Android Always Beats the iPhone To New Features, Qualcomm Says (theverge.com) 177
An anonymous reader shares a report: Qualcomm has published a somewhat self-congratulatory blog post that lauds the company and its Android partners for achieving a series of industry firsts that include wireless charging, dual-camera systems, OLED smartphone screens, edge-to-edge displays, and more -- features that the upcoming iPhone is expected to have. Apple and Qualcomm are currently embroiled in what's turning into a vicious, global patent licensing dispute. So the timing of this adulation for Android -- hours before Apple's big September event -- doesn't really strike me as coincidental. It can't be. Qualcomm never mentions Apple by name; the closest the company ever comes is with this line: Inventions from Qualcomm lay the foundation for so many technologies and experiences we value in our smartphones today -- on Android and other platforms.
True... but so what? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I'm not tired of it -- I just ignore it. Just because new versions come out doesn't mean I am obligated to pay attention to them, let alone actually upgrade. My approach is the same as my approach to desktop machines once they reached maturity: pay no attention to new models until the one that I'm using now doesn't work for me any more. Then I'll look at what's on the market.
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Well with the battery glued in on all the models YOU WILL UPGRADE whether you like it or not.
I guess Apple is good at innovating with this wonderful idea. Thanks Apple. Grrrr
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Well with the battery glued in on all the models YOU WILL UPGRADE whether you like it or not.
I guess Apple is good at innovating with this wonderful idea. Thanks Apple. Grrrr
It's not like Apple made the battery part of the outer-shell of the phone.
Jeezus, this is supposed to be a TECH site, and people are scared of a little GLUE??? Hand in your Geek Cards immediately!!!
Also, Apple has STOPPED gluing batteries in; so although you do have disassemble the phone to replace the battery in an iPhone, you no longer have to fight the glue demons. There are 3 adhesive strips; but they aren't as mean as glue.
But, if you're squeamish about messing around inside of a device like a smartpho
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There are still plenty of high-end phones that have easily replaceable batteries.
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Such as?
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My phone has a removable battery, but it's last year's model: LG G5. The G6 doesn't have a removable battery.
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THe new LG that just came out removed them all
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Well, "plenty" was incorrect (that's what I get for not keeping up with the latest models!) Of the mainstream manufacturers, LG is still making high-end phones with replaceable batteries (such as the G5 and V20), but even their newest models no longer have replaceable batteries.
That sucks big-time. I guess I'll be sticking with the used market for the foreseeable future.
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Because we are older, wiser, and rational. Young whippersnappers get laid by having the latest toys and fashion because they think with their under-parts, not brains.
Yes, and do get off my lawn.
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I see by your post that you have a lawn, my good sir.
Let me introduce you to fake lawn: it requires no fertilizer, will never dry out and will always look great and make your property the envy of your neighbours!
Call now, this offer is only valid for the next 30 minutes!
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I would rather just pave it and paint it green.
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Why? No one is asking you to get on the treadmill, but be happy it exists. I look forward to a big leap up from my current phone (3 generations behind) thanks to the treadmill.
Re:True... but so what? (Score:5, Insightful)
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and given the lack of replaceable batteries in newer models
Not sure what you're talking about. My girlfriend just had her Galaxy S7 battery replaced. Didn't cost her much more than an off the shelf S5 battery and the guy in the store did the replacement while she was getting lunch.
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I have three spares.
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Checked the state of the batteries recently? Because if they've starting leaking all over the inside of the "spares", you might as well call a hazmat team...
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OS security upgrades (Score:3)
You chose to upgrade.
Only because the alternative to upgrade is remote exploitation when an intruder uses a vulnerability in system software that has reached its end of official support on hardware that has reached its end of official support. Or is Lineage OS recommended?
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There are problems with custom OSes, and it can be a lot of work (or at least a steep learning curve) to install one. They're not for everybody. It's not a general solution. I've had at least two people decline upgrades to custom in spite of the fact that I was maintaining the phones, because they preferred the more stable and familiar stock ROMs.
