Visiting HTC's Home Turf

Taipei, Taiwan - Hello from Taipei! I am spending a vacation in Taiwan in order to see what China would have been like in Republic form rather than Communist form. The relations between China and Taiwan are complicated and the Presidential election is coming up (January 14th 2012). There are two political parties here --one is in favor of independence from China, the other is in favor of unification. The China Question is everywhere in the Taiwan political scene.

But anyway, enough politics! Today was my first full day in Taipei, so what did I do? I visited a phone store and played with smartphones! I did the best I could to communicate with the store employees at FarEastTone here in Taipei. They didn't know much English, so I had to communicate through my mother who knows some Mandarin. Unfortunately her Mandarin isn't very tech savvy, so I had to fill in the gaps with what I already knew about smartphones and pricing.

Android is quite popular Taiwan. I see green Android ads all over the place in Taipei.

(image: http://asiadroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/google-taiwan-03-12-09.jpg)

It looks like the carriers in Taiwan are doing the same as the carriers in the US --they offer smartphones at subsidized prices if you buy them with a 2-year contract. It appears that phone contracts are less expensive per month here in Taiwan, but they have stricter definitions for what constitutes a peak and non-peak hour call. The 3G Sim Card I bought (I put NT$350 on it, or about $10) came with documentation about peak hours.

-Peak hours: Monday-Friday from 8 AM to 11 PM (essentially the entire day) and Saturday from 8 AM to 12 PM.
-Off-peak hours: Monday-Friday from 11 PM to 8 AM, and Saturday 12 PM to Monday 8 AM.

I didn't find out much about the different phone plans available, since I was only interested in a temporary SIM for my unlocked Motorola dumbphone. But I did ask about prices for some of the smartphones they had available, unlocked with no contract.

They said that any unlocked phone would work with any SIM I put into it, which meant that their definition of "unlocked" is consistent with common sense --AT&T and Verizon "unlocked" phones are actually still locked to the carrier in the States. But buying an unlocked phone from a Taiwan carrier meant that the phone was unlocked even in Taiwan.
 
Unfortunately I can't remember the exact prices from the store, but I did not feel like the prices were any better than in the States. I primarily asked about HTC phones, since Taiwan is the HTC headquarters of the world (their factories are here, and the company was founded here). I believe one of the HTC single-core phones was selling for $600 USD unlocked. I thought this was ridiculous considering that it was a single-core phone.
 
It might be that FarEastTone is simply selling unlocked phones at marked up prices to encourage people to sign up for contracts, which seem much more appealing than dropping $600 USD for an old-tech phone.

HTC has started to open its own HTC Stores in Taiwan, so I might be able to find better pricing there. Buying from the HTC Store is like buying an Apple product from Apple --you buy it from the supplier and cut out the middle-man. Let's see if HTC can wow me with prices on their home turf. I am actually interested in buying an unlocked HTC smartphone here in Taiwan, so if their pricing is good I'll do it. As a rational buyer I cannot buy a phone from them unless the performance is comparable or better to other phones at the same price point. I've tested enough Android phones at the store to know what "good" and "bad" performance on Android is, so I have a pretty good judgement of value and performance.

I shall visit the HTC Store soon!

An HTC Store in Taiwan.

(image: http://allthingsd.com/files/2011/10/HTC-store-taiwan-380x285.jpg) 

The Case of Samsung: Why Updating Android May Always Suck (Part I)

(Image: http://cellphonequick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Samsung-Android.jpg)

As an Android developer, I avoid recommending phones and tablets to people unless I am confident that the manufacturer will support the product with software updates for at least a year. Apple is very good at bringing iOS updates to all the phones in its iPhone lineup. While many expected Apple to dump the 3Gs after releasing iOS 5, Apple surprised the community when it revealed that the iPhone 4, 4s, and even the 3Gs would get the iOS 5 update. This was huge because it meant that Apple would continue to support the dated phone for at least until the next major software iteration. Remember, the iPhone 3Gs was released over two years ago! In the fast-paced world of tech, it's ancient history. Still, Apple is supporting it.

