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An app for the iPhone that simulates a lighter. Yup, you heard that right. So why is it all the rage in Europe and Japan? Read on.
This is insane.
iPhone users all over Europe and Japan have been going ga-ga over a new app released by a company called Smule. Basically, "Sonic Lighter" is software that displays a virtual lighter on your iPhone; with e-flames blazing on your phone's screen. And yes, the flame "sways" depending on how you move your phone. The main attraction though is something else.
The app is location-aware: if you choose, you can display your location on a virtual globe. When you do so, and when you run the app, you show up as a flame shaped blip on this map. The more you run the app, the more "kilojoules" you burn -- which further brightens your area on the globe. When you're done for the day, just blow on the microphone to "extinguish" the flame. For those who think it's not cool enough, you can ignite other lighters on iPhones near you.
Not satisfied? Have a look at this:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2XUw6Hy4Tzk
http://www.smule.com/products/
WILL IT BE AVAILABLE FOR OUR HTC TOUCH DIAMOND????
that guy blowing his iphone is creepy.
wow
really useless
Setting fire to iPhones is great idea, nice thread.
Don't they just spontaneously combust anyway?
N3m3515 said:
wow
really useless
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+1. Can someone explain how this software make my life easier/better?
it will not make life easier/better, but its cool to know what ur phone is able to do
lude219 said:
+1. Can someone explain how this software make my life easier/better?
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Can someone explain how this software make my life harder/worse?
Zida2k said:
it will not make life easier/better, but its cool to know what ur phone is able to do
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I'd like my phone to take care of the kitchen
well thats useless .. but also fun! .. i put these apps from time to time to have fun with my little brother & sister lol
i wouldnt mind to get this app on my diamond
The brilliant thing is, is that the Diamond is perfectly capable of doing this is someone was willing to create the application. The only reason we don't see as many cool applications as there are for the iPhone, is because there is little to no advertising to draw the consumers in, and there's no officially released SDK for the sensors on the Diamond.
The Diamond does actually havemore hardware based sensors than the iPhone does, and it also has the added advantage of being able to run programs made by any random user with a compiler handy.
Not that it is by any stretch of the imagination a definitive source of unbiased intelligence on gadgets, despite the title, but Five's Gadget Show did a test on last night's show that included the G1, the Blackberry Storm and the iPhone.
The testing was hardly rigorous or subjective but in three rounds of tests (functionality, speed to send an email and battery life) the HD trounced them all in pretty much every department.
The final two in the battery test were the iPhone and the HD. I didn't fancy its chances but it lasted a full 30 minutes longer than the poseur's wet dream.
Both HD and iPhone were rated 4/5 - something of a travesty since it outperformed the iPhone all the way down the line, but sadly the Gadget Show presenters seem to have succumbed to iPhone Syndrome (style counts for more than substance) and are prepared to mark it up even though it's quite poor functionally.
I was happy with my HD before, but rather pathetically, I'm even happier following a set of non-scientific and fairly meaningless tests. Maybe I am coming down with Variant iPhone Syndrome?
You can watch it here if you're interested. Whats the chances of Microsoft watching it and realising that its their "clunky" OS thats losing them points agains Apple?
iain.fraser said:
Not that it is by any stretch of the imagination a definitive source of unbiased intelligence on gadgets, despite the title, but Five's Gadget Show did a test on last night's show that included the G1, the Blackberry Storm and the iPhone.
The testing was hardly rigorous or subjective but in three rounds of tests (functionality, speed to send an email and battery life) the HD trounced them all in pretty much every department.
The final two in the battery test were the iPhone and the HD. I didn't fancy its chances but it lasted a full 30 minutes longer than the poseur's wet dream.
Both HD and iPhone were rated 4/5 - something of a travesty since it outperformed the iPhone all the way down the line, but sadly the Gadget Show presenters seem to have succumbed to iPhone Syndrome (style counts for more than substance) and are prepared to mark it up even though it's quite poor functionally.
I was happy with my HD before, but rather pathetically, I'm even happier following a set of non-scientific and fairly meaningless tests. Maybe I am coming down with Variant iPhone Syndrome?
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They and many other TV/WEB shows are just designed to entertain, their ratings mean absolutly nothing. You can get better knowledge in this forum and many other in the web.
I agree with original post (and disagree with the Gadget Shows biased final opinion), Microsoft have been left "napping" and Apple/Android has spotted this, dont forget Microsoft were releasing mobile OS's 9 years ago, just unfortunate MS havent bolted on pretty front end to its now matured and stable mobile kernel (Apple has bolted a pretty front end onto a "open source linux" based OSX (well I say open source, of course apple forget what is in their kernel).
I think MS have been listening as from what I have seen on google about Windows Mobile 7 due for release next year (and will be checking ROM section daily on this forum when it is), it looks far more user friendly with no more Windows 95-esque graphics.