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it's super-easy even for certified idiots. Nothing is easier than following guide
You, AC, have not met some of the idiots I've had to deal with...
Those for whom when the home button on their iPhone doesn't work (because the phone is actually off due to battery depletion and didn't turn on automagically upon charging) assume it's broken and either:
a) take it to the apple store because it's broken
b) press harder, now it is broken... see 'a'.
Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot.
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Iphone (Score:2)
The original iPhone basically stole ideas from existing phones especially from the myOrigo (the first phone to have accelerometers to switch landscape/portrait horizontal etc). Apple even stole the look and feel of its browser task switcher from Nokia.
Worst of all, the iPhone idea itself was blatantly stolen from me right here on slashdot in 2005. Proof: https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org]
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Apple is just a fashion company. Nothing more.
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Not sure how many fashion companies have their own ARM chip designs.... ones that consistently beat SnapDragons.
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Almost by definition, any company that uses an ARM chip has their own ARM chip design.
But you apparently don't know jack shit about how ARM licenses the CPU core.
Apple is just 'special' in your mind, because, again, you don't know jack shit about how ARM licenses the CPU core.
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Apple is just a fashion company. Nothing more.
I dare you to tell that to their Development Teams in person.
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Why, will he then be accused of having triggered the Development Teams?
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Who but an Apple fan would actually brag about the fact that his 1.5 year-old phone is still "working fine"?
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On the Android side, the biggest bragging point comes from the small group who can say "my 1.5 year old phone is still getting firmware updates!"
Re: Iphone (Score:2)
My HTC desire lasted for 5 years and just after the battery was replaced I lost it in the train.
However it was made almost obsolete around the 3rd year via app 'upgrades'
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Android users can't normally say this... they lose the ability to update after 6 months or so.
Windows, they threw out the OS a couple times.
Blackberry? Threw out the OS and the new one never caught on.
Other than feature phones, then yes, only an Apple fan *can* say their phone is still working fine.
Re:Iphone (Score:5, Informative)
Other than feature phones, then yes, only an Apple fan *can* say their phone is still working fine.
Pure BS. My Android phone is over four years old, and is working just fine.
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Yes, I have an upgrade waiting for my S5.
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I don't know -- I've replaced the OS on it myself, so I do my own updates and pay zero attention to over-the-air updates. I consider that a feature, personally. I hate automatic updates, especially for operating systems.
I am running the latest Android, though.
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Hand waiving. Some Fandroid phones are lucky to get updates after 18 months, iPhones get updates much longer than that.
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My Nexus is still getting updates.
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Who but an Apple fan would actually brag about the fact that his 1.5 year-old phone is still "working fine"?
My 6 Plus is still working fine, as is my 4s before it.
Difference is, my 6 Plus will be able to run iOS 11 when it drops in a few days, and my 4s only stopped receiving OS updates last September.
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My 4s works just fine but I'm not a fan boi, there is no way I would pay for an iphone the company got it for me and I'll use it until it breaks because like many companies they have gone byod.
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I assume you are being sarcastic in your post, because nothing there looks like an original idea. If you look at the market, everyone is borrowing from each other. Apple is not always about being there first, but getting the packaging in a way people want to use.
The myOrigo looks like the interface was essentially a Java Swing implementation, with elements borrowed from MacOS and Windows. Before the iPhone there was the Newton, Symbian, PalmOS and Windows CE, amongst others. They each had technology element
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FingerWorks, a gesture recognition company, produced a line of multi-touch products in 1998, including the iGesture Pad and TouchStream keyboard. The company was acquired by Apple in 2005.
Not to mention the real innovation was multi-touch. Touchscreens were nothing new.
To be fair, who cares? (Score:3)
Honestly, some of these ballyhooed features are a big yawn. Edge-to-edge display? Why? Your hand will be covering some of it. Wireless charging? Meh. Until it can charge from across the room, it's not that important. Dual cameras? What are you doing with them? The magic is in the software. OLED should have been ubiquitous by now. I saw OLED displays 10+ years ago. Make me one for my MacBook Pro (and make it 17 inches, please).
