Related
I would consider myself as an Android advanced user. I've had the G1, MyTouch 3G, NexusOne and Droid X. I've purchased each device the day it was released and I've helped dozens of people switch from dumbphones and Iphones to Android. I've rooted, used custom ROMs, etc. Additionally, my company is very much google-based (Gmail, docs, and talk are all core components to how we do business).
I really expected the Xoom to deliver greater capabilities than my Android phones, primarily for consuming media and viewing AND editing spreadsheets.
I pre-ordered the Xoom and picked it up yesterday morning (2nd in line out of 12+) and after less than 24 hours I've decided to return it. Primarily it is because I can actually do MORE with my Driod X than I can with the Xoom based on my daily usage. The biggest pains/frustrations I have with the Xoom are:
Lack of flash support/real browser: I know it's coming "in a few weeks" but in the meanwhile when I want to read news items with flash videos, browse "real" sites or play flash games, I have to actually pull out my phone because the Xoom can't do it! I should be able to pull up my browser, visit any media site and start consuming media. Instead I'm limited to standard browsing. With this much processing power and the huge screen it's absolutely ridiculous that the device doesn't include a full-featured browser!
Apps: The lack of tablet-optimized apps is extremely frustrating. All the apps I need to use work just fine on my Droid X. I was hoping for additional functionality on the Xoom, but it's actually worse because some of my regular-use apps are quite buggy on the Xoom (e.g., spreadsheets in DocumentsToGo simply does not work).
Having to carry both a charging cable AND a USB cable...it's just ridiculous.
Mobile Google Docs: because Google Docs is such an important tool for my business I NEED full google docs capabilities. The processing power in this device is FAR superior to that of my netbook, why can't they put that to use? Spreadsheets in Google Docs mobile is absolutely useless.
Bugs: In the market, clicking on "my apps" always loads the most recently installed app rather than loading the "my apps" list in Market. Additionally, pausing a movie and attempting to browse back to the movie list in Gallery fails, so I have to browse to Home, load Gallery and then browse back to the movie list.
Lack of DLNA. On my Droid X or NexusOne I'm able to access my media, download it, upload it, or stream it from any computer on my home network. With the Xoom I can't. So, if I want to watch a movie while sitting in bed I have to connect the Xoom to my PC, download the movie, disconnect it and then I'm ready to watch. In this case the Xoom is a DISCONNECTED media device...I haven't owned a disconnected media device for 1 1/2 years! Ridiculous! I should be able to jump on the network, browse for media and start streaming, but it's impossible with the Xoom.
I'm frustrated that this device - which cost FOUR TIMES what my cutting-edge phone cost can't even keep up.
What are your thoughts? Are there solutions for the issues above that I'm just not aware of? Have any of you experienced similar frustrations?
P.S. the battery life and screen are really cool, but I don't see any significant improvements in Honeycomb over Froyo...maybe I should go buy a Galaxy Tab?
I'd say give it at least until your 14 day return period.
When the iPad came out, I had a friend who got it first day (He's an Apple fanboy...the annoying kind. lol) He whined and moaned for two weeks about there not being any iPad oriented apps. Now he defends the iPad like it's the holy grail.
Just give it time. The XOOM's main purpose at this point is to give developers a platform for developing on Android tablets. They JUST got the thing, so it might be a little while.
The charger thing is kind of frustrating, but I'm not going to let that ruin it for me. My backpack has plenty of pockets.
mitchweight said:
I would consider myself as an Android advanced user. I've had the G1, MyTouch 3G, NexusOne and Droid X. I've purchased each device the day it was released and I've helped dozens of people switch from dumbphones and Iphones to Android. I've rooted, used custom ROMs, etc. Additionally, my company is very much google-based (Gmail, docs, and talk are all core components to how we do business).
I really expected the Xoom to deliver greater capabilities than my Android phones, primarily for consuming media and viewing AND editing spreadsheets.
I pre-ordered the Xoom and picked it up yesterday morning (2nd in line out of 12+) and after less than 24 hours I've decided to return it. Primarily it is because I can actually do MORE with my Driod X than I can with the Xoom based on my daily usage. The biggest pains/frustrations I have with the Xoom are:
Lack of flash support/real browser: I know it's coming "in a few weeks" but in the meanwhile when I want to read news items with flash videos, browse "real" sites or play flash games, I have to actually pull out my phone because the Xoom can't do it! I should be able to pull up my browser, visit any media site and start consuming media. Instead I'm limited to standard browsing. With this much processing power and the huge screen it's absolutely ridiculous that the device doesn't include a full-featured browser!
Apps: The lack of tablet-optimized apps is extremely frustrating. All the apps I need to use work just fine on my Droid X. I was hoping for additional functionality on the Xoom, but it's actually worse because some of my regular-use apps are quite buggy on the Xoom (e.g., spreadsheets in DocumentsToGo simply does not work).
Having to carry both a charging cable AND a USB cable...it's just ridiculous.
Mobile Google Docs: because Google Docs is such an important tool for my business I NEED full google docs capabilities. The processing power in this device is FAR superior to that of my netbook, why can't they put that to use? Spreadsheets in Google Docs mobile is absolutely useless.
Bugs: In the market, clicking on "my apps" always loads the most recently installed app rather than loading the "my apps" list in Market. Additionally, pausing a movie and attempting to browse back to the movie list in Gallery fails, so I have to browse to Home, load Gallery and then browse back to the movie list.
Lack of DLNA. On my Droid X or NexusOne I'm able to access my media, download it, upload it, or stream it from any computer on my home network. With the Xoom I can't. So, if I want to watch a movie while sitting in bed I have to connect the Xoom to my PC, download the movie, disconnect it and then I'm ready to watch. In this case the Xoom is a DISCONNECTED media device...I haven't owned a disconnected media device for 1 1/2 years! Ridiculous! I should be able to jump on the network, browse for media and start streaming, but it's impossible with the Xoom.
I'm frustrated that this device - which cost FOUR TIMES what my cutting-edge phone cost can't even keep up.
What are your thoughts? Are there solutions for the issues above that I'm just not aware of? Have any of you experienced similar frustrations?
P.S. the battery life and screen are really cool, but I don't see any significant improvements in Honeycomb over Froyo...maybe I should go buy a Galaxy Tab?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, no offense but your entire post you seem like a whiney little kid. Your a early adopter of a device and complaining on this forum about early adopter syndrome.
Flash? Man i'm sick of seeing flash post's as flash is becoming irrelevant. iPad(#1 tablet) doesn't even have flash. Get over yourself.
Apps? O-M-G the Tablet has been out a grand total of 1 day. You surprised they don't have apps? Wow...
Bugs? It's Honeycomb fool it was just released!!!!!!!!!!
Streaming media... Bro the device has been out 1 day.
All your points sound so dumb...
Sorry to hear bout your frustrations. But it is what early adopters are supposed to be. We pretty much for the device to test it. Google will indeed update the software and makes this experience on honeycomb better. Your frustrations are largely because of apps developers have not yet update
their apps. Hope you'll come back here soon once this thing is updated in a few months.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
I don't know, but if I read your reasoning it looks like you already knew before you buy or you need to just postpone your purchase.
1. You can postpone your purchase until Flash 10.2 available
2. You can postpone your purchase until all your apps are available in Honeycomb version
3. I agree with this, but charging this beast via USB will take long long long time!
4. You can postpone your purchase until Google doc updated
5. Hmmm, I think this is normal, right? At least in my Nexus S is like this.
6. You should know this before you buy the Xoom
jamaicansolja said:
Man, no offense but your entire post you seem like a whiney little kid. Your a early adopter of a device and complaining on this forum about early adopter syndrome.
