Galaxy Tab Gingerbread Performance Boost

I must immediately report that I just got Gingerbread on my Galaxy Tab and got a 200% performance boost. 1500 on Quadrant. Immediately snappier. Wow. Thank you Sprint. Thank you Samsung.

HTC Flyer / EVO View 4G Video Review

Sprint "Repair Team" Redeemed

My wife dropped her EVO Shift the other day. Now an EVO Shift is an HTC. And HTC makes damn good devices with damn good build quality. There's a reason they're always so heavy. They're made like bricks. But a 4 foot drop will shatter any Gorilla Glass. The touch layer was smashed into a finely-meshed webbing, held together only by the screen protector.

I looked online for the part and it was $45. I knew from at&t days that an iPhone screen replacement was at least $150. My stomach sank.

For the hell of it, I took it to Sprint... with NO INSURANCE, NO NOTHING, NO JACK SQUAT..... they said it will only be $35, and a 40 minute wait.

Unbelievable.

Netflix disappears from Market big WTF

Man... what a major clusterfluck. Netflix YANKED support for EVO 4G and a range of other Android devices. What the hell is going on? This is downright pathetic.

They are so busy worrying about preventing copyright infringement meanwhile it was just reported today that they send their passwords unencrypted! 

Must say this is pathetic and embarrassing. And if I didn't like Netflix so much, I would be pretty pissed off.

HTC Evo View 4G Preview

I must confess that this is more of a review of the Flyer that I just went out and purchased.

I had some doubts and reservations knowing that for the $500 Best Buy wanted, I could get an iPad 2 or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. But I knew that the 7 inch form factor was right for me and that the WiFi Galaxy Tab 7 didn't pull its weight performance wise. So I sprung for one of these.

Build:
I am not a fan of tapered edges and rounded corners. This is one of the reasons I opted for ipad one over two. This is one thing I liked about the original galaxy tab. Here I had to compromise. The rest of the feel is solid, though I miss the softouch that encased similarly sized devices such as the Playbook. Brushed metal is fine but the plastic caps on the top and bottom are not my favorite. Evidently Sprint didn't like them either so they will be Softouch on the Evo View.

Software:
I've always verb skeptical about Sense and Sense overload but I must say I am really impressed with Sense 3.0. It's hyper customizable, intuitive, and just feels right on a 7 inch display. You can now unlock straight into applications, reskin the entire UI, and do other tricks previously only possible with root and alternative launchers. When Honeycomb is finally mature for a 7 inch form factor, it will only make this device better.

Final:
Even though this was a pretty big gamble, and I had my doubts about paying more for less (Acer iconia 10 inch is only $450) I am glad I went with the Flyer. For us Sprint users, I highly recommend picking up the WiFi only one and tethering it as $400 on contract Sprint wants is not worth it. I will emphasize that you will be stuck on a 2 year contract on THE WORST TABLET DATA PLAN in the US. $35 a month is way above competition. Unacceptable.

Continuing Clearwire Improvements

As proof of my claim in a previous post where I touted significant 4g speed improvements, I offer visual confirmation of the stated claim.

On Sprint Premier "Account Specialists"

So I finally qualified my giant family plan for Sprint Premier. Nevermind that I for some reason don't qualify for Gold, like i should, and only pull Silver because evidently I haven't been paying enough for LONG enough. Nevermind that .... What I mind is the asshat "account specialist" that I have been assigned by Sprint to call me and to "find ways to save me money".

This guy, who speaks with this annoying Persian accent and equally annoying habit of calling me Mister <insert first name> instead of just my first name calls me up and proceeds to very very slowly go over the minutia of my account details. Things I already know.  (with that Persian habit of repeating himself 3 times after each sentence)  I ask him on the difference between Premier Gold and Silver and all he says is that it's basically the same thing without details. (very helpful)

What really pushed me over the edge is when he started asking me if I have kids or have a business line. I said no to both. And now, he decided to show his true nature and proceeded to offer me "as gratitude for my service" a "free" "comparable" Android phone. He tried to convince me that an Optimus S is "comparable" to an EVO Shift while glossing over the fact that it was free if and only if I opened a new line for my business.

Now it took me 4 tries to get him to shut the hell up and to send him packing. It pisses me off that I KNOW that Optimus S is NOT comparable to EVO Shift. I've had one. But the asshat did not bother to realize this. It pisses me off that I went to Sprint.com and saw an offer for a free Optimus S available to anyone. It pisses me off that my "account specialist" is just a clown designed to try to rip me off and sell me crap I don't need.

Thanks Dan. Premier privilege.

Clearwire increasing speeds in Seattle area

No announcement. No big hoopla. No David Blaine. But it seems like Sprint's new, re-negotiated agreement with Clearwire is already paying off to customers.

That, or it's the increased pressure from Verizon from the launch of LTE.