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OLED uses more power that's probably why they haven't been used in portables.
Depends on what you are displaying; but you're right; they can use more power than LCDs plus an LED backlight.
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OLED uses more power that's probably why they haven't been used in portables.
Errr no. Like for like when displaying white LCD uses only slightly less power. When not displaying white OLED wipes the floor with LCDs which is why they are so favoured in portable. Why they aren't ubiquitous? Samsung's and LG's licensing fees and patent portfolio.
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Edge-to-edge display? Why? Your hand will be covering some of it.
I've seen a number of edge-to-edge displays on people's phones now, and I had the same reaction. I don't see how they improve anything at all, but I do see how they could be a bit of a pain in the butt.
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When your phone is a pain in the butt, you're using it wrong. Or you're keeping it in your back pocket which is a stupid thing to do.
Re:To be fair, who cares? (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually wireless charging is a big thing for the automotive use case. With the advent of WiFi and BT wireless communication, you can just throw your phone in a wireless charging cubby hole and away you go..I agree on the edge display.. it's a gimmick, since the cost of the device is so high people are adding cases, negating the utility of edge displays.
Re:To be fair, who cares? (Score:4, Funny)
I hope you're referring to the screen on your MacBook Pro.
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Wireless charging? Meh. Until it can charge from across the room, it's not that important.
I care about wireless charging. I just don't know yet if the pros are worth the cons.
Pro: Drop the phone on my nightstand at the end of the day. No fiddling with a cable. A small thing that makes my life less annoying (not going to say better).
Con: Until there is one wireless standard and every car has a charging cubby hole and coffee shop/airport/etc has sufficient spots for me to charge, am I going to have to carry around a charging pad instead of just a cable? How big.heavy/expensive?
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Dual cameras have various uses. Some phones use them to improve image quality, some to have one narrow and one wide angle lens (which can be combined to produce better images that a single sensor). Wireless charging is great, no mucking about with cables any more, just a fixed pad on your desk/bedside table/car storage unit.
We are still a little way from the perfect phone. The latest Samsung devices have all the hardware, they just need to make a Google edition with raw Android and Google's camera software
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Honestly, some of these ballyhooed features are a big yawn. Edge-to-edge display? Why? Your hand will be covering some of it. Wireless charging? Meh. Until it can charge from across the room, it's not that important. Dual cameras? What are you doing with them? The magic is in the software. OLED should have been ubiquitous by now. I saw OLED displays 10+ years ago. Make me one for my MacBook Pro (and make it 17 inches, please).
I will agree with you on the Edge to Edge display. Samsung started it (I think), and everyone has to be at least as good as everyone else, feature for feature.
Wireless charging? I don't really care; but a lot of people seem to.
Dual cameras? Well, you are wrong that it is all software on the pseudo-Bokeh stuff. To do it right, you still need some depth information that only a multiple-lens system will provide.
OLEDs? The problem with them being cheap is, well, they aren't. Samsung has the corner on the patent
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Wireless charging? Meh. Until it can charge from across the room, it's not that important
Wireless charging is a convenience, but it's only a convenience once the industry can agree on one standard for wireless charging. Until then, I'm not going to bother with it. Every phone and every tablet I've owned can charge from a USB port. There's going to be a slightly annoying migration to USB-C, but it's pretty much standardised now. Wireless charging has a bunch of competing standards.
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Of course stuff comes out on Android first. Because if you're a second tier seller
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Well, apparently Apple has figured out better OLED technology with the Super Retina display.
They also appear to be making the right decision on wireless charging by adopting the Qi (pronounced "chee") standard instead of trying to invent their own.
Not always (Score:5, Funny)
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I think that the first to have rounded corners was CSS3.
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insert South_Park_cop_saying_niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.jpg
well played sir, well played.
