Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One

[matttye]

Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One

When did additional features become bloatware? It's just... extra things you can do.

I can't believe we've gotten to a point where companies are adding too many new features. What has the world come to!

But all right.

That's exactly what bloatware is. What do you think it is?!

"bloatware
A piece of software, hardware or website that attempts to do too much and becomes utterly useless for users. An example of bloatware would be a word processing application that also tries to be your page layout program, drawing tool, and web browser; absorbing half your hard drive and all your RAM in the process."

Software that attempts to do too much!

Features are great, but if there are thousands of features you don't use it becomes more difficult and cumbersome to find the ones you DO use.

 

[jrswizzle]

When did additional features become bloatware? It's just... extra things you can do.

I can't believe we've gotten to a point where companies are adding too many new features. What has the world come to!

But all right.

Too many new gimmicks....I'm not a fan of Samsung's "throw it all at the wall and see what sticks" mentality.

I can't believe we've gotten to the point where we accept half baked features as "innovations" because it looks like a neat idea.....

I prefer polished implementations, with the occasional game changer that may take time to perfect. IMO, nothing Samsung has instituted (save for the Note - phablet class) is a game changer.....

And all that added coding and software only serves to bloat up the overlay on the OS. I prefer simplicity, efficiency - hence my preference for iOS.

The words "feature", "gimmick" and "innovation" are really starting to blur together for me....need to come up with a good mix of the three....

Gimmiturevation!

 

[onthecouchagain]

Fair enough.

I've said this before, I'm not even crazy about the S4. In fact, none of the Android offerings are impressing me this year and/or I have strong reservations against them; to the point where I'm picking up an unlocked iPhone 5 today.

But Samsung should be commended for their effort, not berated. Air Gesture? I mean, gimmicky or not (it is a bit gimmicky) this is one of the first steps toward a gesture-based world.

Eye recognition software getting even better? Have you seen Minority Report? This is where it starts (for better or worse).

This is pushing and shaping the lanscape of technology. And they should be commended for trying, not berated for not making everything immediately useful.

This is how it is when people push the frontiers of technology. You'll have hits and misses. Not to mention the simple fact that you can turn them off. It's not like it's un-removable carrier bloatware.

I guess it's all semantics. I'm no Samsung fan (at all!), but I still respect what they're doing.

If everyone "innovated" at the pace Apple is innovating currently, we'd be getting nowhere.

 

[jrswizzle]

Fair enough.

I've said this before, I'm not even crazy about the S4. In fact, none of the Android offerings are impressing me this year and/or I have strong reservations against them; to the point where I'm picking up an unlocked iPhone 5 today.

But Samsung should be commended for their effort, not berated. Air Gesture? I mean, gimmicky or not (it is a bit gimmicky) this is one of the first steps toward a gesture-based world.

Eye recognition software getting even better? Have you seen Minority Report? This is where it starts (for better or worse).

This is pushing and shaping the lanscape of technology. And they should be commended for trying, not berated for not making everything immediately useful.

This is how it is when people push the frontiers of technology. You'll have hits and misses. Not to mention the simple fact that you can turn them off. It's not like it's un-removable carrier bloatware.

I guess it's all semantics. I'm no Samsung fan (at all!), but I still respect what they're doing.

If everyone "innovated" at the pace Apple is innovating currently, we'd be getting nowhere.

But the gesture stuff has been out for a while (Kinect, Smart TVs, Playstation Move, Wii, etc....). Samsung isn't "PUSHING" any envelope by simply putting this into a smartphone (arguably the most worthless place for this type of tech).

If they happen to hit on something, I'll be right there to give them their respect - but at this point, they're simply guessing it seems - adding literally every thought that pops into their heads and making for a feature over-loaded phone.

 

[onthecouchagain]

But the gesture stuff has been out for a while (Kinect, Smart TVs, Playstation Move, Wii, etc....). Samsung isn't "PUSHING" any envelope by simply putting this into a smartphone (arguably the most worthless place for this type of tech).

If they happen to hit on something, I'll be right there to give them their respect - but at this point, they're simply guessing it seems - adding literally every thought that pops into their heads and making for a feature over-loaded phone.

None of those are smartphones! I never said Samsung invented gestures.

Any proof that they're just guessing? I don't deny they're trying to cram as much as they can, but again, this is how technology works. Don't pretend you're blind to it. It happens in every field. People try to one up each other with features! That's ultimately better for the consumer and better for the landscape of technology. It makes people try harder.

