The Mobile Phone thread

Cool. Just looked up the HTC Sensation. Sounds like what I want. Not too fussed about the DPI. Its not about how it literally looks to me, I just want a higher resolution so that I have more pixels on the screen, meaning a better display of web pages. I dont mind the handset itself being big.
I'll have to check it out at a phone shop and have a little play around with a display unit when it comes out.

Thanks for the recommendation.
 
I want my iPhone back :((.

Do you think I'd be able to swap my HTC Sensation with 32gb micro sd card for a 32GB White iPhone 4?
 
Tim's an iPhone boy, always has and always will be no matter what phone he tries to ween himself off with. It's not that the phones that he has aren't good, it's that he's just too suited to Apple I guess.
 
BobbyBox said:
Be good to see how it is in a week or so for you?
Click to expand...

A week on and I'm still enjoying my phone. Rather than try to type it all out, I'll just make points:

- No tethering yet, definitely a point lost as I was so used to that on Android.

- Zune is superb, such a great selection and there's only really the Chili Peppers albums that I've wanted but couldn't download with my pass. Otherwise, it's been great to find all these albums that I'd forgotten about because Spotify didn't have them.

- It needs Twitter integration into the People hub. It has Facebook but I'm more of a Twitter user. Coming in the Mango update though.

- No custom ringtones, ridiculous in this day and age. I believe it's also coming in Mango.

- I love the tile system, the main screen. Live tiles look great and add a nice personal touch to it all.

- The Marketplace is fine. It's nowhere near as poor as the Android store, it's probably on par with the Apple store. Never had a problem finding what I want on it.

- IMDB and Facebook look superb and they've really been created to match the UI. Easily better than the versions on Android and iPhone.

- A lot less to tweak than with Android. Some might say that's a bad thing, it's what draws people to Android a lot of the time. But then it's kinda like iOS where it's more blocked off in its own system. Your mileage may vary.

- It's fast. Very fast. I've had a Nexus S and Galaxy S, both are pretty good with regards to speed and this just feels so much faster and slicker. Compared to the Galaxy S, there's no lag switching between any screens. None. The UI is done so well there.

- No battery percentage, just the icon. A slight annoyance.

- Answering the phone requires you to swipe up and then press the button on-screen to answer. Personally I'd rather just press the screen but I guess it stops you answering the phone while it's in your pocket.

- Game prices take the piss. I'd quite like to try some of the games, some have trial versions (Like on the 360) but I wouldn't pay £4 for a game on my phone when I can get the same game on my iPad for 59p.

- No turn-by-turn navigation provided by Microsoft. A huge miss for me coming from Google Maps and Navigation. Bing Maps is there but it doesn't have navigation really. Coming in Mango.

- I've not tried it yet but I've read that when Shazam identifies a song, it also links to the track on Zune Marketplace so you can download it. A great use of the OS there.

- Apps are in short supply, and not too much is happening just yet on more coming out. But I was an early adopter of Android and the situation was exactly the same. Looking at how established Android is now, it gives confidence that apps will come in time. I've read that a lot of the API's haven't been released to developers yet, that's going to be in the summer. Until then, I don't expect much to come out.

- I really believe WP7 will be big in a year or so, Microsoft seem pretty keen on getting the OS out and improving it, albeit a little slower than I expected. They've got the finance to take on Apple and with the OS being closed off, I think that's the market that they'll go for. Whether they'll take the market is to be debated, they really need to shake off their name stigma. As soon as you say Windows phone, people shudder at hearing Windows mentioned and assume it's going to be a buggy mess.

- Speaking of bugs, I don't think I've had any apps crash. Compared to Android especially, this is an improvement.

- Another minor niggle is that the speech bubbles in messaging aren't different for each person. Android and iOS both have different colours for each person in the conversation? It's not a major problem at all, but just annoying and something that could easily be fixed up.

- The keyboard is alright. Not as accurate as iOS, but better than Android's stock keyboard. I miss Swype still.

- The thing I miss most? No real way of scrobbling to Last.fm :( There's an app out there but it doesn't work great due to lack of multitasking (coming in Mango). It doesn't scrobble the first track, or the last, and you need to turn the app on whilst playing a song and leave that app running. Once you go off to a different app, it closes. Very annoying and a big shame personally.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DagsJT said:
Tim's an iPhone boy, always has and always will be no matter what phone he tries to ween himself off with. It's not that the phones that he has aren't good, it's that he's just too suited to Apple I guess.
Click to expand...
If I was an iPhone boy I wouldn't have bothered trying another phone at all? The Sensation is an OK phone, just everything that it does, the iPhone does better and smoother. Even simple things like when you tilt the device and the screen rotates, it's just smoother on the iPhone and nicer to look at. I've also had some trouble with messages not being sent/recieved at the correct times. For example, I txted my Dad at about 4pm yesterday, and the message didn't come through on his phone until about 6pm. I've also had a few txts from my Mum that she has sent hours earlier and only come through to me later. I also really miss the iPod that the iPhone has, as I drive about lots and connect my phone to my radio and listen to audiobooks, podcasts and music. I can obviously get all the files on the Sensation, but it's just not as good or as easy. One last thing I'd warn people about the Sensation, is that battery life is absolutely shocking. Really, really poor from HTC. You can't get from morning to night without having to charge it.
 