Unfortunately, no manufacturers I know of support Android as well as Apple supports iOS. Look at what Samsung (the manufacturer with the closest relationship with Google thanks to its production of the Nexus S and Nexus Prime "Google Phones") is doing to its customers! Samsung is refusing to offer the Android 4.0 update Ice Cream Sandwich for its Galaxy S customers. The Galaxy S, a flagship phone released about 1.5 years ago, is a great phone. It has nearly identical specs of the Samsung Nexus S Google Phone, a phone that is getting the Ice Cream Sandwich update. Samsung says that the Galaxy S does not have the specs necessary to run ICS optimally.

I suspect there are several reasons Samsung (and many other manufacturers) are not providing customers with reliable software updates after purchase:

1. Samsung has too many phone and tablet models in the market, and the turnover time on "flagship" devices is short.
2. As talented as Samsung is at writing software for its devices, its forte is in hardware manufacturing.
3. Android is a one-time selling point, not a long-term profit-generator.

1. Samsung has too many phone and tablet models in the market, and the turnover time on "flagship" devices is short. 

When my start-up was thinking about what platforms to develop for, we jumped on iOS because of the standard development environment offered by all of the iOS devices. Right now, all of the iPhones have the same screen size, and the iPad 1 and iPad 2 have the same screen size. You might not think it's a big deal, but screen size changes the way developers need to lay out their apps. While layout is rather simple to fix with some XML code on Android (usually), having to adjust layout for a dozen different screen sizes is simply a pain! The hardware in iOS devices is relatively standard, too. All of the iPhones have GPS, wifi, compass, and camera.

Compare this to Samsung's offering. Right now off the top of my head, Samsung has the following phones out in the "wild" available for purchase:

These numerous Samsung devices are still available and sold by carriers and big retail stores. 

-Samsung Infuse 4G
-Samsung Galaxy S2 4G
-Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G
-Samsung Galaxy Note
-Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" (Normal and Plus models)
-Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
-Samsung Droid Charge
-Samsung Nexus S (a GSM model and a 4G model)
-Samsung Slide
-Samsung Galaxy Ace
-Samsung Epic 4G

Can you say "marketing and software development nightmare?" Also, two of the phones listed above --the Infuse and Galaxy S2 --were pitched as flagship phones. And the phones came out less than 6 months apart. That means that Samsung's Infuse was top-of-the-line for hardly 6 months before they moved on and pushed the S2 as the new hot ticket.

Why should Samsung give a damn about the Infuse when they just want to sell the S2 now? And guess what --Samsung has promised Ice Cream Sandwich for the S2 but has not even mentioned the update for the Infuse.

I guarantee you that the Infuse has the hardware needed to run Ice Cream Sandwich, with flying colors. Samsung just doesn't see a reason to bring ICS to Infuse. The new flagship is the S2. While the Infuse will still sell, its sales will primarily be driven by price point and not software now that the release of S2 has forced the Infuse's price point to drop.

Apple used to have a reputation for screwing the consumer by releasing updated products and ignoring older models. Then they pivoted and started to support products for the long-haul. And as a result, consumers have more confidence in Apple's support of products. And Apple's reaping the benefits and swimming in cash.

But Apple has incentive to keep supporting their products because they are vertically integrated. They do the hardware and the software, and they profit from both. They sell an iPhone for $800 and make a ton of cash. Then, by improving the UI and improving the app store through iOS updates, they make it easier for users to keep using the phone and buying new software from the app store. Apple makes money on app store sales, so it is in its best interests to keep optimizing iOS and making the apps more and more powerful on the phone.

Samsung, as far as I know, does not make money off of the app store. The revenues in the Android app store go to the carriers, not the hardware manufacturer. Samsung, being a massive corporation, cares primarily about maximizing its bottom line --whether or not it pleases existing customers.