Android makes it first, Apple makes it best (Score:3)
That's a common misconception (Score:3, Interesting)
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So says the Fandroid who's deluded himself into thinking he pays any less for a flagship Fandroid phone. Made from the same parts.
have to admit... (Score:2)
Meaningless (Score:3)
This is just a standard corporate pissing contest, which has no actual meaning to anyone else.
OLED (Score:3)
OLED suffers from burn-in -- which means a "ghost image" gets permanently imprinted if the same image is displayed for too long. That's because OLED color pixels degrade disproportionately over time. An issue last seen in the 1990s CRT monitors. It's not a good technology if you want your phone to last a few years. Hopefully Micro LED will be along soon if they can work out its mass production issues. I am waiting on that.
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OLED suffers from burn-in -- which means a "ghost image" gets permanently imprinted if the same image is displayed for too long. That's because OLED color pixels degrade disproportionately over time. An issue last seen in the 1990s CRT monitors. It's not a good technology if you want your phone to last a few years. Hopefully Micro LED will be along soon if they can work out its mass production issues. I am waiting on that.
Just how long are you planning on having a static image displayed on your phone before you either change it yourself, or you ignore it and it goes back into sleep?
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An issue last seen in the 1990s CRT monitors.
Add 20 years to that number and that's the last time OLED burn-in has been relevant. It has been pretty much resolved 5 generations of Smartphones ago. If burn-in is all you're waiting for for OLED then you should have one by now.
I feel a great disturbance in the Force... (Score:2)
...is about to occur, as if millions of fanboy voices* will suddenly cry out in outrage and were silenced by the dull realization that no one on the other side is listening. I fear something terrible has happened**.
* From both sides of this incessant debate, just to be clear. ...for the rest of us who aren't participating in this little war but who will nonetheless be subjected to its atrocities.
**
Always? (Score:5, Insightful)
The first iPhone was unveiled in January of 2007.
At the time Qualcomm and Android were protyping Blackberry-looking phones.
It wasn't until late 2008 until the first Android smartphone came out, with a slide-out keyboard looking like an old T-Mobile Sidekick. And it was still a few years after that until we got the slick Samsung phones that people now associate as "Android phones".
I know 10 years ago is foggy distant old-timer memory for many of the younger tech industry types, but let's get a bit of perspective here.
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but let's get a bit of perspective here.
Indeed. We're 8 generations deep. That's 160 years in human years. You're talking about technology here, saying a bit of perspective would be like constantly referencing world war I about the current escalations with North Korea.
A LOT has happened in the past 10 years.
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Don't forget functional visual voicemail either. Its fun to go back and rewatch the old release keynote to see the gasps and remember just how much of what was being released with the first iPhone really was staggeringly more advanced and usable than the competition. If anything the other "smart phones" were really just PDAs with a scary "internet" button.
Security (Score:5, Insightful)
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If something is properly encrypted, disassembling a chip won't help.
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If something is properly encrypted, disassembling a chip won't help.
I wish. (Really. Designing airtight cryptographic security for phones is my day job.)
The secrets used to encrypt the data must either be embedded in the device or obtained from outside of it, or some mixture of the two. Since the only practical outside source of key material is the user, and users suck at generating, managing and entering high-entropy secrets, the vast majority of the key material must come from the chip.
You can (and devices do) use key stretching, and you can (and devices do) implement
Well, except for the "touchscreen phone" thing... (Score:2)
See the first Android phone. it was a BlackBerry killer. Then they see the iPhone, realize they had their copy machine focussed on the wrong thing, and then copied the iPhone.
Apple never has won on checkbox marketing. They won on having features that were actually usable. They weren't the first MP3 player, but there are no other real dedicated MP3 players anymore. The Apple Watch wasn't first, but try to find an Android Watch on anyone in the wild. If Qualcomm says "Apple doesn't have features first"
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Apple would say "yep. Usually true. But we're the phones most people want".
They may say that, but judging by sales figures, they'd be wrong.
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You are wrong. All iPods ever made played mp3s.