DagsJT said:
A week on and I'm still enjoying my phone. Rather than try to type it all out, I'll just make points:

- No tethering yet, definitely a point lost as I was so used to that on Android.

- Zune is superb, such a great selection and there's only really the Chili Peppers albums that I've wanted but couldn't download with my pass. Otherwise, it's been great to find all these albums that I'd forgotten about because Spotify didn't have them.

- It needs Twitter integration into the People hub. It has Facebook but I'm more of a Twitter user. Coming in the Mango update though.

- No custom ringtones, ridiculous in this day and age. I believe it's also coming in Mango.

- I love the tile system, the main screen. Live tiles look great and add a nice personal touch to it all.

- The Marketplace is fine. It's nowhere near as poor as the Android store, it's probably on par with the Apple store. Never had a problem finding what I want on it.

- IMDB and Facebook look superb and they've really been created to match the UI. Easily better than the versions on Android and iPhone.

- A lot less to tweak than with Android. Some might say that's a bad thing, it's what draws people to Android a lot of the time. But then it's kinda like iOS where it's more blocked off in its own system. Your mileage may vary.

- It's fast. Very fast. I've had a Nexus S and Galaxy S, both are pretty good with regards to speed and this just feels so much faster and slicker. Compared to the Galaxy S, there's no lag switching between any screens. None. The UI is done so well there.

- No battery percentage, just the icon. A slight annoyance.

- Answering the phone requires you to swipe up and then press the button on-screen to answer. Personally I'd rather just press the screen but I guess it stops you answering the phone while it's in your pocket.

- Game prices take the piss. I'd quite like to try some of the games, some have trial versions (Like on the 360) but I wouldn't pay £4 for a game on my phone when I can get the same game on my iPad for 59p.

- No turn-by-turn navigation provided by Microsoft. A huge miss for me coming from Google Maps and Navigation. Bing Maps is there but it doesn't have navigation really. Coming in Mango.

- I've not tried it yet but I've read that when Shazam identifies a song, it also links to the track on Zune Marketplace so you can download it. A great use of the OS there.

- Apps are in short supply, and not too much is happening just yet on more coming out. But I was an early adopter of Android and the situation was exactly the same. Looking at how established Android is now, it gives confidence that apps will come in time. I've read that a lot of the API's haven't been released to developers yet, that's going to be in the summer. Until then, I don't expect much to come out.

- I really believe WP7 will be big in a year or so, Microsoft seem pretty keen on getting the OS out and improving it, albeit a little slower than I expected. They've got the finance to take on Apple and with the OS being closed off, I think that's the market that they'll go for. Whether they'll take the market is to be debated, they really need to shake off their name stigma. As soon as you say Windows phone, people shudder at hearing Windows mentioned and assume it's going to be a buggy mess.

- Speaking of bugs, I don't think I've had any apps crash. Compared to Android especially, this is an improvement.

- Another minor niggle is that the speech bubbles in messaging aren't different for each person. Android and iOS both have different colours for each person in the conversation? It's not a major problem at all, but just annoying and something that could easily be fixed up.

- The keyboard is alright. Not as accurate as iOS, but better than Android's stock keyboard. I miss Swype still.

- The thing I miss most? No real way of scrobbling to Last.fm :( There's an app out there but it doesn't work great due to lack of multitasking (coming in Mango). It doesn't scrobble the first track, or the last, and you need to turn the app on whilst playing a song and leave that app running. Once you go off to a different app, it closes. Very annoying and a big shame personally.
Click to expand...

I think i would really like it, once that Mango update comes out. Just have to save up for one :)) cheers for the feedback.
 
I'm a noob to AV Forums, but does anyone on here know where I would post to say I'm looking to swap my HTC Sensation for an iPhone 4?
 
Tim7 said:
I'm a noob to AV Forums, but does anyone on here know where I would post to say I'm looking to swap my HTC Sensation for an iPhone 4?
Click to expand...

I think they have a 'living in la la land' thread somewhere ;))
 
Thanks Dags, worth bookmarking that site :TU:.

I actually went back to Vodafone today and managed to swap my Sensation for a white iPhone 4 32GB :DD.
 
Tim7 said:
Thanks Dags, worth bookmarking that site :TU:.

I actually went back to Vodafone today and managed to swap my Sensation for a white iPhone 4 32GB :DD.
Click to expand...