Flash? Man i'm sick of seeing flash post's as flash is becoming irrelevant. iPad(#1 tablet) doesn't even have flash. Get over yourself.
Apps? O-M-G the Tablet has been out a grand total of 1 day. You surprised they don't have apps? Wow...
Bugs? It's Honeycomb fool it was just released!!!!!!!!!!
Streaming media... Bro the device has been out 1 day.
All your points sound so dumb...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AMEN Brotha!
jamaicansolja said:
Man, no offense but your entire post you seem like a whiney little kid. Your a early adopter of a device and complaining on this forum about early adopter syndrome.
Flash? Man i'm sick of seeing flash post's as flash is becoming irrelevant. iPad(#1 tablet) doesn't even have flash. Get over yourself.
Apps? O-M-G the Tablet has been out a grand total of 1 day. You surprised they don't have apps? Wow...
Bugs? It's Honeycomb fool it was just released!!!!!!!!!!
Streaming media... Bro the device has been out 1 day.
All your points sound so dumb...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash is still present on a lot of the internet. People are buying Android tablets because they want Flash. If they didn't, they'd already own an iPad. You can down play it if you want, but it's supposed to be a huge advantage of Android.
The tablet's been out one day, but the iPad had several tablet-specific apps ready on day 1 and from what I hear did a good job of scaling up phone apps so they were at least usable on the iPad. Google has had a year to catch up and to find a way to make most phone apps translate properly to Honeycomb. It's not a big complaint of mine, but it's a valid complaint.
Bugs are bugs. Nobody has to like them, but it's what you get with a new OS.
Streaming media is what most tablets are used for, it should work.
Why are you insulting him for expressing what he doesn't like about it? He's offering constructive criticism about the Xoom.
mitchweight said:
I'm frustrated that this device - which cost FOUR TIMES what my cutting-edge phone cost can't even keep up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually it's 1.4 times the cost of your phone. Comparing the subsidized cost of your Droid X to the retail cost of the Xoom is a bit uneven. The retail of the Droid X was $560ish when I bought mine a few weeks ago, making it 1.4 times.
mitchweight said:
I would consider myself as an Android advanced user. I've had the G1, MyTouch 3G, NexusOne and Droid X. I've purchased each device the day it was released and I've helped dozens of people switch from dumbphones and Iphones to Android. I've rooted, used custom ROMs, etc. Additionally, my company is very much google-based (Gmail, docs, and talk are all core components to how we do business).
I really expected the Xoom to deliver greater capabilities than my Android phones, primarily for consuming media and viewing AND editing spreadsheets.
I pre-ordered the Xoom and picked it up yesterday morning (2nd in line out of 12+) and after less than 24 hours I've decided to return it. Primarily it is because I can actually do MORE with my Driod X than I can with the Xoom based on my daily usage. The biggest pains/frustrations I have with the Xoom are:
Lack of flash support/real browser: I know it's coming "in a few weeks" but in the meanwhile when I want to read news items with flash videos, browse "real" sites or play flash games, I have to actually pull out my phone because the Xoom can't do it! I should be able to pull up my browser, visit any media site and start consuming media. Instead I'm limited to standard browsing. With this much processing power and the huge screen it's absolutely ridiculous that the device doesn't include a full-featured browser!
Apps: The lack of tablet-optimized apps is extremely frustrating. All the apps I need to use work just fine on my Droid X. I was hoping for additional functionality on the Xoom, but it's actually worse because some of my regular-use apps are quite buggy on the Xoom (e.g., spreadsheets in DocumentsToGo simply does not work).
Having to carry both a charging cable AND a USB cable...it's just ridiculous.
Mobile Google Docs: because Google Docs is such an important tool for my business I NEED full google docs capabilities. The processing power in this device is FAR superior to that of my netbook, why can't they put that to use? Spreadsheets in Google Docs mobile is absolutely useless.
Bugs: In the market, clicking on "my apps" always loads the most recently installed app rather than loading the "my apps" list in Market. Additionally, pausing a movie and attempting to browse back to the movie list in Gallery fails, so I have to browse to Home, load Gallery and then browse back to the movie list.
Lack of DLNA. On my Droid X or NexusOne I'm able to access my media, download it, upload it, or stream it from any computer on my home network. With the Xoom I can't. So, if I want to watch a movie while sitting in bed I have to connect the Xoom to my PC, download the movie, disconnect it and then I'm ready to watch. In this case the Xoom is a DISCONNECTED media device...I haven't owned a disconnected media device for 1 1/2 years! Ridiculous! I should be able to jump on the network, browse for media and start streaming, but it's impossible with the Xoom.
I'm frustrated that this device - which cost FOUR TIMES what my cutting-edge phone cost can't even keep up.
What are your thoughts? Are there solutions for the issues above that I'm just not aware of? Have any of you experienced similar frustrations?
P.S. the battery life and screen are really cool, but I don't see any significant improvements in Honeycomb over Froyo...maybe I should go buy a Galaxy Tab?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of curiosity, why not use one of the streaming service apps from the market? I use VLC Stream & Convert Pro. Works for me (haven't tried it yet on my Xoom, but can't imagine why it wouldnt work).
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.gmail.traveldevel.android.vlc.license
only the strong survive
Early adopters are a rare breed. especially in the google expereince.
you have to except that google moves fast, but not in a bugless manner. regardless its something people can deal with and are fine with.
i bought it, i enjoy it, and i can see the areas of needed improvement. but im happy, because im all android and trust in google making this a great experience. maybe its not on day one, but through google/dev support it will sure enough be a great package.
my suggestion:if you were expecting perfection. you are not a early adopter. your a brat.
buyers remorse threads from complainers should be deleted on any forum.
falconeight said:
buyers remorse threads from complainers should be deleted on any forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/thread
10chars
I honestly don't see too much reason to complain about some bugs in the device at this early stage. The device hardware-wise is awesome (disliking how much fingerprints get on it, but meh, I carry a cleaning cloth around), and Google will only keep updating Android to make it run better.
Software support from 3rd party developers will catch up quickly. In less than 24 hours, the number of apps in the Android for Tablet section nearly doubled since I bought the Xoom yesterday morning.
It's rootable, the bootloader is unlockable, and once the source goes live, I know some of the really talented devs out here will start picking apart bugs in the source and making some really sick custom ROMS for the Xoom.
Yeah, there's some inconvenience with using the device, certainly Honeycomb has its share of bugs, and some missing features that really should have been a part of the OS at launch. But after showing my Xoom to a couple people at work that have iPads, they were completely blown away by how tablet-like Honeycomb is. In fact the most-used remark was "It's not a giant phone."
All-in-all, I'm very happy with my Xoom, and can't wait to see what the future holds for this device.
Rebuttal:
1- Lack of Flash. You are an early adopter.
2- Apps. You are an early adopter.
3- Charging complaints. Typical of tablets - that's not going to change.
4- Google Docs. Early adopter.
5- Bugs. Early adopter.
6- Lack of DLNA. Early adopter, this could come later (or it might not).
See the pattern? You pre-ordered with assumptions, and those assumptions were wrong. In the case of Flash, it was more of an 11th hour change but it was still before release.