I recently moved from iPhone 3G to HTC Touch HD (only reason I switched was the iPhone wasnt compatible with the bluetooth in my new car), in my opinion WinMo is not as pretty as iPhone OS but is far more stable (my iPhone ended on version 2.2 and was still buggy, I was constantly experiencing freezes, no sound and other problems).
The only thing i miss is the iPhone hardware, the transducive touch screen is a million times better that the resistive screen on the touch, I am still getting used to using stylus again)
Those twits on Gadget Show have no clucking idea! Especially the bold bloke.
Yes, the tests were crap and the show is about as tech savvy as my mum. The idiots came up with some bs negative points, it seemed that they were just interested in making sure that the iSheep didn't lose, especially the self confessed Apple fanboy baldy speccy git. In the end they said it was a draw on points but the iSheep edged it overall - absolute garbage.
If a negative is that underneath the good touchflo interface was clunky winmo and they didn't explain why that was an issue for them, then you could see the pathetic bias by the tools who present the show.
They didn't list the iSheep set of negatives did they.
•Its tied to the Apple App Store for downloadable content - music, video and apps etc.
•The OS is locked down and has to be ‘jail-broken’ (hacked) to enable functionality, phone has to be ‘re-jail-broken’ every time you upgrade the software.
•You can’t copy and paste.
•It has no GPS software with maps and voice navigation i.e. TomTom.
•It doesn't multi-task, you have to close your app to go to another and then re-open it if you go back.
•No FM radio.
•Safari doesn’t work with all web pages and technologies such as streaming video, flash and Java.
•It doesn’t support MMS.
•It doesn’t support Video recording.
•It doesn’t support Video calls.
•It doesn’t support memory cards.
•You can’t change the battery, it has to go back to Apple for an expensive 'service'.
•It supports less video and audio codecs that the HD.
•Reported poor battery life.
•The Bluetooth is mono.
•You can’t skin the interface or customise it like the HD.
•It has no Voice dialling or Voice control.
•It only a 2mps camera compared to the Touch HD’s 5mps.
•You have to use your finger, forget gloves on a cold day or a stylus.
•The Touch HD’s screen resolution is 2.5x the iPhone, is slightly bigger and definitely sharper.
•The Touch HD screen is 800 pixels wide and can display many web pages without reformatting.
•Every loser has an iPhone so they can look ‘cool’.
This list was compiled of the iSheep vs THD thread on here for a friend, if any of it is inaccurate (yes I know you can download stuff to overcome the out-of-box limitations) then its unlucky, certainly no worse than C5's Git Show.
crankshaft said:
Those twits on Gadget Show have no clucking idea! Especially the bold bloke.
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I find them all so patronising that I rarely ever watch it. Saw this though, and as usual the tests were laughable.
crankshaft said:
Those twits on Gadget Show have no clucking idea! Especially the bold bloke.
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Is that the 'old' bloke or the 'bald' bloke or both or does it not matter as they are both clueless spanners.
The latest edition of PC Pro has a slighly more subjective review of the latest smartphones where the HTC Touch HD scores better than the Iphone. Would tell you more but I was only browsing in WH Smith.
[Q] Why did the G1 go out in the first round?
[A] Becase it has a HW keyboard and then both HTC devices would have beat the iPhone.
P.S. Keep the swearing to a minimum, we arn't in the navy now
Ta
Dave
To reinforce their flippyness they went on to compare a Archos to a notenook and did a facebook event test that obviously the device with the sodding keyboard would win. Did they balance it by doing a 'fit in pocket' test - did they flip!
One's a computer the other a media player, you bunch of flips, its like comparing a car to a motorbike because they both transport you and complaining that the motorbike was colder and had less room for passengers.
Did I mention that they are flips?
DaveShaw said:
[Q] Why did the G1 go out in the first round?
[A] Becase it has a HW keyboard and then both HTC devices would have beat the iPhone.
P.S. Keep the swearing to a minimum, we arn't in the navy now
Ta
Dave
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Sorry, will tone it down.
Some of you really do need to get over yourselves
Here we have a show that:
- introduces the HD to the masses
- gave a (very) subjective comparison of the features that will concern most mobile phone users
- provided viewers with 3 alternatives to the iPhone
And yet all you can do is slag it off! This is a TV programme for the masses (not iPhone/WinMo fanboys) and doesn't try to pass itself off as some kind of Noughties version of Tommorrow's World - it's just a bit of fun and not meant to be a definative review of latest tech.
tommyturnip said:
Yes, the tests were crap and the show is about as tech savvy as my mum.
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Hehe..i could probably be your mum and you can find me here almost daily....
just to say not all mums are alike...
Agree, test was BS
Did this guy not have the smarts to notice the other keyboards built in? Why was he bent on using the baby keyboard and the stylus? He seemed to make it a point that it still needed a stylus which is bull! I use the stylus once a week if that (GSFinder file manager)! He also didn't make it clear that the TouchFlo system makes nice large menus for the fingers.
They really didn't want to step on the iPhone masses toes, huh?! Oh, poor babies!