But whichever it may be, I am now happy to report significantly increased Wimax speeds on the Sprint 4G network in Seattle. In fact, they are now comparable to LTE speeds in the same area. In fact I'm now topping at 7500 ~ 8000 Kbps in good weather.

Thanks Clear!

Amazon goes rogue: Sprint screwing with EVO Shift media streaming?

Today I get a strange push message on my EVO Shift: Streaming quality on your HTC EVO Shift may be impacted by a known issue with the Sprint carrier network. To resolve this issue, please contact Sprint at 888-211-4727. Let them know that you are having trouble steaming multimedia on the HTC EVO Shift with software version xxx.xx.xxx.x

At first I am confused. Next I notice the tiny Amazon icon. It's the Amazon appstore pushing this to me!

It appears that Amazon has gone rogue! I can only explain this by the suspicion that Amazon is working to launch Amazon Prime Video on Demand and that Sprint has not been working with them to optimize the performance of their network and their devices! So it appears that out of frustration, Amazon has gone mad and now wants the customers to call and harass Sprint! Issue also appears to involve EVO's.

Getting pretty Epic!!!! (no pun intended)

at&t, not Sprint, is buying T-Mobile

So I guess we were outbid... or something... because last I heard the plan was for SPRINT to buy T-Mobile. Then that rumor died and now the next thing I hear, my NYT app on me iPad flashes me this breaking news. Well, what does this mean really?

1. at&t will now gain another 40 million customer lead on Verizon
2. HSPA may become more real for at&t users rather than just a pipe dream
3. T-Mobile users will actually see LTE in the foreseeable future
4. at&t users will be astonished that it's possible to have even worse network performance on GSM than their own (last week I went into a T-Mobile store near Seattle to play around with their 4G phones and so some speed tests and despite the fact that they all had nearly full bars, I got astonishing 50 kbps speeds! T-Mo 4G is reeeeaaal..... right....

5. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY this now makes Sprint the underdog. The smallest national carrier (save Metro PCS and the like)

6. I think this makes Sprint a possible purchase target for Verizon

125 dollars regained

Once again I am amazed with how great Sprint CS can be. I explained the situation and they credited me my port-in credits.

Not too shabby.

mythical 125 dollar port in credit vaporizes if you procrastinate for 3 days

"Request for service credit must be made at sprint.com/switchtosprint within 72 hours from the port-in activation date or credit will be declined. "


AAAAAAAARGHHGHGHGHGHGH


I've always been a procrastinator... but rarely has it bitten me in the ass for $125.


I ported in my mum's number a few weeks ago (after already knowing about the credit promo) but thought, oh what the hell i have like 60 days to request it right? NO I HAVE 3 DAYS... it turns out.


oh btw thanks for telling me, C.S.

European style RMA

You know how on every carrier in the US, if something goes wrong with your phone within the first year, and it's not your fault, you can use your warranty and just bring it in to a store and they will swap it out with a new one?

Well... in an unprecedented cost-cutting measure, last September, Sprint did away with this measure. Now you are blackmailed into signing up for equipment protection for that to take place. If you don't pay your monthly blackmail fee, you have to pay the nerds in the back $35 to "diagnose" your phone. How did I find this out? Well... I found it out the hard way when the speaker on my EVO crapped out and blew out.

I said to them... WTF dude this is some kind of blackmail? I'm not paying for this garbage, are you familiar with everyone else's policies? To which he said if I don't wanna pay $35, I need to contact HTC directly, you know how they do in Europe... (then the fucker tried to convince me that other carriers work the same way, but that didn't fly too well with me)

Essentially, instead of X amount of money going to pay for in-store swaps (if for nothing else then to match Apple), Dan, the Genius, Hesse decided to employ 3-5 nerdy dorks in the back "to repair and diagnose your phone".

Well Dan, at least you are tackling America's unemployment problems head on!

P.S. I ended up paying big brown $28 to ship this thing to HTC in Texas. They fixed the phone and sent back the original (TIMES ARE TOUGH RIGHT?). And I was without phone for 2 weeks. I guess you got me Sprint. You Win. Joke is on me.

iPad 2 Announced

Let me just say right off the bat. I think I'm pretty certain I'm gonna go and pick up one of these bad boys.

Look yeah I dumped the iPhone... I dumped it because of the UI. I dumped it because I wanted widgets and I wanted to be able to see more information at once, without having to go into each app.  I dumped it for the better notifications and the less obtrusive, more powerful design of the UI.

HOWEVER: While I was itching to pick up an Android tablet (of some sort) I quickly realized that all I would be getting is just a bigger screen version of my phone! There is no new content specifically designed for Galaxy Tab or even Xoom. The only optimized apps are New York Times and Financial Times.

Other than that, it's rough out there.

There is one thing the iPad brings that an Android tablet doesn't. New content.

