Posts by Dave 126

Re: No lineage?

Why bother? I'm not sure the Pixel hardware appeals to the Lineage OS crowd. Pixels main selling points are the camera software and co-processor to accelerate it, plus some extra Googley launcher. No SD card, no headphone socket. The screen is on Pixel 3 is superb*, but practically no better than the latest Samsungs - which are a more common target for alternative Android versions.

*In lab tests, the Note 9 had the best display crown, then the latest iPhone XS, now the latest Pixel. All panels made by Samsung (though Apple use their own display driver silicon)

Re: Pricey?

Since they're all in the same price ballpark, 'pricey' will do.

Re: Third party launchers blocked

I've had a Huawei phone where i just couldn't get a third party launcher to stick... Huawei's own launcher kept overriding it. Still, it was a far cheaper model from a couple of years back.

Re: Mono sensors....

A mono sensor without RGB filters above it would deliver a sharper image. Each pixel can record the total intensity of light hitting it, compared to an RGB sensor where the pixels alternate. In multi camera setups, the mono sensor is usually used in conjunction with RGB sensors to allow some post processing - sharpness from the mono sensor and colour from the RGB sensor are combined into the output image.

Re: Cable free screen mirroring and casting over WiFi, no cable or dock needed!?

This is more than Miracast because Huaweii have a PC node akin to Samsung's Dex - apps optimised for mouse, keyboard and big screen.

Regards articles marked 'Review' are reviews, and have sample photos. 'Hands on reviews' are an impression based on a quick play with the device, often at a presentation or trade show.

This article was merely an overview of Huawei's new range, and was described as such.

Re: Recycling

Glue makes it much easier to dismantle end-of-life products en masse than screws. It also avoids stress risers in the frame of the product.

Re: Wha?

The use case is that you can just grab one of two handsets as you leave the house, and still be contactable on the same number - without faffing around swapping your SIM. Say you use a 5.5" pricey phone during the day, but just want to carry a small cheap phone on a night out or muddy bike ride for calls, texts and WhatsApp.

However, this particular handset is just too pricey for this use case.

Re: WTAF?

It's not that it does things that your main phone doesn't, it is that this concept could allow you to take a compact cheap phone on a night out on the piss, or on a muddy mountain bike ride, whilst leaving your bulky and pricey do-it-all phone safely at home, yet still be contactable on the same number.

The concept is sound, but the asking price for this handset (and possibly the tariff for the eSIM) is far too high.

Re: Nothing like trashing a product

The advantage is that you can just grab one of two handsets as you leave the house, and still be contactable on the same number - without faffing around swapping your SIM. Say you use a 5.5" pricey phone during the day, but just want a small cheap phone on a night out for calls, texts and WhatsApp.

The concept is sound. Where this falls down is that many people would want their second handset to be far cheaper than the £300 being asked for here - especially as basic Android phones can be had for around £30.

Give it time. Offering a second SIM for a single number might be a way for network operators to distinguish themselves in the market. Phones are becoming both more expensive and cheaper than ever before, so why not use a different handset for different situations?

There are lots of suitable handsets around. The issue is that as far as we know, no UK network operator makes it easy to have two devices on the same number (Apple Watch LTE eSIM aside).

Re: Bizarre

I suggest your ire might be better directed at Google or the ASOP foundation than at Sony and Samsung.

Re: WTAF?

At this price, not many people judging by responses here and on Arstechnica.

However, if it were at a 'don't really care if I lose or break it price' ( £15 - £30) the concept of having a second phone on the same number has wide appeal.

Re: Yo dawg I herd you like phones

Actually, a lot of the mini "card" phones sold from China do have a Bluetooth 'page my main phone' feature, akin to Tile keyrings or many a connected watch.

Re: Neutered

It can have full functionality, it's just that it's currently only being sold on a Number Sharing eSIM service. You don't need to have your main mobile phone in the same room, or even turned on, in order to use this as an Android mobile phone.

Still, the sticking point appears to be price. That's the common view on other tech site threads.

This was the topic of a Reg discussion the other week - technically it's possible for UK networks to issue multiple SIMs for the same number (and a Reg reader confirmed a German network does just that - commonly used for a mobile and a car phone). Such a service would open up a whole menagerie of range of cheap and cheerful phones for use as secondary 'pub handsets'.

Re: Bizarre

Seems it'll upset you to learn that Nokia phones now run Android and are no longer made by Nokia, and Blackberry phones run Android and aren't made by Blackberry.

In other news, Macs are now Intel,

Re: Can't imagine this will last long

> Folding parts wear. It's basic mechanics

Not necessarily. It depends upon the material and the minimum radius of the bend. Nor are pivots and hinges doomed to fail before other parts of a product.

True, caution, careful engineering and testing would be required to make it durable, but it's not impossible as you imply.

Re: Typical Samsung

Oops! Yep, I was confusing the Note 4 with the Note 7, maybe cos the Note 7 with edge display was around the same time as the Galaxy 7.

Can you name a MK 1 tech product that hasn't followed that pattern?