Also, he could have been nice and quickly popped in another battery and really made the iPhone look foolish.
so, am i the only one that watches the gadget show for the eye candy ? i also thouight it was common knowledge that journalists know nothing...
iPhone v HD
A few thoughts:
I think that the iPhone "wins" because Apple has been able to focus and apply its considerable marketing skill in promoting this product and congratulations to them for that.
However, being the best marketed product does not mean that you have the "best" product and I would add that for some people the iPhone meets their functional needs.
The Touch HD has great flexibility for someone with the inclination to invest the time in the product to customise it for their own use. However, MS need to realise that having the best product sometimes is not always enough to win the race.
I started out using PDAs 8yrs ago with a Palm IIIc which was brilliant and was an ardent Palm fan until OS development stopped and fell behind.....
WM has the product lead but even this can be lost to Apple if they don't step up their game.
Having said all of that I understand that there is a Windows7 in the pipeline for mainstream windows and it would appear (to me) that WM7 may be being held back to align to Windows OS. However, MS realise they are behind in the game and therefore will be offering the 6.5 upgrade in H1 2009.
These are amateur thoughts guys as I don't work in the IT industry.
Seasons greetings to all and happy customising for 2009
The PC Pro review was what brought me to my new HD. The summary of features is very useful but it does miss tethering - yet another feature that the iPhone does not have - unless you jail-break it.
I agree with the Gadget show comments - for and against. The G1 was out for me as it won't work with Outlook and it feels cheap. The Blackberry Storm has no wifi (and the the Gadget Show was very critical of the the on-screen keyboard). The vote for the iPhone was a bit of a fix.
Cookie999 said:
Some of you really do need to get over yourselves
Here we have a show that:
- introduces the HD to the masses
- gave a (very) subjective comparison of the features that will concern most mobile phone users
- provided viewers with 3 alternatives to the iPhone
And yet all you can do is slag it off! This is a TV programme for the masses (not iPhone/WinMo fanboys) and doesn't try to pass itself off as some kind of Noughties version of Tommorrow's World - it's just a bit of fun and not meant to be a definative review of latest tech.
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We are only having a bit of fun slagging them off, no need for anyone to 'get over themselves'.
Nirak said:
Hehe..i could probably be your mum and you can find me here almost daily....
just to say not all mums are alike...
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???
Mum, is your real name Nirak?
Oh yeah! What's your mum like
Ok, I will try to keep this short...I just thought this was kinda weird.....
I called to return my phone today, and when they asked if I had any other issues with it (besides the back cover not lining up with the phone) I said yes..and I described how the screen does not let you have two fingers on the same axis and gave them this example: when I was playing 'Prince of Persia' and it had the direction buttons on the lower left of the screen and across on the lower right of the screen were the other 'action buttons' and when I press both they either both do not work or only one will work. Now the rep said 'Oh, well that is because the nexus one does not have multi touch...it has pinch to zoom' ...in my mind I was like "wth?" haha, but is this just their excuse for the Synaptic touch sensor? It seems more as though they are trying to justify it instead of owning up to it...well my response was refering to the Htc incredible and the Supersonic which have new touch sensors that work better and I said I had wished the nexus one had the same...the rep said she was not aware of an update for the problem, but it is not out of the question...(I wondered if she realized I was talking about hardware not software, although hardware can be updated as well just not as easily...)...
Umm I'm not sure how much that tech actually knows, because I was playing a game on my N1....idr the name of it but it was a first-person shooter, and I was able to use the on-screen movement controls AND look around by dragging my finger across the screen at the same time.
I think that's because they are on two different horizontal axes.
N1 can detect TWO touch points at the same time, and thats according to the touch sensor manufacturer. I think the game, Prince of Persia, is not efficient enough for detecting two points at the same time. We should wait till 19th May and see what Google brings for gaming scene on android...
yeah the update is right around the corner, so i would be curious to see if it fixes that issue.
but i would not expect some customer service rep to know a damn thing about the Y-axis issue or what model the touch screen is synaptics clearpad 2000. you're giving them way too much credit. they just know it has pinch to zoom, and that's the end of it.
anyway that game should work OK using 2 touch points, but i havent tried it to know for sure. i have seen that there are other games that use 2 points and they work fine. i guess the game crosses the Y-axis is when it would not work, but i didnt know any type of those games exist yet. i admit it sucks that this limitation is present.
The error occurs if the two fingers are on the same axis ...i.e. horizontal / vertical from each other ...but if it is diagonal it should work...even slightly diagonal should work unless the two points get close to each others axis....this is not a software issue and I surely would love to see it fixed with a software update but I doubt this will be so...only time will tell.....now I would not blame it on Prince of Persia...check other games with the same control layout and see how it works...or even try something without the same layout and just use one control and touch your finger on the same axis of the control and you will see the error occur....
It sucks, a BRAND NEW 2010 phone, over $500....and yet cannot even use proper multitouch...even my old iphone 2g works better in the multitouch aspect....(sad and disappointing) ...it has all these nice specs but the multi touch aspect kills it for me...