In all honesty, none of the things you've mentioned surprise me in the least. Probably my only real complaint with the device so far is that the microSD isn't working yet - that's something they should have gotten fixed before release since it's a blatant hardware problem.
Thanks for all the feedback. I understand the early adopter pains, and to be fair, Droid X and froyo are pretty mature platforms. When Honeycomb becomes mature I'm sure it will be killer.
While I know Google was trying to steal some thunder from the iPad 2 announcement, I think they would have gotten a lot more mainstream traction if they had addressed some of these issues before release.
Thanks for pointing me to streaming from VLC, I'll take a look at that and post back the results.
Any other ideas on spreadsheets?
Ditto to what everyone else is saying, plus: I think it's clear that they found some issues with Flash and the Tegra 2. I'd much rather they spend a few extra weeks optimizing things than just put out a bug-ridden version (which would have people up in arms about things being buggy).
I mean, really, it's always this way: some people complain if a company delays a product because of bugs, and others complain when they don't. Personally, I'd rather have my Xoom to use now with a few bugs than wait a few weeks for it to be more "perfect." I think offering the device itself with some (I think) minor bugs and without some major bugs is a good compromise.
mitchweight said:
[*]Mobile Google Docs: because Google Docs is such an important tool for my business I NEED full google docs capabilities. The processing power in this device is FAR superior to that of my netbook, why can't they put that to use? Spreadsheets in Google Docs mobile is absolutely useless.[/LIST]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try using "about:debug" in the browser and then going to Settings to change the browser's User Agent String to "Desktop"?
Please try that and let us know if Google Docs works properly after the change.
I usually have major buyer's remorse with everything I buy, but not with the xoom. Nothing you mentioned was unknown. My iSheep friends bithced about the same stuff when the iPad came out. And they are still *****ing about flash .
EDIT: as per jm9843, I can confirm that about:debug does work for change UAString. I'll check if google docs works.
EDIT: Desktop Google Docs warns you that some features may not work, and gives a weird version that looks almost like desktop but is clearly different. I can't say I like it, but it could do in a pinch. It's odd though.
roebeet said:
Rebuttal:
1- Lack of Flash. You are an early adopter.
2- Apps. You are an early adopter.
3- Charging complaints. Typical of tablets - that's not going to change.
4- Google Docs. Early adopter.
5- Bugs. Early adopter.
6- Lack of DLNA. Early adopter, this could come later (or it might not).
See the pattern? You pre-ordered with assumptions, and those assumptions were wrong. In the case of Flash, it was more of an 11th hour change but it was still before release.
In all honesty, none of the things you've mentioned surprise me in the least. Probably my only real complaint with the device so far is that the microSD isn't working yet - that's something they should have gotten fixed before release since it's a blatant hardware problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder why the ipad was able to be released without anyone needing to defend I with the early adopter line?? It released with a thousand apps at launch, no early adopter waiting period. It released without a million bugs throughout the os, no early adxopter waiting period. You people bashing him are hilarious and stupid. Motorola and google completely messed up this release. Regular consumers don't give a **** about your early adopter excuse, they want things working day 1. And why do we care what regular users think??? Because if regular users treat the xoom and honeycomb like the beta software/hardware it is right now, there will be no getting out of your early adopter phase bcause companies won't suport the platform.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
mitchweight said:
Lack of flash support/real browser: I know it's coming "in a few weeks" but in the meanwhile when I want to read news items with flash videos, browse "real" sites or play flash games, I have to actually pull out my phone because the Xoom can't do it! I should be able to pull up my browser, visit any media site and start consuming media. Instead I'm limited to standard browsing. With this much processing power and the huge screen it's absolutely ridiculous that the device doesn't include a full-featured browser!
Apps: The lack of tablet-optimized apps is extremely frustrating. All the apps I need to use work just fine on my Droid X. I was hoping for additional functionality on the Xoom, but it's actually worse because some of my regular-use apps are quite buggy on the Xoom (e.g., spreadsheets in DocumentsToGo simply does not work).
Having to carry both a charging cable AND a USB cable...it's just ridiculous.
Mobile Google Docs: because Google Docs is such an important tool for my business I NEED full google docs capabilities. The processing power in this device is FAR superior to that of my netbook, why can't they put that to use? Spreadsheets in Google Docs mobile is absolutely useless.
Bugs: In the market, clicking on "my apps" always loads the most recently installed app rather than loading the "my apps" list in Market. Additionally, pausing a movie and attempting to browse back to the movie list in Gallery fails, so I have to browse to Home, load Gallery and then browse back to the movie list.
Lack of DLNA. On my Droid X or NexusOne I'm able to access my media, download it, upload it, or stream it from any computer on my home network. With the Xoom I can't. So, if I want to watch a movie while sitting in bed I have to connect the Xoom to my PC, download the movie, disconnect it and then I'm ready to watch. In this case the Xoom is a DISCONNECTED media device...I haven't owned a disconnected media device for 1 1/2 years! Ridiculous! I should be able to jump on the network, browse for media and start streaming, but it's impossible with the Xoom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats funny is I've been debating returning mine and none of your reasons made my list. After being a day 1 purchaser of a G1 and a Palm Pre, you get used to those things you listed.
My issues are more related to performance. With a tegra 2 processor, I'm really surprised at how sluggish the system gets sometimes. It's only been 24hrs and I'm already counting the days till the first OTA.
BUT, I gotta say, the potential of this device is amazing and that alone is keeping me from acting on any returns. Plus, depending on where you bought it, you'll have at least 14days to return it. No rash decisions...give it a chance.
Under the market is there supposed to be a
Featured Apps for Tablets, or Tablets apps section?
for whatever reason I do NOT see one, I am using an imported wifi model (from USA) here in Canada, is that why? any hack I can do
thanks
I guess what im asking for, is, is there some kind of MARKET ENABLER for the Xoom
I have an imported Xoom as well, I'm in UAE. But I was able to install that app you refer to, it's called Tegra Zone.
I was however unable to install many other free apps that should work, even Angry Birds and a few others. It says something like "It's not allowed on my operator" or something, though it's Wifi Xoom.
I'm wondering if Market Enabler, or Market Access would work on a rooted Wifi Xoom? It should break this kind of location barriers.
i can install everything, tegrazone shows tegra apps only
but theree supposed to be (so i hear) a section in the ANDROID MARKET called 'Features apps for tablet'
which i dont see
ur prob is odd..if ur wifi only u shud have no problems, try a new google account, maybe ur existing one is tied to a phone that is using an operator in UAE
I also don't see Featured apps for tablet in Market. I have a wifi only Xoom bought from US, i'm in EU.
If I search for honeycomb apps in Market, it finds them and I can install them just fine.
Maybe the Market just doesn't show Featured apps for tablet in other countries yet? As far as I know, there are no honeycomb tablets on sale in EU yet, so maybe they will update the Market when Xoom launces in EU?
Anyway we will see when european Xoom is released, if it will show the Featured apps for tablet. And if it does, then we probably can use the european rom at least on wifi only Xoom.
salahag said:
I have an imported Xoom as well, I'm in UAE. But I was able to install that app you refer to, it's called Tegra Zone.
I was however unable to install many other free apps that should work, even Angry Birds and a few others. It says something like "It's not allowed on my operator" or something, though it's Wifi Xoom.