So if Samsung doesn't make money off of app sales, it really has no incentive to improve performance of their older phone models to boost user satisfaction and encourage increased software purchases through the app store.

Tune in next time for the conclusion of this two-part post, where I'll talk about points 2 and 3.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Merry Christmas! Here's Your ICS Android Update :)

If any of you are Google Nexus S owners eagerly awaiting the Ice Cream Sandwich update, wait no further. You can manually update it using Google's update file instead of waiting for Google's slow roll-out system to find your phone and update it. This works on the Google Nexus S, but I don't know if it works on the Galaxy S (which is the Sprint variant, I think).

I use a Nexus S (GSM) and performed the update successfully.

How to install:
Grab the OTA package here http://android.clients.google.com/pa...o/VQ8PQk_V.zip (make sure you click "download as" and name it "update.zip." Don't download it and allow your computer to unzip it for you. It doesn't work if you try to rezip the contents)
Update 4.0.3 from the google servers (128mb download)

Rename it to update.zip. 

Copy it over to the internal storage on your Nexus S.

Power off, then hold volume up and power to reboot to the bootloader.

Using the volume key to navigate, select recovery, then use the power button to confirm

When you see the warning triangle and arrow, hold the power button and tap volume up. You'll see a menu.

From the menu, select "apply update from /sdcard", and choose update.zip from the list.

Let it update, and voila you have Ice Cream Sandwich! 

Happy Holidays! Enjoy your Ice Cream Sandwich.

-Nick

FAIL: My Quest To Unlock My iPhones Legally

Glendale, CA - I'm traveling to Taiwan in January for a vacation. While I have no intention of bringing my iPhone with me (one should not travel to unknown lands with expensive things), I have started to think about unlocking my iPhones for international travel. My family has 2 iPhone 3GS's. One of them is out of contract, and the other one is a few months away from ending its 2-year contract. We use AT&T.

Someone told me that Apple would unlock my out-of-contract phones for me at the Apple Store (this turned out to be false, but maybe it was true at some point --I simply don't know). With a pocketful of iPhones, I walked into the Glendale Americana Apple Store for my Genius Bar appointment. I let them know beforehand when making the appointment that I wanted to unlock my phones for a vacation to Taiwan.

The Genius told me that Apple does not unlock phones in their stores, ever. Great.

He told me to go to an AT&T Corporate Store and get my phone unlocked there. They should be able to unlock my out-of-contract phone, he said.

Apple will not unlock carrier phones in their store, even if they're out-of-contract.

I walked a half mile down the street to the AT&T Corporate store. The greeter at the front asked me what I was here for, so I told her. "Hi I've got some iPhones I'd like to get unlocked for a vacation abroad. One of them is out of contract, so I was wondering if you could unlock them for me. The Apple Store told me to come here because you could unlock my phones for me."

Judging by the look on her face, it's as if I walked in and asked to see all the dead bodies they hide in the back room. "Ummm, hold on let me ask the front desk." she said. She went up to some dude at the desk and asked about unlocking phones. She came back and said, "Sorry, we don't unlock phones in the store."

WHAT?!

"You might be able to unlock the phone if you call customer service, though. Call customer service and ask for the unlock code," she added.

For a second I was overwhelmed by the size of this mobile phone bureaucracy. Here I was, standing --in the flesh-- in an AT&T Corporate Store, and they told me I need to call AT&T Customer Service myself to get the phones unlocked?!

No matter how nicely you ask, you're not getting out of this. 

I walked into the corner of their small store and dialed 611 for customer service. I got a hold of a tech support guy, I'll call him Mark. Mark was rather nice and explained to me that they "may or may not be able to unlock" my phones. I gave him the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number for my out-of-contract iPhone 3GS to check his files. "Nope," he said. "It looks like we won't be able to unlock that phone."