People expecting the N1 to not have any quirks make me laugh
ap3604 said:
People expecting the N1 to not have any quirks make me laugh
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so you are fine that a piece of hardware made 3 years ago out performs this new one? That is something that you normally expect eh?....hmm " " ....
erebusting said:
so you are fine that a piece of hardware made 3 years ago out performs this new one? That is something that you normally expect eh?....hmm " " ....
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Well actually I am.. but that's because I don't play poorly made games on my phone, at least not ones that require multi touch, and even then.. it doesn't really mess up though :/
If there are games that are actually made with quality for Android, that multi-touch is really required on.. then maybe I will then know your pain. Other than that, apps and etc. are pretty fine.
erebusting said:
so you are fine that a piece of hardware made 3 years ago out performs this new one? That is something that you normally expect eh?....hmm " " ....
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yes i am totally fine with it. maybe i live in reality but this minor design issue is NOTHING to worry about. i think some people are not well adjusted to the world....
RogerPodacter said:
yes i am totally fine with it. maybe i live in reality but this minor design issue is NOTHING to worry about. i think some people are not well adjusted to the world....
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your eggagerated response is funny, you live in 'reality' where you would pay top dollar for something supposedly top notch, but I think in REAL reality you would want the best for your money....basically would you pay $2.00 for a Ferrari/MaxTouch sensor or $2.00 for a pinto/Synaptic touch sensor ...... why not get the most for your money? are you just trying to make yourself feel better about the phone your are now basically stuck with?
Eclair~ said:
Well actually I am.. but that's because I don't play poorly made games on my phone, at least not ones that require multi touch, and even then.. it doesn't really mess up though :/
If there are games that are actually made with quality for Android, that multi-touch is really required on.. then maybe I will then know your pain. Other than that, apps and etc. are pretty fine.
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Click to collapse
wth are you talking about...'made with quality for Android, that multi-touch is really required on.'...? this is a hardware issue, how does it matter how good or bad the game is made, the hardware supersedes the software in this case....
I guess the real thing is, as long as you are all happy with your non multi touch phone/ the 'pinch to zoom' phone...
haha
yes i am totally fine with it. maybe i live in reality but this minor design issue is NOTHING to worry about. i think some people are not well adjusted to the world....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your eggagerated response is funny, you live in 'reality' where you would pay top dollar for something supposedly top notch, but I think in REAL reality you would want the best for your money....basically would you pay $2.00 for a Ferrari/MaxTouch sensor or $2.00 for a pinto/Synaptic touch sensor ...... why not get the most for your money? are you just trying to make yourself feel better about the phone your are now basically stuck with?
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Click to collapse
I don't know why you think the nexus price is any different than any other smartphone. its actually cheaper than most smartphones.
my response is not exaggerated at all. I'm happy with my phone 100%.
RogerPodacter said:
I don't know why you think the nexus price is any different than any other smartphone. its actually cheaper than most smartphones.
my response is not exaggerated at all. I'm happy with my phone 100%.
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well that is not what the discussion was about now any ways right(the price)...the price is another issue, but for being the same price as about any other smartphone while some of those smart phones can do proper multitouch and with the same or better specs, why would you want to limit yourself if you could choose the best...
disregard the exaggerated comment because it just brings up another discussion for another day
just answer this...
wouldnt you want the best you can get for the hard earned money you spend?
I understand this phone is great...I believe it should have been at least a little bit better than what it came out to be...
i can't think of two (one isn't really worth the think) reasons for a multi-touch sensor. pinch/zoom seems to work well for maps and pictures. not being a gamer means a good deal of drama is lost on me i suppose.
as far as the price of the n1, and being 'stuck' with the phone... that's laughable. anyone can sell their n1 TONIGHT on ebay or craigslist for 100% of what they paid for it from google, and then some in certain cases. smart phones co$t MONEY. beit an iphone, n1, n97, or whatever is going to be badass next summer. i _LIKE_ the idea of buying off contract, using a NO CONTRACT carrier, and selling/leaving when i want.
should a N1 come out for att/whoever without contract, with a sweet keyboard like the G1, i'd switch overnight. water proof ? i'm there. 12 mp camera with HD and a gig of rom space ? sweet.
this is more a rant thread than a progress in motion thread. if you feel you've been wronged or led by false advertising, sell your phone. get one that does everything you have to have. i don't recall anyone saying "holy **** it haz multi-touch i gotta haz it !!!!!" when the n1 was released.
that was much longer than i expected. shoulda just said "lol" and left it.
erebusting said:
wth are you talking about...'made with quality for Android, that multi-touch is really required on.'...? this is a hardware issue, how does it matter how good or bad the game is made, the hardware supersedes the software in this case....
I guess the real thing is, as long as you are all happy with your non multi touch phone/ the 'pinch to zoom' phone...
haha
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Click to collapse
When I said made with quality, I was saying how much quality are put into Android's games. I was referring nothing to hardware issues.
