifi and 3G. We first looked at the number of HTTP requests per page and the size of the pages down loaded from the server. Our findings are illustrated on Fig. 13. The number of HTTP requests is always much higher for the Samsung S3 and the page sizes are much bigger. Note that the page size for Samsung S3 on 3G is sometimes very small as we only account for successfully transferred bytes and not expected object sizes. On a successful page load, the page sizes should be the same on both networks. Fig. 14 gives an insight into the cause of the problem. By
looking at the recorded HTML page source, we saw that Wikipedia pages use srcset HTML tags that indicate a list of images to pick from depending on the resolution and magnification needed by the device. It turns out that the S3 browser has a bug and systematically downloads all images in a srcset instead of picking only the one it needs (left most red circles on Fig. 14 show 3 different versions of the same image being downloaded). This can result in a massive amount of extra data download.
The Wikipedia page dedicated to the Internet Explorer browser that typically requires 600KB of data download jumped to 2.1MB on the S3. This bug significantly affects the Wikipedia performance on 3G were these massive number of requests for image downloads overwhelmed the network and ended up timing out rendering an incomplete page. This can be seen on Fig. 14 where a large number of requests are blocked for very long amount of time and many of them fail with a ‘NO RESPONSE’ HTTP error code. Note that we were able to reproduce these results with the latest Android 4.2.2 for the S3 GT-I9300(international version of the phone). The issue was also reproduced with an S3 SGH-I747 which is the AT&T US version of the phone. We believe that this problem affects all S3 versions and have contacted Samsung to report the issue.Having a database with results from other devices helped us to quickly locate the origin of the problem and detect this previously undiscovered bug. Based on this experience, a possible direction for future work is to design tools that automatically analyze and report anomalies by comparing
experience reports between devices/networks for the same trace.