"Are you telling me that my phones are permanently tied into the AT&T network???" I said, loudly (I hope the people in the store heard me).

"Yes, they are.... But, there is something you can do."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Some people have been able to manually unlock their phones through something called 'jailbreaking.' You can jailbreak your phones and unlock them that way."

I was well aware of jailbreaking, but I embarked on this journey to unlock my phone legally. I couldn't believe my ears --an AT&T Customer Service agent was telling me to jailbreak my phone.

"Hmm interesting," I said naively. "Is there some website I need to go to for this?"

"Uuuhhhhh, heh heh well just Google 'jailbreak iphone' and you should find some things. I shouldn't even be telling you this, but other customers are doing it and they know about it so you should look into it too. Make sure you do your research though, because you might damage your phone if you do it incorrectly."

"Alright," I said. "Thanks for the advice. I'll check it out."

Anyway, my iPhones have since been unlocked. They are jailbroken and unlocked. I could have jailbroken them before visiting Apple and AT&T, but I wanted to do it legally. I wanted to believe that American telecommunications companies like AT&T still had the interests of the customer at heart --I wanted to live the dream. But I was wrong. AT&T sent me on a wild goose chase to get the unlock codes, and in the end I couldn't get them.

Something is clearly wrong with AT&T's locking practices if their own employees feel compelled to tell customers about "jailbreaking." 

I believe that AT&T and other phone carriers like Verizon and Sprint are using unethical business practices to sell contract phones. I understand that my phone will be locked to the network during the 2-year standard contract, but after the contract is over, the phone should belong to the consumer (he paid for it, after all) and not the carrier. The consumer should be able to take the phone and use it on any network.

The use of permanent phone locks is especially unethical when you consider that Apple's iPhone 4s is being sold as an "international phone," sporting CDMA and GSM antennas in the body. The carriers will tell you that you can use the phone internationally, but unless you keep asking for details you'll find out that the phone cannot ever be used on other American carriers when you are in the States. Even when you buy a no-contract iPhone at full unsubsidized price, your phone is locked into the carrier you bought it from. Forever.

That is, unless you jailbreak it yourself.

I understand that AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint are trying to protect their investments by locking consumers into their networks. If you buy a subsidized phone from them, it is in their best interests to keep that investment within the network by locking the phone. The carriers need to do a better job at explaining to consumers that their phones will be forever locked into their network before the consumer signs at the dotted line. I have a feeling that consumers would think twice before buying a phone from a carrier if they knew about all the network restrictions on their phones.

For a fantastic expose on unethical branding of "unlocked" iPhone 4S's, check out this article from Forbes magazine.

PS: I saw a girl with one of those iPhone bunny ear cases and thought it was the cutest thing ever. If you want to buy one, here's an Amazon link. 

Yes, But Will It Fit In My Pocket?

Glendale, CA - Is bigger always better? Maybe it's a human thing, but it seems like we're attracted to things that are bigger than what we already have. Bigger TVs. Bigger houses. Bigger screens on our mobile phones.

When does a mobile phone get too big? Remember in the 90s every manufacturer was about making phones smaller? Today, everyone except Apple seems to be pushing the envelope on how big phones can be.

If you've been to the AT&T Store lately, you'll see what I'm talking about. Try it. Walk in there and ask for phone suggestions. The store employee will probably ask you about the screen size you're looking for, and show you some of their large options. At the store in El Cerrito, CA, they pitched me the Samsung Infuse (this was a while ago when the Infuse was the new hot ticket), a phone which branded itself as having the largest screen on any Samsung smartphone available.

The first thing I did was put the demo model in my front pocket to test "pocketability." It fit pretty well thanks to its thinness, but the large flat profile made it feel like I had a plank of wood pushing on my leg whenever I sat down.

Samsung seems to have swallowed the BIGGER SCREEN = BETTER PHONE pill, or at least it's trying to get the part of the market that loves big screens. Recently I found myself gawking at bigger screens. I saw a video of Tom Cruise using a massive smartphone to hunt his enemy in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, and thought, "I kind of want a huge smartphone now."