Most Android games (to me) are horrible little 2D games that get boring in a few minutes. I don't even really "want" to play them, so therefore I don't need a complicated multi touch system until 'quality' games are made. Games that are worth playing for more than a few seconds, sadly to say, iPhone type games. Google is trying, though.
The only application that "plays" the games I want to play is GameBoid, where the multi-touch works perfectly. I can hold down a directional input, along with B, or A, and reform actions that result in those two presses perfectly. Such as running.
You seem to love to whine though, you did pay a lot for this phone though, I guess I would be pissed if this really mattered to me as well. Right now I'm like "whatever, who cares". It does what I want..
I don't know why you think the nexus price is any different than any other smartphone. its actually cheaper than most smartphones.
my response is no
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well that is not what the discussion was about now any ways right(the price)...the price is another issue, but for being the same price as about any other smartphone while some of those smart phones can do proper multitouch and with the same or better specs, why would you want to limit yourself if you could choose the best...
disregard the exaggerated comment because it just brings up another discussion for another day
just answer this...
wouldnt you want the best you can get for the hard earned money you spend?
I understand this phone is great...I believe it should have been at least a little bit better than what it came out to be...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've owned so many phones in my life, and every single one of them had some type of issue, defect, missing feature, or whatever. if the only complaint about the nexus is this one minor issue, than I say its a winner.
great so the original iPhone could do it, but it couldn't do pics with a flash, or copy/paste, or mms. so what scenario is better/worse? I say the nexus is the better situation by leaps and bounds.
if this issue is important to you then you should switch phones. for me its not that important. my Nokia n97 had a faulty camera lens issue that scratched itself when opening. every phone has its quirks. if the nexus ones quirk is this Y axis issue, then I proclaim we all are winners with such a minor issue.
erebusting said:
so you are fine that a piece of hardware made 3 years ago out performs this new one? That is something that you normally expect eh?....hmm " " ....
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Click to collapse
and it took the iphone how long until they got copy and Paste? that wait winMo had since the ipaq days
or wait MMS?
hm whatever? does it do bluetooth file transfers yet? without needing alternative programs?
even myk750 from sony does bluetooth lol
habs101 said:
and it took the iphone how long until they got copy and Paste? that wait winMo had since the ipaq days
or wait MMS?
hm whatever? does it do bluetooth file transfers yet? without needing alternative programs?
even myk750 from sony does bluetooth lol
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lol that is not the point, I was just saying that when I heard it was able to do multi touch I thought it was going to be like the iPhone's multitouch ...since that tech is now older tech I thought it was implied that it would have equal or better multi touch especially since everything else is definately better...The iPhone was a competitor for a while there and you would think they would have beefed up the multitouch (or at least made it on par) since they beefed up every other aspect....
haha damn, this IS becomming a 'rant' thread...sorry on my behalf for that didn't mean for it to come to that ...I am irritating myself right now with this thread... I just wanted to bring up what the rep had said it was kind of odd to hear that....but the issue she was referring to is something that bugs me..
Now in reference to the gba emulator comment, I haven't tried it but the SNES emu works fine (it has the directional pad diagonally across from the buttons, so it does not suffer from the so called 'y axis' error)
BTW I have some Nexus Cases, anyone interested ?
erebusting said:
wth are you talking about...'made with quality for Android, that multi-touch is really required on.'...? this is a hardware issue, how does it matter how good or bad the game is made, the hardware supersedes the software in this case....
I guess the real thing is, as long as you are all happy with your non multi touch phone/ the 'pinch to zoom' phone...
haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, go get the best you can get for your money, i guess. Some people are satisfied with their nexus ones (nexii?)
erebusting said:
lol that is not the point, I was just saying that when I heard it was able to do multi touch I thought it was going to be like the iPhone's multitouch ...since that tech is now older tech I thought it was implied that it would have equal or better multi touch especially since everything else is definately better...The iPhone was a competitor for a while there and you would think they would have beefed up the multitouch (or at least made it on par) since they beefed up every other aspect....
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Click to collapse
The iphone and the nexus are not competitors, strictly speaking. The devices are competing in different classes. If you feel that they are, you could probably do some research, which would give you a good idea of how they compare.
Less ranting please.
Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY 4G Review
"Bringing mobile smartphone gaming out of the touch-screen ghetto has never been better!"
The review's done, but I'm sure some tweaks could be made before it's truly complete.
Tell me what'cha think! Feel free to let me know if there's any extremely crucial things I neglected to mention.
I think you've been overly enthusiastic. You've failed to mention some shortcomings which may be important:
1) The device is meant to play games, but acquiring them is not something necessarily automatic. Gameloft, EA and others have been getting away with redirecting the user to their own stores and complicating the buying experience needlessly. And let's not forget the puny internal memory. The device is meant to play games, and the user is not supposed to go to XDA and find his hacks. Another jack-of-all-trades like the Samsung Galaxy S does have a lot of internal storage.