I'm wondering if Market Enabler, or Market Access would work on a rooted Wifi Xoom? It should break this kind of location barriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have friends in [Qatar], [KSA] and [Italy]....They are facing the same problom....I hope someone find a solution
SS2006 said:
i can install everything, tegrazone shows tegra apps only
but theree supposed to be (so i hear) a section in the ANDROID MARKET called 'Features apps for tablet'
which i dont see
ur prob is odd..if ur wifi only u shud have no problems, try a new google account, maybe ur existing one is tied to a phone that is using an operator in UAE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry misunderstood you. I can only see the sliding banner and featured free apps (6 of them), some of which I can't even install!
PS. I was just able to install Angry Birds using a VPN connection in UK. Before, it used to say Item not found when it tries to install.
So try a VPN connection in the US, it should show Featured apps(?)
so can someone who owns a xoom IN THE USA
actually post here and be like 'yes there is actually a features tablet apps' section in the android market
Yes there is actually a featured tablet apps section in the Google Market - at least for U.S. customers...
Yep im in us snd there is a feautered tablet apps section. But it has only 57 apps listed. Searching for honeycomb is a much better result.
have you tried via the browser market?
I can verify that when I was in the states I had the featured apps for tablets section. As soon as I flew out it disappeared. Very short sighted and stupid. If nothing else there should also be an option to filter tablet apps in the online market.
The screwy incompetence of big businesses with multiple minds working together is a constant source of wonder to me.
IndivisibleP said:
I can verify that when I was in the states I had the featured apps for tablets section. As soon as I flew out it disappeared. Very short sighted and stupid. If nothing else there should also be an option to filter tablet apps in the online market.
The screwy incompetence of big businesses with multiple minds working together is a constant source of wonder to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We need a feed that updates everytime a new tablet app appears in the market
its sad cause the wifi xoom is actually out in canada now..
unless they can see this too
but im just screwed cause I got a usa xoom working in canada
anyone who bought the xoom from canada can let me know if they see it?
I also can't get Google books etc.. usually market enabler by Rac would work but we have no GSM
Perhaps an modified vending.apk?
I bought my xoom wifi in Canada. I installed tegrazone and I can see the featured apps no problem. I don't see google books or google translate...
i purchased a wifi version and I am in Canada and though there is a featured apps section on the market, its not tablet only apps. It kind of useless.
Yea got mine in Canada Wifi only, and I see no tablet section. Just regular old market.
let's start posting names of the best tablet apps in here...
Monster madness
Btw all I see in the tegra zone is like 4 paid games, one free one and a bunch of coming soon... not a single app. No options either...
robbiev80 said:
I bought my xoom wifi in Canada. I installed tegrazone and I can see the featured apps no problem. I don't see google books or google translate...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tegra zone on my atrix too
its only tegra devices nothing tablet specific
We are talking about "Featured apps for tablets" in Android Market. It seems it doesn't matter where you bought the Xoom, it shows the "Featured apps for tablets" only for people in US.
Asked for help here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12778132#post12778132
I'm an employee at [removed (PM me if curious)] and we are selling WiFi Xooms. We haven't sold ANY yet! I need some help and advice.
First I need to solve a problem. Some SOB uninstalled the Google Books app, and a factory restore not only didn't fix that, but it wiped the bundled in music as well! I figure I can just make a dummy account for the Xoom and reinstall the Google Books app, but I need to add music so that people can try the music app and test the speakers.
How can I put music on the Xoom so that the music app will have nice album art like before?
Second, I need a way of locking certain apps and settings IE, I need a child-proofing app. The Xoom didn't come with any kiosk software so any Apple fanboy can sabotage the tablet! I also could use a way to return the tablet to a default demo setup, just in case something does happen, like Ti Backup. (The boss says I can't root it )
Is there any app that allows me to "Lock" the settings and/or access to certain apps?
And finally, I need suggestions on apps that show off the functionality. Bonus points for things the iPad CAN'T do. I need apps that show off the power and graphics ability of the Xoom. They have to be fairly easy to use as people might open them themselves, but others I can use to quickly demonstrate features.
Also, I need apps that don't use an internet connection, as sometimes the public wi-fi goes down. That way if it does go down, I can still demonstrate the Xoom's abilities.
Help me sell Xooms and show up all those iSnobs that come into my store!
TheGeek007 said:
I'm an employee at [removed (PM me if curious)] and we are selling WiFi Xooms. We haven't sold ANY yet! I need some help and advice.
First I need to solve a problem. Some SOB uninstalled the Google Books app, and a factory restore not only didn't fix that, but it wiped the bundled in music as well! I figure I can just make a dummy account for the Xoom and reinstall the Google Books app, but I need to add music so that people can try the music app and test the speakers.
How can I put music on the Xoom so that the music app will have nice album art like before?
Second, I need a way of locking certain apps and settings IE, I need a child-proofing app. The Xoom didn't come with any kiosk software so any Apple fanboy can sabotage the tablet! I also could use a way to return the tablet to a default demo setup, just in case something does happen, like Ti Backup. (The boss says I can't root it )
Is there any app that allows me to "Lock" the settings and/or access to certain apps?
And finally, I need suggestions on apps that show off the functionality. Bonus points for things the iPad CAN'T do. I need apps that show off the power and graphics ability of the Xoom. They have to be fairly easy to use as people might open them themselves, but others I can use to quickly demonstrate features.
Also, I need apps that don't use an internet connection, as sometimes the public wi-fi goes down. That way if it does go down, I can still demonstrate the Xoom's abilities.
Help me sell Xooms and show up all those iSnobs that come into my store!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10% of your commission, and you got a deal
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
TheGeek007 said:
I'm an employee at [removed (PM me if curious)] and we are selling WiFi Xooms. We haven't sold ANY yet! I need some help and advice.
First I need to solve a problem. Some SOB uninstalled the Google Books app, and a factory restore not only didn't fix that, but it wiped the bundled in music as well! I figure I can just make a dummy account for the Xoom and reinstall the Google Books app, but I need to add music so that people can try the music app and test the speakers.
How can I put music on the Xoom so that the music app will have nice album art like before?
Second, I need a way of locking certain apps and settings IE, I need a child-proofing app. The Xoom didn't come with any kiosk software so any Apple fanboy can sabotage the tablet! I also could use a way to return the tablet to a default demo setup, just in case something does happen, like Ti Backup. (The boss says I can't root it )
Is there any app that allows me to "Lock" the settings and/or access to certain apps?
And finally, I need suggestions on apps that show off the functionality. Bonus points for things the iPad CAN'T do. I need apps that show off the power and graphics ability of the Xoom. They have to be fairly easy to use as people might open them themselves, but others I can use to quickly demonstrate features.
Also, I need apps that don't use an internet connection, as sometimes the public wi-fi goes down. That way if it does go down, I can still demonstrate the Xoom's abilities.
Help me sell Xooms and show up all those iSnobs that come into my store!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, if the person wiped this and the device will not reset it when it is wiped you need to call Moto and let them know or call your Home Office and let them know. PM me what store you work for and I will try and help as best I can.
Verrrrry interesting original post...
I'm guessing Best Buy. First thing:
Move it out of the stinking netbook aisle at the very back, put it in a more prominent place, where it deserves to be. If you hide stuff like that, people aren't gonna see it, therefore they aren't gonna buy it. This should be basic stuff for a retail chain, but for some reason these types of things slip their mind. When I went to bestbuy to get my xoom, I wouldn't have even known it existed if I hadn't done some research beforehand, and the tablet was waaaaaaaaaaay in the back of the netbook section, and I mean the VERY back...last "stall" there.