Don't you want a smartphone that big?

The price you pay is in the battery life. Apple has found the sweet spot in screen size and performance, it seems. The iPhone 4 and 4s are always at the upper quartile of battery performance in the market.

I do think that my iPad could be smaller, though. It's a great size for a tablet computer, but it's not pocketable. Have you seen the Kindle Fire? Even though that "tablet" comes nowhere close to iPad's capabilities, it comes in a really nice size. It's small enough for a girl's purse, and even for your jacket pocket.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is currently the largest "smartphone" I know of. I put "smartphone" in quotation marks because it's more of a tablet with a phone number. The screen is 5.3" from corner to corner, and it makes you look like a total geek when you put it up to your ear to talk. It comes with its own stylus (exactly what Steve Jobs wanted to avoid when designing the iPhone, ironically) and lets you take handwritten notes on it. I think it's a pretty slick device, but I'm not rich enough to fork over $700 for an unlocked version. The battery life is also very good, I hear. It seems that once you pass a certain size point, you're able to put in a bigger battery while still keeping the phone thin.

The Samsung Galaxy Note. Yeah, it's big.

(Image: http://regmedia.co.uk/2011/09/03/note_1.jpg)

I don't know how well Samsung's Galaxy Note will sell. It clearly has the biggest screen of any Android "smartphone" available. Maybe if it came with Ice Cream Sandwich it would be a wild success (it would be a pleasure to use the video chat feature with that screen size), but right now it ships with Honeycomb out of the box.

Note: Some of the product links in this post go through Amazon Associates.

Battery Life: Phone Manufacturers Are Going Backwards

Berkeley, CA - I visited the Verizon store today and played with the Galaxy Nexus phone. It sported an impressive HD display (which uses 40% of phone power when turned on at full brightness, and idle), dual core processor, and a fantastic camera. I couldn't help but think, "This phone, right here, is THE phone." Not only is the screen larger than the iPhone 4s, and not only is the processor faster --it's also 5 grams lighter than the 4s. It also has a friggin barometer.

But reports from the Internet are complaining that the Galaxy Nexus, in all its glory, suffers from poor battery life. Some people say they can get a full day out of the Galaxy Nexus, but in standard battery stress tests the phone consistently performs worse than other phones.

I don't care how fast it is --if the battery dies when I need it most, it's a brick.

(Image: http://www-bgr-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/samsung-galaxy-nexus-12.jpg)

This lady at the store showed me her Verizon "Charge" phone with the extended battery attached. She admitted she uses her phone "a lot" and needed the extended battery. Such a battery essentially dobules the thickness of your phone, and you need to attach a special case cover to shield it. It makes your phone ugly as heck but you can at least last an entire day without charging it.

I'm seeing this more and more --battery life is going down rather than up in mobile. It's because batteries haven't caught up to the new technology that the companies are packing into these devices. Once on a hiking trip, all of my friends in the other car (we had two cars) had Android phones. By the end of the day, ALL of their phones died (all four of them) so they couldn't communicate with us for directions while driving back home. Eventually we pulled over and I gave them my iPhone 3gs (which had a good 40% charge left), and we used my friend's old-school Motorola flip to make phone calls to my iPhone in the other car. Can you believe it? All four Androids died in under a day!

People seem to be adapting just fine. Many of my friends with Androids actually carry around chargers with them. I can't believe what the world's come to, though! Mobile phones and laptops were designed to be mobile. By having poor battery life, they essentially are sacrificing mobility.

I hope phone manufacturers figure things out and manage their battery lives better. Mobile phones are not mobile unless you can go a full day without charging!!!

Do you want your phone to look like this??

The Verizon Charge with extended battery pack.

(Image: http://community.vzw.com/vzw/attachments/vzw/Charge/4806/1/Phone-2.JPG)