OT: Technology and Geek Stuff Thread

[Sweatpants Murphy]

Sweatpants...those no's change to yes with an unlocked jailbroken phone...and tmobile is very competitive.

Is the HTC 3G ?

all sprint phones are 3G. the hero may even be 4G capable, but it's not likely since 4G is only available in a handful of markets right now.

it's funny that the two largest networks (AT&T, Verizon) are touting their 3G network as the most dependable/reliable, when Sprint is moving on to 4G/WiMax and is FAR ahead of the other two in that area. (Look for it to be in the Detroit area within the next year.)

What do all these letters mean? 3G broadband = comparable to DSL. 4G broadband = comparable to Cable

oh, and t-mobile's coverage is a joke...we have 30 times the coverage they have nationwide.

I know it sounds wierd, but one of my favorite features of my iPhone, is that I can plug it into my computer's USB port to charge. It doesn't sound like much, but my wife's Sidekick doesn't do that and she doesn't have any conviently located outlets in her office.

most, if not all, sprint phones have this capability. all our smartphones charge from USB and come with the USB cable in the box.

Typically, you can get an aftermarket cord with USB on one end and your phone's proprietary connection on the other. Then you can use this to sync and charge the phone from your computer's USB port.

But I know exactly what you mean. One of my old phones had a simple standard mini-usb input which was great because it was easy to find a compatible cord. Since then, my phones have had proprietary connectors, so I've had to buy and carry around special cords.

I favored motorola phones before I got addicted to the iphone for that reason. ^

Sprint is moving toward having one universal charging port for all our phones (micro usb) I'd say 70-80% of the phones in the store have micro usb charging ports.

[DeanUK]

In europe they (or is that we? ) are adopting a universal standard for chargers:-

http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadgets/article/2009-06/one-cell-phone-charger-rule-them-all

[Panoptes]

Sprint still sucks where it matters most, Southern California.

[Sweatpants Murphy]

going by the coverage tool, it shows very good coverage in the more populated areas there.

also, I'm pretty sure NYC matters more than socal when it comes to the use of mobile devices. ;)

[The Ken]

IF IT AIN'T A BLACKBERRY IT IS JUST A TOY.... and you probably don't have high blood pressure, blood shot eyes, daily visits to the liquor store, and have a 4th grader grammar ability or better.

[Topweasel]

2 x ipod touches jailbroken
3 x iphones unlocked and jailbroken

weak arguement - those who educate themselves before obtaining an iphone realize quickly the death star is not the only option....

Yeah.... Another person that thinks the rest of the general public should be as tech saving as themselves. Would you recommend that everyone and the mother add superchargers to their cars because installation can be easy even though it voids their warranties? Would you suggest everyone does it themselves?

The fact is major features that should be on any phone are locked out and you have to do things that A.) Can be technically challenging and B.) can void the warranty if it gets Bricked and you don't know how to get it loaded back to default.

Jailbreaking a phone and doing exactly what your TOS for both the phone and the Service forbid you doing is not an acceptable solution for the general public.

[The Ken]

Yeah.... Another person that thinks the rest of the general public should be as tech saving as themselves. Would you recommend that everyone and the mother add superchargers to their cars because installation can be easy even though it voids their warranties? Would you suggest everyone does it themselves?

The fact is major features that should be on any phone are locked out and you have to do things that A.) Can be technically challenging and B.) can void the warranty if it gets Bricked and you don't know how to get it loaded back to default.

Jailbreaking a phone and doing exactly what your TOS for both the phone and the Service forbid you doing is not an acceptable solution for the general public.

just get an english menu based Asian iphone.

No worries ever

[Coop]

Yeah.... Another person that thinks the rest of the general public should be as tech saving as themselves. Would you recommend that everyone and the mother add superchargers to their cars because installation can be easy even though it voids their warranties? Would you suggest everyone does it themselves?

The fact is major features that should be on any phone are locked out and you have to do things that A.) Can be technically challenging and B.) can void the warranty if it gets Bricked and you don't know how to get it loaded back to default.

Jailbreaking a phone and doing exactly what your TOS for both the phone and the Service forbid you doing is not an acceptable solution for the general public.

To each his her own. A) technically challenging is now a one button gui that does all the work B) restoring to stock firmware keep the warranty intact....

seen a bricked iphone TopWeasel?

I purchased my iphones used so there was no TOS to forbid and it's absolutely an acceptable solution for me and the rest of the iphone world not content to be spoon fed by either Apple or AT&T.

[Panoptes]

I prefer barely being connected with a pay as you go phone for the rare occasion I need to make a call away from a land line.

[Topweasel]

To each his her own. A) technically challenging is now a one button gui that does all the work B) restoring to stock firmware keep the warranty intact....

seen a bricked iphone TopWeasel?

I purchased my iphones used so there was no TOS to forbid and it's absolutely an acceptable solution for me and the rest of the iphone world not content to be spoon fed by either Apple or AT&T.

I guess that my point there are enough phones out there with similar features and abilities that locking into one phone on one network seems silly. I can think of dozens of worthwhile alternatives. When Windows Mobile 7 ships and people start getting on the Android bandwagon the selection of touch phones with the same features sky rockets. even purchasing the phone used you break their ToS after the first update you accept and AT&T still have rules about the phones usage on their network.

It just seems silly under that knowledge to go through all of the trouble even if its rather small trouble. I say this because what you might think is small effort isn't small effort to everyone and not everyone knows its an option. Jailbreaking is still an underground effort. And it has at least once bricked my friends phone after an update. Yeah he got the OS reloaded but still not everyone will know how to do that.

Where I am wrong is in the the fact that most people probably don't know or care of the restrictions. I would think that is out there but for the same reason most people don't know about jailbreaking is the same reason people don''t get how restrictive it is. Its a fantastic phone when handled correctly and could be 4x more popular but AT&T and Apple are really holding it back.

[Coop]

...yeah he got the OS reloaded..

Means he didn't brick it which was your major point. Purchasing used violates nothing. Shelve it. If you have been following the progression of the iPhone remember that apple tried to dictate app development browser only. Hacking community became involved and now you see the app store which has only contributed towards the platform.

User community influenced results.

[romster]

I'd heard stories about the blue screen of death but didn't really take them seriously. Then, on Sunday, during the game.....

I GOT THE BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH.

<sigh>

I'm waiting to see if it can be saved. I'm prepared for the worst.

And no, I never ever backed it up.

Yes, I can be an idiot about some things.

[Coop]

try booting into safe mode...

[romster]

One of the tech geeks here at work has it. I'm waiting for the diagnosis.

[Malto Marko]

The only time I got that, the motherboard had fried.

I swapped it out and had no issues after that. In fact, the dinasour is still the main puter I use at home.