As for your boss, I think he can take the hit on ONE xoom to sell many of them. Tell him that the most effective way to "ipad baby-proof" the thing is to root it and install TitaniumBackup. He probably thinks rooting means radically changing things, which currently, it doesn't. You're going to have to explain it to him, probably in baby terms if he's anything like most managers I've had, who didn't know their butt from a hole in the ground. If you put it in terms of profitability, he MAY understand.
As for cool apps, just give the sales force a demo model to play with when they're not doing anything else. Let them get to KNOW the device. When I go to buy something, it's not so important for the sales person to know what they're selling me because I already have done a ton of research, but I am not your typical customer. You're going to get a lot of people in there who aren't really that tech-savvy, so if the sales people on the floor know how to use the device, they can demo some of the cooler features to the people.
For example:
Your grandmother walks into the store, she's looking for something to use to email her grandchildren, perhaps a video chat occasionally and she wants something EASY to use, fairly inexpensive and something she's not going to have to pay the geek squad to set up. Well, right this way ma'am, I have something that would be perfect for you, <insert sales demo here>... unit sold.
Another example:
Younger person comes into the store, looking at iPads. Ask them what they're looking to do with the device. If your sales force KNOWS both the iPad and the Xoom, it's kind of a no-brainer to be able to make the best sale for the customer and isn't that what business is all about?
I rarely go into a superstore like Best Buy and find truly knowledgeable people when it comes to the latest electronics. The BestBuy in South County, Missouri lost a sale not too long ago from me because they told me I couldn't buy the Verizon Xoom off contract, which is nonsense. So I simply went to another store and bought it. Perfect example of a person not knowing what the heck they're talking about.
I realize that there are a LOT of new products out there, but it's the responsibility of the store's employees (and ultimately the store's management) to LEARN about these devices so that when people ask BASIC questions, they can answer them.
It wasn't too long ago that I attended a sales lecture at college. Younger people (age 35 and under) normally knew what they were going after when they went to buy tech, and often preferred to be left alone to fiddle with the product a bit and basically only needed help during the actual sales process (or the retrieval process if the item was locked in a secure case). People 35 and over almost universally wanted help from start to finish because their understanding of the tech wasn't always so great. To sell to that person over 35, which is going to be a sizable portion of your business, your employees need to know that device and demo what it it can do on a moment's notice.
So, to me, you've got the "location, location, location" problem and also the "knowledge, knowledge, knowledge" problem if you haven't sold any of these things yet.
Here's something you can do, which will really appeal to older folks... set up one xoom on one side of the aisle, set up another one in sight of the first, but farther away, perhaps on the other side of the aisle. When someone comes in and asks what the xoom can do, just turn on video conferencing and SHOW them how cool it is. Have your sales people be able to demo the different features.
You can also show them how much FASTER the xoom is rendering web pages than the iPad. Everyone loves to save time, irrespective of age.
Another thing the xoom does EXTREMELY well is reformatting text. It will automatically reformat the text when you zoom in on a website, to make it readable. In fact, it makes the text beautiful.
You can show them how they can have live widgets on their home-screens, and the iPad can't.
Honestly, if people knew what the xoom could do, who in the hell would buy an iPad anyway???
Motorola made a HUGE mistake with their superbowl commercial too, they didn't show what the xoom could do. Nobody is going to buy a device like this because it looks cool. Sure, that's something they think about, but that's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down their list, probably down around "what kind of towel do I need to use to clean the screen" or something. What matters most is functionality and price. If it doesn't do what I need it to do, if it doesn't enrich my life in some way, what good is it??
I guarantee you that if you gave me 10 minutes with 10 people who were going to buy an iPad, and they gave me a fair chance to demo what the xoom could do, at least 7 of those would buy the xoom instead. The number would be even higher if it was just a basic netbook buyer, because a good netbook is even MORE expensive than the xoom.
It baffles me that these things aren't FLYING off the shelves. I think that's mostly due to bad sales tactics and poor marketing. It's unfortunate too because it's such an amazing device.
Oh yeah, FLASH. iPad can't give you the web like a desktop can, but xoom can.
Didn't you say you worked at (Hint - That was easy) - Anyways when I purchased my XOOM from (Staples) it was right in the front near the registers? Had its own display with other accessories, etc. I've been in retail sales before and the only way I would imagine to make more of a push on the product is have both positive and negative reviews about the product compared to other competitors. I believe in 100% honesty and if you are straight forward with a customer and tell them the benefits and disadvantages of the unit compared to what’s on the market currently they will appreciate it. Honesty in my opinion goes a long way then any marketing gimmick a retail chain will try to implement on its staff or customer.
stevenege said:
Honestly, if the person wiped this and the device will not reset it when it is wiped you need to call Moto and let them know or call your Home Office and let them know. PM me what store you work for and I will try and help as best I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh it boots, but its missing the Books app and the music that was preloaded. Hence my problem. I guess doing a factory restore from recovery mode won't get back the music. :/
if you have a Nexus or some other phone that can do mobile hotspot on display or some phone that can do mobile hotspot, that'll be your best chance of getting internet connection. from there you can reinstall anything.
i think most of the displays i've seen failed because of the lack of internet. every ipad i've seen always had internet connection. impressed with some of the free games like Gun bros or dungeon and defenders
vkuber said:
Didn't you say you worked at (Hint - That was easy) - Anyways when I purchased my XOOM from (Staples) it was right in the front near the registers? Had its own display with other accessories, etc. I've been in retail sales before and the only way I would imagine to make more of a push on the product is have both positive and negative reviews about the product compared to other competitors. I believe in 100% honesty and if you are straight forward with a customer and tell them the benefits and disadvantages of the unit compared to what’s on the market currently they will appreciate it. Honesty in my opinion goes a long way then any marketing gimmick a retail chain will try to implement on its staff or customer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Darn! I made it too easy. ^_^
I'm very honest in my sales, I always mention its V1.0 of the software and that the apps aren't there yet. Its very hard to explain its potential without demonstrating it somehow.
And yes we have an endcap right near the registers with lots of accessories. The Xoom deserves a prominent place in our store TBH.
It really irks me, people come in to the store and in that sheepish voice ask "do you have any iPads?". By the time I say "No. But I would love to show you our android ta..." they are halfway out the door.
Still looking for a "kiosk-mode" or "kid-safe" app that locks the device settings in some way. That and apps that really bring out the Xoom's best qualities.
Hey check this out for app locking. http://htcdev.net/topic/1224-kid-mode-for-your-tablet-and-smartphone/
Sent from my HTC Incredible using XDA App
Also, I'm looking for a way to keep the device on and at full brightness 100% of the time (it will be plugged in 24/7). I know under apps/development you can keep it from powering off while charging, but that doesn't keep it bright.
I'll look into zoodle, but perhaps "kid-mode" is too much control. But its a start. Thanks. ^_^
TheGeek007 said:
Also, I'm looking for a way to keep the device on and at full brightness 100% of the time (it will be plugged in 24/7). I know under apps/development you can keep it from powering off while charging, but that doesn't keep it bright.
I'll look into zoodle, but perhaps "kid-mode" is too much control. But its a start. Thanks. ^_^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download Quick Settings (Free) from the market. Once installed, in the menu, choose customize and drag the Screen Timeout to the top area. You can set it to "Never Timeout". This appears to keep the screen from dimming, at least in the 5 minutes I tested it.