You seem to think I'm arguing for how good or useful or great these new features are. Just to be clear, I am not, nor do I wish to. Like I said, I'm not crazy about the S4. But I respect Samsung for trying their hardest.

You're all too busy worrying about whether it's useful or not (and who's to say it's not useful to someone who may use it? Ever consider that?) that you fail to see that Samsung is pushing the boundaries of what a smartphone can do.

And I'll be honest. I personally do love the eye stuff. I think it's really putting the smart in smartphone. We are -- at the most basic level -- truly communicating with our devices.

 

[strausd]

Does the S4 have an unlocked bootloader?

Doubt it. But I've read in a fee places it will be difficult to unlock the bootloader on the One and apparently Samsung phones are pretty easy.

----------

But the gesture stuff has been out for a while (Kinect, Smart TVs, Playstation Move, Wii, etc....). Samsung isn't "PUSHING" any envelope by simply putting this into a smartphone (arguably the most worthless place for this type of tech).

If they happen to hit on something, I'll be right there to give them their respect - but at this point, they're simply guessing it seems - adding literally every thought that pops into their heads and making for a feature over-loaded phone.

I completely agree with you on this. There definitely seems to be more guessing going on than anything else.

 

[jrswizzle]

None of those are smartphones! I never said Samsung invented gestures.

Any proof that they're just guessing? I don't deny they're trying to cram as much as they can, but again, this is how technology works. Don't pretend you're blind to it. It happens in every field. People try to one up each other with features! That's ultimately better for the consumer and better for the landscape of technology. It makes people try harder.

You seem to think I'm arguing for how good or useful or great these new features are. Just to be clear, I am not, nor do I wish to. Like I said, I'm not crazy about the S4. But I respect Samsung for trying their hardest.

You're all too busy worrying about whether it's useful or not (and who's to say it's not useful to someone who may use it? Ever consider that?) that you fail to see that Samsung is pushing the boundaries of what a smartphone can do.

And I'll be honest. I personally do love the eye stuff. I think it's really putting the smart in smartphone. We are -- at the most basic level -- truly communicating with our devices.

That was my point - if you wanted to push the envelope with a technology like AirGestures, why implement it in arguably the last device one would need that feature?

I'm not saying its not useful for everyone....pretty much any feature will be useful to someone.....I'm just saying, I find it hard to call it innovation when its a random amalgamation of admittedly interesting features, that really don't serve more purpose than to give you yet another way to take a screenshot....

I guess I just expect more out of the word innovation....like something that will change the way I use a smartphone - something that will upset my current usage patterns....something completely unexpected.

This is also why I don't get upset when these annual upgrades are spec-bumps and evolutions rather than revolutions....true innovation doesn't happen every year.

And sure, I'll say Samsung the ole "A" for effort....but that's really not what its about. I don't think any of these smartphone OEM's aren't "trying" to make a great phone....or come up with new innovative features....I just think Samsung throws a lot into the phone and passes it off as innovation when that's really not the case...

 

[strausd]

you can easily unlock the bootloader of the htc one

click me

Dang that is awesome! Everything I read so far said that it was very difficult to unlock the bootloader on an HTC device.

EDIT: I do not see the HTC One listed as a supported device:
http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/

 

[tekno]

Too many new gimmicks....I'm not a fan of Samsung's "throw it all at the wall and see what sticks" mentality.

This is very true. Apple have come out with some real rotters (Ping, Newsstand etc. etc.) but Samsung have won that war!

The first few days of using my S3 was spent switching off all the, whilst technically clever, quite useless and frustrating features - Smart Stay, tilt to scroll, smart rotation, S beam, ripple effect when unlocking, all of the tacky Samsung tones, direct call, smart alert, double tap to top, tilt to zoom, shake to update, turn over to mute... the list goes on.

All these things are clever, but none are 100% infallible and accurate and therefore just become a bit annoying.

The S4 seems to just add more of this stuff, so I'm not interested in it at all.

 

[lazard]

The S4 due to the fact that, while the One looks and feels better it's lacking in areas like no SD expansion slot, no 802.11 ac, and no removable battery.

 

[MRU]

The S4 due to the fact that, while the One looks and feels better it's lacking in areas like no SD expansion slot, no 802.11 ac, and no removable battery.

It has

Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n

http://www.androidcentral.com/official-htc-one-specs

 

[dojoman]

Too many new gimmicks....I'm not a fan of Samsung's "throw it all at the wall and see what sticks" mentality.