Until that changes, Honeycomb has no chance.

Sprint's Big Announcement is Kyocera Echo? WTF?

Kyocera Echo? WHAT??

What the hell? David Blaine, wtf.... what does he have to do with the Kyocera? There's no magic there. The thing is a piece of shit. Sprint is once again the laughing stock in the headlines.

Look, after a BLANK CES with no real announcements and nothing to look forward to, while the other 3 announced several Tegra 2 devices, I was REALLY counting on Sprint to come through big with this announcement. Instead they deliver this?

If I was Dan Hesse, I would be fucking embarrassed.

Look it's not that the phone sucks (altho if the Zio is any benchmark, we can expect a non-functional touchscreen and underperforming hardware)....

It's that it is horridly underpowered by a last-gen processor that has trouble driving one WVGA screen on an EVO.

It's that it has a stupid bezel between the screens, and Kyocera couldn't use some kind of special lens glass on the LCDs to eliminate the bezel...

It's that it's nearly 3 years old thick! (18 mm).

It's that it has no 4G (not that Wimax is real anyway, trust me it exists only in myth)

It's that it has no front facing camera.

It's that it's a Kyocera....

Look. This device SHOULD have featured Tegra 2 or at least the new Snapdragon v2 with Adreno 205. It should have had a gig of ram. It should have had lens refraction and no bezel between screens.

Then, then I would not be laughing. What an embarrassing day to be a Sprint customer.

P.S. Why are the buttons on there twice again?

CDMA bars in more places

Just for the record, at&t "more bars in more places" campaign is complete horseshit.

On a GSM carrier, bars don't mean shit. I've had 2-3 bars on at&t or T-Mobile and was unable to make a call.

On a CDMA carrier, often you can have 0 bars and make clear calls and get ~300 kbps data speeds.

The bars are just calculated differently.

So far, I usually have very few bars of Sprint reception here in Seattle... but I can usually make... and HANG ON to calls much, much better than at&t.


Quality of Service: A+

Airaves require GPS... and UPS.

Lesson learned: for clever reasons, Airaves require a GPS signal. Why you ask? Why the fuck would it need GPS? Well... because they don't want you taking your Airave to Botswana and using Sprint. Why? Well... well because they want you to rent a GSM Roaming phone for $45 a week, as well as pay $5 a minute for roaming in Botswana.

WTF right?

Let me just say this: T-Mobile does not use Microcells. T-Mobile uses WIFI UMA (unlicensed mode access something rather) to relay your phones through VOIP while still using your phone number. It's a great thing, and as WIFI chips require less and less power, they are a viable option, sometimes delivering better talk time than on normal cellular networks. While T-Mo UMA should only work in the USA, you can easily rig it to work worldwide.

Not so easy with the Airvana Airave from Sprint. Not only does it require GPS for Big Brother... so they know where you are using it, but it also requires uninterrupted power supply (UPS).

Okay not really, but if your power goes out for a few days, The Airave (for the same reasons mentioned above) "deprovisions" itself and you have to spend 2 hours on the phone with Sprint getting it to work again.

Once you hook up your Airave, pray to god your power does not go out.

Sprint can't handle Cyrillic from at&t

When my friends SMS me Cyrillic characters from at&t, they are not decoded properly and I get gibberish. BTW I gotta give Sprint support credit here because I spoke to a lovely young lady who was kind enough to actually have me send her Cyrillic to her Sprint phone, and she sent it back to me.

Here is what we learned. Sprint to Sprint, Android to Android Cyrillic works fine.

However at&t iPhone Cyrillic to Sprint Android Cyrillic is a no-go.

NVM we have Airaves.

Completely dumbfounded, I called Sprint again a few days later just to doublecheck.

You are not going to believe this, but the rep just calmly told me: sure, we have Airaves. We just got a new stock. Let me send one your way!

When you are on the NOW Network, miracles sometimes happen.

What? There's no Airaves?

One thing I will say time and time again, is that unless you need to talk to the Port-In department, which seems to be for some reason stupidly understaffed, I love Sprint support's short hold times, because I have to call them often.

Luckily, I did not give up on the Airave, and the next day, I called again explaining my Airave dilemma. This time, the rep agreed, and even apologized for the stupidity of the first rep. She said I can gladly get an Airave for free (no $100 purchase cost). She said I do not have to pay the $5 a month fee to use it either. (a.k.a. bullshit fee because we still have to route your call).

There was only one dilemma. She said there are no fucking Airaves in stock anywhere and they won't be available till sometime in 2011. (This takes place in October 2010).

To this, I say WTF?

You ADVERTISE them on your site. The store reps didn't mention not having any. Seriously. I said can I find one myself and use it? And she said yes. I called 10 Sprint stores in my area and no one had them. I saw one on eBay but it was $400. I was at a loss.

