phones

Prevailing Thoughts On The Nexus 5

I have two prevailing thoughts on the next Nexus phone.

The Nexus 4, despite being a year old, is still great. A lot of Normal People would love to have a Nexus 4. The sign of that is in the 2013 Nexus 7: its processor is almost the same, the memory is almost the same and the screen quality might as well be the same. The Nexus 7 of this year was the Nexus 4 of last year. When the Nexus 5 launches later this fall, the Nexus 4 will be kept on the line with a lower price point while at the same time the Nexus 5 will have a higher initial price point to compensate for its specs and features.
The Nexus 4 was an aberration in price versus specs and features. Google’s aggressive price point with the Nexus 4 could have sucked enough of us into the Nexus Experience that regardless of the price (around $500 or so), we would probably be willing to buy to get that experience again¹.

There are rumors that the LG G2 is a candidate for the Nexus 5. And while it is great, it seems a little obscure hardware wise². There are rumors of a Motorola built phone becoming the next Nexus too. Undercutting the Moto X with a $400 phone with similar features and extremely better hardware will destroy its edge and render the entire Moto X branding and purpose moot³.

I don’t want this to be the case, I don’t think it is the case, but it is a possibility ↩
Buttons on the back, really? ↩
While Google is in a position to do something destructive to its own branding, as it owns Motorola, it would look bad from a don’t be evil perspective ↩

Ting’s “Early Termination Fee” Payoff∝

Ting is going to pay the early termination fee of about 500 people in the month of February. They have a $100,000 just for this, so if you need to leave your carrier, this might be good for you.

As a bonus, Michael, a Ting employee, wrote into clarify a few extra details (like that about 500 people number.

The iPhone on T-Mobile Changes Nothing, Again∝

2013 is going to be a big year for T-Mobile, with a new LTE network, a new business model for selling phones, and iPhone availability for the first time. CEO John Legere gave more details on those last two items to Reuters, revealing that both the iPhone and the end of phone subsidies would come sooner than expected. They’re both planned to roll out “in three to four months as opposed to six to nine months,” according to an interview with Legare.

There are already an insane number of people living subpar lives with an iPhone on T-Mobile. When it becomes legally avaialble on T-Mobile, either by network changes or handset changes, T-Mobile will have an even easier time selling iPhones. But that is not the point here. T-Mobile wants to change you only for the price of the phone, after you pay it off, you get the service for the value of the service. That’s the deal.

Results are what matter though. Nothing is going to change in the iPhone market. But other phones that are also highly priced, well, those won’t be purchased by average people. Apple gets away with it because it’s Apple; HTC, LG and others can’t get away with $700 phones. But you know who can? Google and the Nexus 4 at a reasonably priced $299-399. It’s reasonable and you can pay it off in a single year. That’s what I want to see in this new business model for selling phones.

One VX Makes No Sense∝

Get it, no sense? Anyway, why call it the One V when it’s not even reminiscent of the weak hardware in the existing One V.

It gets a dual-core S4, a huge battery, a 4.5-inch screen. So it’s more like the One S in specifications. I seriously don’t understand.

Samsung Exhibit II 4G Comparison

I have been looking around for a new phone. Virgin Mobile USA has been at least six months too slow to release the next generation of high-end prepaid handsets, so I began to look elsewhere, and I found the Samsung Exhibit II 4G from T-Mobile. I wanted to compare it to the Motorola Triumph that I so heavily appealed for in the rumor stages of release and suddenly dropped as soon as the build quality was a fish in a barrel.

I began my search on the specs-page for the Exhibit. The processor listed as 1GHz, MSM8255, Qualcomm. Right off the bat, that’s definitely better than my Optimus V but is it comparable with the Triumph? The Triumph has 1GHz, MSM8655, Qualcomm. Via Wikipedia on Snapdragon, the Exhibit processor is actually a sub-generation behind the Triumph processor. In terms of graphics, they both share the Adreno 205, and the Triumph is probably underclocked to conserve battery life, but the speeds are the same despite the gap. In general, any thing is an improvement over the 600 MHz in the Optimus V. Still, getting a phone in 2012 with a processor from mid-2010 is kind of dismaying.

The Exhibit has 512MB of memory, which is great, though the Triumph is identical in that respect. The differentiation comes from the screen sizes. The Exhibit has a smaller 3.7-inch screen but with a higher 252 PPI resolution which is nearly iPad-retina display quality, while the 4.1-inch Triumph has slightly lower at 228 PPI. The 3.2-inch Optimus V has the lowest among the all, but it’s fair to read on nonetheless.