Gotta say +1 on the bad placement at best buy. They even had a whole featured section called "tablets" with the streak, galaxy, Ipad, etc. I had to ask someone if they were selling xooms. They were out (this was wifi release day) but they directed me to their demo model all the way on the other side of the store BEHIND all the computers, near the random stereo cables. Went to staples and it was front and center and in stock. Sorry BB, I came to you first and you let me down.
But forget about attracting new people to buy the xoom, put it somewhere that I can find it if I came there SPECIFICALLY for it.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
My suggestion would be putting the wallpaper of android that came preinstalled. Put games like gunbros,dungeon defenders, cordy on the center homescreen. Also gmail widget. And YouTube app is very pretty and lots of people use it and it'll be a very good bet to get people. Also, sideload Amazon appstore as well as the market on there. Picsay also is an awesome little app. Good luck.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Are you allowed to lock apps with a password? If so, there ares dozens of solutions already in the Android market:
https://market.android.com/search?q=app+password&so=1&c=apps
Just apply a password to the apps you want to protect, at least I assume its thats simple... I haven't tried these apps myself, so you'll have to experiment.
TheGeek007 said:
I'm an employee at [removed (PM me if curious)] and we are selling WiFi Xooms. We haven't sold ANY yet! I need some help and advice.
First I need to solve a problem. Some SOB uninstalled the Google Books app, and a factory restore not only didn't fix that, but it wiped the bundled in music as well! I figure I can just make a dummy account for the Xoom and reinstall the Google Books app, but I need to add music so that people can try the music app and test the speakers.
How can I put music on the Xoom so that the music app will have nice album art like before?
Second, I need a way of locking certain apps and settings IE, I need a child-proofing app. The Xoom didn't come with any kiosk software so any Apple fanboy can sabotage the tablet! I also could use a way to return the tablet to a default demo setup, just in case something does happen, like Ti Backup. (The boss says I can't root it )
Is there any app that allows me to "Lock" the settings and/or access to certain apps?
And finally, I need suggestions on apps that show off the functionality. Bonus points for things the iPad CAN'T do. I need apps that show off the power and graphics ability of the Xoom. They have to be fairly easy to use as people might open them themselves, but others I can use to quickly demonstrate features.
Also, I need apps that don't use an internet connection, as sometimes the public wi-fi goes down. That way if it does go down, I can still demonstrate the Xoom's abilities.
Help me sell Xooms and show up all those iSnobs that come into my store!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick list:
Flash (47% of all web sites have flash according to a research firm as of today)
Higher quality cameras (Many times better then the iPad 2)
Excellent battery life
A solid screen. (It might help if you turn the brightness off auto and place it at 100%)
Put it next to the ipad2's, not by netbooks. (some kind of DroidDoes-eque banner would be great, but I can understand that could be hard to get.)
A SD slot (stress that it WILL happen soon. (like may)
4G upgrade (Stress it's FREE, something the iPad 2 will never have, and that it's a hardware upgrade and will only take a matter of days)
I would load up a couple of graphically advanced games on the main home screen. (like maybe GunBros and SpeedX 3D, both of which are fun, free, good looking games)
Stress how open it is to making it individual (ease at which to customize)
If the person looks tech savy, be sure to say the boot loader is unlockable.
Stress the widescreen (16:9) over the "full screen" (4:3) iPad
Use some of the tablet optimized apps to show the multipane options. (show this next to the iPad as an OS designed for a tablet screen, not a handheld screen.)
And lastly for my list, compare the browser to the ipad browser, with tabs and a fuller experience. it earns high marks.
Hope this helped and wasn't too repeative.
(p.s. on the hole lack of books app, just go through and reinstall the apps and register with the same account as the Xoom is on.)
p.s.s. just customize it, make it look like a person uses it, not like it just came from a factory.
Another thing you can show them...
HDMI Out, with HD support. They could even do video chats on their TV (something the ipad can't do w/o an expensive add-on, and even then it doesn't look very good due to it not being HD and being in 4:3).
The ONE area where the ipad beats the xoom is standby battery. But for all that battery, you give up all the cool widgets and what makes android cool. So to me, it was a no-brainer.
If you have the authority, send a demo xoom home with your sales associates, let 'em keep it for a weekend or something so they KNOW what all they can do with it. Encourage them to play with it and do whatever they want. Once a person gets ahold of this device, they'll realize how amazing it truly is and they'll start to spread that enthusiasm to customers. I loved my android phone at first, but after a week of playing with it, I wouldn't trade it for a dozen iphones.
It's all about getting these things in peoples' hands. If they can SEE what it does, they'll want one, it's just that simple. It beats the ipad in virtually every area. When you couple that with the fact that the xoom is incredibly customizable, themeable, unlockable and the browsing experience is so much better, it's a winner of a tablet.
If they want a tablet to play the guitar, drums or some other synthesizer nonsense, then the ipad is for them. If they want to CONNECT to other people and experience the web as it's meant to be, they need the xoom.
Google maps with 3d buildings look great on zoom.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Prepare your Xoom with Moboplayer and load it up with some movies in different formats with all different kind of subtitles (.srt, .ass (this is a subtitle format), and be sure to get some .mkv with built-in subtitles). Then choose the correct subtitle for the correct customer.
>It really irks me, people come in to the store and in that sheepish voice ask "do you have any iPads?". By the time I say "No. But I would love to show you our android ta..." they are halfway out the door.
I don't know what you can do for the Xoom, but it'd help your sales pitch by not starting with a "no."
That said, there isn't much you can do or say, other than to wait for Moto to drop its premium pricing--or until it releases the 16GB SKU at a more competitive price.
http://ubergizmo.com/2011/04/16gb-motorola-xoom-on-its-way
Most people don't want a Xoom and you can't make them.
Sent from my Captivate
I want to hear from Xoom users some advantages on getting the Xoom. I currently have an iPad 2 and it's cool but there is no JB for it yet. I saw some articles on Google IO today and was amazed at the USB host support which would make it awesome for emulators.
What are some advantages you guys think would be? I currently own an Evo so I'm familiar with Android. I'm more interested in knowing the cool things you can do with it. I found someone in CL who is interested in trading his Xoom for my iPad 2. Thanks.
Reason #1, it gets you away from Kool-Aide drinking mac-bots who think everything has to be white.
Anyone else have a constructive response?
gqstatus0685 said:
I want to hear from Xoom users some advantages on getting the Xoom. I currently have an iPad 2 and it's cool but there is no JB for it yet. I saw some articles on Google IO today and was amazed at the USB host support which would make it awesome for emulators.
What are some advantages you guys think would be? I currently own an Evo so I'm familiar with the Evo. I'm more interested in knowing the cool things you can do with it. I found someone in CL who is interested in trading his Xoom for my iPad 2. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those of us who show our loyalty to google will be rewarded with land and women once the takeover is complete.
Additionally, flash is neat, USB hosting, I'm fairly siked about google music. Greater customization. I'd wait to see how 3.1 runs but it looks very promising in the dev notes.
you are not bound to itunes, you can customize your UI, your notifications wont interrupt you, its positioned to be compatible with a ****load of other devices, hdmi ready, amazon and sony love android
gqstatus0685 said:
Anyone else have a constructive response?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is that not contructive? Apple confines you to their standards. Time to open up and do what the user wants to do....Coca-cola taste a ton better than Kool-Aide
Best advice I can give you is just read the reviews and see if you like it. Seriously read up.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
Upcoming ice cream sandwich!