2) The device is meant to play PSX games (or so says Sony), but more than 6 months after it's out, there are none of those games for Verizon users and there are 6 (six, sechs, seis) games for the international ones. Let's not forget the absence of two shoulder buttons either. That shows that Sony wasn't taking the device seriously as for its retro-gaming experience.
3) The buttons were all designed and placed by a drugged monkey throwing darts at a drawing. The power button, which you actually should be able to access without looking at the device, is etched in, making it hard to find. And to make matters worse, the LED which is supposed to NOTIFY you of things is practically invisible, located there. The volume buttons are hard to press and barely indistinguishable. Did I mention you should be able to locate and distinguish them in the dark too, as you may be actually listening to music on your device?
The Play has the virtue of being a very lovable device: once you actually grab it, it's what you say, the jack-of-all-trades that many of us gamers have been dreaming of since we were little. Plus, the software side is good and it's been improving with time. Once it gets phased out with time we will fondly remember it and probably keep playing games on it because it plays them so flawlessly, and it will probably last us a lot of time because it does everything quite well. However, you need to spend time with it to know its beauties and get over its quirks. None of that is needed with the good old Galaxy S2, with its freaking gorgeous supercolored screen and its huge size and its super-fast everything.
Here is a six-month review which you may have read already, made by the great XperiaBlog team: http://www.xperiablog.net/2011/10/11/xperia-play-six-month-review/ As you can see, they're mostly in agreement with you, but there are other things to consider aside of how well it plays games and how all-around nice it is.
Logseman said:
I think you've been overly enthusiastic. You've failed to mention some shortcomings which may be important:
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I can see how the general point of me being overly enthusiastic could be true because I am enthusiastic about it... but I most certainly did mention the puny 400MB memory (twice, by mistake - making one mention sound totally out of place) as well as the notification light (which I also re-iterated a number of times).
The PSX emulation is a good point, but without PS Suite even being here, I have nothing to judge except that "filler" PlayStation Pocket app that not every R800 version has/can use. I could state the lack of PS Suite, but that's along the same lines as judging an unborn child for not ensuring the future of a family's business.
BTW, the lack of 2 triggers has already been accounted for... I'm sure you've seen the option of putting L2/R2 on the screen that PlayStation Pocket has (very effective IMO) and probably just didn't remember though.
Market division is also a good point - but that's not really something I can blame on the Xperia PLAY. It's EA and Gameloft's decision to fragment the market and that applies to all Android devices that can play their games. If anything, bringing that up would easily turn into a pro instead of a con since Xperia PLAY's Game Launcher congregates all that into one so that getting to the external markets is made just a bit simpler.
Still though, good stuff... I already have some ideas for changes.
Logseman said:
2) The device is meant to play PSX games (or so says Sony), but more than 6 months after it's out, there are none of those games for Verizon users and there are 6 (six, sechs, seis) games for the international ones.
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Just a small correction, in Europe there are 10 (ten, zehn, dez) PSX games available:
Cool Boarder 2
Destruction Derby
Jumping Flash
MediEvil
Syphon Filter
Kula World
Everybody's Golf 2
Jet Rider
Syphon Filter 3
WipEout
Excellent review! I'm glad you recognized how awesome this phone is, but I feel like the GPS should have been more prominent. I mean, the Xperia Play has the best in-phone GPS I've ever used. I get a lock within seconds.
Once again great job on the review!
Two more quick things it seems, everyone else left off as shortcomings:
1. Finger prints on the screen: I had a Droid 1, wife has a Droid2 and 3 AND my Xperia seems to be the worst when it comes to fingerprints by far. I remember reading some early review a while back that also said the same thing. It seems the glass is missing some coating?
2. The 4 Android buttons do NOT light up!!
I still think this is horrible and can't believe Sony let this one leave the factory like this. AND to top things off, the buttons are placed next too each other. So in the dark NOT only can you not tell what button is which, u can't even see where one button starts and the other ends.
Yes, otherwise the review was very nice and I really need to check out that "hack" to move more apps to the SD card. The 400mb is another ridiculous thing.
PS: My last big dig is this one:
I love my phone as I assume all of you Xperia Play users do. BUT one of my biggest fears is that there is no follow-up.....where dose that leave us? The people that clearly love to be able to play games on our phones with physical buttons. Carrying around our old, deactivated (as a cell phone) WiFi only Xperia Play to use to play games. I really think Sony had something here but definitely fouled it up. From coming out in the US and the world 3 to 6 months later than it should to poor marketing to, still in my opinion, few games. Honestly, I still can not believe how big of a sales disappointment this phone has become. I was really expecting this phone to take off!!! It really had a niche and not just another iPhone wannabee copy. If you disagree I ask you two questions:
1. Have you ever actually seen/ met in person anyone else who has one?
2. Not every Verizon store carried the phone even when it was newer. (This was back in July)
Sad, I know.....