The camera is a lackluster feature in the Exhibit II 4G, at 3 megapixels though it is slightly redeeming that it comes with the front-facing VGA standard camera. The Triumph of course beats that with 5 megapixels. Both handsets come with an LED flash. Only the Triumph would provide a definite upgrade over the Optimus V 3 megapixel camera but I question the lens.

The weight of a phone does not really matter to me as long as the build quality does not present itself as huge seams creaking in protest when I hold it. The Exhibit is very light at 113 grams while the Triumph is heavier at 143 grams, probably due to the screen size. And of course with weight, comes battery life. These numbers mean as close to dirt as their provided by manufacturers’ fake testing, but the Exhibit gets a paltry 5.5 hours of usage, while the Triumph gets an even worse 5 hours. I am not making these numbers up: they really do suck this badly. The batteries are rated at 1500 mAh and 1380 mAh respectively, so it’s slightly easier to see the Triumph failing in this respect. In my usage, the Optimus V can perform admirably – as long as the WiFi in the area is actually good enough to connect to without searching for it for six hours. My days usually start around 6am and by 3pm, I am close to 45% with light usage (checking mail, time, listening to podcasts for 45 minutes, etc).

And then there’s the network. Virgin Mobile is a great network here in the Twin Cities, and for everything I am paying – it does well. I can download a podcast that’s 26 megabytes in maybe 15 minutes while I am on the bus (a 25 minute journey). With all that said, it is still slow usually and probably not to be relied on. The 4G speeds offered by the Exhibit are questionable: I have seen numbers from 2 megabits, 4 and even 9 megabits down. T-Mobile coverage for phone, 4G and 3G is great in the University of Minnesota and surrounding Twin Cities area. And for the secret $30/mo 100 minute-unlimited texting and data-plan from T-Mobile’s prepaid division online – matching up quite well with my grandfathered-in $25/mo 300 minute-unlimited texting and data-plan from Virgin Mobile. The 4G is the wild card and switching would mean giving up an entire $10 monthly.

Deriving the opinion of the masses from Amazon, the Triumph gets 3.7 out of 5 stars from 233 reviewers, while the Exhibit gets 4.1 out of 5 stars from 223 reviewers. I am loyal to three things: cost, reliability and the handsets.

So, which phone wins here? The Motorola Triumph is notorious with its build quality issues. I do not know if those issues persist seven months later, but if it does, then a slightly lesser phone would be a better bet. The 4G Exhibit is mildly less high-end but not enough to be a major detractor.

Thoughts?

An Unimpressive Venture

I am still waiting for the next big thing Virgin Mobile phone to hit. Of course, on this latest release, I am not really impressed.

On Thursday, March 15^th, last week, Virgin Mobile released the Venture. The Venture is from Alcatel and PCD, or maybe ZTE, depending on who you ask. None of them are well known. The key feature of this phone is the pricing: just $100 for an entry level Android handset.

The specifications are not particularly exciting. The screen is the oddest part of the hardware. It’s just 2.8-inches, but it is a touchscreen. It’s quite odd to put such a small screen onto a phone that is going to end up being Android based. Below the screen, you have your array of usual Android-action buttons: home, menu, back and search. Below that, you have the rest of the surface area dedicated to the keyboard in a BlackBerry-esque fashion.

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Ting – The New Guy In No-Contract

I make a podcast so I hear about these things. A little company called Ting has built upon the Sprint Network (the same provider that serves and owns Boost and Virgin Mobile) another mobile network. Ting has some great options.

Pay for what you use. No penalties. No waste.

Select you plans based on how many minutes, text messages and megabytes you think you will use. That’s what we bill you. Next month you will be credited or charged the difference based on your actual usage. Watch a video to see how it works.

These plans are no-contract, so it’s monthly. So for someone who makes very few calls, no data but sends 2000 texts a month, this would be a great deal as it’s only $17. You can click on the price points for the usages and it’ll show you the cost + surcharges (tax). Data is a little expensive, and the irony in this is that some phones sold via Ting are 4G so your data will drain even faster, if your battery doesn’t first. Honestly, my 3G usage isn’t ever above 500 and rarely above 200 megabytes per month. In fact, in the last 30 days, I have used about 30 megabytes. And I’m a heavy user.