For the next 3 weeks I kept calling Sprint every few days asking if they had any Airaves.

On my 5th call, a high-tier superviser kindly finally told me that they ran out of Airaves and that the new Airave 3G's were recalled and not going to be available until March 2011.

I think around this time my 30 days return policy expired.

I need an AIRAVE!!!!

Reading gadget blogs for years, I saw them mention this device Sprint has called an Airave. It is what is often referred to as a Femtocell but is more accurately called a Microcell. It hooks up to your ISP through your ISP connection and gives you a mini tower of coverage in your home (~5000 sq. ft.).

Before I came to Sprint, I knew I was gonna need one of these suckers because at a family house on Whidbey Island, where I take care of my grandparents, I have non-existent coverage. I even told the rep at the store when I was getting the EVO that I'm gonna need to get my hands on one. He said that while he cannot guarantee, he THINKS it shouldn't be a problem and customer service would provide me with one. If not, I could always just cancel service and return the EVO.

I will say the Airave was particularly important to me as an incentive to bring over my entire family plan from at&t because my grandparents would sit on it 100% of the time while they are at home. There is no tower coverage at all.

Now let me explain something to y'all about how this bedonkulous concept of a Microcell works with our loverly 4 carriers. On 3 of the 4 (Sprint, Verizon, and at&t) WE, WE THE CUSTOMER have to purchase the device. WE THE CUSTOMER THEN HAVE TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL MONTHLY FEE of $5-$20 to use the goddamn Microcell.


To this I say WTF!


It's our internet pipe. It's YOUR lack of coverage, and we have to pay for it? You guys should be grateful that we have service with you at all and you should be sending us these things by the bucketload!

Thinking that Sprint is desperate for new Postpaid customers, and is eager to retain them, I erroneously assumed that they would be willing to listen to some of my ideas about the stupidity of the Microcell pricing system.

The first rep I talked to flat out told me: NO. You cannot get a free Airave. You cannot get Airave without a monthly fee. It is your fault for getting service where you have no coverage and I urge you to cancel and return the phone.

WTF right?

Welcome to the Now Network!

My affair with Sprint began with a divorce from at&t. After almost 10 years of stellar turned substandard turned fraudulent turned compensatory service, I decided to part ways with at&t Orange (I came from Cingular).

My tenure at at&t involved leveraging a MAGNIFICENT unlimited MediaWorks Cingular plan that included unlimited SMS and Data for an unheard-of $20 against at&t's inability to see what devices used what plans. The tenure featured over 10 devices, and several ups and downs. One remarkable incident involved a scam the local at&t store reps were running, removing and re-adding features to increase each others' commissions. Little did the idiots know, but they managed to get rid of my precious grandfathered MediaWorks plan and were then unable to add it back!

Long story short, I called and complained to several tiers of support, about how the morons screwed me over. Support says they can't re-add the plan. My friend, who was a regional manager, informed me of the scam the guys run, where the local stores delete features, and then have their buddies at a nearby store re-add it. And here they were caught.

Finally, I managed to get $20x24months contract length  = $480 dollars + $60 for time on the phone credited to my account for my troubles.

After that came the iPhone era. For the first time, I no longer felt like I needed the next new badass phone that comes out every 3 months. For years, I was finally content with the iPhone I had, because it destroyed all competition.

There was only one problem with the iPhone: it used a new Radio chip not used in any other phone. The chip, it turned out, was a complete dud. The iPhone dropped calls left and right. The radio system often failed, where we would get "Call Failed" messages in 5 bars of reception. The situation was pretty ridiculous because other at&t phones could make calls without problems.

As time went by, Android phones grew up and the superior widget/notification interface suddenly looked more appealing than the frozen-in-time UI of the iPhone. I got tired of the rows of apps. I wanted to see more information at once! At&t had one decent Android phone at the time, which was the Samsung Captivate.

The Captivate was a sweet piece of kit. It didn't drop calls like my iPhone. It had HSUPA, unlike my iPhone (3GS). It had that sweet AMOLED screen. There was only one thing it didn't have: a functional GPS.

The thing didn't fucking work at all. On all 3 units I tried. I STILL can't believe Samsung got away with selling ALL THOSE Galaxy S's worldwide.

Faced with a dilemma and a lack of other usable Android phones,  I, for the first time, seriously considered leaving at&t.

I carefully compared all the rates, all the reviews, all the coverages, and save for the coverage, I took a liking to Sprint.

I remember sitting at an at&t store at the end of October waiting to talk to them and Samsung on the phone to see when that Froyo update for Captivate will roll out and whether or not it will fix the GPS. They could not give me any answers. I returned my Captivate right then and there and went down the street to the Sprint Store to get an EVO.


Welcome to the Now Network.

P.S. as of 2/28/11 there is still no Froyo or functional GPS for Samsung Captivate.