I haven't had a chance to read any of the reviews yet, but did anyone note that the buttons are way too hard to press without activating something on the screen due to the very small gap? I installed an Otterbox Commuter case which puts a ridge around the bottom so now it's almost impossible for me to press a key without also tapping on the screen. It was already difficult enough without the case but you could at least take note and be careful. Now I keep accidentally deleting email and such while I'm DELIBERATELY trying to avoid touching the screen!
I don't know what some of you are complaining about tbh, the only problem with the buttons is why did they bother putting a search button on it? Who actualy uses the search button?
And the fingerprint thing, I don't know if it's all models, but you realise there's a screen protector on it, right?
The only problem I haven't seen mentioned is the auto-rotate is abit to eager for a phone that big. Using it one handed and trying to press something on the left side of the screen often ends with the whole thing rotating when I don't want it to.
shiftylock said:
Excellent review! I'm glad you recognized how awesome this phone is, but I feel like the GPS should have been more prominent. I mean, the Xperia Play has the best in-phone GPS I've ever used. I get a lock within seconds.
Once again great job on the review!
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Thanks! And now that you mention it, the GPS is quite a bit snappier than it is on any other device I've used... then again, only ones I've used are the Xperia X10, my dad's Archos 500GB and my bro's Motorola Atrix.
It's made even a bit better because the original FW's had some serious connection issues. I had WiFi and GPS connection issues all the time, but 2.3.4 seems to just make everything absolutely badass.
The Alpha Gamer said:
The only problem I haven't seen mentioned is the auto-rotate is abit to eager for a phone that big. Using it one handed and trying to press something on the left side of the screen often ends with the whole thing rotating when I don't want it to.
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I notice that a bit too when trying to browse the net in bed. Sounds a bit nitpicky and it definitely isn't a dealbreaker, but just for the sake of my review not being just raw, unstoppable praise, I might find some way to work that in
The Alpha Gamer said:
Who actualy uses the search button?
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I do
It's a bit easier for me when searching the market, it quickly leads you to the "Xperia PLAY Optimized" search results of the market when you're in the Xperia PLAY Game Launcher, and you can tie a long-press function to it (if you're one of the people who care about stuff like voice controlling your phone while driving with Vlingo).
the Xperia play has its flaws, but I personally love the device and it will last me another year before I invest in newer devices.
TheCraig said:
the Xperia play has its flaws, but I personally love the device and it will last me another year before I invest in newer devices.
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At the rate it's getting games, I'm definitely gonna be interested more than a year
I was originally gonna go for raw power, but now that I have this phone in a place where I can measure and compare against my friends that have the Atrix, EVO 3D and Galaxy S2... Xperia PLAY, with it's Adreno-accelerated single-core is running Dead Space and Samurai II: Vengeance just as smoothly as the *top-tier* phones. Sorta makes me wonder what the point of all that power is.
TLRtheory said:
At the rate it's getting games, I'm definitely gonna be interested more than a year
I was originally gonna go for raw power, but now that I have this phone in a place where I can measure and compare against my friends that have the Atrix, EVO 3D and Galaxy S2... Xperia PLAY, with it's Adreno-accelerated single-core is running Dead Space and Samurai II: Vengeance just as smoothly as the *top-tier* phones. Sorta makes me wonder what the point of all that power is.
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Yeah I remember in July/August it had about half the games it has right now, Gameloft are optimizing one of their games at least once a month now, Xperia play is almost a year old and only now its getting good games.
The Alpha Gamer said:
Who actualy uses the search button?
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I use long pressing on the search button to pull up Quickdesk which I really like for multitasking.
You're right that I don't use the search button for anything else, but that's why it's a perfect shortcut key for Quickdesk. I would be sad if there was no search button
Totally read this title as "After 5 MINUTES of ownership..." Hahaha. Oops! Anyway, I think anyone who has an Xplay loves the crap out of it. It's a shame more people aren't picking it up, it's truly the ultimate device, even if just for the emulator/gamepad duo amazingness alone! I love this phone so dang much.
OK, so I've now read your real-world usage reviews and I have to ask: Did neither of you guys notice the complete lack of a timer or notes application?
With no prior Android experience and coming from the perspective as a long-time iOS user who is also very critical of iOS, I considered it a shortcoming of Android to have no base functionality to compare to such basic tasks for a smartphone.
Now, what's with the lack of features that they promote on their website? They once promoted a 3D Panorama image capture function but they killed it for some reason and edited it out of the feature list online. I suspect that this is due to the faulty/erratic motion sensor problems. I noticed last week on the same feature list that they were still promoting a screen capture tool activated by the power button when, even after updating, there was no such function. After mentioning it on their forums, there is now a "To enjoy this feature, you may need to update your phone software." message under it and another feature that isn't there yet even with the most current update: Gesture input function. The Verizon version has that message on an additional feature: The front facing camera with various video chat support.