Sent from my Evo using XDA Premium App
http://cameradojo.com/2011/04/20/my-take-on-android-tablets-vs-ipad/
dunno why you need convincing ... just check out the features and play with one at a best buy.
Is Google Body available for the Xoom? I'm interested in that. I'll still have my 1st gen iPad so I don't mind trading it in. Are their any cool things you can do with it like connecting bluetooth devices, etc?
One thing I hate about the iPad 2 is the camera. I took a picture of my daughter up close and it was so blurry I thought she was a UFO. I think it's rated at under 1MP.
MitchRapp said:
dunno why you need convincing ... just check out the features and play with one at a best buy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I played with one at Best Buy but it was molested beyond recognition. There was so much stuff scattered all over the screen I didn't have the patience to look through it. I wanted input from someone who owns it and has played with it for over a month.
Are the apps catching up? What I mean by this is are there a lot of tablet apps out yet or just phone apps.
gqstatus0685 said:
Is Google Body available for the Xoom? I'm interested in that. I'll still have my 1st gen iPad so I don't mind trading it in. Are their any cool things you can do with it like connecting bluetooth devices, etc?
One thing I hate about the iPad 2 is the camera. I took a picture of my daughter up close and it was so blurry I thought she was a UFO. I think it's rated at under 1MP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see, something you could have easily checked online Google Body is one of the "made for Honeycomb" apps. It was released along with the XOOM.
gqstatus0685 said:
I played with one at Best Buy but it was molested beyond recognition. There was so much stuff scattered all over the screen I didn't have the patience to look through it. I wanted input from someone who owns it and has played with it for over a month.
Are the apps catching up? What I mean by this is are there a lot of tablet apps out yet or just phone apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plenty of tablet apps and "tegra HD" apps available.
Also, pretty much every app I've tried that didn't specify Honeycomb support worked anyways. the "HD" games are spectacular (youtube "pinball HD honeycomb" ... it's 2.99 USD (2.84 CDN haha) and it rocks.
multitasking, much better webexperience than safari, flash support
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Starting a thread like this is just to fan the flames of fanboyism. Don't come on this forum and try to stoke fires. Go try them out and make your own decisions.
I actually purchased the Ipad 2 and received it about 2 weeks ago. It took me less than a week to call Apple and request and return package. I then went into Best buy and purchased a Xoom.
Here are the reasons why:
- FLASH: I watch videos online all the time, and most of them are sites that use flash
- Being able to just download a mp3, an image, or even videos right from the browser and save it wherever I want to
- Being able to open the downloaded file with the app I want
- Being able to connect my Xoom to my PC at work and transfer whatever file I want
- Being able to customize my homescreen to my liking
- Notifications
- Widgets (I just hated that fact that I always had to go to the settings to activate bluetooth or wi-fi for example
- Now with Honeycomb 3.1 announced, I'm really not regretting buying the Xoom
h_zee13 said:
I actually purchased the Ipad 2 and received it about 2 weeks ago. It took me less than a week to call Apple and request and return package. I then went into Best buy and purchased a Xoom.
Here are the reasons why:
- FLASH: I watch videos online all the time, and most of them are sites that use flash
- Being able to just download a mp3, an image, or even videos right from the browser and save it wherever I want to
- Being able to open the downloaded file with the app I want
- Being able to connect my Xoom to my PC at work and transfer whatever file I want
- Being able to customize my homescreen to my liking
- Notifications
- Widgets (I just hated that fact that I always had to go to the settings to activate bluetooth or wi-fi for example
- Now with Honeycomb 3.1 announced, I'm really not regretting buying the Xoom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'm going to pull the trigger and do the trade. I still have an iPad 1st gen so I can fall back on the apps I love like Netflix. Hopefully they hack other OS's on the Xoom like Linux. Thanks for all the positive responses from the few of you who weren't just looking to increase your post count.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
In short, it's not quite a slick as the iPad 2 and there are nowhere near enough tablet specific apps, but imo the browser is better, it's more customizable, google maps is far better as is the multi-tasking. But you should know that HD videos will require re-encoding due to the Tegra2 chip and it's limitations.
I think the biggest reason you have already mentioned in your post.
Jail-break.
iPad2 is a Jail. It needs to be broken.
I used to be an iPhone user (3GS and 4G).
I am sick of being told you should do things this way and if you don't , you are screwed.
Xoom and all other android device brings me "freedom" in what I OWN.
Specifically in terms of functions
0. Flash
1. You get much better camera (5mp back, 2mp front facing)
2. You have the rights to root it, install customized roms/themes
3. You can install third party apps freely.
4. You can flash kernels to overclock your CPU to 1.5Ghz while iPad 2 is stuck at 1G max
5. You have strong Dev community to create stuff. as long as there is a need. Apparently it requires certain level of computer proficiency but from what you mentioned, you definitely have it.
6. You have google rolling out more and more exciting updates and with an open source concept, the market share of Android will bypass iOS by much and developer community will definitely notice this part of the market and create apps (commercial apps) around it.
7. many apps you know what is going on because you can see source code.
8. To someone who may worry that iPad apps are more than Honeycomb apps, I think at the current rate of brining new apps to platform, it wont be a problem a few months later at all.
9. Oh, you can install and dual boot Ubuntu in it.
I was following ouya development but I have to say its a surprise for me that I will not be allowed to play already bought games.
For me ouya was a nice looking google tv with pads, probably it will end up that way since devs will hack the living **** out of it Anyway the freemium/microtransaction model might be in conflict with the whole sourcy openness.
Who prefer cm based ouya rather than stock ouya market thingy?
I'm not to worried about it. The Kindle Fire have a closed system, but was able to get Play Store sideloaded. The Ouya is most likely going to get CM ported to it.
Sent from XDA app
yeah but the whole issue is to tweak pads controls so it will be useful on touch controlled apps. not sure if it will worm
It has sideloading, you just install Play like any other app. It's probably the 2nd or 3rd thing I plan on doing when I eventually get mine in
noted for future reference on my Note 2
This is going to be a great device to tinker with :victory:
Would just sideloading the play store .apk work?
From what I remember, the OUYA will only be running on Android - it won't have the Google apps framework. If that's the case, I think the Play Store by itself won't work unless gapps are installed as well. I'm sure that won't be hard to overcome (simply flash gapps.zip from recovery or something) but it's worth thinking about.
And on that note, if it's possible and/or necessary to flash gapps, do you think that will open up (easy) access to all Google apps on the OUYA? I'd love to see some kind of in-game chat through Babel or something. (Of course, that could be what's coming with the android games code found in the MyGlass app...)
GAPPS is just Google apps you can't download.
It may be possible to load the Play stare. Just depends all what it required to it to work. I don't know if there is something that has to be installed within the framework or not.
The bigger problem I see is that Google Play may not have listing for the Ouya and thus not a lot of apps will show up or be downloadable within Google Play if it did install.
lovekeiiy said:
GAPPS is just Google apps you can't download.
It may be possible to load the Play stare. Just depends all what it required to it to work. I don't know if there is something that has to be installed within the framework or not.
The bigger problem I see is that Google Play may not have listing for the Ouya and thus not a lot of apps will show up or be downloadable within Google Play if it did install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the other problem is that the controller may not play well with most of the apps on the market.
madmofo145 said:
I think the other problem is that the controller may not play well with most of the apps on the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that may be an issue for anything not delivered through the Ouya Store. I think if you want an idea what may happen, if you have another android device, rooted, and have Sixaxais App installed and Playstation3 synced, try running the app with it turned on.