But I think the bigger story here is in the actual handsets. These are top-tier phones. Obviously, you have to pay the price of a contract phone so these aren’t exactly cheap. The Motorola Photon, announced last year at the same time as the Triumph, is their crown jewel. The phone is great, it has a nice screen, well reviewed stability, half way decent UI (blur) and probably other goodies. Oh, and it’s fast. So it’s worth it, right? But is it worth $545? Up-front and on the spot? I couldn’t afford a coffee this morning and I will not be able to afford a ~$600 when it’s a year old. Few people buy iPhones at the unlocked price, and this isn’t even an iPhone, it’s just a Photon, and those are bombarding me right now through the Mechanical Engineering windows. Anyway, Ting has less expensive while still impressive phones as well. Excluding the Photon, there are two other 4G options that will range from $300-$400 depending on the screen size and processing power you’re after, or if you prefer HTC to Samsung. For a more reasonable price, you can forgo the 4G, cling to the outdated 3G and embrace your inner WiFi and prepare to wait with a 800 MHz processor in the Samsung Transform. It’s probably fast enough for normal people but I don’t think I could tolerate the speed on that device. And it’s so tiny. Ting has again copied the de-facto standard in low end models, that being the Optimus series, specifically the Sprint-branded Optimus S (lest it be a T, T for Ting, not another Mobile), which is mostly identical to the Optimus V, except more yellow. Finally, they have a $100 Sanyo for those who want Android but don’t want hair.

Ting is offering a couple feature phones that nobody wants and some data-access devices, and I surmise for a relatively good price.

At the bottom of the pages on the Ting website, it has a great disclaimer that I think will answer the question many people are probably asking: “Are you somehow owned by Sprint? Like those other guys?” And the answer would be, “Although Sprint provides access to its network, Ting is entirely responsible for the service.” Or, in short, no. That’s great. Because Sprint needs to compete with Virgin Mobile specifically. Boost is too gangster.

You can tell someone was thinking when they design the Ting website, because I can link to this directly. Let’s say you’re having a huge surge in phone usage one month, and then you stop using it so much. You’re billing is not insane, you’re not overcharged. Instead, you get to pay for more you used than your existing plan, and if you go under your existing plan usage, you can get credited that amount back. So you’re pay for what you used. (Except that $6 automatic fee for being on the service, presumably.) Revolutionary? I think not. Finally? Yes. I never use 500 minutes. I hardly use 100 minutes. It’s a pity there is no in-between to match up to Virgin Mobile’s talking time tier.

So, overall? I like the idea Ting is bringing to the ~~pre-paid~~ no-contract market. The site is full of quips that make me smile, “Paying for extra for tethering? That’s like charging for the soup spoon. We only charge for the soup.” And another good one is, “Select one of the very small computers below. (Most of these can also make phone calls.)” Things like that are very hard to come by in a corporate culture company. It’s refreshing. Don’t think it ends there either, how about their support number? 1-855-TING-FTW Oh yes, for the win, indeed. I want Virgin Mobile to evolve faster too, so perhaps this will encourage the growth I want to see. It’s the oddest thing to see Ting on the network that serves the competition though. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

So, great job, Ting, on entering the market. I wish you well.

Virgin Mobile: LG Optimus Slider & HTC Wildfire S

Well, the rumor mill failed this time as there wasn’t even a hint of new phones coming out from Virgin Mobile before Friday. I can speculate here as well: the old rumor of the Optimus Black is probably still true despite this release because the Black is a premium phone like the Triumph, and it’ll hit in December if at all.

The Optimus Slider is a successor to the original Optimus V for right now (again, the Black is better). It caters to a different type of people though, I suppose. The keyboard will help people transition from regular phones to smartphones. The Android 2.3 system will also be a welcome feature considering its speed bonuses and improvements. In fact, I know a person in my family who probably couldn’t make the jump from a BlackBerry to Android without a physical keyboard. So this solves that issue.

I’ve read about a 600 Mhz processor and a 800 Mhz processor, and I’m leaning towards the latter. It’s been almost a year and a slight bump would be for the best. Save the keyboard and the speed bump and minor cosmetic changes, it might as well be identical to the Optimus V.

The Wildfire S is less appealing. Why release sliding phones together? It seems odd. It adds confusion, which is better?

In fact, looking at the specsheet straight from HTC’s glorious website, you can see it has a 600 Mhz processor which probably slower than a new phone should be. Further, and much more concerning, the lame 1230 mAh battery. My Optimus V has a ~1400 mAh battery and I can hardly get through the day without getting into the critical zone. I’m sure HTC Sense won’t improve battery life either.