White?! Very fruity. They look awful imo.
 
Does anyone have any experience with Talk Mobile?

12 month contract offer here.

I'm going to get the Galaxy S II next month and I'm open to leaving T Mobile.
 
After a new phone early next year. Sick of the Desire's lack of internal memory.

What's the next big thing coming out?
 
I imagine it won't have changed much. You look at the iPhone 4 now and the prices haven't really altered a massive amount compared to when it first came out. The deals are better and some offer cash back, but considering its a phone thats over 9 months old its still an expensive investment.
 
So the iPhone 4S looks awesome. Pretty happy they haven't altered the design as I think its a beautiful phone anyway.

Its all about Siri of course though. It sounds absolutely fantastic and will certainly be one of the main reasons I buy the 4S if I do decide too!

Following the iPhone 4S official announcement at its media event in Cupertino, Apple has formally taken the wraps off Siri, the new voice-based assistant Apple has been rumored to be building for quite some time. Phil Schiller kicked off the Siri demo saying he wished modern devices would understand the things we’re asking them. Natural language, normal questions like “Should I take an umbrella today?” or “Will it rain tomorrow in Cupertino’”. Siri will be able to respond to a user’s questions, and provide information and data in real-time in brand interface. The design looks largely similar to a mockup posted last week.

siri.jpg


Siri will be able to check the weather, stocks information, find nearby restaurants and places, set alarms and even give you directions. Siri will also be able to send text messages and read them, which can be particularly useful if you have an iPhone in your pocket and using a Bluetooth headset.

Siri knows, and always remembers. For example, Apple gave a demo in which, upon receiving a text message, the user had to know whether he was busy on a specific day. From a single Assistant interface, which was brought up following the new text message, Scott Forstall had a “conversation” with Siri, asking it if he could schedule a meeting on Friday. Siri checked on the upcoming Calendar events, found a free spot, and “replied” a meeting at the previously specified time would indeed be possible. Siri then transcribed a text message, and sent it back in the original SMS conversation.

iphone5apple2011liveblogkeynote1541.jpeg
Click to expand...

That final paragraph just shows off its power. And its surely only to get better. I can think of many situations where I would use it, in the car while driving especially!
 
Yeah that could be very cool, I have mine connected to my car bluetooth most of the day!
 
What a disappointment and this is coming from someone who has owned every iPhone and iPad.

They took 16 months to announce this? It was fine with the 3GS because back then there was no real competition. These specs are hardly groundbreaking. 3.5 inch screen might be good to some but I think an increase to 4 inch was expected by most people (even the majority of case manufacturers!)

The camera does look great and Siri looks good but all in all it was a lacklustre performance from Apple. Rather than innovating in every area they have merely caught up to others. I will be looking forward to the Samsung/Google event next Tuesday at CTIA. Roll on the Nexus Prime.
 
Tim7 said:
That'll be for iPhone 5
Click to expand...

I was hoping the iPhone 5 would be out on October 14th, not this. And from the look of other sites, and journalists they were too. A bit of an underwhelming event from Apple. Thats one thing I didn't expect.
 
BillyBoy said:
What a disappointment and this is coming from someone who has owned every iPhone and iPad.

They took 16 months to announce this? It was fine with the 3GS because back then there was no real competition. These specs are hardly groundbreaking. 3.5 inch screen might be good to some but I think an increase to 4 inch was expected by most people (even the majority of case manufacturers!)

The camera does look great and Siri looks good but all in all it was a lacklustre performance from Apple. Rather than innovating in every area they have merely caught up to others. I will be looking forward to the Samsung/Google event next Tuesday at CTIA. Roll on the Nexus Prime.
Click to expand...

Totally get what you're saying (as do most which is apparent from Apple shares dropping in value after the announcement).

In terms of performance, I see the 4S isn't as powerful as the Samsung Galaxy S2 which has been out a few months now. But performance in a phone is a strange one - many compare it as though they are PCs and one having better components than the other means its 'better'. But it doesn't work like that - my 15 month old iPhone 4 is still blazingly fast so the fact that the iPhone 4S is faster is awesome, regardless of whether or not its specs are groundbreaking in comparison to the market.

I do agree with you on the screen size though - I would have liked to have seen an upgrade in real estate but then I think Apple wanted this announcement to be all about Siri, saving cosmetic changes for the iPhone 5 next year.

Siri for me though looks truly groundbreaking. Sure, there are voice commands on Android and other devices but I have never seen anything in even the same ballpark as Siri.

It truly looks like the future and in my opinion will be the standard on phones within the next couple of years. That, for me, makes this one of Apples greatest announcements.

This video does a great job of showing it off - http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/features/includes/siri-video.html#siri-video
 
Very good point about phone performance Flawless. Your completely right. The spec is only one part. The software itself has to be smooth otherwise all the expensive and powerful components end up being redundant.
 
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