I can't believe we've gotten to the point where we accept half baked features as "innovations" because it looks like a neat idea.....

I prefer polished implementations, with the occasional game changer that may take time to perfect. IMO, nothing Samsung has instituted (save for the Note - phablet class) is a game changer.....

And all that added coding and software only serves to bloat up the overlay on the OS. I prefer simplicity, efficiency - hence my preference for iOS.

The words "feature", "gimmick" and "innovation" are really starting to blur together for me....need to come up with a good mix of the three....

Gimmiturevation!

I don't mind if they added features that work well but I don't see how floating gesture will work in real use. Not to mention ridiculous swipe to turn pages. Never got to work swipe to take screenshot with S3.

 

[sentinelsx]

That's exactly what bloatware is. What do you think it is?!

"bloatware
A piece of software, hardware or website that attempts to do too much and becomes utterly useless for users. An example of bloatware would be a word processing application that also tries to be your page layout program, drawing tool, and web browser; absorbing half your hard drive and all your RAM in the process."

Software that attempts to do too much!

Features are great, but if there are thousands of features you don't use it becomes more difficult and cumbersome to find the ones you DO use.

Then from the same logic the following is bloatware on my iPhone 5:

Newsstand
Siri
Apple Maps
iTunes store
iOS mail app
iOS calendar app
iCloud features
Passbook
iOS videos app
Voice memos app
Stocks
iOS weather app
Game center
Do not disturb
Twitter and facebook integration
FaceTime
Nike + iPod


Since i don't use any of that. That's a lot of bloatware eh.

 

[matttye]

Then from the same logic the following is bloatware on my iPhone 5:

Newsstand
Siri
Apple Maps
iTunes store
iOS mail app
iOS calendar app
iCloud features
Passbook
iOS videos app
Voice memos app
Stocks
iOS weather app
Game center
Do not disturb
Twitter and facebook integration
FaceTime
Nike + iPod


Since i don't use any of that. That's a lot of bloatware eh.

This thread is about the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, why would you bring up the iPhone? It's not a competition

 

[sentinelsx]

This thread is about the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, why would you bring up the iPhone? It's not a competition

Feeling a bit tense?

It's been brought up in almost every thread, and other phones are routinely brought up in non related threads too...don't see the big deal.

I mean it was perfectly okay for other posters to bring in iOS and how its features are always well thought out just a couple scrolls above eh?

I can feel the slight unease in the post

 

[matttye]

Feeling a bit tense?

It's been brought up in almost every thread, and other phones are routinely brought up in non related threads too...don't see the big deal.

I can however feel the slight unease in the post

There's no unease, I'm just sick of people warping what is said and changing every thread into a petty argument.

The thread is about the S4 and HTC One. Just because I criticise those devices doesn't mean you have to criticise my choice of device to "get even."

It's just childish.

 

[sentinelsx]

There's no unease, I'm just sick of people warping what is said and changing every thread into a petty argument.

The thread is about the S4 and HTC One. Just because I criticise those devices doesn't mean you have to criticise my choice of device to "get even."

It's just childish.

Would you mind calling out the iOS praisers in the same thread then?

Of course why would you?

I see the tension rising in the subsequent post

 

[matttye]

Would you mind calling out the iOS praisers in the same thread then?

Of course why would you?

I see the tension rising in the subsequent post

They didn't respond to me; you did.

 

[jrswizzle]

Feeling a bit tense?

It's been brought up in almost every thread, and other phones are routinely brought up in non related threads too...don't see the big deal.

I mean it was perfectly okay for other posters to bring in iOS and how its features are always well thought out just a couple scrolls above eh?

I can feel the slight unease in the post

Lol you listed every feature of the iPhone....touche.

Well I would say something like, the iPhone is infinitely more optimized - but you wouldn't care.

I'd say that all those Samsung features are sitting on TOP of an OS - but that wouldn't matter.

I'd say that most of those Apple features aren't simply redundant ways to do certain tasks - they are the original/only ways to do certain tasks - but I'm sure you would disagree.

So I guess I'll just say, whatever. Go have fun with whatever you like and I'll do likewise. There's really no point in arguing about this nonsense.

 

[sentinelsx]

They didn't respond to me; you did.

Yeah i made the mistake to quote you. That should not be done but i am lazy at times and click the quote button.

Anyhow, looks like we are derailing slowly.

----------

Lol you listed every feature of the iPhone....touche.

Well I would say something like, the iPhone is infinitely more optimized - but you wouldn't care.