Re: I still think a bifold device will be a market failure

Sony prices are usually a fair bit cheaper than their list prices, and I haven't seen many of them in real life since the Z3 era. In terms of market share compared to Samsung and Apple, they sadly don't score highly. It'd be more accurate for you to have just said: "The other high volume, high priced phone vendor who actually turns besides Apple hasn't bothered with notches".

The reason being, Galaxy S devices have too many front-facing sensors, cameras and emitters to make a notch worth while.

Screen resistance to scratches isn't such an issue in a clamshell form factor. Even if some sand gets in there, there isn't any force pressing it agaivsts the screen. This is why so many laptops have soft screens and survive being slung in rucksacks.

Re: Typical Samsung

The Note 4 failed on a single component - the battery - partly supplied by third parties and Samsung's rush leading to trying to squeeze it into too small a space. The number of Note 4 owners who were loath to return them for a refund -, forcing Samsung to remotely disable the handsets' access to cellular networks - suggests the rest of phone was good.

Re: I still think a bifold device will be a market failure

Hard to tell. I have a notch-less 2:1 phone, when watching video I have it zoomed in slightly - though being OLED 'black bars' aren't an issue. The most profitable tablets, iPads, are squarer than video's 16:9. Movies are commonly streamed at a wider aspect ratio than 16:9. I've been told a lot of people shoot and watch video in portrait orientation on Twitter.

The issue with an unfolded tablet might prove to be holding it in one hand.

Re: Would you like more bloat with your Samsung sir?

Well, if we define the range as say £200 to £900 (Galaxy Note, iPhone Xn), then £550 *is* mid range. That remains true even if you can buy a very competent phone for less.

Re: Why does ChromeOS still exist? It should have just been replaced with android.

There are few tablet-optimised Android apps. Also, there were inherent issues with Android that dated back to its rushed deployment - not least updates. Chrome OS was developed after a few lessons had been learnt.

And then there's Google's Fuschia OS on the distant horizon.

> It's the proliferation of Samsung services of dubious value, and which the phone constantly nags about, set up an account, log-in rah rah rah. It was a constant source of annoyance,

Yeah, there are some annoyances, but they can be fixed. For sure it's annoying to have to create an account before being able to disable the Bixby button, and go into the Galaxy Store to disable some notifications and nags, but all in all these things don't take that long.

Once done you're left with some very good hardware. Stick a good case and a glass screen protector on its slim frame and it's resilient too, happy to shrug off a drop into concrete just as it is a drop into a puddle.

Re: I thought this was a solved problem

Lithium ion batteries last longest it cycled between 40% and 80%. They don't like heat, and they don't like being stored with less than 40% charge. There was a clear Reg article about this a few years back.

With regards to laptops, it's clear that the premium brands* have traditionally fared far, far better than budget brands/ranges - likely due to better control circuitry and balancing of binned li-ion cells.

*The ones who consistently top studies of reliability composed using multiple data sources.

Re: I thought this was a solved problem

It really depends upon the make and model of laptop. Lenovo, Apple and I believe Toshiba are good, but as I noted above my mid range Dell was poor. But please, my anecdotes are half a decade out of date - lots of vendors have upped their game, so I'd suggest you spend a few minutes googling.

With regards to what Richard has said, my Dell could run off mains with the battery removed

Indeed, even some Xperia phones had the option to limit charging to 90%. Seems I can't do the same on my Samsung without rooting - best I can do is install an app that chirps when a certain charge level (let's go for 80%) is reached.

For laptops, Apple, like Lenovo, were clever about charging. I've known old MacBook Pros often left plugged in that could still take a respectable charge after several years. My mid range Dell's battery died after less than a year of similar treatment.

Re: Nope, went with Motorola instead

The LG phones have very respectable Sabre DACs and amps. But yeah, for home listening why use the phone's output?

For out and about use, such specs are usually overkill. 3.5mm socket is a convenience that lets me use cheap expendable earphones to listen to podcasts. If I were to spend the money I'd use some active noise cancelling headphones from Sony with the LDAC codec they contributed to Android. If I were being silly I'd investigate some USB-C headphones with their own tubed DAC and amp.

Recently I've dug out some old Bluetooth earphones, love being divorced from the cable, hate the design flaws (which explains why they were dirt cheap)

Re: Google tablets

Is x86 a necessity? Some ARM based chips (Apple 7nm) are already beating Intel Thingy Bay at single threaded processes.

It's just down to legacy software support. Possibly relevent if you're using full Linux, moot if you're using ChromeOS.

Re: No SD card

And similar threats of boycott over the last few years have really had an impact on the market.

Since the default choice of Android phone in this price bracket is traditionally a Galaxy S or Note, just go with that. SD card, headphone slot, no notched screen, ability to sideload Pixel camera (G- cam) etc plus all the other bells and whistles Samsung throw in.

Re: Nope, went with Motorola instead

Not audiophile. I consider earphones to be consumable objects like driver bits - I break the cheap ones and lose the expensive ones.

Re: errmm...

Am I right in thinking that the first Google Pixel Notebook from a few years ago was only really intended for Google staff? No local storage is a feature if you don't want your employees taking your code home with them.

Re: iPad-killer

> How do you kill that which is already dead?

The iPad's dead? Really? You'd better alert Adobe, since they're currently prepping a feature-complete Photoshop for iOS. I'm sure they'll be glad to hear from you.