I might have other ideas about this release in the middle of no where. Virgin Mobile pushed it’s throttling to next year. Perhaps they had this in the pipe ready to come out at the same time they were planning to begin throttling. What better way to appease the public than to release new stuff? Or maybe a major deal fell through and the reason for the throttling wasn’t needed right now. That’s my bet.

Poll: MacBook Air or Phone?

My plans originally included buying both the new MacBook Air and the Virgin Mobile Motorola Triumph. Right now, I’m not entirely sure which to buy first. I don’t have enough money to buy both immediately, but I will soon.

I trust the build quality of the MacBook Air and besides, if something did go wrong with it, I could fix it easily with Apple Care. The problem is the MacBook Air costs four times more than the phone, nearly $1500. My intention is to get the MacBook Air 13” with the 128GB SSD, so the $1299 model. The price will remain the same over time.

The Motorola Triumph is much cheaper at only $300 but the build quality is questionable and there aren’t enough reviews to sway me in favor of an unknown product. Since it’s cheaper, I could buy it right now, but I’ve had problems with dusty phones before and I don’t need a repeat of that. On the other hand, I do have a couple of trade-in Rumor Touch phones and a 10% discount. Eventually, the phones will almost have no value for trade-in and the discount will expire as well.

I thought this poll might help me decide which to buy first.

After much deliberation and in conjunction with the poll results, I will be buying the MacBook Air first.

Note: after using Polldaddy, I have to say, really? Signing up for yet another Automattic service and then installing yet another plugin and adding multiple silly looking buttons in the admin-interface. Well? The poll’s over and I’m removing it.

Virgin Mobile Site Updated with Triumph & Pricing

The Virgin Mobile USA website has been updated with information and ordering capabilities for the Motorola Triumph. As the phone rolls out to Normal People™, the reviews will start to roll on to the review tab.

The Triumph's Information Page - Now Ready For Order

Android™ Gone Wild. Rev up your smartphone experience with a superfast 1GHz processor, 4.1″ touchscreen, 5MP camera, front-facing VGA camera, 720p HD camcorder with HDMI output, Google Maps with Navigation™, Android Market™, and more. All on the Android 2.2 platform.

In addition the Triumph, the new $35/monthly pricing scheme at entry levels has also been added to the website.

New Beyond Talk Pricing

The Virgin Mobile website is still in the process of updating all their copytext and imagery to match up with the Triumph additions and pricing changes. The Optimus is still promoted in some places, but much has switched to focus on the Triumph.

Virgin Mobile Raising Prices on Beyond Talk Plans on July 20th

Virgin Mobile is raising the base Beyond Talk prices. Yes, you read right. Virgin Mobile, the carrier that provided Normal People™ a reasonable price to enter the smartphone market is doing the unthinkable – charging more.

On the launch of the new Motorola Triumph, the phone I plan on getting soon, will also be the change-over date for the new pricing.

New Pricing Plans on Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk - via TechCrunch

The 300 minute plan, which was $25, will now be $35.

The 1200 minute plan, which was $40, will now be $45.

The Unlimited minute plan, which was $60, will now be $55 (!).

All plans still come with unlimited data, texting, and web.

BlackBerry users will no longer be charged the $10 a month BlackBerry fee.

– via TechCrunch

Does this remind you of a recent announcement that incited nation-wide outrage?

However, after reading the actual press release (also via 9To5Google), existing customers of Virgin Mobile will not experience any pricing difference.

Existing Beyond Talk Virgin Mobile customers as of July 19 can keep their current plan
pricing as long as they don’t let their account expire, and they can upgrade to new devices
without incurring additional costs.

In other words, current customers will not be affected and future upgrades will not force you to pay more either.

We’ll see how this turns out, soon.

Motorola Triumph – Coming Soon

Yes, I know! I’m a phone monger but I can’t help it. My last phone purchase was in February, the vertiginous Virgin Mobile based LG Optimus V. And while that initial handset had a little hiccup, it was all smoothed over and the experience has been pretty good.

That’s not to say I’m in love with the phone. It’s a little small for my hands, typing isn’t a breeze for me and I would love a faster processor in my device. Anything to at least touch the clouds that touch the iPhone Olympus Mons. The Virgin Mobile service is phenomenally priced and with their recent trend of being smartphones to the market, I’m impressed. $25 per month for unlimited texting and data is a steal. And there is soon to be another steal. Let me introduce it.

The Motorola Triumph will be Everest of Virgin Mobile at least until 2012. You really need to see this to believe this.

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