Awww, someone's jelaous (Score:5, Insightful)
What is the point of Qualcomm posting this? If they listed things they themselves "invented" then I can sort of understand, but this is just smells of teenage angst, jealousy, and desperation.
We all know Apple's new chips will spank Qualcomm once again, and this is not how your PR department responds? Sigh.
Is Qualcomm getting desperate? (Score:3)
Qualcomm seems to be desperate for someone to notice them? They lost the CDMA market in favour of GSMA based communication, they complain that Apple is limiting the capability of their chips and now they want to put down Apple. Does it matter who gets to market first, especially if the technology is rushed to market? Sometimes waiting and getting the kinks sorted matters more.
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Qualcomm seems to be desperate for someone to notice them?
Desperate is right. Look at the last, a good half of it is wrong.
64 Bit (Score:2)
Indeed (Score:2)
"Android Always Beats the iPhone To New Features"
On 3 models of 54732 available ones, the rest gets it much later or not al all.
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And Apple score 0 models out of a tiny handful, by the same metric.
What's your point?
Re:Yippee Kai-ya (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps you forgot to read even the summary, this is a hardware maker talking about hardware features. IOS updates, however rapidly and widely distributed, are never going to be able to add any of the features listed above.
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Hello Phil, don't you have a Keynote to practice?
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My Commodore 64 has '64' right in it's brand name.
Same deal with my Nintendo 64.
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Boo-hoo-hoo. When did Android get 64 bit CPUs?
I don't think Android has needed applications to address more than 4GB of RAM yet. I assume that's the benefit you're talking about on the iPhone right? The move to 64bit so the inefficient garbage apps coming out can just waste more memory on worthless features?
You know what else you get with 64bit? A performance penalty. Hurrah!
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Boo-hoo-hoo. When did Android get 64 bit CPUs?.
You do know that currently it's a marketing scheme to have 64 bit CPUs for phones? There are no apps that need more than 4 gigs of memory, and if there are, they are coded poorly.
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(iOS isn't even a serious option as long as it forces users to use Apple's repository)
This, and the other locked-down things in iPhones, are what keeps me from even beginning to consider them. That said, there are a lot of people who consider these things to be desirable features.
The bottom line is that you and I are not the iPhone's target market, but I'm glad that there are products for those other people nonetheless.
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There's an interesting Venn diagram there though. Anyone who's a developer can drop software that they compile onto their iPhone. Anyone who's part of the general public gets a remarkably secure (and surprisingly spacious) Walled Garden. The gap that Android etc do fill better can be represented by folk who think they want to disable all of the safeties but don't actually want to (or know how to) take the simple steps to show that they understand them.
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I don't fall into any of those categories, really. I'm a developer, but I stopped doing iPhone and OSX development a few years back. I'm also exceedingly security conscious, but I don't need (or trust) a manufacturer to take care of my security for me. I also want to do things with my phone that aren't possible with Apple's walled garden -- it's not nearly spacious enough. Android is the only platform that gives me the ability to do the things I want and to be secure about it.
Or, to put it more simply, I am
Build apps from source on your Mac (Score:3)
iOS isn't even a serious option as long as it forces users to use Apple's repository
Technically, you don't absolutely have to use Apple's repository. Instead, you can download an app's source code to your Mac and use Xcode to build it for testing on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad.
Re:Who can suck the most? (Score:4, Insightful)
iOS isn't even a serious option as long as it forces users to use Apple's repository
It doesn't. As an individual, you can install anything that you build yourself. As a company, you can set up your own internal distribution if you enrol in the iOS Developer Enterprise Programme.
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So as a non programmer who's device isn't managed by a company like 99.9% of the iPhone users, it still does?
Thanks for clarifying.
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Stop buying phones from your provider -- that's a sucker's game. Also, if you do basic research before purchasing a phone, you can ensure that it has all of the features that you want.
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Same thing when the first iPhone came out and everyone bitched that it wasn't 3G capable - except that nobody else was really working properly over 3G either. Apple just didn't pretend that they were, and when they released the next generation it pretty much "just worked", especially when measured against the competition.