.
Just get an mk908 Android mini pc, run all of the emulators, XBMC, Play Store, and Bluetooth PS3 controller. Oh, an air mouse also.
I have to say I am very underwhelmed and disappointed by my OUYA. Besides the fact that I had to look online to see how to even install the batteries in the controller because there was ZERO instructions in what's laughably called a manual, I had completely forgotten about the touch pad and spent a while trying to figure out why I couldn't play Saturday Morning RPG on it. I was really hoping to better the experience by either grabbing apps from GPS or worse case sideload them, but after reading the comments here and elsewhere I think I'm best off just using my phone and tablet for Google gaming and sell this so I can put the $ towards an Xbox One....now THAT is a "smart device" if I've EVER seen one!! :good:
sternrulez said:
I have to say I am very underwhelmed and disappointed by my OUYA. Besides the fact that I had to look online to see how to even install the batteries in the controller because there was ZERO instructions in what's laughably called a manual, I had completely forgotten about the touch pad and spent a while trying to figure out why I couldn't play Saturday Morning RPG on it. I was really hoping to better the experience by either grabbing apps from GPS or worse case sideload them, but after reading the comments here and elsewhere I think I'm best off just using my phone and tablet for Google gaming and sell this so I can put the $ towards an Xbox One....now THAT is a "smart device" if I've EVER seen one!! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd suggest you're the only person on earth who thought that the Xbox one looked like a smart device, it's been the laughing stock of the internet.
Ouya has it's own store, having the google play store would bankrupt the company being they would make no money and google would make it all...
I'm sorry you had so much trouble, but I can't say anyone else had issues figuring out these basics, what you have is not a retail product, you got an early version that is not ready for prime time on a software/manual level, so it's rather silly to expect a retail quality manual when it does not ship for another month to retail... we are beta testers, and I thought the fact that we were paying to BUILD it clued everyone in on that.
misfit410 said:
I'd suggest you're the only person on earth who thought that the Xbox one looked like a smart device, it's been the laughing stock of the internet.
Ouya has it's own store, having the google play store would bankrupt the company being they would make no money and google would make it all...
I'm sorry you had so much trouble, but I can't say anyone else had issues figuring out these basics, what you have is not a retail product, you got an early version that is not ready for prime time on a software/manual level, so it's rather silly to expect a retail quality manual when it does not ship for another month to retail... we are beta testers, and I thought the fact that we were paying to BUILD it clued everyone in on that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ha yeah, i hope he was being sarcastic. Xbox One is a joke....to gamers anyway
it looks good on the surface until you get to the details they didnt share at the conference
a few thoughts
- when i'm gaming, i'm gaming. i'm not switching to TV or Movies or IE every few minutes.
- not always online....but it has to check every 24 hrs (according to one report). what if u have no internetz or are in the military or my bro in law who cant get internet at his house (without paying thousands to have lines run)?
- pay a fee on top of the price you paid for a used game (need to hear gamefly & gamestops reaction)
- kinect always has to be connected. (also what if someone comes in the room & says "turn that XBOX OFF" there goes your progress.
- the exclusives are probably kinect titles for kids
- non-removable HDD (should be just in case of failure)
- indie developers cant self publish
- for our fellow earthlings, a lot of this wont work outside of US
- it's GINORMOUS!
- the XBOX ONE is so forward-thinking, it's not even backwards compatible with gamers.
anyway, finally got my distribution center email for my OUYA today.
reading up on all this stuff while bored at work.
I've shown a lot of people the Ouya, most of them actually wanted one after seeing all of the things it would do. I've had a few who just don't get it and I understand it's not for everyone, but what does kill me are the ones who are like "ok so it plays movies at 1080P and XBMC is nice and all, but why would I pay $99 for something to watch movies and play a few phone games".. .the facepalm comes in when I find out they say this while owning an AppleTV.
misfit410 said:
I've shown a lot of people the Ouya, most of them actually wanted one after seeing all of the things it would do. I've had a few who just don't get it and I understand it's not for everyone, but what does kill me are the ones who are like "ok so it plays movies at 1080P and XBMC is nice and all, but why would I pay $99 for something to watch movies and play a few phone games".. .the facepalm comes in when I find out they say this while owning an AppleTV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hah, thats hilarious.
i actually asked for a refund last friday, but heard nothing until the distribution center email today. ha. oh well.
we'll see if i actually have any time to mess with it.
I'm of the tinkering type so it was a no brainer for me, but I found I'm enjoying it even more than I thought I would, there are so many games out there I don't even want to throw down $2 for because they just don't look good... but here everything can be played for free, so I find myself trying every single game out there, I've gotten so many gaming time for nothing... and i found I loved some of these games I would have otherwise passed over.
misfit410 said:
I'm of the tinkering type so it was a no brainer for me, but I found I'm enjoying it even more than I thought I would, there are so many games out there I don't even want to throw down $2 for because they just don't look good... but here everything can be played for free, so I find myself trying every single game out there, I've gotten so many gaming time for nothing... and i found I loved some of these games I would have otherwise passed over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool.
so what all have you tinkered with so far, just trying games or some other more complicated things.
basically i want to know where to start when i get mine. should i try some games or sideload some other stuff on it, etc
Sideloaded Emulators, Web Browsers, Onlive, etc..
put the Amazon app store on so I could load up Opera Mobile, Dolphin and Maxthon browser, as well as file explorer..
you can sideload apps without any external tools if you just use the built in browser to download then go to the settings menu, storage, downloads and you can launch an APK from there.
the one thing to know is that all sideloaded apps go to the developers MAKE section.. but most stuff I've loaded runs well, still hoping to get my hands on a generation 2 googletv netflix apk.
misfit410 said:
Sideloaded Emulators, Web Browsers, Onlive, etc..
put the Amazon app store on so I could load up Opera Mobile, Dolphin and Maxthon browser, as well as file explorer..
you can sideload apps without any external tools if you just use the built in browser to download then go to the settings menu, storage, downloads and you can launch an APK from there.
the one thing to know is that all sideloaded apps go to the developers MAKE section.. but most stuff I've loaded runs well, still hoping to get my hands on a generation 2 googletv netflix apk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sweet, thanks yo.
i'll be reading up on everything on these forums for the next 2 weeks.
thanks for the head start
misfit410 said:
I'd suggest you're the only person on earth who thought that the Xbox one looked like a smart device, it's been the laughing stock of the internet.
Ouya has it's own store, having the google play store would bankrupt the company being they would make no money and google would make it all...
I'm sorry you had so much trouble, but I can't say anyone else had issues figuring out these basics, what you have is not a retail product, you got an early version that is not ready for prime time on a software/manual level, so it's rather silly to expect a retail quality manual when it does not ship for another month to retail... we are beta testers, and I thought the fact that we were paying to BUILD it clued everyone in on that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree 100% in that the op will be indicative of most general consumers that buy this at retail stores. That said, common sense suggests the retail units will have clear and concise guides as soon as you open the box. None the less, most retail buyers are going to balk at a proprietary market.
Their model depends on it, but most consumers will not care about that and will expect a simple, easy to start experience.
The bubble of this forum is not the best sample of tech knowledge level for mass market game systems. Lower the bar. If Ouya assumes otherwise, they may see good sales followed by a lot more returns than expected.