I also find some of the "optimized" games have TERRIBLE default controls for it. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a good example. Download the demo and just try aiming with the virtual analog sticks and you'll right back to using the infinitely-better touch screen in disgust. Perhaps some mention could be made of it? Shadowgun isn't much better.
Erikwithafro said:
Totally read this title as "After 5 MINUTES of ownership..." Hahaha. Oops! Anyway, I think anyone who has an Xplay loves the crap out of it. It's a shame more people aren't picking it up, it's truly the ultimate device, even if just for the emulator/gamepad duo amazingness alone! I love this phone so dang much.
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That's what tells me that there must be something seriously wrong with mine.
Everything I did would hang, FC, crash, or chug. Even emulators were a problem. I just exchanged it so we'll see how things go.
You see, you have been a victim of AT&T, and of poor marketing. We R800i owners have screenshots, a proper front-facing camera and so on. No 3D panorama, of course, we didn't expect it with our crappy camera.
By the way, the lack of a default timer and notes app (among others which ch are natively offered in iOS) is something paradigmatic. It means that you can download them yourself. If you have seen some Android forums, you may have found many people who are developing ROMs and content which wipes most of the phone's default applications. People don't necessarily value what comes with the phone.
Nice review the play is getting better with all the new games.
SE have also supported their whole XPERIA line extremely well I say they have come from being the worst to the best .
Don't worry anout some of the critics of your review no phone is perfect, this is a very good first attempt at a gaming SmartPhone. Lets hope SE make a sequel.
ministroni said:
I use long pressing on the search button to pull up Quickdesk which I really like for multitasking.
You're right that I don't use the search button for anything else, but that's why it's a perfect shortcut key for Quickdesk. I would be sad if there was no search button
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Hehe, I actually use it for Auto Rotate Switch off app. I find the Xplay to rotate way too often if I tilt it just a little bit. Gets annoying at times.
Oh god I love my play so much. I thought about getting the galaxy nexus!! But no SD card slot no dice I have a 32 gb card won't let it collect dust.
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
enerp8 said:
Just a small correction, in Europe there are 10 (ten, zehn, dez) PSX games available:
Cool Boarder 2
Destruction Derby
Jumping Flash
MediEvil
Syphon Filter
Kula World
Everybody's Golf 2
Jet Rider
Syphon Filter 3
WipEout
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Click to collapse
Can anyone confirm that its possible to purchases these if you change the market's region or are will still stuck with it recognizing US hardware revisions?
Thought I would post this to the community for a light reading..
Behind the scenes the big money is gearing up for the takeover of the car console and one way to do this is via these systems.
If you haven't read how much "Here Maps" sold for the do a google search on it.. that and we already see cross interface information from Waze showing up in Google maps..
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/volvo-google-android-infotainment-polestar-2/
Interesting enough.. the banter had with another poster on "interaction" of these units while driving brings up the point of liability.
If a driver is using these systems and crashes and
a: kills someone
b: kills themselves..
c: hurts or maim
Then it could be argued that the units are at fault..
Of course this is wear motion sensors come into play in that the acknowledgement screen is presented and agreed that the driver is not the one controlling the screen..
Thus hands free kits on steering wheels should in theory get better.. ie maybe trackpads embedded into the steering wheel.. so it's controlled by feel like a mouse so no need for eyes off road..
Please note just theories here and shouldn't be be taken as "as driver shouldn't have a licence if they use this while driving type ultimatum. As it's a bigger discussion then that..
And another one..
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/01/t...ce-is-heating-up-and-will-be-won-in-software/
I am guessing that there are a few readers as most of us that have been early adopters are also interested in the code and tech behind the unit's we use..
As this last article states.. the space is only going to get hotter with this amount of money getting thrown at it.
Mind you that doesn't do anything for those poor bigger suffering from low quality mish mash of parts that are featured in these units we have got.
Hats off to those that tinker with the hardware and develop the roms.
Your making the world a better place for us plebs that are end users and don't have the knowledge or time and just want all our wishes in one little box to work..
dgcruzing said:
And another one..
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/01/t...ce-is-heating-up-and-will-be-won-in-software/
Mind you that doesn't do anything for those poor bigger suffering from low quality mish mash of parts that are featured in these units we have got.
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I've honestly started to wonder what it would take to design and build a higher quality unit. Everything about these Chinese units we're all using is terrible, non-ergonomic and buggy. From the glossy, cheap screens, to the power supplies that seem to cause most of the poor quality audio issues on the newer units…
I'd pay more for something better.
Yes, I think most of us here would.
As 30+ years ago I spent 2 weeks wages on getting the best system I could for the car back then..
LOL, Apprenticeship wages and that was a 45 hour week ..
When you think about it, most of us are using $1,000+ phones thus if and when there is consistency with this equipment then I am sure that is a price point that could be achieved.
Just need one of the majors to really have a go at it much like some have with the TV setup box's.
With luck, an extension of the Google Home devices into the car is on the way soon enough.
Understand at the moment that Android Auto is being perfected at the moment for this very day.