I'd say that all those Samsung features are sitting on TOP of an OS - but that wouldn't matter.

I'd say that most of those Apple features aren't simply redundant ways to do certain tasks - they are the original/only ways to do certain tasks - but I'm sure you would disagree.

So I guess I'll just say, whatever. Go have fun with whatever you like and I'll do likewise. There's really no point in arguing about this nonsense.

No those are the ones i do not use. Not a single one. Yes it is true. They do not add anything meaningful to my life even after i have tried them, and by that very definition, they are all bloatware.

Sure we can all have fun with what we like but the iPhone is always the best eh

 

[jrswizzle]

Yeah i made the mistake to quote you. That should not be done but i am lazy at times and click the quote button.

Anyhow, looks like we are derailing slowly.

----------



No those are the ones i do not use. Not a single one. Yes it is true. They do not add anything meaningful to my life even after i have tried them, and by that very definition, they are all bloatware.

Sure we can all have fun with what we like but the iPhone is always the best eh

It's the best for me - but I've stated that on numerous occasions - that it's my opinion. And that I use Android as my personal, daily device.

I'm getting into this - its an absurd list (as half of those things are simply stock apps - it would be like me listing all the stock apps I don't use on my N4 as "bloatware" which I'm not claiming). As I said before - use what you like.

This pointless bickering gets tiresome....

And as matty pointed out, I thought we were discussing the GS4 and HTC One? So why the iPhone is involved, I haven't the slightest clue.

You would've done better to list all the bloatware in the One (which I'm sure there's some).

 

[sentinelsx]

It's the best for me - but I've stated that on numerous occasions - that it's my opinion. And that I use Android as my personal, daily device.

I'm getting into this - its an absurd list (as half of those things are simply stock apps - it would be like me listing all the stock apps I don't use on my N4 as "bloatware" which I'm not claiming). As I said before - use what you like.

This pointless bickering gets tiresome....

And as matty pointed out, I thought we were discussing the GS4 and HTC One? So why the iPhone is involved, I haven't the slightest clue.

You would've done better to list all the bloatware in the One (which I'm sure there's some).

Well if you are not using the stock apps on your N4, guess what, they ARE bloatware to you then.

See, i have no issues saying a spade as a spade, no reason to be defensive over anything. If you are not using those google apps or other features, it is bloatware, plain and simple.

As for why the iPhone is involved, i will take back my post if you oblige us by taking your shining love for iOS and iPhone back in the SAME thread. All of a sudden we can say "i think it is better" but not "i don't think it is better" ? Double standards?

 

[jrswizzle]

Well if you are not using the stock apps on your N4, guess what, they ARE bloatware to you then.

See, i have no issues saying a spade as a spade, no reason to be defensive over anything. If you are not using those google apps or other features, it is bloatware, plain and simple.

As for why the iPhone is involved, i will take back my post if you oblige us by taking your shining love for iOS and iPhone back in the SAME thread. All of a sudden we can say "i think it is better" but not "i don't think it is better" ? Double standards?

"shining love" lol....ya you're right. I love iOS and hate anyone who criticizes it.

Anyways - back to the thread topic....One vs. GS4?

 

[sentinelsx]

"shining love" lol....ya you're right. I love iOS and hate anyone who criticizes it.

Anyways - back to the thread topic....One vs. GS4?

Let's just say i was a bit harsh.

However, i would not be demanding a poster to not post the word iPhone or anything about it when i was doing the same This type of behavior is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Stay honest, criticize as much you want, i have zero issue with it. If you like iOS more because it works better for you, more power to you and others. No complaints here.


And back to topic, GS4. Why?

1. Both the inspire and One X had terrible battery life compared to captivate and galaxy S3 in my experience.

2. It has always been as easy as follow 1,2,3, so on simple instructions to take off the touchwiz from a galaxy, and install AOSP. Love that. ODIN is brilliant. I could be a noob for example, but flashing a firmware through odin would be no different from flashing evasi0n on iPhone. Dirt simple. No S-On/Off crap, no need to go to a site unlock bootloader. No need for anything.

My biggest reason to buy GS4 is just that: easy AOKP ROM on it while enjoying the camera, battery, audio, and a 32GB expandable storage.

My turn off would be SAMOLED. If it is bright enough however, i won't have an issue.

I have no love for sense however. I would rather use vanilla android. That is just my opinion.

 

[matttye]

I'm actually quite surprised the HTC One is winning given Samsung's popularity.

I suspect some voters simply prefer the look of it!