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Possible future scenario...

gloriousnumber1

gloriousnumber1

Android Expert
So I thought of this today, and even though I have no crystal ball, and can't tell the future, I'm sure similar things will happen, even if not like this exactly. Also, I know it's up to each person to decide for themselves what to buy or not buy based on their needs, budget, type of use etc. I know all this. Nobody can make anyone else's mind up for them.

So, my upgrade date is mid April 2012. I see a very good possibility that I will be in a very interesting quandary then. Imagine this, Spring 2012 is here, and just when I think I want to get the GNex, which of course is very available at this point, something happens. The Bionic 2 is announced. It has the same screen basically as the Razr. It is a 4G LTE (duhhh!) quad-core 2.5 ghz processor, 2 gigs of ram, 32 gigs storage with a micro SD slot available for added room. ICS out of the box also. The battery life is reported to similar to the Gnex.

Problem is, it has a bootloader locked up tight, and is filled with bloatware and (don't call it) Blur also. It's touted by Verizon as the best, most powerful Droid ever, and by then, every other carrier has phones out with similar specs, but no Nexus on the horizon.

So, my decision will have to be based on my needs. No quad core phone with double the hardware makes the GNex slower, but it makes it look weak in comparison. I doubt I will ever root. I doubt I will ever do anything but keep it stock. I text, call, facebook, twitter, email, pandora, web browse, use apps for this site and lots of others.

Nothing that requires root. I dream of being able to use Pandora and Facebook together with no noticeable lag. I want to be able to exit out of an App, and touch the app tray button, and NOT BE greeted by a black screen, waiting a long time to load up and show my apps. I would LOVE to be able to get to my gallery without waiting 10 seconds for it to load up. I want a big, beautiful screen with vibrant colors, and as long as it's as good or better than my resolution on this OG Droid, I'm happy.

I would love to be able to touch my screen and have instant response anytime that it's practical in the way I use it. Maybe even someday, I would love to be able to sync my facebook contacts into a SEPARATE contact list, so I don't look through 700 to find my 150 I put in myself.

Pipe dreams? Maybe. Point is, I don't ask for the world. I don't know what I'm going to do if it's between such choices as the one I said COULD (but might not) happen.

Please, post your thoughts and ideas. I'm not that good at all this. I feel I have already surpassed most Verizon employees knowledge of their own smartphones anytime I go into the store, so you guys "Help me Obi-Wan-Kenobi, you're my only hope" type of people!
 
The way I see it is you can already get the phone you want....minus some separate facebook contacts...but phone socializing is not my forte so...maybe there is a way???.

As far as the Gnex looking weak...to me it is no milestone for power as it is....OMAP is a very nice processor but TI has already one upped that. The biggest stir about this phone is ICS...because it will actually use dual core in real time. Having said that the SGSII handles tasks in a phone every bit of what you are expecting...I imagine the Razor is not far behind..... also almost EVERY app on the market cannot utilize dual core to any real extent......once again we are at the software not living up to the hardware issue once again. The Nexus really has only moved renders to GPU.

You are in a good spot.....I myself would wait and see what comes out. Cell phones are a rat race...there is going to be something even more elite running to the horizon. By the time you get your upgrade there may be that exact phone you are looking for. Also if something like locked boot loaders are an issue for you....Shop for other brands of devices, as phones that are ridiculous to crack and have lower spec hardware are becoming less interest to the development community.
 
I understand the frustration... there is always something new right around the corner. Here's the deal, though. I can get any of the new handsets I want through work for free. What am I using though? My year and a half old Samsung Fascinate, which is running MIUI rom (which is excellent) and is overclocked to 1.3 ghz, and has an extended battery. The AMOLED screen is gorgeous, the phone is fast, and the MIUI rom, which is based on the latest revision of Gingerbread, offers many features that aren't even offered in Ice Cream Sandwich, like being able to theme/skin pretty much everything, from the status bar, to dialog boxes, to fonts, lockscreens, boot animations, etc. We have the Galaxy Nexus here (but aren't allowed to sell it yet). I ran a few benchmarks and my customized Fascinate scored about the same as the Nexus.

I'm not trying to tell you that the Fascinate is the best phone ever. What I'm saying is that through the power of custom ROMs, you can keep a phone 'up to date' much longer than you expect. I was really wanting a Nexus, but now I think I will wait until Cyanogenmod/MIUI devs work their magic on it, because functionally speaking, the Fascinate does all the important stuff as well as the new phones - the only thing I'm really jealous off on the new phones is the large screen size.
 
trophynuts said:
personally imo i wouldn't touch a first gen quad core phone with a ten foot pole.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree. It'll be like the first gen quad core desktop processors. Cores 1 and 2 at 80% utilization, and cores 3 and 4 at like 10%, because the programs weren't written correctly to utilize them. And I can only imagine what that would do to battery life.
 
JTDraven said:
I tend to agree. It'll be like the first gen quad core desktop processors. Cores 1 and 2 at 80% utilization, and cores 3 and 4 at like 10%, because the programs weren't written correctly to utilize them. And I can only imagine what that would do to battery life.
Click to expand...

exactly. There is no way that quad core processors in addition to HD screens and LTE radios are going to go well with current battery technology.
 
I've been holding my upgrade since July --- the lack of an iPhone 5 (got caught up in that rumor mill too) knocked me off considering going that route --- now still waiting for Nexus --- bigger, better deal is always around the corner --- which is why Verizon should just get these things out
 
trophynuts said:
personally imo i wouldn't touch a first gen quad core phone with a ten foot pole.
Click to expand...

trophy... you beat me too it! I don't think quad core phones are really going to be a viable platform for quite awhile unless they can make them sip almost no battery or the current battery technology improves ten fold.
Also as stated above, you'll still be in the "software doesn't utilize the hardware" state since we don't even have dual core utilized software yet.
 
For a non-developer, non-programmer like me, can someone explain how an app utilizes dual core technology, or why the app "cares" or "knows" (for lack of better words) that a phone is single or dual core, or why it even matters at all?
 
gloriousnumber1 said:
Imagine this, Spring 2012 is here, and just when I think I want to get the GNex, which of course is very available at this point, something happens. The Bionic 2 is announced. It has the same screen basically as the Razr. It is a 4G LTE (duhhh!) quad-core 2.5 ghz processor, 2 gigs of ram, 32 gigs storage with a micro SD slot available for added room. ICS out of the box also. The battery life is reported to similar to the Gnex.
Click to expand...

Um, for those specs, I'd say more like Spring 2014. Moto isn't the fastest out of the gate with anything...
 
If you aren't rooting why do you care if the bootloader is locked or not?

Also, uh, isn't the GNex a first generation dual-core phone?
 
Well I don't care so much, but I was hoping other people can tell me what they would do in that case. And if Motorola doesn't make specs like that, no big deal. It was only an example. I really do think those types of specs will be standard before next summer.
 
jackdubl said:
If you aren't rooting why do you care if the bootloader is locked or not?

Also, uh, isn't the GNex a first generation dual-core phone?
Click to expand...

IMO no because there are other phones that have already came out dual core.

my definition of first first gen is the first phone out with a quad core
 
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